Strategic Management

From Classical to Contemporary Strategy Theory

The PhD School in Business Economics

Course description: In this seminar we examine the evolution of strategic management theory from its early "classical" forms to its more contemporary expressions and lines of development. In the design of this course, our objective is not a comprehensive review of the substantial literature(s) relevant to strategic management theory. Rather, we focus our investigation on the fundamental ideas and perspectives that have been advanced under the banner of strategy theory in the last three decades and that continue to shape thought, theory development, research, and practice in strategic management today. In this regard, we pay special attention to the resource-based, dynamic capabilities, and competence-based perspectives as important exemplars of contemporary strategy theory. The primary objective of this doctoral seminar is to develop a clear view of the potential contributions of research undertaken within contemporary strategy theory to the development of strategic management theory as an evolving intellectual undertaking. A closely related further objective of this seminar is to give participating doctoral students an opportunity to closely and critically read some foundational papers in the field of strategy, both classical and contemporary, and through discussion of those papers to sharpen their understanding of both the dialectic and synthetic processes that are essential in building any body of theory and especially contemporary strategy theory. Course responsible: Professor Ron Sanchez CBS Lectures: Professor Ron Sanchez, CBS, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy Program: Seminar 1: 1 September 2005 Theories of economic organizing and their relevance to strategy theory Conceptualizing the "value-added" of strategic management How strategy happens: Design versus emergence in the strategy process Strategy theory as positive theory versus normative theory

Date: 1 September 2005 6 September 2005 13 September 2005 18 October 2005 Time: 9-12 and 13-17 Place: Copenhagen Business School Address: Porcelnshaven 16 A/B 2000 Frederiksberg Room: PH109 ECTS: 5 Fee: 5000 DKK (675 ) Not to be paid by PhD students enrolled at a Danish University Language: English Participants max: No more then 20 Enrolment deadline: August, 15 2005 Applications to: Kirsten Suhr Jacobsen phd-courses.ivs@cbs.dk stating your name, email, department and university

Contact information: Tel: 3815 2573 mail: phd-courses.ivs@cbs.dk

Seminar 2: 6 September 2005 The industrial economics/industry structure "external" view of strategy The resource-based "internal" view of strategy Theoretical issues in reconciling the "external" and "internal" views of strategy Generalizing strategy: Is strategy theory necessarily contingency theory?

Seminar 3: 13 September 2005 Systems perspectives on resources and capabilities Dynamic capabilities view of strategy Organizational learning and knowledge management in strategy theory Core competences versus core rigidities Strategic flexibility, strategic options, and irreducible uncertainty Theoretical issues in reconciling strategic capabilities and organizational change in strategy theory Seminar 4: 18 October 2005 The development of competence-based strategy theory Building dynamic, systemic, cognitive, and holistic strategy theory The theory-building agenda in the competence perspective Issues in empirical research within the competence-based perspective Should strategy theory development be driven by the conceptual needs of strategic managers? Prerequisite: No specific prerequisite. Literature: The readings in the syllabus below will be made available to all participants in the doctoral seminar. In addition, participants may find it helpful to have their own copy of The New Strategic Management: Organization, Competition, and Competence by Ron Sanchez and Aim Heene, ISBN 0 471 34400 1, referred to as "Sanchez and Heene" in the readings in the syllabus below.

Seminar 1: 1 September 2005 Theories of economic organizing and their relevance to strategy theory - Sanchez and Heene, "Economic organization: Theories of firms, markets, and their interactions," chapter 2, 12-25.

- Coase, R.H. (1937). "The nature of the firm," Econometrica,4, 386-405. - Alchaian, A. A., and H. Demsetz (1972). "Production, information costs, and economic organization," American Economic Review,LXII (5), 777-795. - Jensen, M.C., and W. Meckling (1976). "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs, and ownership structure," Journal of Finanacial Economics, 305-306. Conceptualizing the "value-added" of strategic management - Sanchez and Heene, "Strategic management: Improving organizational capabilities for value creation and distribution," chapter 3, 26-43. - Porter, M.E. (1996). "What is strategy?" Harvard Business Review, 74 (6), 61-78. - Williamson, O.E. (1991). "Strategizing, economizing, and economic organization," Strategic Management Journal, 12 (8) Winter special issue, 75-94. How strategy happens: Design versus emergence in the strategy process - Mintzberg, H. (1990). "The Design School: Reconsidering the basic premises of strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, 11 (3), 171-195. - Ansoff, I. (1991). "Critique of Henry Mintzberg's 'The Design School: Reconsidering the basic premises of strategic management'," Strategic Management Journal, 12 (6), 449-461. - Mintzberg, H. (1990). "Learning 1, Planning 0: Reply to Igor Ansoff," Strategic Management Journal, 12 (6), 463-466. Seminar 2: 6 September 2005 The industrial economics/industry structure "external" view of strategy - Porter, M.E. (1987). "From competitive advantage to corporate strategy," Harvard Business Review, 65 (3), 43-59. - Lieberman, M.B., and D.B. Montgomery (1988). "First-mover advantages," Strategic Management Journal, 13 (1), 1-12. - McGee, J., and H. Thomas (1986). "Strategic groups: Theory, research, and taxonomy," Strategic Management Journal, 7 (2), 141-160. - Caves, R.E., and P. Ghemawat (1992). "Identifying mobility barriers," Strategic Management Journal, 13 (1), 1-12. The resource-based "internal" view of strategy - Wernerfelt, B. (1984). "A resource-based view of the firm," Strategic Management Journal, 5 (2), 171-180. - Mahoney, J.T., and J.R. Pandian (1992). "The resource-based view within the conversation of strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, 13 (5), 363-380.

- Peteraf, M.A. (1993). "The cornerstones of competitive advantage: A resource-based view," Strategic Management Journal, 14 (3), 179-191. - Barney, J. (1991). "Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage," Journal of Management, 17 (1), 99-120. Theoretical issues in reconciling "external" and "internal" views of strategy - Sanchez and Heene, "Business unit strategy as a 'situational puzzle': Aligning strategic logic with macroenvironmental, industry, and product market evolution," chapter 9, 123-143. - Miller, D. (1986). "Configurations of strategy and structure: Towards a synthesis," Strategic Management Journal, 7 (3), 233249. Seminar 3: 13 September 2005 Systems perspectives on resources and capabilities - Dierickx, I., and K. Cool (1989). "Asset stock accumulation and sustainability of competitive advantage," Management Science, 35 (12), 1504-1511. - Amit, R., and P.J.H. Schoemaker (1993). "Strategic assets and organizational rent," Strategic Management Journal, 14 (1), 33-46. - Granovetter, M. (1985). "Economic action and social structure: The problem of embeddedness," American Journal of Sociology, 91 (3), 481-510. - Sanchez and Heene, "Designing and managing organizations as open systems for value creation," chapter 4, 46-58. - Sanchez, R., and A. Heene (1997). "Managing for an uncertain future: A systems view of strategic organizational change," International Studies of Management and Organization, 27 (2), 2142. Dynamic capabilities view of strategy - Teece, D.J., G. Pisano, and A. Shuen (1997). "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, 18 (7), 509-533. Organizational learning and knowledge management in strategy theory - March, J.G. (1991). "Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning," Organization Science, 2 (1), 71-87. - Levinthal, D.A., and J.G. March (1993). "The myopia of learning," Strategic Management Journal, 14 (8), 95-112. - Grant, R.M. (1996). "Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm,' Strategic Management Journal, 17 (10) Winter special issue, 109-122. - Sanchez, R. (1997). "Managing articulated knowledge in competence-based competition," 163-187 in Strategic Learning and Knowledge Managment, R. Sanchez and A. Heene, editors, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

 Core competences versus core rigidities - Leonard-Barton, Dorothy (1992). "Core capabilities and core rigidities: A paradox in managing new product development," Strategic Management Journal, 13 (5) Summer special issue, 111125. - Sanchez and Heene, "Managing managerial cognition: The unique intellectual challenge of strategic management," chap. 10, 144-154. Seminar 4: 18 October 2005 The development of competence-based strategy theory - Sanchez, R. (2001). "Building blocks for strategy theory: Resources, dynamic capabilities, and competences," 143-157 in Rethinking Strategy, H.W. Volberda and T. Elfring, editors, London: Sage Publications. Building dynamic, systemic, cognitive, and holistic strategy theory - Sanchez, R., A. Heene, and H. Thomas (1996). "Introduction: Toward the theory and practice of competence-based competition," 1-35 in Dynamics of Competence-Based Competition: Theory and Practice in the New Strategic Management, R. Sanchez, A. Heene, and H. Thomas, editors, Oxford: Elsevier Pergamon. - Sanchez, R., and A. Heene (1996). "A systems view of the firm in competence-based competition," 39-62 in Dynamics of Competence-Based Competition: Theory and Practice in the New Strategic Management, R. Sanchez, A. Heene, and H. Thomas, editors, Oxford: Elsevier Pergamon. - Sanchez, R., and H. Thomas (1996). "Strategic goals," 63-84 in Dynamics of Competence-Based Competition: Theory and Practice in the New Strategic Management, R. Sanchez, A. Heene, and H. Thomas, editors, Oxford: Elsevier Pergamon. - P. Gorman, H. Thomas, and R. Sanchez (1996). "Industry dynamics in competence-based competition," 1-35 in Dynamics of Competence-Based Competition: Theory and Practice in the New Strategic Management, R. Sanchez, A. Heene, and H. Thomas, editors, Oxford: Elsevier Pergamon. - Sanchez, R., and A. Heene (1997). "Reinventing strategic management: New theory and practice for competence-based competition," European Management Journal, 15 (3), 303-317. The theory-building agenda in the competence perspective - Sanchez, R., and A. Heene (1997). "Competence-based strategic management: Concepts and issues for theory, research, and practice," 3-42 in Competence-based Strategic Management, A. Heene and R. Sanchez, editors, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. - Sanchez, R. (forthcoming). "Understanding competence-based management: Identifying and managing five modes of competence," Journal of Business Research.

 Issues in empirical research within the competence-based perspective - Mahoney, J. T., and R. Sanchez (1997). "Competence theory building: Reconnecting management research and management practice," 43-64 in Competence- based Strategic Management, A. Heene and R. Sanchez, editors, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.