Strategic Management

Participation Prerequisites

In this course, we will discuss essential theories and frameworks in strategic manage-ment and review the role of strategy-making in a world of surging uncertainty levels. Students will apply theoretical concepts in real-life business situations. We will use several case examples from the global sports and entertainment industry and translate implications into a broader business context. As a final step, students will develop a strategy for an organization of their choice as part of a group assignment.

Course Content

We will have three synchronous teaching units; each one will take three hours:

 • Theory of strategy & market diversification: first, we will reflect on the learnings from the Harvard Business School case on the “Bundesliga in the U.S.”. To enable a profound discussion, students are expected to have completed modules 1 & 2 as part of the asynchronous online teaching. Second, we will introduce the task for the team presentation (module 5) and introduce the stu-dent teams. Students will have the opportunity to clarify open questions before they start working on the task.

 • Product diversification: first, we will reflect on the learnings from the Harvard Business School case on “TSG Hoffenheim – football in the age of analytics”. To enable a profound discussion, students are expected to have completed module 3 as part of the asynchronous online teaching.

• Final presentations & strategy making in dynamic environments: each team will present the strategy they have developed followed by a Q&A. After-wards, we will quickly dive into the concepts of ambidexterity and dynamic ca-pabilities by reflecting on the learnings from the Harvard Business School case on “Die Mannschaft: How Germany Won the 2014 FIFA World Cup”. To enable a profound discussion, students are expected to have completed module 4 as part of the asynchronous online teaching. At the end, we will wrap up the learn-ings from the course in the plenary and answer questions regarding the final exam.

Intended Learning Outcomes and Competencies

With the help of the case study method, students will apply strategy-making tools and frameworks to real-life situations that business executives have faced. They will analyze the situation, decide on the best possible solution and defend their conclusions. We will advance their problem-solving skills as well as their ability to think and reason rigorously from a strategic management perspective. The teamwork will enable students to develop a tailored strategy for a company in an industry of interest.

Instruction Type

online

Form of Examination

Grading will be based on an interim (15%) and final group presentation (35%) and an individual final exam at the end of the course (50%).

Further details about the presen-tation (e.g., exact task, length, timing) will be communicated in the first synchronous teaching unit of the course. The final exam will relate to both theoretical constructs as well as learnings from the case studies.

Literature

It will be provided in the Moodle page.