Syllabus Outline
NBS8078
Strategy for Managers
2015-16
1
Module aims and learning outcomes
Aims:
 To provide students with an introductory appreciation of the formulation and
implementation of business strategy.
 To focus attention on the way in which strategic decisions are made and the
influencing factors.
 To provide students with a critical understanding of various models of
strategic management.
 To provide students with the necessary skills to critically evaluate the
corporate and business level strategies of an organisation, to reflect on
research conducted on the subject and to prepare students for the subsequent
module on International Business Strategy.
Summary:
This module provides a foundation for students who will go on to take a course in
International Business Strategy. It enables students to understand the nature of
business strategy, and the processes and techniques involved and employed in the
formulation and implementation of business strategy. The module thus provides
students with the necessary skills to critically evaluate the corporate and business
level strategies of an organisation, and to reflect on research conducted thereon.
Staff Contacts
Module Leader: Dr Tom McGovern
Email:
tom.mcgovern@ncl.ac.uk
Lecture Timetable [9 sessions]
Time:
Venue:
Date:
9.30-11.30am
NUBS Room 4.08.
Friday, 9 October 2015
Friday, 16 October 2015
Friday, 23 October 2015
Friday, 30 October 2015
Friday, 6 November 2015
Friday, 13 November 2015
Friday, 20 November 2015
Friday, 27 November 2015
Friday, 4 December 2015
Seminars
Time:
Venue
Date:
1.30-3.30pm and 5.30-6.00pm
NUBS Room 3.06
Tuesday, 8 December 2015
Students will be organised into groups of 20 for the seminars.
2
Attendance
Students are expected to attend and to do preparatory reading for all sessions.
Students are expected to arrive at lectures on time.
Assessment
100% examination at the end of the First Semester. The assessment method ensures
that students have the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the
fundamental ideas and common techniques associated with the practice of business
strategy. The exam paper is 2 hours. Students will be required to answer 2 questions
from a choice of 6.
Marking criteria
As per relevant business/management degree programme handbooks.
Principal Texts
Essential Text Book
Clegg C, Carter C, Kornberger M and Schweitzer J (2011) Strategy: Theory &
Practice, Sage.
Recommended
Mintzberg H, Lampel J, Quinn J B and Ghoshal S (2003) The Strategy Process,
Concepts Contexts Cases, Fourth Edition, Prentice Hall.
Mintzberg H, Ahlstrand B and Lampel J (2008) Strategy Safari, 2nd Edition Prentice
Hall.
3
Course Outline
Friday, 9 October
Introduction to Strategy (1)
Friday, 16 October
Introduction to Strategy (2)
Friday, 23 October
Porterian Strategy
Friday, 30 October
Mixed Strategies
Friday, 6 November
Resource Based View
Friday, 13 November
Strategic Decision-Making
Friday, 20 November
Power and Politics
Friday, 27 November
Cooperative Strategies
Friday, 4 December
Organisational Decline and Turnaround Strategies
Revision
4
Module Schedule
Readings labelled ‘*’ Indicates core reading
Session 1. Introduction to Strategy
Principal and recommended books
Clegg et al, Chapters 1 and 4.
Mintzberg H Ahlstrand B and J. Lampel, Chapters 1-3
The following articles from Mintzberg H, Lampel J, Quinn J B and Ghoshal S, The
Strategy Process:
*Mintzberg H, Five Ps for strategy, pp 3-9.
*Mintzberg H, Crafting Strategy, pp 141-48.
*Quinn J B, Logical incrementalism, pp 183-88.
Articles
*Ansoff H I (1991) Critique of Henry Mintzberg's The Design School: Reconsidering
the basic premises of strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 12(6):
449-61.
Ansoff H I (1994) Comment on Henry Mintzberg's rethinking strategic planning.
Long Range Planning, 27(3): 31-2.
Brews PJ and Hunt MR (1999) Learning to plan and planning to learn: Resolving the
planning/learning school debate. Strategic Management Journal, 20(10):889-913.
Goold M (1992) Design, Learning and Planning: A further observation on the Design
School debate. Strategic Management Journal, 13(2): 169-70.
*Hamel G (1996) Strategy as revolution. Harvard Business Review, 74(4): 69-82.
*Jarzabkowski P and Kaplan S (2015) Strategy tools-in-use: a framework for
understanding “technologies of rationality” in practice. Strategic Management
Journal, 36(4): 537-558.
*Mintzberg H and Waters J A (1985) Of strategies deliberate and emergent.
Strategic Management Journal, 6(3): 257-272.
*Mintzberg H (1990) The Design School: Reconsidering the basic premise of
Strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 11(3): 171-95.
Mintzberg H (1991) Learning 1, Planning 0 reply to Igor Ansoff. Strategic
Management Journal, 12(6): 463-66.
5
*Mintzberg H (1994) Rethinking strategic planning. Part 1: Pitfalls and Fallacies.
Long Range Planning, 27(3): 12-21.
*Mintzberg H (1994) Rethinking strategic planning. Part 2: New roles for planners.
Long Range Planning, 27(3): 22-30.
Mintzberg, H. and Lampel, J. (1999) Reflecting on the Strategy Process. Sloan
Management Review, 40(3) 21-30.
*Porter M E (1996) What is Strategy? Harvard Business Review, 74(6): 61-78.
Wiltbank R, Dew N, Read S and Sarasvathy SD (2006) What to do next? The case for
non-predictive strategy. Strategic Management Journal, 27(10): 981-998.
Session 2. Porterian Strategy
Clegg et al, Chapter 2.
*Porter M E (1980) Competitive Strategy. The Free Press, Chapters 2 and 7.
*Porter M E (1996) What is Strategy? Harvard Business Review, 74(6): 61-78.
Session 3. Mixed Strategies
Case Study: The IKEA approach (to be provided)
Principal and recommended books
The following article from Mintzberg H, Lampel J, Quinn J B and Ghoshal S:
*Mintzberg H, A Guide to strategic positioning, pp 127-38.
Articles
Faulkner D and Bowman C (1992 ) Generic strategies and congruent organisational
structures: Some suggestions. European Management Journal, 10(4): 494–500.
Leitner K and Gűldenberg S (2010) Generic strategies and firm performance in
SMEs: a longitudinal study of Austrian SMEs. Small Business Economics, 35:169–
189.
*Hendry J (1990) The problem with Porter’s generic strategies. European
Management Journal, 8(4): 443-50.
6
*Hill C W (1988) Differentiation versus low cost or differentiation and low cost: a
contingency framework. Academy of Management Review, 13(3): 401-12.
Mathur S S (1988) How firms compete: a new classification of generic strategies.
Journal of General Management, 14(1): 30-57.
Miller A and Dess G G (1993) Assessing Porter's (1980) model in terms of its
generalizability, accuracy and simplicity. Journal of Management Studies, 30(4): 55385.
Miller D (1988) Relating Porter's business strategies to environment and structure:
analysis and performance implications. Academy of Management Journal, 31(2): 280308.
*Miller D (1992) The generic study trap. Journal of Business Strategy, 13(1): 3741.
*Sharp B and Dawes J (2001) What is differentiation and how does it work? Journal
of Marketing Management, 17(7/8): 739-59.
White R E (1986) Generic business strategies, organisational context and
performance: an empirical investigation. Strategic Management Journal, 7(3): 21731.
7
Session 4. Resource Based View
Case Studies: The Formula 1 constructors (to be provided).
The Formula 1 constructors: capabilities for success (to be
provided)
Principal and recommended books
Clegg et al, Chapter 3.
Articles
Arend AJ and Lévesque M (2010) Is the resource-based view a practical
organizational theory? Organization Science 21(4): 913–930.
*Barney JB (1991) Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage, Journal of
Management. 17(1): 99–120.
*Barney J B (1995) Looking inside for competitive advantage. Academy of
Management Executive, 9(4): 49–61.
*Collis D J, and Montgomery C A (1995) Competing on Resources: Strategy in the
1990’s. Harvard Business Review, 73(4): 118-28.
*Grant R M (1991) The resource-based theory of competitive advantage: implications
for strategy formulation. California Management Review, 33(3): 114-35.
*Hamel G and Prahalad C K (1994) Competing for the future. Harvard Business
Review, 72(4): 122-28.
*Helfat C E (ed) (2000) The Evolution of Firm Capabilities. Special Issue Strategic
Management Journal, 21(10/11), 2000 (a selection of very good articles).
*Helfat C E and Peteraf M A (2015) Managerial Cognitive Capabilities and the
microfoundations of dynamic capabilities. Strategic Management Journal, 36(6): 831850.
*Hoopes D G, Madsen T L and Walker G (eds) (2003) Why is there a resource-based
view? Toward a theory of competitive heterogeneity. Special issue Strategic
Management Journal, 24(10) (a selection of very good articles).
Kraaijenbrink J, Spender JC and Groen AJ (2010) The resource-based view: A review
and assessment of its critiques. Journal of Management, 36(1): 349-372.
Lavie D (2006) The competitive advantage of interconnected firms: an extension of
the resource-based view. Academy of Management Review, 31(3): 638-658.
8
MacLean D, MacIntosh R and Seidl D (2015) Rethinking dynamic capabilities from a
creative action perspective. Strategic Organization available online.
*Peteraf M (1993) The cornerstones of competitive advantage: a resource base view.
Strategic Management Journal, 14(3): 179-91.
*Prahalad C K and Hamel G (1990) The core competence of the corporation. Harvard
Business Review, 68(3): 79-91
Priem R and Butler J (2001) Is the resource-based ‘view’ a useful perspective for
strategic management research. Academy of Management Review, 26(1): 22-40.
Rindova VP and Fombrun CJ (1999) Constructing competitive advantage: The role
of firm – constituent interactions. Strategic Management Journal, 20(8): 691–710.
Teece DJ (2007) Explicating dynamic capabilities: The nature and microfoundations
of (sustainable) enterprise performance. Strategic Management Journal, 28(13):
1319-50.
*Teece D, Pisarri G and Shuen (1997) Dynamic capabilities and strategic
Management. Strategic Management Journal, 18(7): 509–33.
Wernerfelt B (1984) A resource-based view of the firm. Strategic Management
Journal, 5(2): 171-80.
Session 5. Strategic Decision-making
Clegg et al, Chapter 8
Case Studies: United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 (pp. 290-92);
Deciding Nuclear Armageddon (pp. 268-70).
Allison, G.T. (1969) Conceptual models and the Cuban missile crisis. American
Political Science Review, 63(3), 689-718.
*Cohen, D.M., March, J.G. and Olsen, J.P. (1972) A garbage can model of
organizational choice. Administrative Science Quarterly, 17(1), 1-25.
Eisenhardt, K.M. (1999) Strategy as strategic decision making. Sloan Management
Review, 40(30), 65-72.
*Lindblom, C.E (1959) The science of ‘muddling through’. Public Administration
Review, 19(2), 79-88.
Lindblom, C.E. (1979) Still muddling, not yet through. Public Administration Review,
39(6), 517-526.
Nutt, P. (1999) Surprising but true: Half the decisions in organizations fail. Academy
of Management Executive, 13(4), 75-90.
9
Pettigrew, A.M. (1972) Information control as a power resource. Sociology, 6(2), 187204.
Simon, H.A. (1997). Models of Bounded Rationality: Empirically Grounded
Economic Reason. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
*Starbuck A (1983) Organizations as Action Generators. American Sociological
Review, 48 (February): 91-102)
Staw, B.M. (1981) The escalation of commitment to a course of action. Academy of
Management Review, 6(4), 577-587.
*Vaughan, D. (1997) The Trickle-Down Effect: Policy Decisions, Risky Work, and
the Challenger Tragedy. California Management Review, 39(Winter): 1-23.
Session 6. Power & Politics
Clegg et al Chapter 9
Case Study: The Tobacco Firms (to be provided)
*Bachrach P and Baratz M (1962) The Two faces of Power. The American Political
Science Review, 56(4): 947-952
*Carter C, Clegg S, Kornberger M (2010) Re-framing Strategy: Power, Politics and
Accounting. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 23(5): 573-593.
Crenson, M.A. (1971) The Un-Politics of Air Pollution: A Study of Non-Decision
making in the Cities. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins Press.
Dahl, R.A. (1961) Who Governs? Democracy and Power in an American City. New
Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
*Fleming P and Spicer A (2014) Power in Management and organization Science.
Academy of Management Annals, 8(1): 237-298.
Hardy C and Thomas R (2014) Strategy, discourse and practice: the intensification of
power. Journal of management Studies, 51(2): 320-348.
Lukes, S. (2005) Power: A Radical View, Second Edition. Palgrave Macmillan.
Mitsuhashi, H. and Greve, H.R. (2004) Powerful and free: Intraorganizational power
and the dynamics of corporate strategy. Strategic Organization, 2(2), 107-132.
*Pettigrew, A. M. (1979) On studying organizational cultures. Administrative Science
Quarterly, 24, 570-581.
10
Session 7. Cooperative Strategies
Clegg et al Chapter 10
Case Study: The Renault-Nissan Alliance (to be provided)
Annan B N and Khanna T (2000) Do firms learn to create value in alliances?
Strategic Management Journal, 21(3): 295-315.
*Buckley P J and Glaister W K (1996) Strategic motives for UK international alliance
formation. Journal of Management Studies, 33(3): 301-32.
*Child J and Yan Y (2003) Predicting the performance of international joint ventures:
an investigation in China. Journal of Management Studies, 40(2): 283-320.
*Choi C-B and Beamish P W (2004) Split management control and international joint
venture performance. Journal of International Business Studies, 35(3): 201-15.
Dyer J H, Kale P and Singh H (2001) How to make alliances work. Sloan
Management Review, 42(4): 37-43.
*Hamel G (1991) Competition for competence and inter-partner learning within
international strategic alliances. Strategic Management Journal, 12: 83-103.
Hitt A M, Ahlstrom D, Dacin T M, Levitas E and Svobina L (2004) The institutional
effects on strategic alliance partner selection in transition economies: China vs Russia.
Organization Science, 15(2): 173-85.
*Inkpen A C and Currall S C (2004) The coevolution of trust, control and learning in
joint ventures. Organization Science, 15(5): 586-99.
*Kanter M R (1989) Becoming PALS: pooling, allying and linking across companies.
Academy of Management Executive, 3(3): 183-193.
*Kogut B (1988) Joint ventures: theoretical and empirical perspectives, Strategic
Management Journal, 9: 319-32.
Merchant H and Schendel D (2000) How do international joint ventures create
shareholder value? Strategic Management Journal, 21(7): 723 – 737.
Shi W, Sun SL, Pinkham BC and Peng MW (2014) Domestic alliance network to
attract foreign partners: Evidence from international joint ventures in China. Journal
of International Business Studies 45(3): 338–362
Yao Z, Yang Z, Fisher GJ, Mac C and Fang E (2013) Knowledge complementarity,
knowledge absorption effectiveness, and new product performance: The exploration
of international joint ventures in China. International Business Review, 22(1): 216–
227.
11
Simonin B L (2004) An empirical investigation of the process of knowledge transfer
in international strategic alliances. International Journal of Business Studies, 35(5):
407-27.
Session 8. Organisational Decline and Turnaround Strategies
Case Studies: Marks & Spencer, 1990-2001: Boardroom Battles (pp. 251-258);
Marks and Spencer: where next for the icon of British retailing (to be provided);
Marks & Spencer: is this as good as it gets (to be provided)
Articles: Organisational Decline and Failure
Chen G (2014) Initial compensation of new CEOs hired in turnaround situations.
Strategic Management Journal, available online prior to publication.
*Hambrick D C and D’Aveni R A (1988) Large corporate failures as downward
spirals. Administrative Science Quarterly, 33(1): 1-23.
*Hannah L (1999) Marshall’s ‘trees’ and the global ‘forest’: were ‘giant redwoods’
different. In Learning by Doing in Markets, Firms and Countries, edited by N R
Lamoreaux, DMG Raff and P Temin. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 25386.
Hannan M T and Freeman J (1977) The population ecology of organizations.
American Journal of Sociology, 82(5): 929-64.
*Hannan M T and Freeman J (1984) Structural inertia and organizational change.
American Sociological Review, 49(2): 149-64.
Kroll M J, Toombs L A and Wright P (2000) Napoleon’s tragic march home from
Moscow: lessons in hubris. Academy of Management Executive, 14(1): 117-28.
*Maccoby, Michael (2000) Narcissistic leaders: the incredible pros, the inevitable
cons. Harvard Business Review, 78(1): 69-77.
*McGovern T (2007) Why do successful firms fail? A case study of the decline of
Dunlop. Business History, 49(6): 886-907.
McGovern T (2011) The decline of the British tyre industry: An evaluation of the
policies of the Tyre Industry Sector Working Party. Business History, 53(4): 600-616.
*McKinley W, Latham S and Braun M (2014) Organizational decline and innovation:
turnarounds and downward spirals. Academy of Management Review, 39(1): 88-110.
*Mellahi K P, Jackson P and Sparks L (2002) An exploratory study into failure in
successful organizations: the case of Marks and Spencer. British Journal of
Management , 13(1): 15-29.
12
Mellahi K and Wilkinson A (2004) Organizational failure: a critique of recent
research and a proposed integrative framework. International Journal of Management
Review, 5/6(1): 21-41.
Meyer A D (1982) Adapting to environmental jolts. Administrative Science
Quarterly, 27(4): 515-37.
Mone M A, McKinley W and Barker V L (1998) Organizational decline and
innovation: a contingency framework. Academy of Management Review, 23(1): 115132.
Probst G and Raisch S (2005) Organizational crisis: the logic of failure. Academy of
Management Executive, 19(1): 90-105.
Ranft A L and O’Neill H M (2001) Board composition and high-flying founders:
hints of trouble to come? Academy of Management Executive, 15(1): 126-38.
Staw B M (1981) The escalation of commitment to a course of action. Academy of
Management Review, 6(4): 577-87
*Sull D N (1999) Why good companies go bad. Harvard Business Review, 77(4): 4252.
Tangpong C, Abebe M and Li Z (2015) A temporal approach to retrenchment and
successful turnaround in declining firms. Journal of Management Studies, 52(5): 647677.
Trahms CA, Ndofor HA and Sirmon DG (2013) Organizational decline and
turnaround: A review and agenda for future research. Journal of Management, 39(5):
1277-1307.
Articles: Turnaround Strategies:
*Barker V L III and Mone M A (1994) Retrenchment: cause of turnaround or
consequence of decline. Strategic Management Journal, 15(5): 395-405.
*Barker III V L and Dunhaime I M (1997) Strategic change in the turnaround process:
theory and empirical evidence. Strategic Management Journal, 18(1): 13-38.
*Barker III VL, Vincent L Patterson Jr, Paul W and Mueller G C (2001)
Organisational causes and strategic consequences of the extent of top management
team replacement during turnaround attempts. Journal of Management Studies,
38(4): 235-70.
Balgobin R and Naresh P (2001) Stages in the turnaround process: the case of IBM
UK. European Management Journal, 19(3): 301-16.
Bruton G D, Ahlstrom D and Wan J C C (2001) Turnaround success of large and
Midsize Chinese owned firms: evidence from Hong Kong and Thailand. Journal of
World Business, 36(2): 146-65.
13
Bruton G D, Ahlstrom D and Wan J C C (2003) Turnaround in East Asian firms:
evidence from ethnic overseas Chinese communities. Strategic Management Journal,
24(6): 519-40.
Filatotchev I and Toms S (2006) Corporate governance and financial constraints on
strategic turnarounds. Journal of Management Studies, 43(3): 407-33.
*Hambrick D C and Schecter S M (1983) Turnaround strategies for mature industrialproduct business units. Academy of Management Journal, 26(2): 231-48.
*Harrigan K R and Porter M E (1983) End-game strategies for declining industries.
Harvard Business Review, 61(4): 111-21.
*Hofer C W (1980) Turnaround Strategies. The Journal of Business Strategy, 1(1):
19-31.
Lohrke F T, Bedeian A G and Palmer T B (2004) The role of top management teams
in formulating and implementing turnaround strategies: a review and research agenda.
International Journal of Management Reviews, 5/6(2): 63-90.
McKinley W, Latham, S and Braun, M (2014) Organizational decline and innovation:
turnarounds and downward spirals. Academy of Management Review, 39(1): 88–110.
Ndofor HA, Vanevenhoven J and Barker III V L (2013) Software firm turnarounds in
the 1990s: an analysis of reversing decline in a growing dynamic industry. Strategic
Management Journal, 34(9): 1123–1133
*Pearce J A and Robbins D K (1992) Turnaround: retrenchment and recovery.
Strategic Management Journal, 13(4): 287-309.
*Robbins D K and Pearce J A (1994) Retrenchment remains the foundation of
business turnaround. Strategic Management Journal, 15(5): 407-17.
Sudarsanam S and Lai J (2001) Corporate financial distress and turnaround strategies:
an empirical analysis. British Journal of Management, 12(3): 183-99.
Session: Revision
14