Slide 1.1
WELCOME TO BUSINESS STRATEGY
Slide 2.2
COURSE INTRO
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INTRODUCTIONS
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AIM & CONTENT OF THE COURSE
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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
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TEACHNING & EXAM
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TEXT BOOK
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SCHEDULE
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GROUPS
Slide 2.3
INTRODUCTIONS
• ME?
• Gert Mortensen
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M.Sc. (Econ.), CBS, 1986
MBA, SDA Bocconi, 1993
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IT industry
Strategy consulting
Dot com - venture
Corporate Finance, M&A and IPOs
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1996 - 2025
• Investment Co, Swiss commercial properties
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since 2026
External lecturer CBS
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since 2002
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gmm.si@cbs.dk
plus
Now YOU !
Slide 2.4
AIM & CONTENT
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Inspire you
Give you the desire to start yourself
Be concrete and specific enough so that you can actually begin
No crystal ball! Only hard work!
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A STRATEGY TOOLBOX
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MAIN ELEMENTS OF DOING STRATEGY
VERY STRUCTURED APPROACH
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Slide 2.5
AIM & CONTENT
FACT-BASED
STRATEGIC THINKING, DECISIONMAKING & IMPLEMENTATION
Slide 2.6
AIM & CONTENT
10 PRINCIPLES OF DOING STRATEGY
1. Strategy is first and foremost about trade-offs ✅ (klassisk og meget strategisk korrekt) meaning
deliberate choices of what not to do; deliberate exclusion; strategic focus through
exclusion; saying no. (FRAVALG) . Most companies try to do too much. The best ones dare to
choose what to leave out and stick to it—even when it hurts.
2. Many strategy processes don’t fail in the meeting room. They fail in the analysis. If the
foundation is weak, you build a shiny strategy on shaky ground. Make sure your analysis is solid.
3. If the strategy cannot be understood across the entire organization, it isn’t good enough. It is
crucial that it gets out of management’s heads and reaches the employees.
4. Strategy without concrete actions is wishful thinking (daydream). Vision and direction are
necessary, but without action plans, ownership, and deadlines, nothing happens. Concrete actions
without a strategy is chaos (nightmare).
5. The owner-manager’s ambitions and preferences matter more than most strategy models. I’ve
seen perfect analyses fail because they didn’t account for the owner-manager’s reality.
6. The best strategy processes actively involve customers and the market. Interviews, data, and
market insight provide a completely different foundation—and far better decisions—than gut feeling
ever can.
7. Strategy without prioritization is just a long wish list. When everything is important, nothing is
important. Winning companies have learned to focus resources and energy on what truly makes a
difference.
8. Strategy only becomes truly interesting when it shapes daily decisions, priorities, and
conversations. Otherwise, it’s just a seminar exercise.
9. The best strategies are often simpler than you think. Complexity adds no value. A clear, simple
strategy that everyone understands and believes in beats a clever one no one can remember.
10. The common thread from analysis → strategic intention → execution is everything. If it’s
missing, the strategy is missing.
Source: Vinderstrategi®.
Slide 2.7
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• demonstrate general knowledge about strategy as a discipline or academic
field of study and a realm of corporate or organizational practice
• account for the elements of strategic management and strategy
development
• account for and apply relevant strategic analytical frameworks and concepts
in relation to given situations
• to select and prioritize among the frameworks and concepts applying the
most relevant
• ability to critically analyze theoretical and/or practice oriented strategic
challenges, in particular the ones relevant to internationally oriented
organizations
Slide 2.8
TEACHING & EXAM
Lectures
• Case presentations & discussions
Exam
• 24h home assignment
Slide 2.9
TEXT BOOK
•Exploring Strategy
•Text & Cases
•Thirteenth (13.) Edition, 2023
(Pearson)
•Gerry Johnson, Richard Whittington,
Kevan Scholes, Duncan Angwin,
Patrick Regnér
•Plus selected cases (HO)
Slide 2.10
SCHEDULE
Slide 2.11
GROUPS!
What?
In class the presenting group will in 20 to 30 minutes
give
• a brief overview of the company: type of company,
products & markets, size and structure etc. (max. 2
slides)
• a brief update on the company based on recent news
and events from their website, news media etc. (max
1 slide)
• a presentation of the groups findings in relation to the
assigments for the case (use the relevant
concepts/framework/models provided by the relevant
chapters of the textbook)
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follow the assignments as described in the case
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write down key points from the feedback given after
the presentation and collect these in a slide or two to be send to me together with the presentation
Each individual student not being a member of the
presenting group will likewise read and prepare on an
individual basis to participate in discussing and
evaluating
How?
• 6 groups
• Ca. 4-6 members
• Self sign-up in
CANVAS
Why?
• Outstanding chance!
• Academic reference
& recommendation?
0
