COMM_V 491 - Strategic Management

Course Description

The main goal of this class is to help you answer common, yet difficult, questions: “How can a firm earn long-run profits?” and “what can a firm do to avoid having its profits eroded by the actions of its competitors and other market actors?” No equation, recipe or formula can universally answer the previous questions. There is, however, critical thinking, economic models, and rational judgment that we can use to understand the firms’ context and answer the question case by case. The aim of this course is to develop a flexible business strategy toolkit that can be applied to a broad range of practical problems. We place equal emphasis on understanding the underlying economic models and on the applications to real-world problems. At the end of the course, students should be able to recognise and categorise major strategic problems, and suggest how the participants can change the market to their advantage.

Responsible Business Content

This course addresses responsible business and sustainable development through real-world case studies that provide opportunities to apply analytical frameworks and decision-making techniques across a variety of industries and contexts. Topics include fair trade practices and responsible supply chain (Responsible Consumption and Production); worker compensation and its impact on organizational culture (Decent Work and Economic Growth); and R&D and entrepreneurship (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure).

Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will:

• Critically evaluate financial statements to identify underlying assumptions, risks, and strategic implications.
• Navigate ambiguity in cross-functional team environments by applying evidence-based frameworks for collaboration and conflict resolution.
• Construct and defend ethical business strategies that balance competing stakeholder interests and organizational values.
• Translate complex technical and quantitative findings into clear, credible, and actionable insights for non-specialist audiences.
• Assess the organizational and societal implications of business decisions across diverse economic and cultural contexts.
• Integrate competing theoretical perspectives to develop original, well-reasoned positions on complex business problems.