Strategic Management: From Intuition to Insight

Course details

Engage in rigorous strategic analysis to complement your intuition with the deep insights needed to help your organization prosper in times of transition. This foundational course enables you to design effective strategy processes, spot fundamental market and technology changes in your industry and renew your organization's internal resource base. 1. Unpacking the Process of Strategy: What precisely is strategy and why does it matter? What are the origins of the concept and how can we define it? What are the building blocks of strategy and how can they be arranged as a process? What distinct conceptions of the strategy process co-exist and what are their respective advantages and disadvantages? 2. Analyzing Industry Structures: What is the role of the industry and its structure for firm performance? How can we analyze industry structures? How can we unpack industries and identify the most attractive strategic positions to occupy therein? How do we identify what it takes to outcompete others in our strategic group? 3. Developing Internal Resources: Can firms succeed in generally unattractive industries? What is the role of firms' internal resource base in this regard? How can we find out which resources and capabilities are likely to have the greatest strategic value? What are dynamic capabilities and how do they matter for firm survival and performance? All key ideas are illustrated through a real-life case study on Tesla and its role in the technological transformation of the global automotive industry. This course is part of the "Managing Technology & Innovation: How to deal with disruptive change" MicroMasters program designed to teach the critical skills needed to be successful in this exciting field. In order to qualify for the MicroMasters Credential, you will need to earn a Verified Certificate in each of the six courses of the RWTHx MicroMasters program. Updated on 17 September, 2019