Semester: Fall 2005
Course: BUSN-450 STRATEGIC
MANAGEMENT
Time: Tuesday & Thursday 11:00 AM
12:15 PM
Revised: 8/13/05
Instructor: Donald J. McCarren, Ph.D. Office: DB 320
Telephone: 423-869-6450
Fax: 865-458-8029
E-Mail: anoulap65@aol.com
Office
Hours: T 1 - 3 PM
W 10 AM 2 PM
TH
1 - 3 PM
Description: This course seeks to bring together all of the
business skills acquired by studying the core business courses throughout
the college experience. This is a big
picture course which provides an integrated approach to corporate strategic
development. The center of attention is
the total enterprise its long-term strategy based on analysis and synthesis
of relevant information.
Text:
Course Objectives:
Upon completion of this
course, the students will be able to effectively research and synthesize
information necessary to make long term strategic decisions.
The critical elements of this process are:
·
Determination of your current mission, vision and strategic direction
as it relates to the business that you are in.
·
Developing an appreciation for the major trends and how they might
influence future growth.
·
Identifying competitive strategic shifts due to internal and/or
external factors.
·
Determining vulnerability and the probability of losing competitive
advantages with consequent reduction in potential market size.
·
Creating strategic alternatives that satisfy long term corporate
objectives.
·
Building appropriate alternative business models which meet financial
objectives.
·
To fashion meaningful times and events schedules tied to key measurable
milestones to gain an appreciation for an integrated implementation plan.
·
To understand that creating an integrated strategic plan is critical
for success. It should be updated
whenever significant changes occur in the marketplace but in any case, it
should be treated annually.
·
To understand that there is a clear cut relationship between the
Corporate Strategic plan and the first year operating plan.
Corporate Strategy
Development Project:
The BOD has decided to hire an outside
consulting group to develop a 10 year Strategic Plan for the corporation. The group
consists of a senior consultant with Vice President of Strategic Planning for
Proctor & Gamble. The second
person on the team is a senior experience in the defense and other high tech
industries. The third person is a
recently minted MBA from Wharton whose major strength is in the financial
arena. The fourth person after receiving
their MBA from
This group is
supported on an as needed basis by experts in the following areas:
Legal
Corporate law
Patent law
Operations
Management
Technical
R&D
M&A/Investment
Banking
Tax,
etc
..
Each team member should decide which role
they are going to fulfill. The team will
develop a clear understanding of the current
business, the competition landscape, its ability to effectively compete; its including management skill set
and its ability to manage change and transition to a new or modified business model.
After developing several
well defined strategies, determine which strategy best suits this corporation
and why it is the best approach? Is the strategy implement
able and will it meet our financial objectives?
If you err -let
it be on the side of too much analysis rather than too little. Support all of your conclusions and projections
with hard data, where possible. Cite all
data sources.
Suggested Format:
Use this format as a guide. It is not carved in stone!!!!!!!!!!
I.
Situation Analysis this section should focus on the corporations and
be deeply researched.
II. Competitive Analysis by Business Segment.
III. Market Drivers Success Factors
IV. SWOT Analysis what are our core
competencies?
V. Strategic
Vision and Value Statements
VI. Objectives going forward
VII. What business (es) do we want to be in
10 years from now? Why? How do we get there? What are our alternatives? Why were they eliminated? Are we settling for a second tier strategy
due to specific deficiencies or limitations?
Strategy
should be broken down by function and sub strategies developed.
Financial,
R&D, Operations, Legal, HR, Marketing, MIS, Business Development
Remember,
the focus is on the corporation, its evolving structure and organization and
its long term strategic
direction.
VIII. Business Model Will the strategy
chosen meet our financial objectives?
Are we going to be vulnerable to a
trade? How sustainable is our
competitive advantage? What will be
required to build a most around our corporation?
IX. Major Market Trends
-
Aging Population -
Increasing Speed of technology development & -
Global Market adaptation
- Rising Middle Class in
-
Commodity Squeeze -
-
Oil Crisis -
Islamaphobia
-
Threat of Terrorism -
Loss of individuality
-
Pressures on EU/Euro -
etc, etc, etc,
-
Womens Rights
-
Health Care Awareness
How
will they change the marketplace?
Implementation Plan:
M&A/Disposition
actions consistent with our strategy
Time
and Event scheduling Positioning
Expected Outcomes:
What
do we expect to achieve?
Metrics:
How
will we measure relative success or failure?
What
are the relevant time frames?
The term project
should be typewritten and not exceed 15 pages plus appropriate supportive
attachments. The exercise
should be an extensive analysis and include relevant competitive company
profiles and financial data and any other
information which might influence the development of corporate strategy.
The oral
presentation should utilize PowerPoint slides and be persuasive in nature.
Remember:
ANALYSIS
Conclusions
Recommendations
PROJECTED
Corporate Profile
Competitive
Positioning
Each team
presentation should take approximately 45 minutes.
Course
Requirements:
Attendance
Counts If attending class is a problem for YOU Dont take this
class. Lack of on-time attendance will
count against you. Similarly, if you
leave before the class is over, YOU will be counted absent.
Assignments
MUST be turned in on the date assigned.
YOU are responsible to get notes, handouts, assignments and
other course requirement from your classmates.
Class
Participation - One of the goals of this course is to provoke questions,
creative thought and to provide a forum for
multiple points of view.
Tests
will be given at the Mid-Term and end of the semester and likely be in the form
of essay style questions. The
goal is to give YOU an opportunity to express your ideas and understanding of
the issues involved. The Mid- Term
and the Final Exam will be worth a significant part of your grade.
There will be a
heavy reliance on case studies to reinforce and expand upon the course work
presented.
The Oral
Presentation of the term project and the written preparation will also account
for a significant part of your grade.
|
Cases |
15 % |
|
Mid-Term |
15 % |
|
Final |
15 % |
|
Assignments |
15 % |
|
Oral
Term Project |
20 % |
|
Written
Term Project |
20 % |
|
Total: |
100 % |
Grading:
The following
grade scale will be utilized in this course.
In order to achieve a certain level on this scale, you must obtain
the score indicated.
A
.
94-100
A-
90-93
B+
87-89
B
..
84-86
B-
.
80-83
C+
77-79
C
..
74-76
C-
.
70-73
D+
67-69
D
..
64-66
D-
.
60-63
F
...
Below 60
NOTE: Any student with a disability
requiring accommodation(s) should make an appointment with the Vice President
for Student Affairs
(423-869-6393) to discuss specific
needs.
NOTE: Academic Integrity (from LMU
Undergraduate Catalog 2003-2004)
It is the aim of the faculty of
Cheating: dishonesty of any kind on
examinations or written assignments, unauthorized possession of examination questions,
the use of unauthorized notes during an examination, obtaining information
during an examination from another student,
assisting others to cheat, altering grade records, or illegally entering an
office are instances of cheating.
Plagiarism: offering the work of
another as ones own without proper acknowledgement is plagiarism; therefore, any
student who fails to give credit for quotations or essentially identical
material taken from books, magazines, encyclopedias,
web sources, or other reference works, or from the
themes, reports, or other writing of a fellow student has
committed plagiarism.
Instructor Policy on Academic Integrity:
Any assignment found to violate the
above university policy will be considered an F
without the possibility of make-up opportunities. Continued violations will result in an F for the
course.
The instructor
reserves the right to make adjustments to this syllabus.
Schedule:
Week |
Discussion |
Assignment |
|
1 |
Introduction
to the course Review
of the Syllabus Formation
of Teams Selection
of Company for the Term Project Discuss
the details of the Term Project Group
Meeting |
Read
Chapters 1-2 Analyze
an Annual Report and determine what their strategy is and if it is
working. How do you know? |
|
2 |
Discuss
Chapters 1-2 and answers to strategy definition in the assigned annual
reports |
Read Chapters 3
1. Identify the major
driving forces impacting the dynamics of the external environment. 2. What can be learned from
strategic group mapping? 3. How will this concept
help you in your term project? |
|
3 |
Discuss
Chapter 3 and answers to questions assigned. Lecture
on competitive analysis and its role in determining an appropriate strategy. |
Read
Chapter 4. Prepare
the answers to the following questions relating to the Starbucks Case. 2-3
typewritten pages. 1.
What is the firms strategy? 2.
What actions should be undertaken to deal with its major strategic issues? 3.
Is there a need to change their organization structure? 4.
Is this an attractive industry to be in? 5.
Is it vulnerable to new competition? Why? 6.
What are the key issues facing Starbucks going forward? |
|
4 |
Review
Starbucks Case and questions assigned. Provide
detailed case preparation outline and discuss. Group
Meeting |
Identify what you have
learned thus far concerning corporate strategy developments 2 pages. |
|
5 |
Discuss
Assignment |
Prepare Azalea Seafood Case written and for
class discussion Read Chapter 5 |
|
6 |
Discuss
Chapter 5 Discussion
of Azalea Seafood Case |
1.
What is a Value Chain and how is it relevant to the development of a
corporate strategy? 2. Why should strategies be built around well
defined core competencies? 3. What is a corporate sustainable competitive
advantage? 4. A well done SWOT analysis reveals deficiencies. How
should they be dealt with, strategically? Why? 5.
Discuss Figure 5.1 and identify at least one company employing each strategy |
|
Week |
Discussion |
Assignment |
|
7 |
Review
questions assigned. Group
Meeting |
Read Chapter 6. Prepare Krispy Kreme Case. Use outline provided. 3-6 pages |
|
8 |
Discuss
Krispy Kreme Case and Chapter 6 |
Review for
Mid-Term
|
|
9 |
MID-TERM 4
Essay Questions |
Read Chapter 7. Prepare written case
analysis of Dell Computers 3-6 pages. |
|
10 |
Discussion
of Dell Case Lecture
Chapter 7 |
Why is everybody rushing to enter Read Chapter 8 |
|
11 |
Lecture/Discussion
Chapter 8 Group
Meeting |
Read Chapter 9 Prepare LVMH Case |
|
12 |
Review
and Discuss Chapter 9 and LVMH Case |
Read
Chapter 10. Discuss
the lack of Social Responsibility and Ethics displayed by Bernie Ebbers,
Denis Kozlowsky, the Regas Family and Ken Lay Outline
your attitudes and recommendations for the future. |
|
13 |
Discussion of Strategy,
Ethics and Social Responsibility Group Meeting |
Read Chapter 11 |
|
14 |
ORAL PRESENTATION Submission of Typed
Strategic Plan |
Read Chapters 12-13 |
|
15 |
FINAL EXAM
Chapters 8-13 |
|