THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON
MANA 4322 – Organizational Strategy
Spring 2007
Section:
005
Instructor:
Abdul Rasheed
230 Business Building
Ph: 272-3867
e-mail: abdul@uta.edu
Office Hours:
By appointment
Class Time and Location:
Tuesdays and Thursdays
2:00 – 3:20 p.m.
Required Text:
Dess, G.G., Lumpkin, G.T., and Eisner,A.B.
Strategic Management: Text and Cases.. (3rd Edition) McGrawHill Irwin 2007.
Additional Reading:
Businessweek, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, etc.
Room 152
Course Description
The focus of this Organizational Strategy course is on corporate level and business unit-level strategy
formulation and implementation. It requires the application of the knowledge and techniques learned in the
earlier courses in an integrated fashion and also introduces the critical business skills of planning and
managing strategic activities. The topics to be covered include the relationship of organizations to their
environments, organizational mission and objectives, formal and informal approaches to strategic planning,
the role of organizational structure in the context of strategy formulation and implementation and the
mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of strategic decisions and their implementation.
Along with the text material, case studies will be used in this course as a mechanism for the
development of analytical and decision-making skills and highlighting the reality of organizational and
environmental uncertainties in strategic decision-making. In short, this course attempts to encourage an
integrated multifunctional, "general management" perspective of the organization and its environment to
develop skills necessary and appropriate to corporate-level and divisional-level policy analysis, formulation and
implementation. You will be required to study the assigned text and cases, analyze them and share your
insights with the rest of the class.
Evaluation and Grading Procedure
The final grade for the course will be based on performance in the following:
Exams
Wall Street Journal Assignment
Term Paper
Class Participation
50%
20% (See page 8 of syllabus)
20%
10%
Student Learning Outcomes:
After completing the course the student will be able to:
1.
Conduct an industry analysis
2. Conduct an analysis of a company’s external environment
3. Conduct a company’s internal analysis and identify strengths and weaknesses
4. Identify and evaluate a company’s strategies at the business level
5. Identify and evaluate a company’s strategies at the corporate level
6. Analyze issues associated with implementation of a firm’s strategies.
This is a cell phone free class. Cell phones should be switched
off and out of your reach during class time.
You are not allowed to connect to the internet during the class.
During the class, you cannot engage in activities unrelated to
the class like reading newspapers, doing assignments for other
classes etc.
BUSA 4322
Tentative Course Outline
Session
Date
Topic/Assignment
________________________________________________________________________________________
__________
1 Jan 16
Introduction/Administrative Matters
________________________________________________________________________________________
______
2
Jan 18
Chap 1: Strategic Management: Creating Competitive Advantages
- Strategic Management Process
- Stakeholder Management
- Vision and Mission
3 Jan 23
Case: The Skeleton in the Corporate Closet (Case 4, p. 576)
Issues for Analysis
1.
Was it possible for the right thing to be a lie?
2.
Should Hap Parker disclose the contents of the letter?
3.
What obligations does Hap Parker have to his multiple stakeholders?
4.
What options does Hap Parker have?
________________________________________________________________________________________
______
4
Jan 25
Chap 2: Analyzing the External Environment of the Firm
- General Environment
5
Jan 30
- Industry Analysis
- Strategic Groups
6
Feb 1
7
Feb 6
Case: Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 (Case 11, p. 639)
Issues for Analysis
1.
Using Porter’s framework, discuss each of the five competitive forces
facing the industry.
2.
What are the key strategic issues that Avery needs to consider?
What
strategic options are open to him?
3.
How well did Crown Cork do under John Connelly? What were the keys to
their success?
4.
What significant changes are taking place in the industry? How should the
new CEO, Bill Avery, respond? Is it finally time to change the Connelly
strategy that has been successful for over 30 years?
________________________________________________________________________________________
_______
8
Feb 8
Using Library Resources: An Overview
________________________________________________________________________________________
3
9
Feb 13
Chap 3: Assessing the Internal Environment of the Firm
- Value Chain Analysis
&
10
- Resource-Based View
- Evaluating Performance
Feb 15
Case: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Case 5, p. 579)
Issues for Analysis
1.
Analyze Green Mountain’s external environment. What are the general
environmental factors that have impact on this industry?
2.
What are the external forces of competition affecting this industry?
3.
Analyze the Green Mountain internal environment. What does the value chain
look like?
What about resources?
How would you evaluate strengths,
weaknesses and synergies?
4.
What business level strategy does Green Mountain appear to pursue?
What niche (cost, differentiation, focus) do they fill in this highly competitive
industry, and is it sustainable?
5.
What corporate level strategy should Green Mountain pursue?
________________________________________________________________________________________
_______
11
Feb 20
Chap 4: Recognizing a Firm’s Intellectual Assets: Moving beyond a Firm’s
Tangible Resources
- Human Capital
- Social Capital
- Technology
________________________________________________________________________________________
______
12 Feb 22
Chap 5: Business Level Strategy: Creating and Sustaining Competitive Advantages
- Cost Leadership
- Differentiation
- Industry Life Cycle
Case: Panera Bread Company (Case 14, p. 666)
Issues for Analysis
1.
How would you approach the question of “Can Panera achieve its ambitious
goals in light of the macro environmental forces? How would you
characterize the environment in which Panera operates, and how would you
evaluate the opportunities and threats to Panera or its business model?
2.
How would you characterize the strategies of Panera Bread Company, and
evaluate its effectiveness?
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3.
Based on the answers to the above two questions, what would your answer
be to the case question of attainability of Panera’s goals?
4.
What general conclusions can you draw about effective strategic
management?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______
13
Feb 27
Chap 6: Corporate-Level Strategy: Creating Value through Diversification
- Related and Unrelated Diversification
- Mergers, Acquisitions, Alliances and Internal Development
- Managerial Motives
14 Mar 1
Overflow
________________________________________________________________________________________
15 Mar 6
MID-TERM EXAM
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______
16 Mar 8
Case: Wal-Mart’s Strategy for the 21st Century: Sustaining Dominance (Case
15, p. 676)
Issues for Analysis
1.
Describe Sam Walton’s marketing/pricing concepts and how his basic
beliefs shaped Wal-Mart corporate culture.
2.
How did Wal-Mart’s management build on these fundamental values
and establish distinctive competencies to sustain growth throughout
the 90’s?
3.
What were the major challenges facing the firm as 2003 ended?
4.
Develop a “strategic intent” for the firm, recommending the set of
future/targeted distinctive competencies required to sustain 15+%
annual growth over the next 5 years.
________________________________________________________________________________________
17 Mar 20
Chap 7: International Strategy: Creating Value in Global Markets
&
- National Competitiveness
5
18 Mar 22
- International Expansion
- Global and Multidomestic Strategies
Case: Sun Life Financial: Entering China (Case 27, p. 775)
Issues for Analysis
1.
Is it a good time for Sun Life Financial to be pursuing the Chinese market?
2.
If you were Ohannesian, what city would you choose and why?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______
19 Mar 27
Chap 8: Digital Business Strategy: Leveraging Capabilities in a Disruptive
Environment
- Internet and Five-Forces Analysis
- Competitive Strategies
- Sustainability
20 Mar 29
1.
Case: Yahoo! (Case 29, p. 792)
Issues for Analysis
What was Yahoo’s original strategy? How did Yahoo’s strategy change
under Terry Semel?
2.
What steps did Semel take to reconfigure Yahoo’s activities to support the
company’s new strategy?
3.
Assess Terry Semel’s leadership. How has Semel been using his
experience from the entertainment industry to turn things around at Yahoo?
4.
What particular challenges does he face in trying to create a “digital
Disneyland?” Does the firm have or can it build any clear advantages over
its competitors?
______________________________________________________________________________________
________
21 Apr 3
Chap 9: Strategic Control and Corporate Governance
- Traditional Approach
- Behavioral Control
- Strategic Control at Different Levels
22 Apr 5
Case: JetBlue Airways (Case 1 p. 538)
Issues for Analysis
1. Analyze the industry environment of JetBlue.
2. Analyze the internal environment of JetBlue
3. What are the salient aspects of JetBlue’s culture?
4. Discuss the bases of JetBlue’s competitive advantage, and the merits and
demerits of both the components. Are combination strategies better? Is
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JetBlue’s competitive advantage sustainable?
5. How will the new Embraer Jets impact the firm’s strategy? How
should they handle it?
______________________________________________________________________________________
________
23
Apr 10
Chap10: Creating Effective Organizational Designs
- Patterns of Growth
- Structural Forms
- Boundaryless Structures
24
Apr 12
Overflow materials
______________________________________________________________________________________
________
25 Apr 17
Chap 11: Strategic Leadership: Creating a Learning Organization and an Ethical
Organization
- Leadership Activities
- Knowledge and Creativity
- Ethics
26 Apr 19
Case: Procter & Gamble (Case 26, p. 768)
Issues for Analysis
1.
Assess Lafley’s leadership of Procter & Gamble. How does his style
contrast with that of Jaeger?
2.
What intangible resources of P&G is Lafley focusing on?
3.
What steps has Lafley taken to make P&G a learning organization?
How has Lafley focused on ethical issues in his decision making?
4.
What is Lafley hoping to achieve with his changes at P&G?? What
are his chances of success with the radical changes that he intends
to make? How may these changes affect the resource base upon
which P&G is relying for long term success?
________________________________________________________________________________________
27 Apr 24
Chap 12: Managing Innovation and Fostering Corporate Entrepreneurship
- Innovation
- Corporate Entrepreneurship
- Entrepreneurial Orientation
28 Apr 26
Case: Starbucks Corporation: Competing in a Global Market (Case 3, p. 557)
Issues for Analysis
1.
Analyze Starbucks’s external and internal environment. What are
the environmental factors that have impact on this industry and this
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organization?
2.
What business level strategy does Starbucks appear to pursue? What
niche do they fill in this highly competitive industry, and is it
sustainable?
3.
How can Starbucks remain successful and create value when
diversifying into global markets? What are some of the differences
between domestic and international strategies?
4.
What has worked for Starbucks so far in their international expansion?
5.
What are some of the lessons learned from previous “push-back”
incidents that Starbucks should consider when planning how to
respond if such incidents occur in Brazil?
6.
Should Starbucks go into Rio, and is there a systematic method that
will work to respond to a push back to decide whether to stay with
a site or pull out?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______
29 May 1
Chap 13: Recognizing Opportunities and Creating New Opportunities
- Opportunity Recognition
- Entrepreneurial Resources
- Entrepreneurial Strategy
30
May 3
Overflow materials
________________________________________________________________________________________
________
FINAL
EXAM
May 8 - Tuesday 2 – 3:20 pm
________________________________________________________________________________________
8
Wall Street Journal Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to analyze critically a recent article (dated within four months from the
assignment due date) from the Wall Street Journal selected by the student. The assignment is to be done in
groups of two. "Base articles" will be approved on a "first come/first served" basis. There will be only two groups
permitted to use the same basic article. Approvals for base articles are to be obtained before Feb 8, 2007, and
the assignment is due by March 6, 2007.
An illustrative list of issues that the WSJ article may focus on is given below.
Internal Growth
Concentration
Market Development
Product Development
Innovation
Joint Ventures
External Acquisition Growth
Horizontal Integration
Vertical Integration
Concentric Diversification
Conglomerate Diversification
Disinvestment
Retrenchment, Operating Efficiency
Turnaround, Product/Marketing Refocus
Divestiture, Liquidation
Management Development
Labor Relations
Internationalization
Marketing (or emphasis on another functional area)
Corporate Culture
Reorganization, Restructure
Strategy Implementation
Organization Structure
Importance of Industry Context on Organizational Performance
You should address issues such as the following (may differ with regard to topic areas):
1.
2.
3.
What is the rationale (or lack thereof) for the action/decision?
Is the action/decision consistent with the organization's overall
strategy?
What do you think will be the implications of the action/decision
i.e., how should the action/decision improve or detract from the
organization's performance?
To address the above issues, the student should use a minimum of seven (7) outside sources of
information. Suggested references include Annual Reports, 10-K Forms, Business Week, Wall Street Journal,
Forbes, Fortune, and Moody's Industrial Manual. Do not rely too much on the same references -- select a
variety.
The written assignments should be approximately ten double-spaced (12 CPI) pages, (excluding
references and Exhibits). Ensure that the paper has an executive summary and that it is divided into sections
and subsections in a logical manner. "Stream of consciousness" papers will be severely penalized.
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