MGMT 3050: Business Strategy

Units: 4

Key Skills: strategic analysis, strategic positioning, innovation frameworks, business analysis, evaluation, sustainable business practices, problem-solving, data analysis, assimilating information, identifying opportunities, decision-making and execution

Description: This business strategy course focuses on the processes by which managers position their businesses to develop and sustain an advantage relative to rivals in the face of uncertainty, rapid change, and competition. Business strategy and manager ethics involve understanding the utility of different choices and tradeoffs; choosing what not to do is as important as choosing what to do. Thus, the strategy course covers a variety of tools, frameworks, theories, and concepts for analyzing a firm’s strategic position and the environment in which it is operating.

By focusing on the factors that make some strategic positions strong and viable, you will develop the ability to evaluate the effects of changes in resources and capabilities, industry forces, macro environmental forces, and technology on industry structure and firm behavior and, in turn, on a firm’s opportunities for establishing and sustaining a superior position relative to rivals. The business strategy course also requires students to integrate and extend the knowledge and skills they have developed throughout their MBA program course work (i.e. marketing, finance, economics, organizational behavior, ethics, information systems, accounting, etc.) into a "total business” perspective. Analyzing real-world situations best facilitates this activity; therefore, case analysis plays a large role in the course. You will hone skills in developing a coherent, viable, and defensible strategic position that will carry a firm into the future.