Business Management Strategy and Policy

Course Description:

This is a capstone course for MBA students.
An in-depth study of general management functions as organizations adapt to the global environment, this course emphasizes environmental characteristics that make strategic management critical to organizational success, including assessment of organizational strategies, creating competitive advantages, anticipating competitive dynamics, sustaining superior performance, choosing corporate scope, and developing global strategies. The course emphasizes mapping, game theory, value chain analysis, The Resource Base Model, diversification through vertical integration, the CAGE distance framework, and the Gravity Equation.
Course Prerequisites:
Textbook:
Strategic Management 5E, by Frank T. Rothaermel, McGraw Hill, ISBN 978-1-260-26128-8. This book is also available embedded in your course platform in Blackboard.
MBA Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
PLO 1 Evaluate financial statements and quantitative information for decision-making using appropriate information systems and tools
PLO 2
Analyze the competitive environment employing both external and internal factor analysis and apply appropriate organizational strategies, emphasizing the practice of ethical decisions and actions.
PLO 3 Create and communicate business plans and reports efficiently and compellingly, orally and in written form.
PLO4
Design solutions to logistical and operational problems using critical-thinking skills and innovative approaches to generating alternatives.
PLO5
Assess the global business environment and generate alternatives for companies to succeed in different countries and cultures.
COURSE AGENDA
Week 1 Introduction / Internal/External Analysis

1. Respond to discussion board Week 1: Please review one or two of your favorite companies and find out what their vision and mission statements are, and discuss how they are related to what you learned this week and what you would change, if any, to improve them. Please avoid big names like Amazon, Walmart, Apple, Starbucks, etc., and concentrate more on your favorite shop in your neighborhood, a small business you like, your family business, or your favorite restaurant, etc. Be specific and cite your sources in APA format.
2. Write and submit the Wall Street Journal report for Week 1 and include a small business example/application.
3. Reading assignments:
   Chapter 1: What is Strategy?
   Chapter 2: Strategic Leadership
   Chapter 3: External Analysis
   Chapter 4: Internal Analysis
   WSJ Article Report
   For weeks 1 to 3 of this course, students will do a weekly report from an article in the Wall Street Journal, not more than one-year-old, and related to the content for each week. It will be 1-2 pages long and 1.5-spaced, in which students will do a composition about what they learned from the article. Original work is expected, and no errors will be admitted. References are required. The professor will be posting the WSJ Week in Review. If you find the article interesting, you can use it for your weekly report.