MGMT 7700 Asst. Prof. Gordon G. Sollars

Course Description

Student teams will make strategic, marketing, operating and financial decisions in a competitive simulation using a multinational firm. Teams will develop a business plan for their simulation firm.

Prerequisites

All MBA core courses.

Relation to College Mission

Consistent with the mission and goals of the College, this course seeks to provide professional management education that emphasizes the linkage between theory and practice of strategic decision making in complex business situations and integrates various functional disciplines across the curriculum, thus preparing students to assume managerial responsibilities in a global business community.

Course Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

1. Identify, evaluate, and formulate corporate strategies, using frameworks for global competitive and organizational analysis.

2. Identify, evaluate and design organizational structures to support global strategy.

3. Understand the influence of leadership style and culture on strategy formulation and implementation.

4. Integrate and apply knowledge from functional disciplines such as finance, marketing, operations, information systems and human resources to facilitate strategy execution.

5. Formulate a business plan and implement it in a changing environment.

Course Topics

Global Strategic Management Resource Model of the Firm

Organizational Analysis Stakeholder Analysis

Worldwide Strategy Development Ethical Issues in the Global Context

Strategic Alliances Line of Business Cooperation

Text:

Corporate Strategy: A Resource Based Approach, (CS) by

Collis , D.J. and Montgomery, C.A.

Publisher: Irwin McGraw-Hill

Capstone Business Simulation Team Member Guide 2003 (T.M.)

Publisher: Management Simulations, Inc.

Student Responsibilities:

It is crucial that you read all the assigned material before each 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.

This syllabus is tentative. You are responsible for checking my web page for any changes.

Grading:

Class contribution* and attendance 15%

Simulation game team performance** 35%

Board of directors presentation 10%

Written case analyses 30%

Final 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.

**Performance will be a combination of objective simulation criteria

Instructor Contact Information:

Office: Room 2126

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.

E-mail: gsollars@pobox.com. Office phone: 201.692.7331

Home phone: 973.283.8066; Fax number: 973.283.8067

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

Class	Date	Topic	Assignment Prior to Class
1	4 Sep	Introduction and Overview; Lecture - Strategy Framework; Capstone tutorials	If possible, register for the Capstone simulation at www.capsim.com using team name “unknown”
2	11 Sep	Capstone tutorials	Read Capstone Team Member Guide chapters 1-3; CS Chap. 1
3	18 Sep	Simulation practice rounds	TM Chap. 4; Team Situation Analysis; CS Appendix A and Chap. 2
4	25 Sep	Simulation practice rounds	Prepare Case 1-3; CS Chap. 3
5	2 Oct	Round One; Case 1-3 discussion	Mission Statement Worksheet; team scoring criteria
6	9 Oct	Round Two; Lecture - Resources & Rents	Round One Decisions
7	16 Oct	Round Three, including labor negations; Lecture - Scale & Scope	Round Two Decisions including labor negotiation decisions
8	23 Oct	Round Four; Lecture - Diversified Expansion	Round Three Decisions; CS Chap. 4
9	30 Oct	Round Five; Lecture - Organizational Limits to Firm Scope	Round Four Decisions; CS Chap. 5
10	6 Nov	Round Six, including labor negations; Case 5-2 discussion	Round Five Decisions; Prepare Case 5-2
11	13 Nov	Round Seven; Lecture - The Multi-business Corporation	Round Six Decisions; CS Chap. 6
12	20 Nov	Round Eight	Round Seven Decisions; CS Chap. 7
	27 Nov	Thanksgiving Break
13	4 Dec	Case 7-1 discussion; Lecture - Corporate Governance	CS Chap. 8; Prepare Case 7-1
14	11 Dec	Board of Directors Presentations	Prepare Team Board of Directors Presentation
15	18 Wed	Final Exam	None

Simulation decisions are due at 12:00 P.M. the day before class (Tuesdays)