Columbia Business School
Syllabus (preliminary)
Consulting 102: Market Driving Capabilities (B8625)
Fall 2013, B Term
Instructor
Alonso Martinez
am3638@columbia.edu
203-606-4882
Introduction
Over the past to decades there has been growing recognition that a company’s
competitive advantage does not reside as much on its assets (brand, products,
manufacturing sites…) as in the unique set of capabilities it can leverage to deliver value
from these assets. Capabilities in this context are institutional abilities that enable a
company to consistently deliver a certain outcome, relevant to creating value in its
business. Capabilities are engrained in the institutional fabric through a combination of
processes, tools, knowledge, skills and organization.
Some of the most relevant and interesting work that management consultants do is
helping companies define, develop and deploy strategic capabilities. Not the ordinary
capabilities that every company needs to have (i.e. standard supply chain or sales
capabilities), but differentiated capabilities that provide a unique competitive advantage.
These course will focus on a specific set of capabilities that drive market positioning and
growth using examples from some of the world's leading companies such as GE´s global
innovation, Pepsi´s unique direct store delivery (DSD), Colgate´s global expansion or
Mittal´s acquisition and post merger integration capabilities.
Course objectives
The primary objective of this class is for students to learn how to define, develop and
deploy strategic capabilities, including:
-
Defining a company’s strategic capability set. A coherent group of differentiated
capabilities that uniquely supports the company´s strategy in the products and
markets in which it has chosen to play.
-
Developing a capability. Assembling the right combination of processes,
knowledge, skills and organizational fabric that allow the company to deliver a
distinctive capability consistently.
-
Deploying a capability across a global enterprise. Being able to both replicate
and adapt a specific capability across a coherent group of businesses and
geographic markets.
A complementary objective of this course, by choosing to focus on market driving
capabilities and providing a global perspective, is to give students an understanding of
the types of capabilities that are required to pursue and capture global growth.
The skills developed in this course should be broadly applicable. They will of course be
of value for those students planning to follow a management consulting career. More
broadly, building new and better strategic capabilities is a critical skill in any type of
enterprise to develop sustainable advantage.
Class Structure
The class follows a structured sequence covering defining, developing and deploying
capabilities (see following table). Class time will be split among (i) lectures to develop a
frame of reference; (iii) guest speakers with experience and expertise in building
different types of market driving capabilities; (iii) selected cases and (iv) a class project .
The last session will be dedicated to have the groups present their different projects,
answer questions, synthesize what was learned and receive feedback from the rest of
the class.
Readings and Cases
All required readings and cases are available in a course packet. On occasion, a
required reading may be added, which will then be distributed in class or made available
on Angel.
Session and Topic
Readings (R) and Cases (C)
1. What are strategic capabilities?
- The Core competence of the
- Why is Cirque du Soleil unique?
Corporation (HBR article)
- Did Jaboneria Nacional beat Unilever?
2. Developing strategic capabilities
- How did Mittal change the steel game?
- What is the role of capabilities in M&A
and PMI?
3. Developing strategic capabilities globally
- How does Colgate lead global oral care?
- Mittal Steel in 2006: Changing the Steel
Game (HBR case)
- The Capabilities Premium in M&A
(Strategy & Business)
- Colgate-Palmolive: Staying Ahead in
Oral Care (HBR case)
Guest speaker – Digital market capabilities
- L’Oreal and the Globalization American
Beauty (HBR case)
4. Deploying ROI marketing capabilities
- How GE is Disrupting Itself (HBR article)
- How does BUD have the most valuable
brand with a mediocre beer?
Guest speaker – Innovation capabilities
5. Global capabilities by development stage
- Why do Mexicans succeed in China and
Brazilians in Africa?
T- The Design-Driven Lab: How to Start-Building Design-Driven Capabilities
(HBR article)
- How to be a Truly Global Company
(Strategy & Business)
- - The Coherence Premium (HBR article)
Guest speaker – Capabilities Driven
Strategy
6. Project presentations
- Synthesis
Group Project
All students will work on a group project. The typical group size is 4-5 students. The
instructor will guide the teams on both the technical and business dimensions of the
work. Each group will deliver a presentation to the instructor and to their fellow students
in the last class.
Each project should examine in depth a company’s strategic capability set using the
concepts and methods discussed in the course. Your group can decide on the scope
and objectives of the project, subject to the approval of the instructor. The first step is to
submit a 1-page project proposal of the instructors, specifying the capability to be
analyzed, the industry and country (or countries) of interest, and the project objectives.
This proposal is due in the second class of the semester. Based on feedback from the
instructor, a group should, if necessary, revise the proposal and re-submit a final version
for approval by the third class of the semester.
The final deliverable by each group should be a 20 minute PowerPoint presentation
defining a specific capability set, describing the elements necessary to develop it and
how it is deployed across businesses or markets. It can be either a capability set the
group decides to develop for itself or one that provides competitive advantage to the
selected company.
Grading
Grades will be based on the following areas:
1. Class Attendance & Participation
40%
2. Case write ups (there will be two)
20%
4. Final project
40%
TOTAL
100%
Optional readings
There are many reports, articles and books that you can read for more in-depth study of
capabilities. The following are recommended:
Books
-
Leinwand, Paul and Mainardi, Cesare (2011), The Essential Advantage: How to
Win with a Capabilities Driven Strategy, Harvard Business Review Press
-
Leslie H. Moeller and Edward C. Landry (2009), The Four Pillars of Profit Driven
Marketing, McGraw Hil
-
Kotter, John P. (1996), Leading Change, Harvard Business School Press
-
Khanna, Tarun and Krishna Palepu (2010), Winning in Emerging Markets,
Boston: Harvard University Press.
About the instructor
Alonso Martinez combines extensive experience doing strategy consulting with
teaching and research. He has vast global experience with particular
expertise in emerging markets. He is a former Senior Vice President at
Booz & Company. After joining Booz in 1982 in Brazil, Mr. Martinez
opened and/or managed the firm’s offices in every major Latin
American country. He moved to the United States in the year 2000
with global responsibility for major client relationships. Mr. Martinez has worked with
many of the world's largest multinationals and leading local groups in the consumer
products, media, steel and construction materials industries. His focus has been growth
related strategies in emerging markets, including international expansion, mergers and
acquisitions and go to market strategies.
Professor Martinez is a Senior Lecturer at Columbia Business School. He gives the
Catching Growth Waves in Emerging Markets course in both the MBA and EMBA
programs. He has also given the EMBA immersion course on Opportunities in India.
Over the past four years he has also been directing a project at the Wharton School’s
Lauder Institute on “Consumption Patterns in Emerging Markets: Catching Growth
Waves and Anticipating Transitions”, including field research with a team of students
across major countries. He has developed some unique insights into how business
opportunities evolve in emerging markets and the capabilities required to capture them,
which he leverages in his classes.