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This course introduces the key theories, concepts, models and approaches related to Strategy at a Corporate, Business and Functional/Operational level.

Introduction to Management Engineering Series

This MOOC is part of the Introduction to Management Engineering series, which is designed to introduce prospective master students and people interested in managerial disciplines into the key fundamentals of Management Engineering. Through an analytical and engineering approach, the series provides basic concepts and language in the areas of Strategy, Economics, Financial Accounting, Organization, and Operations Management.

The series is the result of a collaborative design between METID, the unit of Politecnico di Milano devoted to teaching and learning innovation, and the Study Course in Management Engineering.

See the full series

Course description

Strategy is an all-embracing term that broadly refers to decision-making at both an Individual level – dealing with how we make personal choices in varied settings – and a Business & Management level –focusing on how individuals grouped in organizations or companies make decisions about successfully running an entrepreneurial endeavor.

This course will start from discussing the elements of the Individual level of Strategy decision-making process, to then focus on the Business level.

In Business & Management, Strategy is fundamentally a quest for sustained superior performance compared to competitors.

Strategists working in either incumbent companies or startups ultimately and systematically aim at outperforming rivals, by creating and sustaining what is traditionally called a competitive advantage.

To achieve such overarching goal, they have to deeply analyze and understand the competitive environment their companies operate in, by investigating the factors responsible for their firm’s past performance and by spotting those changes (inside or outside the firm) that are most likely to enhance or hurt future performance.

This course addresses this reality head-on, by examining the fundamental conditions that enable a firm to conceive, formulate, and sustain a superior strategic position. In particular, we will focus on introducing the key theories, concepts, models and approaches strategist may leverage to perform:

  1. the analysis of the various external and environmental factors that impact the firm at a Business Strategy level, representing opportunities or threats;
  2. the assessment of a company’s internal sources of competitive advantage or disadvantage at a Business Strategy level, embodied in its strengths and weaknesses;
  3. the formulation and assessment of a Business Strategy to achieve and sustain competitive advantage at an industry level;
  4. the creation and evaluation of a firm’s Business portfolio at a Corporate Strategy level.

Total workload of the course: 25 hours 

This MOOC is provided by Politecnico di Milano.  

Intended Learning Outcomes

By actively participating in this MOOC, you will be able to:

  1. theoretically and operationally define the notions of Strategy, Tactics, Strategic decision and Tactical decision 

  1. recall how strategy should be formulated and planned on three distinct levels:  Corporate, Business and functional or operational 

  1. describe how to perform combined external and internal strategy analyses that converge in a SWOT Analysis 

  1. identify the Five Competitive Forces model and alternative models and approaches to assess a company’s competitive advantage    

  1. identify both cost drivers and sources of efficiency-based competitive advantage, and value drivers and sources of effectiveness-based competitive advantage 

  1. apply the value chain model  

  1. analyze a portfolio of Strategic Business Units and apply Corporate Portfolio matrixes to formulate a Corporate Strategy  

 

In broad terms, this MOOC helps you develop the Intended Learning Outcomes in the areas of ESCO Skills: business processes  business strategy concepts 

Prerequisites

No formal knowledge is required for this course.

Activities

Over and above consulting the content, in the form of videos and other web-based resources, you will have the opportunity to discuss course topics and to share ideas with your peers in the Forum of this MOOC. The forum of this MOOC is freely accessible and participation is not guided; you can use it to compare yourself with other participants, or to discuss course contents with them. 

Section outline

  • Additional resources

Assessment

Your final grade for the course will be based on the results of your answers to the assessed quizzes. You have an unlimited number of attempts at each quiz, but you must wait 15 minutes before you can try again. You will have successfully completed the course if you score a total of 60% (or higher) in each of the assessed quizzes.

The maximum score possible for each quiz is given at the beginning of the quiz. You can view your score in the quiz on your last attempt or on the 'Grades' page.

Certificate

You can achieve a certificate in the form of an Open Badge for this course, if you reach at least 60% of the total score in each one of the assessed quizzes and fill in the final survey. 

Once you have completed the required tasks, you will be able to access ‘Get the Open Badge’ and start issuing the badge. Instructions on how to access the badge will be sent to your e-mail address. 

The Badge does not confer any academic credit, grade or degree.  

Information about fees and access to materials

You can access the course absolutely free of charge and completely online.

Course faculty

Antonio Ghezzi

Antonio Ghezzi

Antonio Ghezzi, Ph.D., is currently Professor of Strategy & Marketing at the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano – Italy; Professor of Strategy & Startups and member of the core faculty at MIP – Graduate School of Business; and Research Head of the Hi-tech Startups Observatory - Digital Innovation Observatories. His main research field are Corporate and Business Strategy, Business Model Design & Innovation, Digital Strategy, Strategic Entrepreneurship and Incumbent-Startups strategic collaboration. He is author of more than 100 academic publications appearing in scientific journals (like the International Journal of Management Reviews, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, R&D Management and Management Decision), conference proceedings, books and book chapters. You can reach him on LinkedIn (Antonio Ghezzi – Politecnico di Milano) and Twitter (AntonioGhezzi83).

Contact details

If you have any enquiries about the course or if you need technical assistance please contact pok@polimi.it. For further information, see FAQ page.

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