Fundamentals of Strategy
Fundamentals of Strategy
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 seriesCourse 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:
- the analysis of the various external and environmental factors that impact the firm at a Business Strategy level, representing opportunities or threats;
- the assessment of a company’s internal sources of competitive advantage or disadvantage at a Business Strategy level, embodied in its strengths and weaknesses;
- the formulation and assessment of a Business Strategy to achieve and sustain competitive advantage at an industry level;
- the creation and evaluation of a firm’s Business portfolio at a Corporate Strategy level.
Intended Learning Outcomes
Prerequisites
No formal knowledge is required.
Activities
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.
Topic outline
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- Concepts of strategic decision, strategy and tactics
- Three levels of Strategy: Corporate, Business and Functional/Operational
- Notion of value and competitive advantage
- Strategy formulation at a Business level
- Concepts of vision, mission and strategic objectives
- Concept of strategy analysis, the generation of strategic alternatives and the strategic decision-making process
- Traditional concepts of Business Area and Strategic Business Unit
- SWOT Analysis
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- External strategy analysis at a Business level
- Opportunities, threats and industry attractiveness
- Five Competitive Forces model
- External strategy analysis at a Business level
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- Internal strategy analysis at a Business level
- Strengths, weaknesses and competitive advantage
- Value chain model
- Generic strategies at a Business level
- Internal strategy analysis at a Business level
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- Strategy formulation at a Corporate level
- Diversification strategies
- Corporate competitive advantage
- Corporate portfolio matrixes
- BCG Matrix
- GE-McKinsey Matrix
- Strategy formulation at a Corporate level
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Assessment
Your final grade for the course will be based on the results of your answers to the graded 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 achieve 60% (or more) of the total score in each quiz. 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 must be registered in POK through Politecnico di Milano personal account to obtain the Certificate of Accomplishment. It will be released to anyone who successfully completed the course by achieving at least 60% of the total score in each one of the graded quizzes and filling the final survey. You will be able to download the Certificate of Accomplishment directly from Politecnico di Milano web services. The Certificate of Accomplishment 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, 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.