Advanced Strategy

Students will learn the economic principles underlying key strategic decisions of business firms and organizations. Particular emphasis will be given to sustainability questions (Unilever, Allbirds) along with anticipating change in value networks, experimentation, and explaining how former industry outsiders (Tesla, Airbnb) disrupt industries. Moreover, students will learn to formulate strategies (for instance, of their start-up ideas) as theories, and how to test these theories.

Required and Corequired knowledge and skills

The course is suitable for all students who got accepted into the Master of Business engineering program, and curiosity for the topic of strategy (and, ideally, interest in the development of the strategy of their own initiative or start-up idea) is more important than any theoretical preparation.

That said, students will be at an advantage if they are familiar with basic economic concepts for business decision-making that are typically covered in introductory courses in microeconomics and/or industrial organization: average and marginal costs, economies of scale, competition, and strategic interaction.

 

In each session, the teacher or a group of students will present a case, and the other students are there to challenge the presentation and offer alternative views on the case. Then, after a short break, the teacher will explain the case with strategy theory and teach the underlying theoretical concepts.

Thus, the course will rely on a mix of theoretical analysis (guided by the textbook and the teaching notes) and in-depth case studies to be discussed in class. Students will be asked to form groups and present cases as a group. The presentations may positively influence final grades.

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Grant, Robert M. Contemporary strategy analysis. John Wiley & Sons, 2021. (core reading for the class!)

Ehrig, T. and Schmidt, J., 2022. Theory‐based learning and experimentation: How strategists can systematically generate knowledge at the edge between the known and the unknown. Strategic Management Journal, 43(7), pp.1287-1318.

Felin, T. & Zenger, T. 2017. The theory-based view: Economic actors as theorists. Strategy Science, 2(4), 258-271.

Porter, M. E. "1980 Competitive strategy. New York: Free Press." (1980).

Wernerfelt, B., 2022. When Does the Underdog Win?. Strategy Science, 7(1), pp.1-9.
 

Contacts

Ehrig Timo <timo.ehrig@ulb.be>
Faelli, Francois <francois.faelli@bain.com>

Campus

Solbosch

Method(s) of evaluation

• written examination
• Group work

written examination

Group work

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

To be announced soon.

Language(s) of evaluation

• english