BUSINESS STRATEGY

TODAY’S LECTURE

• First Half: Introducing the Module– The teaching team– Module aims– Module organisation

– Module assessment– U-Learn

• Second Half: What is strategy?

THE TEACHING TEAM

• Dr Andy Adcroft (module leader)– 64MS03– a.adcroft@surrey.ac.uk

• Dr Marco Aponte

• Dr Ayse Saka-Helmhout• Dr Jing-Lin Duanmu

MODULE AIMS

1.To enable students to understand theoretical approaches to the formulation, selection, implementation, and control of a business strategy;

2.To enable students to develop understanding of how to apply theoretical concepts of business strategy to real business contexts;

3.To enable students to critically understand the methods, difficulties and limitations of formulating, implementing and controlling a business strategy;

4.To enable students to appreciate the importance and contribution of business strategy to organisational success.

MODULE FEEDBACK AND ACHIEVEMENT

Last year’s feedback from students (scores out of 5):

Quality of Teaching: 4.31

Quality of feedback: 3.47

Overall rating: 4.23

Firsts 12% (9%)

Upper Seconds 47% (44%)

Lower Seconds 29% (30%)

Thirds 5% (12%)

Fails 7% (5%)

WHAT THIS MEANS

• As you would expect in the final year, this is a challenging module: content and process

• Students still get good marks in Business Strategy. These students tend to:– Work hard– Engage with all the learning opportunities:

lectures, seminars and U-Learn– Do lots of reading

• The central principle is that students learn best when they work things out for themselves

MODULE ORGANISATION

• There are teaching plans in U Learn for the lectures and the seminars.

• 10 lectures– Each lecture will deal with a theoretical or

conceptual element of strategy

• 3 seminars– Seminars are case study based, we will look at 3

case studies– Copies of the first 2 case studies are in U-Learn,

copies of the other will be distributed soon– Seminars begin in week 3

MODULE ORGANISATION

There is one recommended textbook for this module:

Johnson, G., Scholes, K. and Whittington, R. (2008) Exploring Corporate Strategy (Text Only) (8th Edition) Prentice Hall.

There is also a list of additional reading in U Learn to complement the reading from the textbook

MODULE ASSESSMENT

There are 2 pieces of assessment for this module:

• Assignment (50% weighting)– A 1,500 word review of a strategy article

• Exam (50% weighting)– A 2 hour closed book exam at the end of the

semester

MODULE ASSESSMENT: ASSIGNMENT

• In this assignment you will be assigned an article and will have to write a 1,500 word critical review of it

• The submission date for the assignment is Monday 15th November. All submissions will be through U Learn (not hard copy)

• Full details of the assignment are available in the folder called “Assignment” in U Learn

• To do this assignment, you must be registered in U Learn.

• All students registered by Monday this week have been assigned an article

MODULE ASSESSMENT: EXAM

• There is a 2 hour exam at the end of the module, in the exam you will need to answer 1 question on theory and 1 question on a case study

• The last two year’s exam papers (and the feedback from the exams) is in U Learn

U-LEARN

• There are already significant learning resources in U Learn:– Details on assessment and assignment submission;– Some introductory articles on strategy– Lecture and seminar folders– Learning materials and self assessment tests

• We will be adding to these as we go through:– Discussion questions after each seminar– All questions about assessment will be dealt with through U

Learn

• Last year, students who participated in U Learn activities got higher marks than those who did not. Register as soon as possible.

SO, WHAT IS STRATEGY?

Problem #1:

There is no single, universally accepted definition of what Strategy is. For example, Chaharbaghi and Willis (1998) found 54 different (widely used) definitions

This was nearly 10 years ago and so there are probably a lot more now

THE CONCEPT OF STRATEGY

“Strategy is concerned with an organisation’s basic direction for the future: its’ purpose, its’ ambitions, its’ resources and how it interacts with the world in which it operates” Richard Lynch (1997) Corporate Strategy

Strategy delivers 5 things to organisations:• Sustainability• Distinctiveness• Competitive Advantage• Linkages to the environment• Vision

MICHAEL PORTER

Porter is probably the most influential writer on corporate strategy of the last 20 years. In defining strategy, he offers 3 propositions:

• Strategy is a race to one ideal position• Strategy is the creation of a unique and

valuable position involving a different set of activities

• Strategy requires trade-offs in competing and choosing what to do and what not to do

Whittington, R. (2002) What is Strategy – and does it matter? Thomson Learning, London, UK.

OUTCOME

PR

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Profit Maximisation

Pluralist

THE WHITTINGTON MODEL

OUTCOME

PR

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Profit Maximisation

Pluralist

Classical

Michael Porter

• Rationality• Analysis

THE WHITTINGTON MODEL

OUTCOME

PR

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Pre

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Profit Maximisation

Pluralist

Classical EvolutionaryMichael Porter Bruce Henderson

• Rationality• Analysis

• Biological Theory• Survival of the Fittest

THE WHITTINGTON MODEL

OUTCOME

PR

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Pre

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Profit Maximisation

Pluralist

Classical Evolutionary

Processual

Michael Porter Bruce Henderson

Henry Mintzberg

• Rationality• Analysis

• Pragmatic• Compromise

• Biological Theory• Survival of the Fittest

THE WHITTINGTON MODEL

OUTCOME

PR

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Pre

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Profit Maximisation

Pluralist

Classical

Systemic

Evolutionary

Processual

Michael Porter

Lester Thurow

Bruce Henderson

Henry Mintzberg

• Rationality• Analysis

• Social Setting• Environment

• Pragmatic• Compromise

• Biological Theory• Survival of the Fittest

THE WHITTINGTON MODEL

SUMMARY

• Strategy is easy to define but harder to understand

• A key theme of strategy is the relationship between the organisation and its environment

• Strategy is concerned with the whole organisation

• Strategy should be viewed as a coherent process rather than a one-off event

If you are not enrolled into the Business Strategy U Learn, do it as soon as possible. If you are not registered, you won’t be assigned an article for the assignment