Block 2
Economics and Business 405
Business Policy and Strategy
Professor Larry Stimpert with visiting
Executive-in-Residence Van Skilling
This seminar on business policy and strategy focuses on the work of general managers – chief executives, presidents, and division managers – who have responsibility for entire firms or the business units of multibusiness firms. We will study the role of general managers in creating competitive advantage, the reason why some firms and businesses enjoy higher levels of performance than their rivals.
The course will introduce a number of frameworks as we focus on two key management tasks: First, we will spend a good deal of time studying the need for general managers to position their businesses and firms within ever-changing competitive environments. Effective positioning requires that managers understand the nature of competition and rivalry in their firms’ industries. They must also anticipate how demographic changes and technological developments will create future arenas of opportunity so they can proactively position their firms to enjoy "first-mover" and other advantages. Second, we will consider how managers marshal and deploy resources to maintain and improve performance and insure the survival of their firms and businesses. As we proceed through the course, we will come to see that competitive advantage results from asymmetry: High-performing firms either occupy unique positions in their competitive arenas or they develop and possess unique competencies that cannot be easily duplicated by their rivals.
Though our focus will be on the work of general managers, most of you will begin business careers in entry-level positions in functional areas such as accounting, finance, marketing, or operations. Nevertheless, the concepts, frameworks, and models introduced in this course should improve your ability to evaluate business environments, to understand the formulation and implementation of business and corporate strategies, and to appreciate how your functional role is an integral part of the larger company mission. The course should also augment your business vocabulary and improve your ability to think analytically and write persuasively. These practical skills should enhance your potential for making meaningful contributions at the firms and organizations where you choose to work.
Course Overview
This course features an opportunity to interact with the chief executive officer of a Fortune 500 corporation. Van Skilling will be on campus and co-teaching the course for most of the block. Together we seek to help you develop your mastery of strategic management concepts and practical business skills. While we will examine many contemporary business issues, we cannot anticipate all of the issues you will confront in the years ahead. Our primary mission, therefore, is to help you develop ways of thinking and learning that will make you effective business leaders throughout your careers. This requires that you learn how to perceive and respond to changes in business environments, assess organizational capabilities, and make insightful decisions and recommendations. To achieve these objectives, the following activities are planned:
Class meetings
Class meetings will serve as a forum for discussing reading assignments, applying strategic management frameworks and models, and analyzing cases and important business issues.
Written assignments
To reinforce your understanding of course concepts, you will complete a series of four short written assignments. Some of the assignments will ask you to apply course concepts to analyze a particular company or industry environment. Others will require you to read a case study and prepare a policy recommendation based on the case material. The accompanying schedule provides a list of the due dates for the written assignments.
Course project and presentation.
The course project should be problem or issue focused, and it should involve either library research or library and field research. The course suggests an almost endless number of project topics; some possibilities include: analyzing a CEO’s impact on company strategy and performance, analyzing an industry environment, assessing a company’s business definition or business strategy, analyzing the effectiveness of a company’s diversification strategy or the success of a particular merger or acquisition, or describing creative approaches to organizing. You’ll also be asked to make a presentation of your project. Plan to discuss and clear your project topic with Van or me during the first week or so in the class.
Performance Evaluation and Application of the College’s Honor Code
Together, the written assignments are worth 60 percent of your grade. The course project is worth 25 percent of your grade, and your contribution to class discussions will be worth an additional 15 percent of the final grade. As students of the college, you have pledged to uphold the honor code and you have a responsibility for understanding how the college’s honor code applies to the academic work you do in this class.
Required Materials
We will be reading and discussing two books, Strategic Management: Concepts for Managers by Bourgeois et al (referred to ask "Text" in the accompanying schedule), and Competing for the Future by Hamel and Prahalad. In addition, we’ll be reading and discussing a number of Harvard Business School cases. The books and cases are available at the college bookstore. A number of articles and other materials will be distributed in class.
Office Hours and Appointments
Unless we announce otherwise, Van or I or both of us will plan to be available to meet with you in our offices in the afternoons. Please feel free to ask us for appointments at other mutually convenient times. Van’s office number is 389-6446 and my office number is 389-6418. I can also be reached via email at lstimpert@coloracocollege.edu.