Iqra University

MBA Program
Strategic Management
Instructor
: Prof. Mohammad Ahsan Durrani
Address
: adurrani2011@hotmail.com
Pre-requisite : Marketing Management, Human Resource Management, Organization Behavior,
Financial accounting, and Financial Management
Introduction:
Strategic management is a capstone, integrative course for graduating business students. This is
an exciting
challenging course that focuses on how firms formulate, implement, and evaluate strategies.
Strategic
management concepts and techniques are studied. Students use all the knowledge acquired from
prior business
courses, coupled with new strategic-management techniques learned, to chart the future direction
of different
organizations. The major responsibility of students in this course is to make objective strategic
decisions and to
justify them through oral and written communication.
I have attempted to design this course taking the following consideration
1 Discuss a reasonable comprehensive description of various strategic
management concepts, tools and techniques that are useful in
understanding Strategic Management
2 Through experiential exercises and case analysis apply the strategic
management techniques in making objective strategic decisions.
.
Overall Course Objectives:
Strategic Management, focuses on organization as a whole and its transactions with its
environment. This course being a capstone course integrates functional courses in
marketing, accounting, finance, management., production/ operations management,
information system and economics. The overall goals are:
To develop a framework of analysis to enable students to identify central issues and
problem in complex, comprehensive case; to suggest alternative course of action; and
present well supported recommendations for future action
To develop conceptual skills so that students are able to integrate previously learned
aspects of corporations.
To develop skills to analyze and evaluate, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the
performance of people responsible for strategic decisions
To bridge the gap between theory and practice by developing an understanding of when
and how to apply the concepts and techniques learned in earlier courses in marketing,
accounting, finance, management, production and information systems
To develop a better understanding of the present and future environments in which
corporations must function
To develop analytical and decision making skills for dealing with complex conceptual
problems in an ethical manner

Expected outcomes of the Course:

At the end of the course, the students will be able to:
Scan the external environment of any organization and identify the key aspects
environmental factors having an impact on the performance of the overall industry and
the company being analyzed
Using Michael Porters Framework evaluate the overall attractiveness of the industry
Identify the various strategic groups operating within the industry
Identify the drivers of change for the industry
Identify the key success factors for a given industry and evaluate the performance of the
major players in the industry on these factors
Identify the opportunities and threats posed by the environment for a given company
Using external factor analysis matrix (EFE) evaluate a company for being responsive to
these environmental factors
Evaluate The value chain process of any company and identify the strengths or
weaknesses of each activity
Using internal factor analysis matrix identify evaluate the overall standing of the
company in terms of strength or weakness
Using the Strategic Position and Action Evaluation (SPACE) matrix, Boston consulting
Group (BCG) Growth share matrix, and GE Business Screen Matrix identify the
portfolio structuring of a given multi-business corporation
Able to identify key strategic issues faced by a given company
Recommend and defend a course of action for the company to pursue that would
achieve the desired objectives
Pedagogy:
As mentioned above, the course pedagogy is a blend of learning and applying theory to the
analysis of encapsulated situation (case studies and project).
The theory will be learned through assigned readings from the course text and supplementary
texts. The concepts learned will be clarified through class discussion of these concepts and
applying them to assigned case studies. The class discussion are not intended to be one way
transmission of information through lectures. I expect you come to the class having read the
assigned readings. There will be three comprehensive tests to be covered in extra sessions.
Responsibility for learning:
The responsibility for learning lies with the student. Moreover, we will conduct the class in a
collaborative learning style, where we can also learn from each other, from the issues and
problems we identify and how can we solve them. The instructors role is that of a coach,
guiding the learning experience: The student is expected:
a Have read the assigned readings before coming to class. I will try to minimize my
lectures times to introducing concepts not presented in the assigned readings. During the
class I will ask students to explain some of the concepts, discuss questions related to the
concepts and apply them to textbook situations to clarify their understanding.
b Have read the assigned cases and come prepared to discuss them in the class. These
cases would cover the text that has been covered in the previous week. A team of two
students will submit these cases. The cases requires you to identify key issues, identify
theories and concepts relevant to the case, and recommend ideas addressing the issue.

These cases are tentatively scheduled to be submitted and presented in the following
sessions:
Case # 1:
Session 6
Case # 2 :
Session 9
Case # 3 :
Session 15
c

Tests: There will be three tests of one hour duration

Test # 1:
Session 5
Test # 2:
Session 11
Test #3;
Session 14
1

Text Book; Essentials of Strategic Management by John E. Gamble; Margeret A. Peteraf

and Arthur A. Thompson. 4th Edition McGraw Hill
Reference Books: Strategic Management and Business Policy by Thomas L. Wheelen and J.
David Hunger, Eighth Edition, Prentice Hall
Strategic Management 7th edition by Fred R. David ( This book is a must for understanding
strategic tools.)
Grading Scheme:
Hourly Test
Cases
Mid-term
Final Exam

: 20%
: 15%
: 25%
: 40%

Class Schedule
Session # 1
Understanding the requirements of the course
Chapter 1; Strategy, Business Models, and Competitive Advantage
Session 2:
Chapter 2; Charting a companys Direction: Vision and Mission, Objectives, and Strategy
Session 3:
Chapter 3: Evaluating a companys External Environment
Session : 4
Chapter 3: Evaluating a companys External Environment
Session 5:
Revision of chapters 1-3
1st hourly test covering first three chapters
Session 6:
Chapter 4 : Evaluating Companys Resources, capabilities, and Competitiveness

Session7:
1st Case presentation and submission
Session 8:
Chapter 5 The five generic competitive strategies
Session 9:
Chapter 6; Strengthening a companys competitive position: Strategic Moves, Timing, and scope
of operation
Session 10:
Revision of chapters to be covered in test
2nd hourly test covering chapters 4,5, and 6
Session 11.
2nd case presentation and submission
Session 12:
Chapter 8: Corporate Strategy, Diversification and the Multi-business Company
Session 13:
Chapter 10; Superior strategy Execution
Session 14:
Hourly Test # 3
Session 15:
3rd case presentation and submission