National Research University - Higher School of Economics
Master Program 080200.68 ”Strategic management and Corporate Governance”
The Government of the Russian Federation
The Federal State Autonomous Institution of Higher Education
"National Research University - Higher School of Economics"
Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs
Course Title
«Strategic Management of International Companies»
Master Program 080200.68 ”International Business”
Author: Nina M. Lyubakova, Associate Professor, nvladimirova@hse.ru
Approved by the meeting
of the General and Strategic Management Department
Head of the Department
Chair Filinov N.B.
«___»____________ 20
_________________________
Moscow, 2013
This document may not be reproduced or redistributed by other Departments of the University
without permission of the Authors.
National Research University - Higher School of Economics
Master Program 080200.68 ”Strategic management and Corporate Governance”
Economics of Strategy
1
Course Summary
Companies face a number of strategic contradictions concerning doing business. Conditions, in
which modern organizations act, are characterized by increasing complexity, dynamic and uncertain
environment. Moreover as firms move out of their domestic market, they deal with differing business
areas. The main question in this case is do firms need to adapt to the international diversity encountered, or can they find ways of overcoming the constrains imposed by distinct national systems, structures and behaviors.
This course examines theoretical and practical aspects of strategic management within international companies and organizations. Important place in the course devoted to the analysis of global
business environment, companies’ global corporate and business strategies, business diversification
and changing corporate portfolio. To consolidate knowledge acquired during the course, case-analysis
and team analytical work will be provided.
2
Area of Application and Regulatory References
This Course Program establishes minimum requirements for skills and knowledge of the student and determines the content and the forms of educational activities and reporting.
The Course Program is designed for lectures, teaching assistants and Master Program students
080200.68 «Management» «International Business» within the Course “Strategic Management of International Companies”.
The Course Program has been developed in accordance with:
 National Curriculum in the direction of preparation 080200"Management" (QualificationMA), approved by the Ministry of Education and Science 18.10.2009;
 Education Program 080200.68 «Management»;
 University Academic Plan of the Education Program “International Business” (approved in
year 2011).
3
Course Goals
Course Goals “Strategic Management of International Companies” are as follows: to give master students knowledge in the theory and practice of strategic management of international companies
in conditions of highly dynamic and unpredictable business environment.
4
Students' Competencies to be Developed by the Course
The student is supposed to:
Know
 The basic terms and concepts of strategic planning and management of international companies
 The basic tools of analysis and methods in strategic management of organizations
 The main current trends and processes, happened in global environment


Be able to do
Manage the development of international companies and their development of competitive advantages
Apply the most relevant tools of the strategic analysis and carry out the analysis to identify the
main characteristics of business environment, companies competitive market positions and organizational features
Analyse business date and case studies to develop recommendations for required strategic
changes and their implementation due to specific conditions of the international business
National Research University - Higher School of Economics
Master Program 080200.68 ”Strategic management and Corporate Governance”
Economics of Strategy

Gain skills (experience)
Skills of independent scientific and research work
Skills of qualitative and quantitative analysis for management decision-making
Skills in team-works and presentations
5
How the Course Fits in with the Curriculum
The main provisions of the Course should be used for further studies of the following
Courses:
 International Strategic Alliances, Mergers and Acquisitions
 International Business Consulting
 Business Internationalization Strategies and Procedures
6
Course Schedule
Total
amount
of hours
№
Topic
1
2
5
The Strategic Management Process
Stakeholders, the Corporate Mission and
Goals
External Environment: The Identification of
Opportunities and Treats
Internal Analysis: Building Competitive Advantage
Corporate-Level Strategy
6
7
8
International Strategy
Business-Level Strategy
Strategic Implementation: Strategic Changes
3
4
Total
Classroom Activities
LecWorkSeminars
tures
shops
2
2
-
SelfStudy
10
10
2
2
8
4
20
6
4
15
6
4
15
4
4
4
4
2
2
20
15
15
36
24
120
7.1 Forms and Types of Testing
Type of
testing
Current
(week)
Form of testing
Home Assignment
Team Assignment
Final
Exam
Deadlines
27/03
(3 module)
15/05
(4 module)
4 module
Parameters
Individual case write-up. (3-4 A4 pages)
Team case write-up and presentations
Written exam.
Duration 90 minutes
7.2 Grading Criteria
The evaluation criteria for home assignment and homework
1. Selection and justification of methods of execution, the correct choice of the model to analyze the
situation
National Research University - Higher School of Economics
Master Program 080200.68 ”Strategic management and Corporate Governance”
Economics of Strategy
2. Depth analysis of the situation
3. Clarity, consistency and completeness of the materials and data
4. Conclusions and reasoning of decisions
5. The quality of design work, the inclusion of links to relevant sources, regulatory legislation.
Given the above basic criteria for evaluation of homework and home assignment the teacher
evaluates it on a 10-point scale.
Grading Table
ECTS Grades
A+
Excellent
10-points
scale
10
A
AB+
Very good
Very good
Good
9
8
7
B-
Good
6
C+
Satisfactory
5
C-
Satisfactory
4
F
F
F
Fail
Fail
Fail
3
2
1
Criteria
This grades can be given only when consistent with work
all the requirements and the highest rating for all criteria.
These grades can be given only under the condition of all
compliance requirements and high scores for all criteria.
This grade can be given only under the condition of full
compliance with four of five criteria and requirements one
criterion can be done in part.
This grade can be given only with the full compliance of
homework 4 of 5 criteria requirements.
This grade can be given only with the full compliance of
homework 3 of 5 criteria and requirements two criteria can be
met in part.
This grade can be given only with the full compliance of
analytical review 3 of 5 criteria requirements.
The work does not meet the requirements for most of the
criteria
If the work was not put in time, it is not estimated.
8. The Course Content
Type of
activity
Content
Hours
Section
Further reading
of the
basic
textbook
Section 1 . The Strategic Management Process
Lectures The role of the strategy in organizations. Stra2
IntroMinzberg (1985),
duction,
Andrews (1971)
Seminars tegic role of managers at different levels in an
2
organization. Main steps in a strategic planning
Ch.1
process. Main pitfalls of the strategic planning
Case: Visiting 3M
Quiz
Preparation for lectures
4
Home self-study
4
Case-Study
2
Section 2. Stakeholders, the Corporate Mission and Goals
Lectures The components of a corporate mission state2
Ch.2
Macmillan & Jones
(1986),
Semi- ment. Importance of stakeholders claims. Hier2
archy of corporate goals. The concept of social
Collins & Porras
nars
National Research University - Higher School of Economics
Master Program 080200.68 ”Strategic management and Corporate Governance”
Economics of Strategy
responsibility
(1994).
Quiz
Preparation for lectures
4
Case: HSE
Home self-study
4
Case-Study
2
Section 3. External Environment: The Identification of Opportunities and Treats
Lectures General environment and the industry environ8
Ch. 3
Ghemawat (2001),
Porter (1998)
Semi- ment. Four activities of the external environ4
mental analysis process. The general environVideo: The Looming
nars
ment’s seven segments. Main global trends, inChallenges to US
fluencing strategies of multinational companies.
Competitiveness
Competitiveness of countries.
(Porter).
Case-Study: 1. Boeing & Airbus, 2.
Finnish Construction
Quiz
Preparation for lectures
12
Companies
Home self-study
4
Case-Study
4
Section 4. Internal Analysis: Building Competitive Advantage
Lectures Source of competitive advantage. Capabilities
6
Ch.4
Grant (1991),
Hamel & Prahalad
Semi- and discuss how they are developed. Value
4
chain analysis. The importance of preventing
(1994)
nars
core competencies from becoming core rigidities
Collis & Montgomery (2008)
Quiz
Preparation for lectures
10
Home self-study
3
Case-Study
2
Section. 5. Corporate-Level Strategy
Lectures Main corporate strategies and their special char6 1. Ch. 7
Rumelt, Schendel &
Teece (1994).
Semi- acteristics. Arguments for and against concen4
trating
in
just
one
industry.
nars
Conditions under which a company is likely to
Case: Zara.
pursue vertical integration as a means to
strengthen its position in its core industry. The
main alternatives to vertical integration.
Different levels and types of diversification.
value creation through related and unrelated diversification strategy.
Quiz
Preparation for lectures
8
Home self-study
4
Case-Study
3
Section 6. International Strategy
Lectures Main motives for firm to go abroad. Different
4
Ch. 6
Dunning & Lundan
(2008)
Semi- strategies that companies can pursue in the glob4
al arena. Basic entry decisions a company faces
Yip (2003)
nars
then going international. Main modes for enterPrahalad & Doz
ing foreign markets. Global strategic alliances.
(1987)
Bartlett & Ghoshal
(1995)
Quiz
Preparation for lectures
12
Home self-study
Case-Study
8
8
Case-Study: Levendary Café: The China Challenge.
National Research University - Higher School of Economics
Master Program 080200.68 ”Strategic management and Corporate Governance”
Economics of Strategy
Section 7. Business-Level Strategy
Lectures The nature of competitive positioning in refer4
Semi- ence to the three main factors that underlie the
2
nars
choice of a successful business-level strategy.
Differences between the principal kinds of generic business-level strategies and appreciate
their advantages and disadvantages.
Appreciate the competitive positioning issues
involved in fragmented and growing, mature,
and declining industry environments.
Quiz
Quiz
Seminars
Quiz
Ch. 5
Preparation for lectures
8
Home self-study
4
Case-Study
3
Section 8. Strategic Implementation: Strategic Changes
Organizational strategy implementation through
4
Ch.8-9
organization structure. Building blocks of organ2
ization structure.
Analyzing a Company as a Portfolio of Core
Competences.
Distinguish between vertical and horizontal differentiation. The nature and functions of strategic control systems
Preparation for lectures
6
Home self-study
6
Case-Study
3
Home self-study
4
Porter (1985)
Porter (1996)
Case: Nike’s Business-Level Strategies
Hamel & Prahalad
(1994)
Case: Oracle’s
Growing Portfolio
of Businesses
7
Educational Technologies
• interactive lectures;
• analysis of practical problems and case studies;
• discussion on the lecture materials research (articles and other scientific publications);
• computer business game (computer simulation).
8
Methods and Materials for Current Testing and Attestation
8.1
Current Testing Assignments
Home assignment
Home assignment done by Masters in the form of individual case write-up.
8.2
Basic requirements:
Homework must be made using the actual material and tools, discussed in the lectures.
Baseline data should be presented in a structured form (tables, charts).
10 pages A4
The topic must be approved by the lecturer
The material for the case study should include data about a particular company, or information
about the company (industry), published in the media in Internet resources.
•
•
•
•
•
8.3
Topic of the Home Assignment
Topic 1. Assess the attractiveness of an industry in terms of characteristics of entry
barriers (economies of scale, the required investment, customer loyalty to suppliers, etc.)
National Research University - Higher School of Economics
Master Program 080200.68 ”Strategic management and Corporate Governance”
Economics of Strategy
Topic 2. Analyze the international environment. Determine what factors of the environment are crucial for your organization. What factors determines the company’s strategy?
Topic 3. Conduct an analysis of a vertically integrated company. Determine the type
of strategy (vertical integration forward or back, full or taper), what environmental factors have
influenced the choice of this strategy, the benefits and the risks of its usage.
Topic 4. Conduct an analysis of a diversified company (identify SBUs and the type of
diversification, what creates value). Determine what environmental factors influenced the
choice of this strategy, the benefits and the risks of its usage.
Topic 5. Analyze the competitive strategies of a company. Identify the type of strategies (Porter), determine what environmental factors influenced the choice of this strategy, the
benefits and risks of using each strategy.
Topic 6. Identify the type of an international strategy. How does this company create
value by expanding into foreign markets?
8.4
Examples of assignments for the intermediate / final testing
The exam is conducted in writing and consists of tasks that require knowledge and skills for all
sections of the course.
9
Grading Procedures
The grade of "Economy Strategies" is formed of the following:
- Work at lectures and seminars;
- Home self-study;
- Current control;
- Final exam
Evaluating the performance of students on lectures and seminars teacher takes into account
the students' activity in the discussions and correct solution of practical problems and case studies. Grades for work on lectures and seminars teacher puts in the work sheet. The resulting score on a
10-point scale for their work on lectures and seminars is determined before an intermediate
or final control- Оclassroom .Teacher evaluates students' work by the quality of homework, assignments
for which are presented in Section 10 of this Program.
The resulting estimate for total control in the form of an examination exhibited by the following formula, where Оfinal - assessment for working directly on the exam:
Оfinal = 0,3· Оexam + 0,25· Оhomeassignment + 0,25· Оteamassignment +0,2· Оclassroom
On the retake the student is not given an opportunity to get an extra point for compensation for
the current control grade.
Final control grade is put in the diploma, which is the resultant assessment of academic discipline.
10
Teaching Methods and Information Provision
10.1 Core Textbook
Charles W.L. Hill, Gareth R. Jones. Essentials of Strategic Management, 2th Ed., 2009, SouthWestern Cengage learning
10.2 Required Reading
1. Bartlett C. A., Ghoshal S. (1995) Transnational Management: Text, Cases and Readings in
Cross Border Management. 2nd ed. Burr Ridge, Ill.: Irwin/McGraw-Hill
National Research University - Higher School of Economics
Master Program 080200.68 ”Strategic management and Corporate Governance”
Economics of Strategy
2. Collis D. J. and Montgomery C. A. (2008) Competing on Resources. Harvard Business Review, July-August, pp. 140-150
3. Dunning J.H., Lundan S.M. (2008) Multinational enterprises and the global economy. U.K.:
Edward Elgar
4. Grant R. (1991) Contemporary Strategy Analysis, Cambridge, U.K.: Blackwell Business
5. Hamel G. and Prahalad, C.K. (1994). Competing for the Future. Boston, MA: Harvard
Business School Press
6. Hitt M.A., Ireland R. D., Hoskisson R. E. (2011) Strategic Management: Competitiveness
& Globalization, 9th Ed., South-Western Cengage learning
7. Michael E. Porter (1985), Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance (New York: Free Press
8. Porter M. (1998) Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. New York.
9. Porter M. E. (1996) What is strategy? Harvard Business Review, 74(6): 61–78.
10. Prahalad C.K, Doz Y.L. (1987) The Multinational Mission: Balancing Local Demands and
Global Vision. New York: Free Press
11. Rumelt R. P., Schendel D. E., Teece D. J. (eds.) (1994), Fundamental Issues in Strategy,
Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
12. Yip G S, (2003), “Total Global Strategy”, Prentice Hall.
12.4. Electronic Resources:
Electronic library of articles, with free access to information:
www.bloomberg.com
www.wef.org
www.worldbank.org
DataMonitor360
Spark
13. Technical Provision
Professional audio and video equipment, projector used for lectures and workshops, personal
computers - for practical training.
14. Academic Integrity
14.1 Each student in this course is expected to abide by the Higher School of Economics’ Academic
Honesty Policy. Any work submitted by a student in this course for academic credit will be the
student's own work.
The team participate in homework «Analysis of the effectiveness of the implementation strategy of the
company». Homework is prepared by a team together.
14.2 You are encouraged to study together and to discuss information and concepts covered in lecture
and the sections with other students. You can give "consulting" help to or receive "consulting"
help from such students. However, this permissible cooperation should never involve one student
having possession of a copy of all or part of work done by someone else, in the form of an email, an e-mail attachment file, a diskette, or a hard copy. Should copying occur, both the student
who copied work from another student and the student who gave material to be copied will both
automatically receive a zero for the assignment. Penalty for violation of this Policy can also be
extended to include failure of the course and University disciplinary action.
14.3 During examinations, you must do your own work. Talking or discussion is not permitted during
the examinations, nor may you compare papers, copy from others, or collaborate in any way.
National Research University - Higher School of Economics
Master Program 080200.68 ”Strategic management and Corporate Governance”
Economics of Strategy
Any collaborative behavior during the examinations will result in failure of the exam, and may
lead to failure of the course and University disciplinary action.
15. Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
The Higher School of Economics is committed to ensuring equal academic opportunities and inclusion for students with disabilities based on the principles of independent living, accessible
universal design, and diversity. I am available to discuss appropriate academic accommodations
that may be required for student with disabilities. Requests for academic accommodations are to
be made during the first three weeks of the semester, except for unusual circumstances. Students
are encouraged to register with Disability Services Center to verify their eligibility for appropriate accommodations.