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Fairleigh Dickinson University

Samuel J. Silberman College of Business Administration

Strategic Management Asst. Prof. Gordon G. Sollars

and Organizational Design Teaneck – Saturdays 8:30-4:30

MGMT 5515 10 February – 10 March

Course Description

Reviews organization strategy and organization design to provide a business-wide perspective on decision making and a framework for integrating the specialized knowledge that follows in the curriculum.

Prerequisites

All other Tier I courses prior to this course or concurrent with it.

Course Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students should:

  1. The ability to identify and evaluate corporate strategies, using frameworks for competitive and organization analysis
  2. The ability to identify an organization’s capacity to support its strategy, using prescriptive models for matching sets of organization designs with particular strategies
  3. An understanding of important differences between the organization contexts, such as: service vs. manufacturing firms; profit vs. not-for-profit corporations; domestic vs. multinational corporations
  4. An understanding of how to design organization control systems to shape individual and collective behavior in the pursuit of strategic objectives
  5. An understanding of how leadership styles and cultures affect strategy and design choices
  6. An understanding of the strategic importance of innovation and entrepreneurship, as means to maintain a firm’s vitality and distinctive competence over time.

Course Topics

The strategic decision-making process

Environmental analysis

Internal organization analysis

Distinctive competencies

Functional Strategy

Corporate Strategy

Global Strategy

Organization structure

Organization control systems

The role of power & politics in strategy implementation

Implementing strategic change

Text:

Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization, 4th edition, by

Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson

Publisher: South-Western College Publishing

 

Student Responsibilities:

This is an intensive five-week course. It is crucial that you read all the assigned material before each class, including the first class, and that you are fully prepared to contribute to in-class case analyses and discussions. Much of the learning that will take place will be the result of interactions with your colleagues as each of you adds your own insight, perspective and experience to the discussions. This process will not work if you do not work.

In addition, you will each individually prepare a written case, and participate in a team analysis of a case. Each team will present an analysis of their case during the final class of the module. There will be several short quizzes to test your understanding of the material in the text and lectures.

Grading:

Class contribution* 15%

Individual written case analysis 40%

Team case analysis and presentation 35%

Quiz/short projects 10%

*Your contribution to each case analysis or discussion. Contribution is the value that you add to a discussion at the time that you speak.

 

Instructor Contact Information:

Office Hours: 3:00-5:00 Mon; 11:00-12:00 Tues; and by appointment

Please feel free to contact me at other times if you have any questions or issues. Since this is a Saturday course, the best way to reach me is probably by email at gsollars@pobox.com. My office phone number is 201.692.7331; my home phone number is 973.283.8066

Please check my web page for possible announcements before each class: http://alpha.fdu.edu/~sollars/

Course Schedule

10 Feb – Strategic Management, and the External and Internal Environments

Getting Started
The "Alaskan Gold Mine"
Lecture
Quiz
Class discussion of Case 2 (Adidas)
Team formations and team case selections
Required reading: Chapters 1,2, and 3; Case 2 (Adidas)
Recommended Reading: "Preparing an Effective Case Analysis" (pp. C-1 through C-18)

17 Feb – Business Strategy, Competitive Dynamics, and Corporate Strategy

Lecture
Quiz
Class discussion of Case 8 (Raisio)
Teams work on cases
Required reading: Chapters 4, 5, and 6; Case 8

24 Feb – Corporate and International Strategy

Lecture
Quiz
Class discussion of Case 39 (Disney)
Teams work on cases
Required reading: Chapter 7,8,9,10; Case 39

3 Mar – Strategy Implementation

Lecture
Quiz
Class discussion of Case 17 (Ericsson)
Teams work on cases
Required reading: Chapter 11,12,13; Case 18

10 Mar – Team Presentations

Each team presents an analysis of their case. Your presentations must be designed so that each team member has a role.
Individual written case analyses are due