BMA5013 Course Title
Corporate Strategy: The art and science of strategy formulation, communication, and
management
Course Description and Objectives
Strategy is mostly about formulating where and how a company will compete. It usually
takes a long-term view of the business and where it is headed. But strategy formulation is
inherently a chaotic, iterative and messy process, quite unlike what the tradition corporate
strategic planning text describes it to be. Students will learn how to derive the Strategic
Position of the firm using industry, competitive, capabilities & purpose and cultural
analysis. As strategy formulation is complex and uncertain, strategic choices or options
will need to be developed and evaluated. Once a strategy is chosen, it will need to be
widely communicated throughout the firm, in different ways to different audiences so that
there is clarity, buy-in and agreement as to the direction the firm should take to ensure that
it can build and sustain a competitive edge against other players in the market.
But the process doesn’t end there. Strategy management (or Strategy in Action) is then
the on-going effort to ensure that the day-to-day tactics that the firm pursues takes it ever
closer to the strategic direction the firm has committed to. Metrics will need to be
developed and tracked to ensure that the firm is undergoing the changes required to
achieve the desired strategic outcome and direction. Resistance to these changes, as a
result of established dominant logic or threats to personal power will need to be dealt with.
The difficulties encountered along the way will usually provide valuable lessons in how the
strategy should be tweaked, as rarely will the strategy be right the first time. The strategy
may have to be cascaded across different departments and units across the firm or
interpreted and implemented with acceptable variances in the firms various business
units.. So, whilst there is much science in strategy in the form of frameworks and analysis
that provide the right context and content, there is also much art in how choices are made
in the absence of perfect information and in ensuring that cultural and mindset change
along with resistance to the new strategy are appropriately managed.
Course Organisation
The emphasis of this course is on the practice of strategy. As this is an MBA course,
students are expected to be familiar with the basic concepts explained in the text and to
familiarize themselves by reading the text before (as such, a quiz forming 20% of the
course grading will be administered before the class using the Pearson website
MyStrategyLab), as the value of this course is in the insights the student can gain by
applying the concepts and frameworks to actual business problems and situations, and to
hear practical insights from those who have formulated, communicated and implemented
strategies.
To achieve this, the case study method will be used extensively to give students as close
practical hands-on as possible in a classroom environment. Cases will be selected to
emphasize a particular concept, framework or tool.
Students will also work in groups to create a case study of a firm where they have
exceptional insight of a successful (or failed) strategy that has been implemented to
capture a business opportunity or repel a business threat, and these cases will be used by
“opposing teams” as the raw input they will use to put into practice what they have learnt in
the course, acting as external consultants or the strategy unit of the firm. In this way, the
course hopes to re-enact the real life messiness of strategy formulation, communication
and on-going management. An alternative to this is to leverage the strategy lab simulation
experience. This will be discussed and agreed with students when the course begins.
Participation
It is expected that all students read the relevant chapters of the textbook, all required
reading stipulated and the assigned case before the class. In reading the assigned case,
they should put themselves in the shoes of the leader of the business detailed in the case,
and try and grasp the pertinent issues and the forces at play. This is crucial as the value
in such a class at MBA level is not to learn the textbook concepts, which can be achieved
by reading any leading text on the subject but by gaining an appreciation of the complexity
of the business problem at hand, distilling the issues and forces into the key ones and
gleaming insights that are not immediately obvious to the casual reader. During class, the
assigned case will be discussed at length. Students should not expect model answers by
the instructor, as in real-life there are no such easy answers. Debate amongst students
should yield contrasting viewpoints and frames of reference that allow the formulation of a
range of viable strategic choices and options. The use of mobile phones, laptops, etc are
strictly prohibited during class as they are a distraction and their use indicates a lack of
engagement that is vital to the success of this course. At the end of each class, we will do
a quick snapshot of the case to be reviewed in the next class. As far as possible cases
have been selected in advance, but students are asked to bear in mind that cases can be
changed with adequate notice based on the student’s comprehension and needs.
Course Evaluation
Class Participation 40%
Group Project
40%
Concepts Quiz
20%
Text and Reading Material
Primary Textbook – Exploring Strategy (9th Edition) by Johnson, Whittington & Scholes.
Exploring Strategy offers an outstanding and engaging real-world view of strategy. It
equips readers with a detailed understanding of the issues and techniques of strategy,
using illustration and application to make sense of the subject. With unique and powerful
learning tools such as engaging case studies, a new strategy simulation and video
assignments and having sold over 900,000 copies worldwide, Exploring Strategy provides
a proven high quality resource that you can’t do without.
Required Reading
To be read before the first class
What’s wrong with Strategy? HBR, Nov 1997 by Andrew Campbell and Marcus Alexander
The Case Study Handbook: How to Read, Discuss, and Write Persuasively About Cases
by William Ellet, Harvard Business Review Press.
Asia Banking Corporation Credit Cards by Dennis Khoo (Handout)
To be read for rest of the classes
The Five Forces that shape strategy, HBR Jan 2008 by Michael E. Porter
Blue Ocean Strategy, HBR Oct 2004 by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
Are you a strategist of just a manager, HBR Jan 1992 by Hans H. Hinterhuber and
Wolfgang Popp
Optional Reading
The Power of the 2 x 2 Matrix: Using 2 x 2 Thinking to Solve Business Problems and Make
Better Decisions by Alex Lowy and Phil Hood
Innovator's Dilemma: Why Good Companies Fail to Thrive in Fast-Moving Industries by
Clay Christensen, Harvard Business Press 1997.
Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers
by Geoffrey A. Moore
Course Schedule
01 - 17 Aug
Introduction to Strategy. Pre-reading – What’s wrong with Strategy?
Case Study – Asia Banking Corporation (pseudonym) Credit Cards
02 - 24 Aug
Strategic Position – Environment & Capabilities. Pre-reading – The Five
Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy. Blue Ocean Strategy.
Case Study – Amazon.com (A) and Amazon.com (B) (Textbook)
03 - 31 Aug
Strategic Position – Purpose & Culture
Case Study – Sony: Is Sony turning Around? (University of Hong Kong,
Asia Case Research Center, 2011) and Morita’s legacy and international
strategy at Sony (University of Western Ontario)
04 - 07 Sep
Strategic Choices – Business Strategy
Case Study – RyanAir (Textbook)
05 - 14 Sep
Strategic Choices – Corporate Strategy, Diversification & Internationalization.
Case Study – Samsung : The Paradox of Samsung’s Rise (Harvard) and
Maintaining the “SINGLE SAMSUNG” spirit:: New Challenges in a Changing
Environment (University of Western Ontario)
Guest Panelist: JungKiu Choi, COO Retail Banking Products and Segments,
former Global Head of Strategy, Standard Chartered Bank
06 - 21 Sep
Strategic Choices – Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Case Study – TripAdvisor: Scaling is Hard (bostonvcblog.typepad.com)
Guest Panelist: Yong Soo Ping, Executive Director, Walden International
Singapore.
07 - 05 Oct
Strategic Choices – Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances.
Case Study: Severstal & TNK-BP (Textbook). Class to split into two groups,
with each group selecting one case.
08 - 12 Oct
Strategy in Action – Evaluating Strategies
Case Study: Domain Synthetic Fibres (pseudonym) plc (Textbook)
09 - 19 Oct
Strategy in Action – Strategy Development Processes
Case Study – The LEGO Group, Working with Strategy (Textbook)
10 - 26 Oct
Strategy in Action – Organizing for Success
Case Study – Will we still love Ikea? (Textbook)
11 - 02 Nov
Strategy in Action – Leadership & Strategic Change.
Guest Panelist: Tsun-Yan Hsieh, CEO LinHart Group & Provost Professor
of Management, NUS Business School
Case Study – Motorola and The Razer (Harvard)
12 – 09 Nov
Strategy in Action – The practice of strategy
Case Study – Design, Thinking and Innovation at Apple (Harvard)
13 – 16 Nov
Group Case Study Presentations & Evaluations
14 – 23 Nov
Group Case Study Presentations & Evaluations
About the Course Leader/Facilitator
Dr Dennis Khoo
Dennis has 25 years of working experience in hightech and consumer banking, having held senior
executive positions in Hewlett-Packard and
Standard Chartered Bank. He is currently Global
Head of Personal and Preferred banking at
Standard Chartered and in his last role ran the
consumer banking business in Singapore with
income of almost US$1B and total staff strength
close to 3000. Dennis has a basic degree in
electrical engineering, an MBA from NUS Business
School, and a Masters in Business Research and
PhD in Business Management from the University
of Western Australia.