Lahore School of Economics

COURSE: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT (MGT 401)

BBA-IV
Course Outline

Strategic management is the art and science of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross
functional decisions that enable an organization to achieve its objective. It consists of the
analysis, decisions and actions an organization undertakes in order to create and sustain
competitive advantages.
This course will give students the opportunity to make actual strategic decisions, to justify those
decisions through oral and written communication and to demonstrate how these strategic
decisions would be successfully implemented. Topics to be covered include:
1. The Nature of Strategic Management: What is Strategic Management? Key Terms of Strategic
Management. The Strategic-Management Model. Benefits of Strategic Management. Pitfalls in
Strategic Management. Guidelines for Effective Strategic Management. Business Ethics and
Strategic Management. Nature of Global Competition.
2. Strategy Planning Business Vision and Mission: What do we want to Become? Vision vs.
Mission. Process of Developing a Mission Statement. Importance of Vision and Mission
Statements. Characteristics of Mission Statement. Mission Statement Components. Writing and
Evaluating Mission Statements.
3. Strategy External Assessment: Nature of External Audit. Industrial Organization View. Forces of
External Environment. Competitive Analysis. Sources of External Information. Forecasting Tools
and Techniques. Global Challenge. External Factor Evaluation Matrix. Competitive Profile
Matrix.
4. Strategy Internal Assessment: Nature of Internal Audit. Resource-Based View. Integrating
Strategy and Culture. Management. Marketing. Research and Development. MIS. Value Chain
Analysis. Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix.
5. Strategy Formulation Strategy in Action: Long-Term Objectives. Integration Strategies.
Intensive Strategies. Diversification Strategies. Defensive Strategies. Michael Porters Five
Generic Strategies. Strategy Analysis and Choice: Nature of Strategy Analysis and Choice. A
Comprehensive Strategy-Formulation Framework. The Matching Stage. The Decision Stage.
6. Strategy Implementation Management and Operations Issues: The Nature of Strategy
Implementation. Annual Objectives. Policies. Resource Allocation. Managing Conflict. Matching
Structure with Strategy. Restructuring, Reengineering, and E-Engineering. Linking Performance
and Pay to Strategies. Managing Resistance to Change.
7. Strategy Implementation & Evaluation Marketing, Finance/Accounting, R&D, and MIS Issues:
Strategy Review, Evaluation, and Control: Nature of Strategy Evaluation. A Strategy-Evaluation
Framework. The Balanced Scorecard.

Core Reading List:

Text Book:

Fred R. David. Strategic Management. Twelfth Edition. India: Pearson Education, 2009.

Other Recommended Books and Reading List:

Thomas L. Wheelen & J. David Hunger. Strategic Management Business Policy. Seventh Edition.
USA: Prentice Hall, 1999.
Dess, Lumpkin, Eisner. Strategic Management. Third Edition. USA: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2007.
Michael A. Hitt, R. Duane Ireland. Strategic ManagementCompetitiveness and Globalization.
Fourth Edition. USA: South-Western College Publishing, 2001.
Charles W. L. Hill, Gareth R. Jones. Strategic Managementan Integrated Approach. Fifth
Edition. USA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001.
Lloyd L. Byars. Strategic ManagementFormulation and ImplementationConcepts and Cases.
Third Edition. USA: Harper Collins Publishers, 1991.
Samuel C. Certo & J. Paul Peter. Strategic ManagementConcepts and Applications. Second
Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill International Edition, 1991.
John A. Pearce II & Richard B. Robinson, Jr. Strategic ManagementStrategy Formulation &
Implementation. Second Edition. USA: Irwin Inc, 1985.
Harvard Business School Review. Strategic Planning Comes of Age. Boston: Harvard University
Office of the University Publisher, 1985.
Craig W. Kirkwood. Strategic Decision Making. USA: Duxbury Press, 1997.
James E. Austin & Tomaso. Kohn. Strategic Management in Developing Countries, Case Studies.
New York: The Free Press, 1990.
Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton. The Strategy Focused OrganizationHow Balanced
Scorecard Companies thrive in the New Business Environment. Boston: Harvard Business School
Press, 2001.
Azhar Kazmi. Business Policy and Strategic Management. Second Edition. New Delhi: McGraw
Hill Publishing Company, 2002.
BPP Learning Media. Business Strategy. India: Viva Books Private Limited, 2010.
Grant, R.M (2003), Strategic Planning in a Turbulent Environment: Evidence from the Oil
Majors. Strategic Management Journal, 24:491-517.doi: 10.1002/smj.314
J. Robert Mitchell, Dean A. Shepherd, Mark P. Sharfman (2010), Erratic Strategic Decisions:
When and Why Managers are inconsistent in Strategic Decision Making. Strategic Management
Journal, DOI: 10.1002/smj.905
Holcomb, T.R, Holmes Jr. R. M., Connelly, B.L. (2009). Making the most of what you have:
Managerial Ability as a Source of Resource Value Creation. Strategic Management Journal, 30:
457-485.DOI:10.1002/smj.747
Mathew S. Kraatz and Edward J. Zajac (2001), How Organizational Resources affect Strategic
Change and Performance in Turbulent Environments: Theory and Evidence. Organization
Science, Vol.12, No.5: 632-657. INFORMS[http://www.jstor.org/stable/3086005]
William Boulding, Marian Moore, Richard Staelin, Kim Korfman, Peter Dickson, Sunil Gupta,
Donald Lehmann (1994), Understanding Managers strategic Decision-Making Process.
2

Marketing Letters, Vol.5, No.4, Duke Special issue: 413-426. Springer

[http://www.jstor.org/stable/40216360]
Esteban R. Brenes, Maurico Mena and German E. Molina (2008), Key Success Factors for
Strategy Implementation in Latin America: Journal of Business Research, Vol. 61, Issue 6: 590598. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2007.06.033
Bert Pie and Henk Ritsema (1993) Corporate Strategy: Implementation and Control. European
Management Journal, Vol. 11, Issue 1: 122-131. DOI: 10.1016/0263-2373(93)900 33-E
Harvard Business Review, Strategic management Journal, management journal, Fortune, Forbes,
Economist, Business Week, Wall Street Journal, Business Recorder, Business section, Dawn.

COURSE: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT (MGT 401)

Course Objective:
Business strategy refers to the deliberate activities through which business goals are set and implemented.
The most central goal of strategy is to differentiate the firm from its competitors in order to realize
superior financial performance and returns to the owners of a business. It may also be defined as:
the art and science of continuously developing new advantages for the firm so that it effectively
executes and competes within its chosen position in the market place and successfully achieves top
managements identified objectives, including that of creating value for all stakeholders in the firm.
However, it is important to realize that strategy is not only shaped by the underlying environmental
conditions, such as technology and competition, but also the resources available to management,
including the firms assets, structures, and competencies of its employees. This integration of the external
and internal perspectives provides the basic framework for strategic thinking. This course is intended to
give the students a holistic view of strategy formulation, content and implementation in firms. Moreover,
they will be able to think beyond day-to-day business activities of firms; analyzing the strategic threats
and opportunities of firms based on firms internal capabilities and external environments, including
sustainability issues.
Teaching Strategy:
This course is designed as an advanced level course in Business Administration Studies. The commitment
of the students to the lectures is essentially required. For this purpose, the students are required to read the
course material before attending to the courses. There will be 5 to 10 short class cases from the text book,
where a written case analysis (individually done) and a class participation and discussion will be required.
There will be 2-5 comprehensive strategic management cases (in a group of 3 - 4 students) where written
case analysis and formal presentations will be required. Further work by reading academic papers and
recent publications and journals will definitely bring extra points.

Final Assessment Criteria:

Attendance/Class Participation

5%
4

Quizzes

10%

5-10 short cases

10%

Comprehensive Cases

15%

Final Project and Presentations

10%

Midterm Exam

25%

Final Exam

25%

COURSE: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT (MGT 401)

LECTURE
NO.
1
2
3

LECTURE SESSION

DISCUSSION SESSION

Course Overview
Nature of Strategic Management
Business Vision and Mission

External Assessment

5
6
7
8

External Assessment
Quiz 1
Internal Assessment
Internal Assessment

Strategies in Action

10
11
12
13
14
15

Strategies in Action
Strategy Analysis and Choice
Strategy Analysis and Choice
Strategy Analysis and Choice
Mid Term
Implementing Strategies: Management and

Discussion on Term Project

Experiential Assignment
Experiential Assignment
Discussion on Global
Environment
Experiential Assignment
Discussion Case I
Financial Ratio Analysis
Experiential Assignment
Risk of Various Alternative
Strategies
Quiz 2
Discussion Case II
Strategy Diamond Framework
Quiz 3
Mid Term
Organizational Structure
5

16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28

Operations Issues
Implementing Strategies: Management and
Operations Issues
Quiz 4
Implementing Strategies: Marketing,
Finance/Accounting, R&D, and MIS Issues
Strategy Review, Evaluation, and Control
Quiz 5
Case Study
Case Study
Case Study
Final Term Project Presentations
Final Term Project Presentations
Final Term Project Presentations
Final Term Project Presentations
Final Exam

Discussion Case III

Quiz 4
Experiential Assignment
Experiential Assignment
Quiz 5
Discussion Case
Discussion Case
Discussion Case
Final Term Project Presentations
Final Term Project Presentations
Final Term Project Presentations
Final Term Project Presentations
Final Exam