Strategic Management
University of Southern California
Marshall School of Business
Food Industry Management Program
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
Spring 2013
Professor:
Office:
Phones:
Carl W. Voigt, Ph.D.
Bridge Hall 303-F
USC Office: (213) 740-0764
Mobile: (213) 446-1753
Email:
cvoigt@marshall.usc.edu
Office Hours: By appointment. I am always in my office before 7:00 am, everyday!
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to introduce the concepts, tools, and first principles of strategy formulation and competitive
analysis. It is concerned with managerial decisions and actions that materially affect the success and survival of
business enterprises. The course focuses on the information, analyses, organizational processes, and skills and
business judgment managers must use to craft strategies, position their businesses and assets, and define firm
boundaries, so as to maximize long-term profits in the face of uncertainty and competition.
Strategic Management is an integrative and interdisciplinary course in two important respects:
 First, it assumes a broad view of the environment that includes buyers/consumers, suppliers, technology,
economics, capital markets, competitors, government, and global forces. And it assumes that the external
environment is dynamic and characterized by uncertain changes. Additionally, it presumes that a critical time
consuming strategic task of executives is to cope with competition. Understanding the nature of competition,
now and in the future, is crucial to effective strategic decision making.
 Second, the course takes a general management perspective. It views the firm as a whole, and examines how
policies in each functional area can be integrated into an overall competitive strategy. In studying strategy, this
course draws together and builds on all the ideas, concepts, and theories from your functional courses such as
Accounting, Economics, Finance, Marketing, Organizational Behavior, and Statistics. This course, however, is
much more than a mere integration of the functional specialties within a firm. It has been designed to develop
among participants the “general management point of view”. The best vantage point, in fact the only valid
vantage point, for making decisions that effect long run business performance is the general manager's point of
view. The key strategic business decisions of concern in this course involve determining and shaping
organizational purpose to evolving opportunities, creating competitive advantages, choosing competitive
strategies, securing and defending sustainable market positions, and allocating critical resources over relatively
long periods of time in pursuit of specific goals and objectives. Decisions such as these can only be can only be
made effectively by viewing a firm holistically, and over the long term.
This course is intended to help you develop skills for formulating strategy. These skills are in demand by all
employers and will help you in whatever career you pursue after graduation. The strategy process demands the
mastery of a body of analytical tools and the ability to take an integrative point of view. You will develop these
skills through:
 In-depth analysis of industries and competitors
 Prediction of competitive behavior
 Techniques for analyzing how firms can develop and sustain competitive advantages over time
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EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
Theory and Concepts. The central concept of this course is that of competitive strategy. Definitions abound, but
they all share some sense of the allocation of critical resources over relatively long periods of time in pursuit of
specific goals and objectives. Successful strategies exploit external conditions, entrepreneurial insights, and internal
resources, seeking configurations of prices, preferences, technologies, and information that offer opportunities for
sustainable competitive advantage. Strategy can be usefully thought of as the comprehensive alignment of an
organization with its future environment.
Success, however, depends not only on the soundness of the strategy, but also on its effective implementation
through appropriate organizational and administrative choices. In the end, unforeseen external factors may cause a
well-conceived and executed strategy to fail, in spite of its initial wisdom -- but a poor strategy badly executed
increases the chances of failure. Opportunities to act strategically occur infrequently. If missed, or mismanaged,
they can prove disastrous for any firm.
Understanding the concept of competitive strategy formulation is a primary educational objective of this course.
This will involve mastering an array of economic, strategic, and organizational concepts and theories, and acquiring
an integrative general manager’s point of view. The course will cover theories for in-depth industry and competitor
analysis, for anticipating and predicting future industry developments, and for examining the impact of change (in
technologies, tastes, government regulations, global competition, and other important environmental forces) on
competition and industry evolution. The course will also examine the economic underpinnings of competitive
advantages, and the fundamental conditions that allow firms to conceive, develop, and sustain, advantageous
strategic positions. While our primary focus will be on mastering strategy formulation at the business unit or
competitive level, the course will also examine corporate and global strategy issues such as diversification, vertical
integration, economies of scope across related businesses, the transfer of technology and core competencies, and
international expansion and growth.
Analytical Skills. Theoretical concepts are a great aid to understanding, but by themselves they do not help
resolve real business problems or challenges. Also needed are analytical skills and techniques that can be applied to
the data to "fill in" the facts and premises assumed in the theories. A second educational objective is to further
increase each student’s inventory of useful analytical skills and tools. Some of the tools are quantitative -- analyzing
financial statements, computing comparative buyer costs, and calculating the effects of scale and learning on
production costs, for example -- while others are more qualitative. Learning how to apply these techniques, and,
more importantly, when to apply them is a key objective of the course.
In learning to size-up a business and its problems or opportunities, this course will allow you experience in
conducting "full blown" strategic analyses. That is, identifying firms’ strategies and testing them for consistency,
recognizing potential entrepreneurial opportunities and strategic challenges/problems, selecting and establishing
competitively protected market niches, identifying competitive advantages and shaping defenses to circumvent the
advantages of rivals, formulating and implementing internally consistent business strategies, and designing efficient
and effective organizations.
Rhetorical Skills. The best analysis in the world will have little effect if it cannot be communicated to others.
Managers must be able to articulate their views coherently and persuasively, and they must be skilled at
understanding and critiquing other points of view. Management is a "verbal sport;" perhaps 90% of a typical
manager's day is consumed by oral communication. Time is often scarce. You must learn to make convincing
arguments and to make them quickly, or the merits of their ideas are likely to become simply irrelevant. This skill
takes practice, and we will place a great deal of emphasis on it in class.
Wisdom. Much of the knowledge that successful managers and consultants employ consists of "rules of thumb"
about what issues are likely to be important in certain kinds of business situations. These rules of thumb, or
heuristics, are often implicit in the thinking of people who have never bothered to articulate them explicitly. A
fourth goal of this course is to help you build up your set of useful "stories" and heuristics for your future managerial
careers.
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In this course we are as much interested in developing an appreciation for the art of management as we are in
understanding the science of management. Tools alone will not a strategist make. While the ability to master
analytical models, frameworks, and tools is essential, ultimate success is more strongly predicated on prescient
judgment, entrepreneurial insight, iconoclastic vision, and a willingness to forcefully act with conviction.
COURSE FORMAT AND THE CASE DISCUSSION METHOD
In order to achieve the objectives of the course, we will devote the majority of our class time to the analysis and
discussion of selected management, competitive strategy, and business policy cases. Occasional lectures will be
given to elaborate on key theoretical models and frameworks or to reinforce crucial concepts. These lectures,
however, will be subordinate to the case analysis. Cases provide a natural "test-bed" for theory and provide vivid
examples that aid memory of concepts. While nothing can surpass first hand personal industry and managerial
experience as a basis for analysis and decision-making, case analysis is an indispensable proxy for the kind of
knowledge that can only be gained through years of experience and research. A mix of old and new business cases
has been selected on a range of companies from a variety of industry settings. Each case is intended to teach us
something specific, yet each can teach many things. We will not attempt to exhaust each case of all its learning
experiences, but rather build up a "war chest" of analytical tools, skills and insights, progressively over all the
selected cases.
There are other reasons for employing the case discussion method of instruction. First, it allows you to develop
skills at problem definition in addition to problem solving. Cases typically do not have an obvious set of tasks whose
performance will lead to mastery. Rather, they force you to sift through a mass of information, some of it irrelevant
or contradictory, in order to identify the important or strategic issues. Second, the case method gives you a chance to
deal with ambiguity. Most cases do not have obvious "right" answers. Managers must be able to function in
situations where the right answer is not known, without falling into the trap of assuming that any answer is as good as
another. Some analyses and proposed strategies are clearly wrong, and some are clearly better than others. A
popular phrase in case analysis classes is "There are no right answers, but there are wrong answers." Case
discussion techniques provide a chance to learn the meaning of analytical rigor in situations other than open-and-shut
problems.
These rationales are offered because the case method is unfamiliar to most of you and frequently causes initial
confusion. There will be many times when we, as your instructors, will not reveal our own opinions about a
particular issue, and there will be may cases which will not end up neatly packaged with an "answer." You may
discover that your preparation "misses" key points of a case, especially at first. This is a normal part of the learning
experience.
While we will direct class discussions, the quality of your learning experience will be directly determined by: (1)
your degree of preparation, active listening, and participation, and (2) your classmates' preparation, listening, and
participation. Some will not agree with you, and you may be asked to defend your argument or change your mind.
So long as criticism is directed at arguments and not at individuals, is relevant to the issues at hand and coherently
argued, it is very much welcomed.
Case Preparation. Because this course relies heavily on case material, extensive preparation before class and
participation in class are required to ensure the course's success.
(1) Rapidly read the assigned case and other materials to gain a general understanding of the industry, the firm, and
the general competitive situation and issues.
(2) Carefully review the discussion questions provided in Blackboard for the session for clues as to what issues
require special attention.
(3) Carefully re-read the case, taking notes that sort information, facts, and observations under a number of relevant
headings. Use the discussion questions to guide your own thinking about the issues.
(4) Formulate theories or hypotheses about what is going on as you read ("the company loses money on small
orders"), modifying or rejecting them as new information surfaces ("Table 2 shows that shipping costs per unit
are higher for small orders, but only for long-distance shipments").
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(5) Perform quantitative analyses, “crunching” whatever numbers are available. It is also very important to provide
quantitative support wherever possible, particularly when exploring various hypotheses as to the nature and
importance of certain phenomena. (If the requisite data are not available in the case, precise descriptions of
what data are missing often triggers ideas for making creative use of the information that is available.) It is
usually worthwhile to identify trends in the firm or industry, preferably with a quantitative measurement. Some
of these trends, often very important ones, will not be flagged in the text of the case.
(6) Prepare definitive conclusions before you come to class concerning the issues raised in the discussion questions.
(7) Also, try and anticipate the sequence of likely events and both their first and second level outcomes so that you
can both see what is likely to happen and how your recommendations may change them.
(8) Bring your detailed notes with you to class to help guide your interventions in class discussions.
You will probably want to, and are strongly encouraged to, form study groups that will meet regularly to share
insights and ideas about the assigned cases. While this is, of course, voluntary, past experience has shown that
satisfactory performance in this course, and a good grade, depend on it.
PLEASE BE AWARE: There is a good chance that you will feel a bit confused or overwhelmed during the first
module, or two, of the course. This is a byproduct of the peculiar structure of the strategy course that does not build
up linearly by successively adding components of knowledge week by week. Rather, every case in a sense contains
all the material in the entire course. Furthermore, the early theoretical concepts probably won't have much meaning
for you until you've worked through a few cases. As a result, there is no logical way to start off except by
immersion, i.e. throwing you in the deep end of the pool and letting you struggle to stay afloat. The good news is
that the number of new ideas for you to learn drops off quickly after the first three modules, and old ideas continue to
be relevant. This way you will get multiple chances to master the basic concepts of the course. So remember:
SOME CONFUSION IS NORMAL AT FIRST.
COURSE EVALUATION
Course grades will be determined by students’ relative performance on the following course components:
Course Commitment and Contribution
Group Projects (Two)
Joint Project
Capstone Project
Individual Case Analysis Report – Due: Thursday, February 28th
Mid-term Exam
Final Exam
15%
10
10
15
20
30
100%
Attendance Policy
Class attendance is absolutely essential. All missed classes will be noted. The policy on missed classes is to allow
each student two (2) absences, no questions asked, no penalty. All further absences over the limit will reduce the
student's participation grade, no questions asked, no excuses of any kind accepted. Students with an excessive
number of absences are at risk to fail the course. Habitual lateness (and leaving class early), for whatever reason,
will be noted as evidence of low course commitment and penalized.
Class Contribution
Your overall commitment and attitude toward this course, and your daily active verbal participation in case
discussions, will be closely monitored. In grading class participation, we will look at both the quantity and quality of
your class contributions/interventions. Class participation is obviously a function of preparation, skills, attitude, and
a willingness to actively commit yourself in front of your instructor and colleagues. A classroom is a cost-free
environment for experimenting and learning to "play the game." Make use of it. Shyness is no excuse.
With regard to quality, the dimensions that we look for include:
Relevance -- does the comment bear on the subject at hand? Comments that do not link up with what the
discussion is focusing on can actually detract from the learning experience.
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Causal Linkage -- are the logical antecedents or consequences of a particular argument traced out? Comments
that push the implications of a fact or idea as far as possible are generally superior.
Responsiveness -- does the comment react in an important way to what someone else has said? Analysis -- is the
reasoning employed consistent and logical?
Evidence -- have data from the case, from personal experience, from general knowledge been employed to
support the assertions made?
Importance -- does the contribution further our understanding of the issues at hand? Is a connection made with
other cases we have analyzed?
Clarity -- is the comment succinct and understandable? Does it stick to the subject or does it wander?
It is expected that you will make brief notes or outlines -- identify critical problems, "crank-all-the-numbers," do the
financials, generate alternative recommended courses of action, and generate ideas about how to implement them.
You should rely on these notes when contributing to the class discussion.
All students will be formally called on, at random, to take the lead in various aspects of class discussions at least
once or twice during the semester. If the student called upon is not present, is late, or is not sufficiently prepared to
make a substantial contribution to the class discussion, he/she will lose points for class contribution. If the student
makes helpful comments, he/she will accumulate points for class contribution. Since it is unlikely that there will be
enough opportunities to call on each student more than once or twice, be warned that failure to be thoroughly
prepared, on all occasions, can be devastating to your overall grade.
Each student will receive a score for participation at the end of each case discussion session. The simple recitation of
facts from the case will receive some credit toward the student’s class contribution score. Comments that do more
than simply recite case facts, however, will receive substantially more credit. For instance, comments that provide
synthesis or raise counterintuitive points, will add much more to a student’s class contribution score. Students who
make no contributions will receive no credit. Comments that contain factual misstatements, demonstrate lack of
adequate preparation, or are distracting because they come too late in the discussion, will be penalized. Attempts to
dominate class discussion rarely result in consistent and significant contributions.
Unannounced Quizzes: Short unannounced quizzes may be given at any time during the course to test the level
of student preparation for case discussions. Multiple choice and short answer questions may be given at the
beginning of classes where a case is assigned for class discussion. No make-up opportunities will be given to
students who are absent or late. Student performance on these pop-quizzes will be used to determine a student’s
participation grade.
Participation Cards: At the end of each case discussion, students who actively participated in the discussion will
be to required to turn in a Participation Card. These cards should list your name, the date, the case discussed that
day, and a synopsis of your contributions during that day’s discussion. The Participation Cards will be used in
combination with the instructor’s own daily evaluations to determine your participation grade for the day. For this
purpose, please purchase a package of 3x5 index cards and bring them to each class.
Laptops, Communication, and Entertainment Devices. Please note that all communication devices such as
computers, cell phones, Blackberries, etc. capable of sending and or receiving electronic communication, and
laptops, and all entertainment devices such as iPods or other MP3 players are to be turned off and kept off
throughout the class session. Receiving or sending communication or entertainment during class disrupts the
learning environment and is rude to those around you. Failure to adhere to this course policy will adversely impact
your course participation grade.
Unannounced Quizzes
Short quizzes may be given at the beginning of class sessions. The quizzes will consist of objective (usually multiple
choice) questions from the assigned readings in the course text, and/or short answer questions on key concepts
covered in the most recent lecture and subsequent class sessions. Missed quizzes cannot be made up. Quiz scores
will be added to each students’ participation grade.
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Individual Case Analysis Report
An individual case analysis report is required. Details on the specific assignment will be given in class. It is due on
Thursday, February 16th at the beginning of class. In your report you should prepare a comprehensive external,
competitive, and internal analysis, and provide appropriate strategic recommendations and implementation plans.
The individual case analysis should be prepared in management/consulting format. Your report will include a
carefully prepared one page executive brief (not an executive summary) attached to the front of your report,
containing the essence of the critical issues, analysis and strategic recommendations which have detailed in your
report. An executive brief always begins with the overall recommendation, and then proceeds to describe why it is
needed and to offer support for the recommendation. Your report, itself, should contain visual pages, with
appropriate discussion and conclusions, on each page. Examples of reports will be presented in class. The
individual case analysis is 15 percent of the course grade. Late reports will incur a penalty of 10 percent per day,
including the first day.
Mid-term and Final Exam
A Mid-term and final exam are scheduled for this course. The Mid-term exam is scheduled on Thursday, March
21st. The Final exam is scheduled for Monday, April 15th. The exams will consist of short answer and short essay
questions and specific questions on an assigned case.
COURSE MATERIAL
Case Package:
The assigned cases for this course are available from University Partners in the University Book
Store. When necessary, your instructors may place additional materials in the book store for you
to purchase.
Text:
De Kluyver and Pearce, Strategy: A View from the Top (3rd Edition)
This is an excellent text. It provides students with definitions of key terms, detailed descriptions
of conceptual frameworks, and very useful guidelines for undertaking various aspects of
strategic analysis. Refer to it constantly. You should use this book to help you fill in gaps in
your understanding, add to your strategic analysis tools and "box of tricks", and reinforce your
skills. It is not, however, a precise template for how we want you to analyze cases.
COURSE COMMUNICATION: BLACKBOARD
An “Electronic Folder” has been created for this course on Blackboard. You should begin the habit of checking the
course folder on a very regular basis. The course syllabus, case discussion and assignment information have been
posted to the 582 folder. Additional course lecture notes/materials, further details on quantitative assignments and
position outlines (where appropriate), and general course announcements, will be posted to the folder throughout the
semester.
RETURNED EXAMS, ASSIGNMENTS
The Marshall School of Business policy for returning papers is as follows: Returned paperwork, unclaimed by a
student, will be discarded after four weeks and hence, will not be available should a grade appeal be pursued by a
student following receipt of his/her course grade. Quizzes are not returned to students. Possession of any course
quiz is an academic integrity violation.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
The following information on academic integrity, dishonesty, and the grading standard are placed here at the
recommendation of the School of Business Administration Faculty and are taken from the Faculty Handbook.
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“The University, as an instrument of learning, is predicated on the existence of an environment of integrity. As
members of the academic community, faculty, students, and administrative officials share the responsibility for
maintaining this environment. Faculty have the primary responsibility for establishing and maintaining an
atmosphere and attitude of academic integrity such that the enterprise may flourish in an open and honest way.
Students share this responsibility for maintaining standards of academic performance and classroom behavior
conducive to the learning process. Administrative officials are responsible for the establishment and maintenance of
procedures to support and enforce those academic standards. Thus, the entire University community bears the
responsibility for maintaining an environment of integrity and for taking appropriate action to sanction individuals
involved in any violation. When there is a clear indication that such individuals are unwilling or unable to support
these standards, they should not be allowed to remain in the University.” (Faculty Handbook, 1994: 20)
Academic dishonesty includes: (Faculty Handbook, 1994: 21-22)
1.
2.
3.
4.
Examination behavior - any use of external assistance during an examination shall be considered academically
dishonest unless expressly permitted by the teacher.
Fabrication - any intentional falsification or invention of data or citation in an academic exercise will be
considered a violation of academic integrity.
Plagiarism - the appropriation and subsequent passing off of another’s ideas or words as one’s own. If the
words or ideas of another are used, acknowledgment of the original source must be made through recognized
referencing practices.
Other Types of Academic Dishonesty - submitting a paper written by or obtained from another, using a paper or
essay in more than one class without the teacher’s express permission, obtaining a copy of an examination in
advance without the knowledge and consent of the teacher, changing academic records outside of normal
procedures and/or petitions, using another person to complete homework assignments or take-home exams
without the knowledge or consent of the teacher.
The use of unauthorized material, communication with fellow students during an examination, attempting to benefit
from the work of another student, and similar behavior that defeats the intent of an examination or other class work is
unacceptable to the University. It is often difficult to distinguish between a culpable act and inadvertent behavior
resulting from the nervous tensions accompanying examinations. Where a clear violation has occurred, however, the
instructor may disqualify the student’s work as unacceptable and assign a failing mark on the paper.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability
Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained
from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU
301 and is open 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.
ABOUT YOUR PROFESSOR
Carl Voigt is a Professor of Clinical Management and Organization in the Marshall School of Business at the
University of Southern California. He received his Ph.D. from the Anderson School at UCLA in strategy and
organization. He is a native New Zealander, although he completed his undergraduate work at Avondale College in
New South Wales, Australia.
Carl focuses on the study and teaching of competitive, corporate, and global strategy, and strategic management. He
has taught at USC since 1994 and has extensive corporate consulting and executive development experience. He
teaches in all USC Marshall’s programs: the full-time and part-time MBA programs, Global Executive MBA (at
Jiao Tong University in Shanghai), and the undergraduate business program. Carl has received numerous awards
and commendations for outstanding teaching including the Marshall School's Evan C. Thompson Faculty Teaching
and Learning Innovation Award. Carl has been awarded seven Marshall’s Golden Apple teaching awards from the
students at USC Marshall (2001, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, and most recently again, twice in 2012). He was also an
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Strategic Management
Associate Dean of in the USC Marshall Undergrad Program, MBA.PM and EMBA Programs, and Marshall MBA
Program for seven years.
His academic interests are in business, corporate and global strategy, and in particular in entrepreneurship. More
recently, as a part of his work with the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), he has become interested in
issues of cross border commerce and global trade and investment. For the last 5 years Carl has lead teams of MBA
researchers who have been completed research projects for ABAC. This ABAC research has included projects on
The Proliferation of Free Trade Agreements in the Asia-Pacific Region, Rules of Origin Regimes and Impact on
Business in the APEC Region, Behind the Border: Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade in the APEC Region, Facilitating
Temporary Worker Mobility in the APEC Region, Examining the Investment Landscape for Renewable Energy
within APEC, and APEC Supply Chains: Identifying Opportunities for Improvement. Carl has also consulted with
firms and organizations in the entertainment, food processing, tourism, health care, engineering, telecommunications,
defense, and not-for-profit sectors. He has also conducted numerous seminars for teams of managers in the areas of
management and strategy. Carl is a core board member for NZTE (New Zealand Trade & Enterprise) Beachheads
program for the US.
Initially, Carl began his career as a high school teacher. His first job was teaching high school business subjects on
Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. During that time he also served as Chair of the Business Studies Curriculum
Development Committee and a member of the National Secondary School Curriculum Committee for the Solomon
Island government.
In a “past” life, he was heavily involved in coaching basketball; having coached at the high school, college and
international levels. While in the Solomon Islands he coached the Solomon Island national basketball team for 2 ½
years, along with being National Director of Refereeing. Today, he is first and foremost a father. Previously, when
his children were younger, he spent a lot of his free time organizing and coaching and refereeing in recreational
programs for his children (He has three sons: 28, 23 and 19 years old, and a 18 year old daughter). Carl’s wife,
Diane, teaches grades 7-10.
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COURSE SCHEDULE
Session Date
Case / Topic
Course Deliverable
I.
MODULE I: CONCEPT OF STRATEGY
1
1/24 TH
The Concept of Strategy: Introduction
Reading: de Kluyver, Chapter 1& 2
2&3
2/1
F
Building a Sustainable Strategy: Business Models & Competitive Advantage
Case:
Discussion of Wal-Mart
Readings: Kim & Mauborgne, Blue Ocean Strategy**
[** denotes these articles are available for download – free- from EBSCO in our electronic
library resources)
4
2/5
TU
Strategic Planning: Strategy Content and Process
Case:
Honda (A) and (B)
II.
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT, MARKET DEMAND, INDUSTRY STRUCTURE, AND
COMPETITIVE FORCE ANALYSIS
5
2/7
6
2/12 TU
Application: Imagining the Future of the Food Industry
Group Presentations: Identifying Driving Forces
Specific assignment information to be given in class
7
2/14 TH
Analyzing the Business Landscape and Competitive Forces
Case:
Cola Wars: Coke and Pepsi in 2006
8
2/19 TU
Analyzing the Business Landscape and Competitive Forces (Continued)
Case:
Discussion of Cola Wars continues
9
2/21 TH
Application: Analyzing the Competitive Dynamics of the Food Industry
Research Reports: Standard & Poors Industry Report – Food & Nonalcoholic Beverages,
Retailing: General, Supermarkets & Drugstores**
III.
GENERIC BUSINESS STRATEGIES: COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES, COMMITMENT,
SUSTAINABILITY, COMPETITIVE ASYMMETRIES
10
2/26 TU
Analyzing the Industry Value Chain Analysis
Case:
Ready to Eat Breakfast Cereal Industry
Readings: de Kluyver, Chapter 5-7
Gadiesh and Gilbert, Profit Pools: A Fresh Look at Strategy**
11
2/28 TH
Generic Strategies: Cost and Differentiation Advantages
Case:
Ice-Fili
Individual Assignment Due
3/4
Capstone Feedback Session
TH
TU
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Analyzing the Global Business Landscape and Industry Evolution
Case:
Adolph Coors
Readings: de Kluyver, Chapter 3&4
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Strategic Management
12
13
3/7
TH
Sources of Competitive Advantage and Value Chain Analysis
Case:
Hudepohl Brewing Company
3/12 TU
Sources of Competitive Advantage and Value Chain Analysis
Case:
Hudepohl Brewing Company (continued)
3/21 TH
MID-TERM EXAM
IV.
CORPORATE AND GLOBAL STRATEGY
14
3/26 TU
Corporate and Global Strategy: Creating value in Multibusiness Enterprises
Reading: de Kluyver, Chapter 8-10
Case:
Whole Foods and the Wild Oats Merger
15
3/27 W
Global Expansion: Generic Global strategies
Case:
BRL Hardy
Reading: Gupta and Govindarajan, Managing Global Expansion**
15
3/28 TH
The Challenges and Pitfalls of Global Expansion
Case:
Wal-Mart China
3/29 F
Joint Accounting/Strategy Project
4/2
TU
Capstone Final Presentation
17
4/4
TH
Leveraging and Mitigating Global Differences
Case:
Grupo Bimbo
V.
MANAGING FOR SUSTAINED STRATEGIC SUCCESS
18
4/5
F
Leading and Managing Organizations
Case:
Atchison Corporation
Reading: de Kluyver, Chapter 7
19
4/8
M
Strategy Implementation: Managing for Sustained Excellence
Case:
Johnsonville Sausage
20
4/10 W
Global Sustainability in the Food Industry
Case:
McDonald’s Corp: Managing a Sustainable Supply Chain
TBD
REVIEW
4/15 M
FINAL EXAM
Note: All cases and some articles are in the Case Package available from the University Book Store.
** All assigned articles and reports can be downloaded – free – from our USC Marshall Library. Login to the
USC Marshall electronic library resources, click on EBSCO Business Source Complete, search for the article
by title and author
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