UMUC-Europe Syllabus

BMGT 495 Strategic Management (3) (Intended as a final, capstone course to be taken in a student's last 30 semester hours.) Prerequisites: BMGT 340 and 364 and MRKT 310, or equivalent. An overview of general management and the continuous, systematic process of managerial planning, including environmental scanning and the development of plans and strategies to gain competitive advantage. Tactical and strategic management issues are highlighted by means of case studies, projects, and discussions. Access to spreadsheet software is recommended to analyze case studies and develop strategic planning information, charts, and graphs. Students may receive credit for only one of the following courses: BMGT 495, HMGT 430, MGMT 495, or TMGT 380.

Course Goals/Objectives:

This is a capstone course that integrates your prior business courses to support strategic analysis. Real-world organizations and case studies will be used to demonstrate and apply the principles of strategic analysis. You are expected to participate actively and to demonstrate mastery of the subject matter through individual and group work. Course Goals Our goals are to: -infuse strategic thinking into your functions as a manager -give you a set of strategic planning tools -demonstrate the role strategic planning plays in leadership -develop your ability to perform and communicate strategic analysis -enable you to apply strategic management planning tools to implement strategic change Course Objectives After completing this course, you should be able to: -use the strategic management process to analyze companies, nonprofit organizations, or governmental units -compare and contrast philosophies for developing strategies -evaluate the mission of an organization -construct a statement that reflects the organization's key values -perform external and internal scans of the organizational environment using

Course Introduction:

An organization can enhance and protect its competitive advantage by leveraging its core competencies. Today's rapidly changing business environment offers opportunities to affect competitive advantage. A superior organization adapts to the new environment faster than its competitors do. In an ideal world, each organization would strive towards uniqueness. The goal of strategic analysis is either to improve your organization's competitive advantage or to prevent your competition from gaining on your organization. A strategy is a success only when one or both of these goals is met. This course will explore strategic planning tools an organization can use to monitor and react to opportunities and will help you develop knowledge and skills to perform strategic analysis. You will learn how to perform a strategic management analysis by applying a series of planning tools to real-world cases to understand the forces of change. You will also learn how to implement and evaluate new strategies by working individually and in assigned teams to complete the case analyses. Strategic management is applicable to businesses, nonprofit organizations, and in some cases even to governmental units. It is normally the responsibility of the chief executive and operating officers or general managers. Many of you will become middle management supporting the strategic management process. Therefore, it is important that you understand and can perform strategic analysis. This course will focus on the practical application of strategic analysis. The underlying theory is discussed to help you better understand real-world use. During this course, you will begin to think like a business professional rather than a student. The strategies developed will be applicable to actual organizational situations.

Grading Information and Criteria:

Midterm Exam: 30% Final Exam: 30% Strategic Audit 25% *Other: 15% Total: 100% *Includes participation, assignments such as case analyses, current events, problem solving answers, quizzes and projects. Grading Scale: A = 90-100% B = 80-89% C = 70-79% D = 60-69% F below 60%

Other Information:

Any other information the instructor wishes to add. This might include: * General expectations of students, such as hours per week students should expect to devote to the class * Turnaround time for faculty to respond to email and return papers * Unique class procedures or activities (such as cooperative learning exercises, panel presentations, case study methods, class journals or learning logs) * Supplemental objectives (such as development of skills like teamwork, writing, oral presentation; integration of knowledge on focus topics) * Optional activities such as study groups

Project Descriptions:

Each student perform a strategic audit on an international corporation, develop a formal written report of 30-50 pages, and make a 15-minute PowerPoint presentation of their results. The audit and paper take a form as shown below. CURRENT SITUATION CURRENT PERFORMANCE How did the corporation perform the past year overall in terms of return on investment, market share, and profitability? STRATEGIC POSTURE What are the corporation's current mission, objectives, strategies, and policies? Are they clearly stated or merely implied from performance? Mission: What business(es) is the corporation in? Why? Objectives: What are the corporate, business, and functional objectives? Are they consistent with each other, with the mission, and with the internal and external environment? Strategies: What strategy or mix of strategies is the corporation following? Are they consistent with each other, with the mission, and objectives, and with the internal and external environment? Policies: What are they? Are they consistent with each other, with the mission, objectives, strategies, and with the internal and external environment? Do the current mission, objectives, strategies, and policies reflect the corporation's international operations - whether global or multidomestic? CORPORATE GOVERNANCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Who are they? Are they internal or external? Do they own significant shares of stock? Is the stock privately held or publicly traded? Are there different classes of stock with different voting rights? What do they contribute to the corporation in terms of knowledge, skills, background, and connections? If the corporation has international operations, do board members have international experience? How long have they served on the board? What is their level of involvement in strategic management? Do they merely rubber-stamp top management proposals or do they actively participate and suggest future directions? TOP MANAGEMENT What person or group constitutes top management? What are top management's chief characteristics in terms of knowledge, skills, background, and style? If the corporation has international operations, does top management have international experience? Are executives from acquired companies considered part of the top management team? Has top management been responsible for the corporation's performance over the past few years? How many managers have been in their current position for fewer than three years? Were they internal promotions or external hires? Has it established a systematic approach to strategic management? What is its level of involvement in the strategic management process? How well does top management interact with lower level managers and with the board of directors? Are strategic decisions made ethically in a socially responsible manner? Is top management sufficiently skilled to cope with likely future challenges? EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT (SWOT) SOCIETAL ENVIRONMENT What general environmental forces are currently affecting the corporation and the industries in which it competes? Which present current or future threats? Opportunities? Economic Technological Political-legal Sociocultural Are these forces different in other regions of the world? TASK ENVIRONMENT What forces drive industry competition? Are these forces the same globally or do they vary from country to country? Threat of new entrants Bargaining power of buyers Threat of substitute products or services Bargaining power of suppliers Rivalry among competing firms Relative power of unions, governments, special interest groups, etc. What key factors in the immediate environment (that is customers, suppliers, creditors, labor unions, government trade associations, interest groups, local communities, and shareholders) are currently affecting the corporation? Which are current or future threats? Opportunities? SUMMARY of EXTERNAL FACTORS Which of these forces and factors are the most important to the corporation and to the industries in which it competes at the present time? Which will be important in the future? INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT: Strengths and Weaknesses (SWOT) CORPORATE STRUCTURE How is the corporation structure at present? Is the decision-making authority centralized around one group or decentralized to many units? Is it organized on the basis of functions, projects, geography, or some combination of these? Is the structure clearly understood by everyone in the corporation? Is the present structure consistent with the current corporate objectives, strategies, policies and programs as well as with the firm's international operations? In what ways does this structure compare with those of similar corporations? CORPORATE CULTURE Is there a well-defined or emerging culture composed of shared beliefs, expectations, and values? Is the culture consistent with the current objectives strategies, policies, and programs? What is the culture's position on important issues facing the corporation (that is, on productivity, quality of performance, adaptability to changing conditions, and internationalization)? Is the culture compatible with the employee's diversity of backgrounds? Does the company take into consideration the values of each nation's culture in which the firm operates? CORPORATE RESOURCES MARKETING What are the corporation's current marketing objectives, strategies, policies, and programs? Are they clearly stated, or merely implied from performance and/or budgets? Are they consistent with the corporation's mission, objectives, strategies, policies, and with internal and external environments? How well is the corporation performing in terms of analysis and market position and marketing mix (that is, product, price, place, and promotion) in both domestic and international markets? What percentage of sales comes from foreign environments? What trends emerge from this analysis? What impact have these trends had on past performance and how will they probably affect future performance? Does this analysis support the corporation's past and pending strategic decisions? Does marketing provide the company with a competitive advantage? How well does the company's marketing performance compare with that of other corporations? Are marketing managers using accepted marketing concepts and techniques to evaluate and improve product performance? (Consider product life cycle, market segmentation, market research and product portfolios.) Does marketing adjust to the conditions in each country in which it operates? What is the role of the marketing manager in the strategic management process? FINANCE What are the corporation's current financial objectives, strategies, policies, and programs? Are they clearly stated or merely implied from performance and/or budgets? Are they consistent with the corporation's mission, objectives, strategies, policies, and with internal and external environments? How well is the corporation performing in terms of financial analysis? (Consider ratios, common size statements, and capitalization structure.) What trends emerge from this analysis? Are there any significant differences when statements are calculated in constant versus reported dollars? What impact have these trends had on past performance and how will they probably affect future performance? Does this analysis support the corporation's past and pending strategic decisions? Does finance provide the company with a competitive advantage? How well does this corporation's financial performance compare with that of similar corporations? Are financial managers using accepted financial concepts and techniques to evaluate and improve current corporate and divisional performance? (Consider financial leverage, capital budgeting, ratio analysis, and managing foreign currencies.) Does finance adjust to the conditions in each country in which the company operates? What is the role of the financial manager in the strategic management process? Research and Development (R&D) What are the corporation's current R&D objectives, strategies, policies, and programs? Are they clearly stated, or merely implied from performance and/or programs? Are they consistent with the corporation's mission, objectives, strategies, policies, and with internal and external environments? What is the role of technology in corporate performance? Is the mix of basic, applied, and engineering research appropriate given the corporate mission and strategies? Does R&D provide the company with a competitive advantage? What return is the corporation receiving from its return on R&D? Is the corporation competent in technology transfer? Does it use concurrent engineering and cross-functional work teams in product and process design? What role does technological discontinuity play in the company's products? How well does the corporation's investment in R&D compare with the investments of similar corporations? Does R&D adjust to the conditions in each country in which the company operates? What is the role of the R&D manager in the strategic management process? OPERATIONS AND LOGISTICS What are the corporation's current manufacturing / service objectives, strategies, policies, and programs? Are they clearly stated, or merely implied from performance and / or budgets? Are they consistent with the corporation's mission, objectives, strategies, policies, and with internal and external environments? What is the type and extent of operations capabilities of the corporation? How much is done domestically versus internationally? Is the amount of outsourcing appropriate to the competitive? Is purchasing being handled appropriately? If product-oriented, consider plant facilities, type of manufacturing system (continuous mass production, intermittent job shop, or flexible manufacturing), age and type of equipment, degree and role of automation and / or robots, plant capacities, and utilization, productivity ratings, availability and type of transportation. If service-oriented, consider service facilities (hospital, theater, or school buildings), type of operations systems (continuous service over time to same clientele or intermittent service over time to varied clientele), age and type of supporting equipment, degree and role of automation and / or use of mass communication devices (diagnostic machinery, video-tape machines), facility capacities and utilization rates, efficiency ratings of professional service personnel, availability and type of transportation to bring service staff and clientele together. Are manufacturing or service facilities vulnerable to natural disasters, local or national strikes, reduction or limitation of resources from suppliers, substantial cost increases of materials, or nationalization by governments? Is there an appropriate mix of people and machines, in manufacturing firms, or of support staff to professionals, in service firms? How well does the corporation perform relative to the competition? Is it balancing inventory costs (warehousing) with logistical costs (just-in-time)? Consider costs per unit of labor, material, and overhead; downtime; inventory control management and / or scheduling of service staff; production ratings; facility utilization percentages; and number of clients successfully treated by category (if service firm) or percentage of orders shipped on time (if product firm). What trends emerge from this analysis? What impact have these trends had on past performance and how will they probably affect future performance? Does this analysis support the corporation's past and pending decisions? Does operations provide the company with a competitive advantage? Are operations managers using appropriate concepts and techniques to evaluate and improve current performance? Consider cost systems, quality control and reliability systems, inventory control management, personnel scheduling, TQM, learning curves, safety programs, and engineering programs that can improve efficiency of manufacturing or of service. Does operations adjust to the conditions in each country in which it has facilities? What is the role of the operations manager in the strategic management process? HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT What are the corporation's current HRM objectives, strategies, policies, and programs? Are they clearly stated, or merely implied from performance and / or budgets? Are they consistent with the corporation's mission, strategies, policies, and with internal and external environments? How well is the corporation's HRM performing in terms of improving the fit between the individual employee and the job? Consider turnover, grievances, strikes, layoffs, employee training, and quality of work life. What trends emerge from this analysis? What impact have these trends had on past performance and how will they probably affect future performance? Does this analysis support the corporation's past and pending decisions? Does HRM provide the company with a competitive advantage? How does this corporation's HRM performance compare with that of similar consequences? Are HRM managers using appropriate concepts and techniques to evaluate and improve corporate performance? Consider the job analysis program, performance appraisal system, up-to-date job descriptions, training and development programs, attitude surveys, job design programs, quality of relationship with unions, and use of autonomous work teams. How well is the company managing the diversity of its workforce? Does HRM adjust to the conditions in each country in which the company operates? Does the company have a code of conduct for HRM in developing nations? Are employees receiving international assignments to prepare them for managerial positions? What is the role of the HRM manager in the strategic management process? INFORMATION SYSTEMS (IS) What are the corporation's current IS objectives, strategies, policies, and programs? Are they clearly stated, or merely implied from performance and / or budgets? Are they consistent with the corporation's mission, objectives, strategies, policies, and with internal and external environments? How well is the corporation's IS performing in terms of providing a useful database, automating routine clerical operations, assisting managers in making routine decisions, and providing information necessary for strategic decisions? What trends emerge from this analysis? What impact have these trends had on past performance and how will they probably affect future performance? Does this analysis support the corporation's past and pending strategic decisions? Does IS provide the company with a competitive advantage? How does this corporation's IS performance and stage of development compare with that of similar corporations? Are IS managers using appropriate concepts and techniques to valuate and improve corporate performance? Do they know how to build and manage a complex database, conduct system analyses, and implement interactive decision-support systems? Does the company have a global IS? Does it have difficulty with getting data across national boundaries? What is the role of the IS manager in the strategic management process? SUMMARY OF INTERNAL FACTORS Which of these factors are the most important to the corporation and to the industries in which I competes at the present time? ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC FACTORS (SWOT) Situational Analysis What are the most important internal and external factors (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) that strongly affect the corporation's future performance? List five to ten strategic factors? REVIEW OF MISSION AND OBJECTIVES Are the current mission and objectives appropriate in light of the key strategic factors and problems? Should the current mission and objectives be changed? If so, how? If changed, what will the effects on the firm be? STRATEIC ALTERNATIVES AND RECOMMENDED STRATEGY STRATEIC ALTERNATIVES Can the current or revised objectives be met by the simple, more careful implementing of those strategies presently in use (for example, fine-tuning the strategies)? What are the major feasible alternative strategies available to this corporation? What are the pros and cons of each? Can corporate scenarios be developed and agreed upon? Consider "cost leadership" and "differentiation" as business strategies. Consider "stability," "growth," and "retrenchment" as corporate strategies. Consider any functional strategic alternatives that might be needed for reinforcement of an important corporate or business strategic alternative. RECOMMENDED STRATEGY Specify which of the strategic alternatives you are recommending for the corporate, business, and functional levels of the corporation. Do you recommend different business or functional strategies for different units of the corporation? Justify your recommendation in terms of its ability to resolve both long- and short-term problems and effectively deal with the strategic factors. What "policies" should be developed or revised to guide effective implementation? IMPLEMENTATION What kinds of "programs" (for example, restructuring the corporation or instituting TQM) should be developed to implement the recommended strategy? Who should develop these programs? Who should be in charge of these programs? Are the programs financially feasible? Can pro forms "budgets" be developed and agreed upon? Are priorities and timetables appropriate to individual programs? Will new standard operating "procedures" need to be developed? EVALUATION AND CONTROL Is the current information system capable of providing sufficient feedback on implementation activities and performance? Can it measure critical success factors? Can performance results be pinpointed by area, unit, project, or function? Is the information timely? Are adequate control measures in place to ensure conformance with the recommended strategic plan? Are appropriate standards and measures being used? Are reward systems capable of recognizing and rewarding good performance?

Academic Policies:

Cases of plagiarism are handled consistent with current UMUC guidelines. See the UMUC policies at the following URL: http://www.umuc.edu/policy/

Course Schedule:

Session 1 Introduction & Overview Assign First Paper or Case--Due 6th module Chapter 1 Session 2 A Guide to Case Analysis, Page C-2 after pager 451 Establishing Company Direction Chapter 2 Session 3 Industry and Competitive Analysis Chapter 3 Session 4 Evaluating Company Resources and Competitive Capabilities Chapter 4 Session 5 Strategy and Competitive Advantage Chapter 5 Session 6 Strategies for Competing in Globalizing Markets Assign Team Project Review for Mid-term First Paper or Case Due Chapter 6 Session 7 Mid-Term Examination Chapters 1-6 Session 8 Business Models and Strategies in the Internet Era Chapter 7 Session 9 Tailoring Strategy to Fit Specific Industry and Company Situations Chapter 8 Session 10 Strategy and Competitive Advantage In Diversified Companies Chapter 9 Session 11 Evaluating the Strategies of Diversified Companies Chapter 10 Session 12 Building Resource Strengths and Organizational Capabilities Chapter 11 Session 13 Managing the Internal Organization to Promote Better Strategy Execution Chapter 12 Session 14 Corporate Culture and Leadership-Keys to Effective Strategy Execution Review for Final Chapter 13 Session 15 Final Examination Chapters 7-13 Session 16 Team Project and Discussion