Corporate Strategy (P01739)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : MSE-P-CS

Corporate Strategy is an integrating module; it is concerned with the totality of what a trading business or other organisation is trying to achieve. In other words it assesses a wide variety of environmental and organisational aspects which, when considered overall, help us to understand why some organisations thrive and similar organisations may struggle. These aspects will be relevant whether the organisations are trying to sell clothes world-wide or provide health care in a geographically defined community. The aim of the Corporate Strategy course is to help students examine the corporate strategic possibilities of an enterprise and also to encourage them to integrate what they have learnt from other courses and elective choices.

The questions we ask in strategy [whether in an assessment or in real life] may appear simple, but the answers can be very complex. 'What business are we in' is a classic strategy question that examiners ask of students, consultants ask of companies, and boards of directors should ask themselves all the time.

Entry Requirements

none

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Common Courses (Management School and Economics), (Management School and Economics, Schedule H)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Tuesday	10:00	12:00	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course students will have learned:

- The need for a holistic approach to the analysis of strategy.
- Analytical approaches to strategy consistent with this holistic approach to organisations.

Knowledge and Understanding:

Students on completion of the course will have:
- Knowledge of strategic planning techniques, and tools for strategic analysis.
- An understanding of the application of these techniques in business contexts.
- An appreciation of the main drivers of strategic change in an organisation.
- Knowledge of approaches to the implementation of strategic change processes.
- At the corporate level they will have particular knowledge of diversification, acquisitions, and the management of a group handling a variety of business units.
- They will be familiar with many examples of successful and less successful strategies.
- They will have extensive knowledge of industry cases, and major types of strategic decisions.

Assessment Information

The total marks for the Corporate Strategy element of the MSC are as follows:

Corporate Strategy Examination 70
[of which case based question 50 &
multiple choice theory exam based on textbook 20]
Case Studies (inc. presentations/reports, & 2 slides) 30
Formal pres. & report = 15
Slides 1 X 10 = 7.5
Individual contributions = 7.5