MGNT 685 – STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT       INSTRUCTOR:  Dr. Dale A. Henderson                TEL:   (540) 831- 5384       LINK FOR CONTACT INFORMATION/OFFICE HOURS:  Link to schedule appointments outside of regular office hours: Feel free to stop by and ask questions or to review class material that was not clearly understood during class, while studying, or related to assigned activities.   I am also open to suggestions to help facilitate your learning by adapting to your learning style.  Please make suggestions you feel would help your learning in the course.           EMAIL:  dahender@radford.edu          WEBSITE:  http://www.radford.edu/~dahender

Required Textbooks:
Crafting and Executing Strategy: Text & Readings (12th Ed). 2000. Thompson & Strickland. McGraw-Hill:Boston.
The Business Strategy Game: A Global Industry Simulation (v7.2) 2000. Thompson & Stappenbeck. 
 
Other Optional Material:
Wall Street Journal.  See me to subscribe at a great student rate.

Prerequisites:
MBA Status or Permission of the Instructor.

Course Description:
The course is concerned with the formulation of strategy and its implementation from the point of view of top management. Strategy is the "determination of long term goals and objectives of an enterprise, and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals" (Chandler, A., Strategy and Structure, 1962). The course emphasizes how decision makers make choices that determine the direction of the organization and its future. It will cover the importance of creating organizational value, the determination of corporate long term objectives and goals, the process of making strategic choices and the processes and politics of implementation. The course will involve applying concepts, analytical frameworks, and strategic thinking to the relevant strategic issues which companies face.

The Business Strategy Computer Simulation component utilizes personal computers and sophisticated computer software to create opportunities for effective real-time learning among students. Multi-faceted decision games help business students better understand the challenge of managing a global business by giving them a more hands-on experience in crafting strategies, in implementing business decisions, and in being responsible for successful strategic and financial performance of their own company. Next to actual employment in business, the computer simulation game offers the most efficient and effective means for exposing students to the multi-faceted problems faced by today's managers, from the effects of currency fluctuations and public policy to the effects of rivalry among competitors. It reinforces the lessons that business owners must pay attention to the numbers while learning to communicate and work with individuals in other functional areas of the organization to create competitive advantages over the companies being managed by other teams of their peers that lead to superior performance over time.
 

Course Objectives:
Students completing the Strategy course and simulation should have the ability to:

1. develop an appreciation of the leadership role of top management teams and the importance of interdependence among organizational functions in strategic action

2. develop an understanding of the complex and dynamic conditions, challenging questions, and conflicting responsibilities in strategic decision making

3. review the diagnostic and analytical tools available to assess an organization's fit between its external opportunities/threats and internal resources (strengths/weaknesses).

4. examine the concept of sustainable competitive advantage and the two basic strategic questions associated with it: Where should our firm compete? and How should our firm compete?

5. identify and evaluate: a) strategies that organizations may adopt to adapt to, or alter, their environments in order to achieve and sustain superior performance over time and b) the processes by which these strategies, and policies related to them, are formulated, implemented, and controlled

6. develop administrative skills to work as a contributing member of a collaborative, self-managing team to arrive at decisions that result in acceptable financial performance for their company and develop effective communication skills necessary to present their results to organizational stakeholders

Computer Applications:
Use of computer-based applications in this course is required. This provides an opportunity for you to improve your skills in this area. In addition, students who are skilled in use of the various graphics software packages and with the Internet are strongly encouraged to share this knowledge with other members of the class. Students are required to use available software to develop technical reports and for presentations.

At a minimum, students should be familiar with and able to use all Microsoft Office programs or their equivalent, including Word, Excel, and Power Point. All work should be saved to a disk and available during class.

Grading: 

 All letter grades are on a ten point scale (ie. 90-100 = A).

*  Evaluation will be determined based on the team's overall performance and relative industry standing at the end of the course. Teams are competing against each other. Final simulation grades will be strongly influenced by team member evaluations and the instructor reserves the right to raise or lower grades on group projects based on these evaluations.

**  Research Topics and Outline must be pre-approved by the instructor.

***  The presentation of the readings will be presented in ten minutes using PowerPoint.

5 copies of Resumes are due early in the class to help assemble teams.

Teams should print ALL company and industry reports for each week and maintain these records until the end of the semester. After we run the next decision, neither you nor I can retrieve an old company report.

Collaborative Learning:
A lot of the learning in this class will be generated from student's ideas, discussions, and justifications. Often, many answers to the same problems can be correct. This makes it crucial that you thoroughly explain and justify your answers so that other students can form there own arguments for or against your solutions. This creates a synergistic learning atmosphere. Therefore, it is vital to your development and success to attend class regularly. Always include the WHY or HOW with your answers.

Attendance Policy:
Regular class attendance is required and expected. However, just being present does not constitute class participation. Each student is expected to actively participate in class discussions. The Only guarantee of a make-up assignment or quiz must be approved ahead of time by the instructor! I would appreciate you letting me and your group members know in advance of any absence, if possible. There are no make-ups for unexcused assignments.

Professional Expectations:
At this stage of your scholastic career you will be treated as a professional employee. Your best effort on all writing assignments is expected. Typographical and grammatical errors are not tolerated in submitted written work. Oral and written communication skills are very valuable, if not critical, to top level managers. Think of your instructor as your boss and anything you hand in is my copy received 5 minutes before we will distribute and discuss your ideas to our top management team and board of directors. Thus, for each four of these types of mistakes you will be subjected to a letter grade penalty up to four letter grades. This does not apply to in class tests or informal memos that you may be asked to prepare.
 

Sexual Harassment:
Students are advised that neither the Management Department nor the College of Business and Economics will tolerate sexual or racial harassment in the classroom. If you have such a complaint, please take it up with the instructor, the department chair, the dean, or the campus EEO/Affirmative Action office.
 

 
Global Dimensions:
International dimensions are thoroughly embedded throughout the course and specific business issues will be addressed that focus on multinational operations and analyses.