Strategic Management

Andrea Furlan and Diego Campagnolo

Aims of the course The course is intended to achieve several outcomes: a) to acquaint you with the research in business strategy that makes use of economic reasoning b) to acquaint you with the standard of excellence in strategy research and c) to train you to read, critique and synthesize different authors research on the same topic

Readings Each student will be expected to complete all of the required readings each class and to prepared to discuss each of them in the seminar. In addition, in particular class you maybe be responsible for making a formal presentation of one of the readings to the class. Your presentation will form an important part of your grading work. Your grade will depend very heavily on your contributions to seminar discussions and thereby on your attendance. There will be a final exam fro the course that will be timed. It will consist of several essay questions relating to course material.

Grading The grading rates will be as follows: - Presentations: 1/3 - Final exam: 1/3 - Participation (beyond your formal presentation): 1/3

Program Course material is divided in several modules: 1 - Foundations of Strategy 2 - Structure, conduct and performance 3 - Competing on resources and capabilities 4 - Resource-based view critiques and further development 5 - Economic organization and vertical integration 6 - Economic organization and diversification 7 - Internationalization strategies 8 - Strategic Alliances 9 - Merger & Acquisition.

Section 1 - Foundations of Strategy Required readings Shapiro C., 1989, The theory of business strategy, Rand Journal of Economics, 20 (1), 125-137 Williamson O.E., 19991, Strategizing, economizing, and economic organization, Strategic Management Journal, 12, 74-94 Rumelt R.P., Schendel D.E., Teece D.J., 1991, Fundamental Issues in Strategy: a research agenda, Chapter 1, in Fundamental Issues in Strategy, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Massachusetts Porter M.E., 1990, What is strategy, Harvard Business Review, November-December, 61-78

Section 2 - Structure, conduct and performance - Required readings McGahan A.M., Porter M.E., 1997, How much does industry matter, really?, Strategic Management Journal, 18 (Summer Special Issue), 1530 Hawawini G., Subramanian V., Verdin P., 2003, Is performance driven by industry or firm specific factors? A new look at the evidence, Strategic Management Journal, 24, 1-16 Porter M.E., 2008, The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy, Harvard Business Review, January, 1-18 Schmalensee, R. 1985, Do markets differ much?, American Economic Review, 75(3), 341351.

Section 3 - Competing on resources and capabilities - Required readings Barney J., 1991, Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage, Journal of Management, 17, 99-121 Peteraf, M., 1993, The cornerstones of competitive advantage: A resource-based view, Strategic Management Journal, 14, 179-191 Teece D.J., Pisano G., Shuen A., 1997, Dynamic capabilities and strategic management, Strategic Management Journal, 18, 509-533 Eisenhardt K., Martin J., 2000, Dynamic capabilities: what are they, Strategic Management Journal, 21, 1105-1122 (Special Issue)

Section 4 - Resource-based view critiques and further developments - Required readings Priem R., Butler J., 2001, Is the resource-based view a useful perspective for strategic management research?, Academy of Management Review, 26, 22-40 Barney J., 2001, Is the resource-based view a useful perspective for strategic management research? Yes, Academy of Management Review, 26, 41-56 Priem R., Butler J., 2001, Tautology in the resource-based view and the implications of externally determined resource value: further comments, Academy of Management Review, 26, 47-66 Lippman S, Rumelt R., 2003, The payments perspective: micro-foundations of resource analysis, Strategic Management Journal, 24, 903-927.

Section 5 - Economic organization and vertical integration - Required readings Argyres N., Liebeskind J.P., 1999, Contractural commitments, bargaining power, and governance inseparability: incorporating history into Transaction Cost Theory, Academy of Management Review, 24, 49-63 Grossman H., Hart O., 1986, The costs and benefits of ownership: a theory of vertical and lateral integration, Journal of Political Economy, 94, 691-719 Williamson O.E., 1991, Comparative economic organization: the analysis of discrete structural alternatives, Administrative Science Quarterly, 36, 269-296

Hobday M., Davies A., Prencipe A., 2009, System integration: a core capability of the modern corporation, Industrial and Corporate Change, 14 (6), 1109-1143

Section 6 - Economic organization and diversification - Required readings Teece D.J., 1980, Economies of scope and the scope of the enterprise, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 1, 223-247 Chandler A., 1990, Scale and Scope: the dynamics of industrial enterprise, Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press. Chapter 1 Silverman B., 1999, Technological resources and the direction of corporate diversification: toward an integration of the resource-based view and transaction cost economics, Management Science, 45, 1109-1124 Argyres N., 1996, Capabilities, technological diversification, and divisionalization, Strategic Management Journal, 17, 395-410

Section 7 - Internationalization strategies - Required readings Johanson, J., Valhne J., 1977. The internationalization process of the firm: a model of knowledge development and increasing foreign commitments, Journal of International Business Studies, 8.1, 23-32. Freek Vermeulen & Harry Barkema. 2002. Pace, rhythm, and scope: Process dependence in building a profitable multinational corporation. Strategic Management Journal, 23.7, 637653. Anne-Wil Harzing. 2002. Acquisitions versus greenfield investments: International strategy and management of entry modes, Strategic Management Journal, 23.3, 211-227. Lu J.W., Beamish P.W., 2004, International diversification and firm performance: the s-curve hypothesis, Academy of Management Review 47 (4), 598-609

Section 8 - Strategic Alliances - Required readings Gulati R., 1998, Alliances and Networks, Strategic Management Journal19 (4), Special Issue, 293-317 Anand B.N., Khanna T., 2000, Do firms learn to create value? The case of alliances, Strategic Management Journal, 21 (3), Special Issue, 295-315 Kale P, Dyer J.H., Singh H., 2002, Alliance capability, stock market response, and long-term alliance success: the role of the alliance function, Strategic Management Journal, 23 (8), 747-767 Dyer J.H., Singh H., 1998, The Relational View: Cooperative Strategy and Sources of Interorganizational Competitive Advantage, The Academy of Management Review, 23 (4), 660-679

Section 9 - Merger & Acquisition - Required readings Ravenscraft D., Scherer F.M., 1989, The profitability of mergers, Journal of Industrial Economics, 7, 101-116 Shleifer A., Vishny R., 1991, Takeovers in the 60s and the 80s: evidence and implications, Strategic Management Journal, 12 (Special Issue), 51-60 Healey P., Palepu K., Ruback S., 1992, Does corporate performance improve after mergers?, Journal of Financial Economics, 31, 135-175 Holmstrom B., Kaplan S., 2001, Corporate governance and merger activity in the United States: making sense of the 1980s and 1990s, Journal of Economic Perspecitves, 15, 121-144