COURSE OUTLINE

BSP3001C Business Policy & Strategy

Lecturer: Marleen Dieleman

Course Description
It is the intention of this course to give an overview of all essential aspects of strategic
management. The most fundamental distinction made in the field is between strategy process,
strategy content and strategy context. These are the three dimensions of strategy that can be
recognized in every real-life strategic problem situation. They can be generally defined as
follows:

• Strategy Process. The manner in which strategies come about is referred to as the strategy
process. Stated in terms of a number of questions, strategy process is concerned with the how,
who and when of strategy - how is, and should, strategy be made, analyzed, dreamt-up,
formulated, implemented, changed and controlled; who is involved; and when do the necessary
activities take place?
• Strategy Content. The product of a strategy process is referred to as the strategy content. Stated
in terms of a question, strategy content is concerned with the what of strategy - what is, and
should be, the strategy for the company and each of its constituent units?
• Strategy Context. The set of circumstances under which both the strategy process and the
strategy content are determined is referred to as the strategy context. Stated in terms of a
question, strategy context is concerned with the where of strategy - where, that is in which firm
and which environment, are the strategy process and strategy content embedded.

It must be emphasized that process, content and context are not the ‘elements’ of strategic
management, but its ‘dimensions’. Elements can be taken apart and examined in isolation, but
this is not the case with the strongly interrelated aspects process, content and context. Strategic
phenomena can be examined from a process, content or context perspective, as you could look at
a box's length, width and height, dependent on where you stand. The exclusive use of any of the
three angles gives only a limited view of the object under investigation. To obtain ‘depth’ of
understanding of strategy, it is therefore necessary to merge the process, content and context
angles into a three dimensional view of strategic management. This course takes such a three
dimensional view of strategic management by paying equal attention to each dimension. In this
way, all essential topics in the area of strategic management are covered. It is the explicit
intention of this course to improve students’ strategy making competence by emphasizing
problem-solving skills and strategic thinking capabilities.

Course Objectives
One of the occupational hazards of becoming a manager or consultant is superficiality.
Unfortunately, getting a business degree is not necessarily an effective deterrent to shallow
thinking. Actually, many students enter business programs hoping to quickly pick up the tricks of
the trade, without expending too much energy on the laborious task of learning to think
strategically. Tools and techniques are more highly valued than developing a strategic problem-
solving ability. However, in this course, the emphasis is not on filling in frameworks and
applying standard recipes. On the contrary, students will be expected challenge recipes, question
received wisdom, and exhibit unconventional thinking. These are objectives set for this course:

1
• Knowledge. To encourage the understanding of the many, often conflicting, schools of thought
and to facilitate the gaining of insight into the assumptions, possibilities and limitations of each
set of theories;
• Skills. To develop the student's ability to define strategic issues, to critically reflect on existing
theories, to creatively combine or develop theories where necessary and to flexibly employ
theories where useful;
• Attitude. To instill a critical, analytical, flexible and creative mindset, which challenges
organizational, industry and national paradigms and traditional problem-solving recipes.

Course Format
The format of the course is based on a mixture of cases and theory. It is my belief that
understanding both practice and theory, and acquiring the skill to apply one to the other, should
be the core of this course. Classes will not be used to review theory which is in the book (this is
the student's individual responsibility), but will be employed to give clarifying examples of issues
discussed in the chapters and readings, and for case discussion. The case discussion should be
guided by insights gained in the 'theoretical' readings and should lead to conclusions about the
applicability of theoretical concepts in certain practical situations. I apply a 3-stage approach to
learning with cases: 1. students thoroughly prepare the case at home; 2. in class students discuss
their analysis in a small group; 3. there is a plenary discussion in class. This will allow students to
compare and ideas and learn from each other. Learning comes not only from understanding new
concepts and applying analytical skills. Debating with others will sharpen someone’s analytical
skills considerably and will help students to communicate their ideas clearly. Sometimes guest
speakers are invited. In general, classes will be structured in the following way:

Introduction to concepts 50 min

Small Group Case Discussion 30 min
Break 15 min
Plenary Case Discussion 75 min
Conceptual Wrap-Up 10 min

In each of the classes the students should come prepared by reading the required materials in
advance (chapter, readings and case). The students should be ready to be asked to volunteer to
open the discussion, do a short presentation, or answer specific questions regarding the case or
other readings. Active participation from the students is a condition for the success of the course.
The quality of your preparation and class input will be reflected in your participation grade.
Absence from classes or remaining silent will have a negative effect on your participation grade.

Course Schedule
In the table below a further detailing of the contents per class session is given.

Week Session Topic Reading Case

January 15, 2010 1 Introduction to Strategy Chapter 1 Disney
January 22, 2010 2 Strategic Thinking Chapter 2 Virgin
January 29, 2010 3 Strategy Formation Chapter 3 Kao Corporation
February 5, 2010 4 Strategic Change Chapter 4 IMC Group*
February 12, 2010 5 Business Level Strategy Chapter 5 Rodamas Group*
February 26, 2010 6 Corporate Level Strategy Chapter 6 Salim Group*
March 5, 2010 7 Network Level Strategy Chapter 7 LoJack
March 12, 2010 8 Industry Context Chapter 8 Global Wine Wars*
March 19, 2010 9 Organizational Context Chapter 9 Chicago Museum
March 26, 2010 10 International Context Chapter 10 KFC
April 2, 2010 11 Organizational Purpose Chapter 11 Nike

2
April 9, 2010 12 Organizational Purpose Chapter 11 Nokia in China**
April 16, 2010 13 Project Presentations
April 24-May 8, 2010 Exam Period

* Cases available on IVLE.

** The case will be a film, to be shown in class. No preparation required

Grading and Assignments

The final grade for this course will be computed based on the following:

Class Participation 20%

Group Project 35% (April 12, 3pm, upload on IVLE)
Final Exam 45%

• The class participation grade will be based on the quality, not the quantity, of participation.
Absence from class sessions will result in a lower participation score.
• There is an ongoing joke regarding business graduates. On their first day in the company they
ask: “where is the case”? Real life problems are never neatly summarized and presented in the
form of a case. Strategy problems are messy and the way you research them is important in
solving these “messes”. The group project gives you an opportunity to research a company or
organization, apply your consultancy skills, and make a strategic plan for the CEO. More
details regarding the group project will be made available in class.
• The final exam will consist of a case with a small number of questions. The questions will
require students to be able to apply their knowledge of theoretical concepts to the practical case
situation. This exam requires no memorization and is therefore open book. This exam does
require deep understanding of the strategy concepts and extensive practice in the application of
theory to a business situation. The best preparation for both is class participation.

Literature
De Wit, Bob, and Ron Meyer (2004), Strategy - Process, Content, Context: An International
Perspective, third edition, London: Thomson Learning.