NUS Business School
Department of Strategy & Policy
BSP 3001 – Sections A1 & A2: Business Policy and Strategy
Semester I, 2010/2011
Course Instructor
Dr Sai Yayavaram
sai.yayavaram@nus.edu.sg
Mochtar Riady Building, 06-46
Textbooks and Reading Material
 Barney, J.B. & Hesterly, W.S. 2009. Strategic Management and Competitive Advantage.
(3rd Edition) Pearson (B&H).
 Singh, K., Pangarkar, N., & Heracleous, L. 2010. Business Strategy in Asia: Selected
Cases for Business Policy and Strategy (BSP3001: Sections A1 & A2). Cengage Learning
(SP&H)
Course Description
Perspective
This course is about the creation and maintenance of a long-term vision for the organization.
This means that it is concerned with both the determination of strategic direction and the
management of the strategic process. As such, it deals with the analytical, behavioral, and
creative aspects of business simultaneously. Our perspective in this course is that of the
general manager whose responsibility is the long-term health of the entire firm or a multifunctional unit (e.g., a major division of a corporation). The key tasks involved in general
management include the detection of and adaptation to environmental change; the
procurement and allocation of resources; the integration of activities across subparts of the
organizations; and, at the most senior levels, the determination of purpose and the setting of
corporate direction.
General managers, from our perspective, are managers who are in the position to
make strategic decisions for the firm. Note that such managers are not "generalists" in the
sense that they need to know a little bit of everything, but not very much of anything. To be
effective, general managers need to have in-depth understanding of the generic problems in
all the relevant functional areas. Furthermore, they must be able to deal with problems and
issues at the level of the total enterprise and its relationships with relevant external
environments.
Functional specialists can benefit from the general management perspective even
though they may not be general managers. Every function's actions should be coordinated
with the overall needs of the business. In fact, functional specialists are the people on whom
general managers must rely to implement their strategies. Since such functional managers can
be subject to suboptimizing pressure, they too need to understand the general manager's
perspective.
Components of the Course
The pervasive concept in this course is that of strategy. We will start our study of strategy at
the business level and examine the challenges of managing a firm competing in a single
industry. An integral part of this study will be an exploration of the components of strategy
and how they vary among settings and situations. In most large and medium-sized firms,
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corporate strategy is different from business strategy because of the multiplicity of businesses
in which the firm is involved. We will explore the differences in corporate and business-level
(or divisional-level) strategies and the requirements each places on managers at different
levels in the firm. At each level, competitive strategy issues will be considered.
Successful general managers are highly competent in problem identification and
analysis and have a strong action orientation. One purpose of this course is to provide an
environment that will allow you to hone these skills, while at the same time gain a conceptual
understanding of the strategic manager's task. While few people start their careers as general
managers, this course should benefit virtually all students for several reasons. First, ongoing
trends in the corporate world towards “flatter”, less hierarchical organizations have resulted
in strategic decisions being made at even lower hierarchical levels, often by relatively junior
people. Second, a number of factors, including technological change and the shift to global
markets, have forced established firms to become increasingly innovative and
entrepreneurial, and such initiatives often spring from lower level organizational ranks. Third,
functional specialists such as professionals in MSIS, marketing, and finance are the people
whom general managers rely both to implement a firm’s existing strategy and collect the
information needed to update and revise it. Since functional managers are often under
pressure to fix problems in their own areas without regard to the overall business, it is critical
that they develop a keen awareness and appreciation of the challenges facing the firm as a
whole.
Strategic management is more than analysis. To be sure, strategic analysis is an
important part of this course, and we will explore and apply several analytical techniques for
positioning a firm or a business unit within a competitive environment. But, strategic
analyses are complicated by the trade-offs inherent in any situation. These trade-offs reflect
the fact that organizations consist of many players with multiple, competing objectives. When
dealing with these tradeoffs, general managers must confront the judgmental issues involved
in establishing organizational purpose and balancing economic and noneconomic objectives.
To the extent possible, in each class we will attempt to balance these tradeoffs and to test our
ideas about the appropriate relationships among them.
Finally, strategic management requires moving beyond analysis and trade-offs into
the realm of strategic action. Once the analytical problem of selecting a business or corporate
strategy has been dealt with, we should know what to do. Knowing how to execute the
selected strategy is essential to success. To the extent possible in each case, we will concern
ourselves with the various combinations of systems (for example, information, control,
reward, etc.), organization structures, and people necessary to execute a given strategy. We
will test our ideas about the relationships between strategy and these other elements as we
proceed through the course.
General Flow of the Course
The assignments are detailed in a later section. Please read through them to get an idea of the
specific content of the course and each class meeting. In general, we will start with singlebusiness or dominant-business companies and proceed to multiple-business companies.
Similarly, we will begin with basic techniques of analysis and then expand and modify them
to fit a range of situations. We will examine many sectors of the economy (for example
consumer products, service businesses, and hi-tech). As we proceed through the course, the
classes and cases used in them will "build" on each other in such a way that the knowledge
and skills gained in analyzing one session can be used in subsequent cases. Throughout the
course we will maintain our concern with both analysis and implementation.
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Course Objectives
1. Development and reinforcement of a general management point of view -- the capacity to
view the firm from an overall perspective, in the context of its environment.
2. Development of an understanding of fundamental concepts in strategic management: the
role of the general manager, the levels and components of strategy, competitive analysis,
and organizational evolution.
3. Development of those skills and knowledge peculiar to general management and the
general manager's job that have not been covered in previous functional courses.
4. Synthesis of the knowledge gained in previous courses and understanding what part of
that knowledge is useful to general managers.
5. Development of an awareness of the various impacts of external environmental forces on
business and corporate strategy.
6. Practice in distinguishing between basic causes of business problems and attendant
symptoms.
7. Practice in working out business strategies and implementation plans.
8. Development of habits of orderly, analytical thinking and skill in reporting conclusions
effectively in both written and oral form.
9. Familiarity with some of the practical realities of running different types of businesses.
Performance Measures and Feedback
Grading
Your grade for the course will be based on the following components:
35% Class participation (inclusive of online discussions & online quizzes)
20% Mid-term individual case analysis
15% Short group presentation
30% Group Project
Class Participation
The quality of the sessions, in a course such as this, is highly dependent on your involvement
and participation. These marks are given for both attending the session, and proactively and
vocally participating in the discussions. Opportunities for more informal online interaction
(the IVLE online forum) will also be made available. You are required to take an online quiz
on IVLE before each class (starting from session 2). The online quiz will be based on the
assigned textbook chapter and case. Your class participation grade will also depend on your
performance in these online quizzes.
Mid-Term Individual Case Analysis
The mid-term case analysis is an individual assignment. Only the course text and other course
reading materials should be used to prepare for the case analysis. In preparing the paper, you
may of course use exhibits to support your arguments or conclusions. The results of the
application of various analytical tools, for example, are appropriate for exhibits. You may use
as many exhibits as you deem necessary. Be sure to refer to each exhibit in the relevant
places in the paper. Your analysis, exclusive of exhibits, should not exceed 4 pages (doublespaced, 12 font size and 1 inch margin on all sides). Papers should be submitted without
folders, cover sheets, or any other incidental pages. Please submit a soft copy on IVLE as
well. The case will be handed to you during the class on September 16th/17th and your paper
is due by 1st October, 5 PM.
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Short group presentation
Each group is expected to make a short presentation on an assigned topic. You are
encouraged to get in touch with the instructor if you need any clarifications or suggestions on
preparing for the topic. You can also choose another topic (that is appropriate for the class in
which you are slotted to present) after getting approval from the instructor. The presentation
should not exceed ten minutes. Submit a hard copy of your slides before your presentation
and post a copy on IVLE as well.
Group Project
There will be two components to the Group Project: a written submission and a presentation.
Each group member’s contribution will be taken into account, through peer review, before
the group’s marks are apportioned to each individual group member.
Students are required to form a group of 6-7 to analyze one of the following aspects of a
selected company:
1. Business Strategy
2. Corporate strategy
3. Globalization strategy
4. Technology strategy
5. Organization structure and control
The paper can be written on the basis of 1) findings of personal interviews of senior
managers and information gathered from secondary sources; or 2) information from
secondary sources only. You are strongly encouraged to use primary sources (i.e., talk to
managers) for this project. If you are planning to do a report based only on secondary
sources, please let the instructor know in advance. Additional details will be made available
on IVLE.
The maximum length of the group paper is 15 pages (double-spaced, 12 font size and 1 inch
margin on all sides) excluding references, tables and charts. The group paper is due on 29th
October, 5 PM, and the presentations are to be made during the classes held in sessions 12
and 13. All students are expected to attend the presentations irrespective of whether their
group is making the presentation.
Other Administrative Details
1. You are expected to be prepared for every class. You should let the instructor know
before the start of the class if some emergency has made it impossible for you to be
prepared adequately for that class.
2. Attendance at every class is very important. Please schedule other activities at times other
than those during which this class meets. In the event that you do have to miss a class
during the semester, inform the instructor in advance of that class. Students absent for
more than 3 times without valid reasons will fail the entire module.
3. Given the importance of this course, it is essential for us to use class time effectively.
This will include arriving, starting, and ending on time. Students who are late to class
may be asked to submit a one-page analysis of the case that is being discussed in that
class.
4. Group work is acceptable and strongly encouraged for purposes of case preparation for
classroom discussion.
5. Laptops, smart phones, and other electronic devices may not be used in class.
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BSP 3001 - Class Outline
Revised on 4th August, 2010
Date
Course Plan
Session 1
12/13 Aug
Session 2
19/20 Aug
Session 3
26/27 Aug
Session 4
2/3 Sep
Session 5
9/10 Sep**
Session 6
16/17 Sep
Course Introduction & What is Strategy
Chapter 1 B&H
The External Environment
Chapter 2 B&H
Internal Capabilities
Chapter 3 B&H
Business Level Strategies: Cost Leadership
Chapter 4 B&H
Business Level Strategies: Differentiation
Chapter 5 B&H
Integrated case
Semester Break
Session 7
Technology Strategy
30 Sep/ Oct1
Session 8
Diversification
7/8 Oct
Chapter 7 B&H
Session 9
Mergers & Acquisitions, Strategic Alliances
14/15 Oct
Chapter 9 & 10 B&H
Session 10
International Strategies
21/22 Oct
Chapter 11 B&H
Session 11
Organization Structure & Strategy
28/29 Oct
Implementation
Session 12
Group Project Presentations
4/5 Nov**
Session 13
Group Project Presentations
11/12 Nov
*To be distributed in a previous class
** Make-up classes for Section A2 to be announced later
Case
Student Presentations
The Liner Shipping Industry
(SP&H)
Harlequin Enterprises: The Mira Decision (B&H)
Internet and the value chain
Air Asia: Now everyone can fly (SP&H)
Matching Dell
Cost leadership strategies in retailing in
Singapore
How Toyota excels at both cost leadership and
differentiation
Dell’s recent performance
Apple Computer, Inc.: iPods and iTunes (B&H)
Emergence of Facebook
Sony Corporation (A) and Sony Corporation (B)
(SP&H)
Osim’s Brookstone Acquisition
(SP&H)
Ben & Jerry’s – Japan (B&H)
Vertical Integration – Pros and Cons with
IVLE as an example
Alliances in the airline industry
Reorganization at a global services company*
Sony vs. Samsung – Differences in
Organization Structure
The Levi’s Personal Pair Proposal (B&H)
B&H – Barney & Hesterly
SP&H –Singh, Pangarkar & Heracleous
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Singapore’s national competitive advantage