STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

Executive MBA Core Course

London Business School
Spring 2005

ob Grant: Tel. 020 7916 8497 (home), 07713632430 (mobile), 001 202 687 3844 (office)
rgrant2208@aol.com

____________________________________________________________________________

Course Overview
Strategic management is concerned with managing the competitive position and long-term development of
the business enterprise in order to ensure its survival and success. The goal of this course is to increase
your effectiveness in managing strategically. This course will require that you:

• Acquire familiarity with the principal concepts, frameworks and techniques of strategic
management.
• Gain expertise in applying these concepts, frameworks and techniques in order to
- understand the reasons for good or bad performance by an enterprise,
- generate strategy options for an enterprise,
- appraise alternative strategy options,
- select the most appropriate strategy,
- recommend the best means of implementing the chosen strategy.
• Integrate the knowledge gained in previous and parallel courses.
• Develop your capacity as a general manager in terms of
- an appreciation of the work of the general manager,
- the ability to view business problems from a general management perspective,
- the ability to develop original and innovatory approaches to strategic problems,
- developing business judgment.
• Improve your skills in discussing firm strategy and articulating arguments about strategic issues.
The course will cover two key components of strategy analysis: first, analysis of the external environment
of the firm—concentrating upon industry analysis; second, analysis of the firm’s resources and capabilities.
We shall explore strategy primarily at the level of the individual business; we shall also address some key
issues in corporate strategy. In addition, I shall be encouraging you to apply the tools of strategy analysis
to your own lives and careers.

My Expectations
The focus of the course will be applying concepts and ideas to real-world examples—both our case
discussions and to your own companies and work situations. The success of the course in terms of
individual and collective learning depends upon your input into class discussion. This requires adequate
preparation for class and willingness to take responsibility for the quality and constructiveness of class
discussion.

Preparation for each class is critical, including careful reading of the assigned case, consideration of the
assignment questions, and familiarity with the relevant textbook chapter or other background reading.
Each case will require about 3 hours of preparation.

Assessment
Your final grade will be based upon the following items:
 Coursework 1 10%
Coursework 2 10%
Coursework 3 10%
Class Participation 20%
Final Exam 50%

Coursework 1: Laura Ashley Holdings PLC [for submission January 8]

Mr. Cheong has asked for your advice. Write a brief memo (max. length 600 words) responding to the
three questions he has posed:
[a] How serious is Laura Ashley’s financial condition?
[b] What are the reasons for Laura Ashley’s poor performance?
[c] What measures should be taken in order to restore Laura Ashley to profitability?
[Note: You will need to look carefully at both financial data and qualitative information relating to the
company’s strategy and general management in order to provide an incisive diagnosis of Laura Ashley’s
current (i.e. 1999) problems.]

Coursework 2: Case Report [for submission on date of case discussion]

Select one of the following case assignments:

THE US AIRLINE INDUSTRY. (For submission on Jan. 21)

Why has the US airline industry earned such a low level of profitability since 1990? What is the outlook
for profitability over the next five years? What actions can the major airlines take to help restore
profitability?
FORD & THE WORLD AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY (For submission on Jan. 22)
Bruce Blythe has asked you to summarize your views on the following questions:
--How is the world automobile industry likely to evolve over the remainder of the decade?
--What will be implications of these changes will be for overall industry profitability?
--Which companies are best positioned to exploit these changes?
HARLEY-DAVIDSON. (For submission March 4).
Jeff Bleustein has asked you to identify the principal threats to Harley’s continued growth and
profitability and what actions he should take to sustain the company’s performance.
EMI (For submission March 5)
Report to Dr. Powell on the problems that EMI’s medical electronics business faces in 1977 and what
actions Powell should take.
BRANSON AND THE VIRGIN GROUP (For submission March 18)
• Through what common resources and capabilities does the Virgin group create competitive
advantage for its separate businesses?
• Which businesses (if any) should Branson consider divesting?
• What criteria should Branson apply in deciding what new diversifications to pursue?

Your reports should be clear, concise, clearly-analyzed and not exceed 700 words. Submit your case at
the beginning of the class in which the case is being discussed.

Coursework 3: Analysis of your Organization’s Resources and Capabilities [submit to

grantr@georgetown.edu by Wednesday 2nd February 10:30pm]1
Prepare a resource/capability analysis of your own organization. Write a short memo (600 word maximum)
that:
(1) Identifies the principal resources and capabilities needed to compete effectively in your area of
business.

1
I’m requesting these 3 days prior to our class meeting so that I can review them before we discuss them in class.
(2) Evaluates your organization’s resources and capabilities in terms of (a) strengths and weaknesses
relative to competitors (b) the importance for achieving sustainable competitive advantage.
(3) Displays your results on a 2-dimensional diagram similar to Figure 5.9 in the textbook.
(4) Derives strategy implications from your analysis: how can the organization exploit its strengths more
effectively; what should be done about weaknesses?
Come to class prepared to show your diagram and discuss your analysis.

Class Participation
Active and thoughtful class participation will be critical to your learning and the learning of your classmates.
I will “cold call” students throughout the discussion. In evaluating class participation, I will consider the
quality rather than the frequency of contributions. In assessing quality, I consider the following types of
issues:
• Does the comment simply repeat facts from the case, or does it provide analysis that adds to our
understanding of the case and its broader implications?
• Does the comment fit well into the flow of the discussion? Is it linked to the comments of others?
• Is the comment presented in a clear, concise, compelling manner or is it confusing, repetitive or
contradictory?
The most important criterion in my assessment of class participation will be: “How significantly did this
student’s participation contribute to the learning of the section as a whole?”

PROGRAM

Session 1. Jan. 7 Introduction to Strategy

Objectives: To overview the course. To appreciate the role and nature of strategy.
To gain familiarity with the development of strategic management over time. To
explore how companies make strategy and the role that their strategic planning
systems play. To consider the role of strategy analysis in your personal and
career planning.

Reading: Grant, Chapter 1.

C. Markides, All the Right Moves (HBS Press, 2000) Chapter 1.
S. Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Simon &
Schuster, 1989) Chapter 4 “Begin with the End in Mind: Principles
of Personal Leadership.”
Optional reading on strategic planning systems:
L. Bossidy & Ram Charan, Execution (Crown, 2002), Chapter 7 “The Strategy
Process”, Chapter 8 “How to Conduct a Strategy Review”.

Session 2. Jan. 7 Performance Diagnosis and Strategy Analysis

Objectives: To gain expertise in diagnosing performance problems in firms.
To link quantitative financial analysis with qualitative strategic analysis. To
consider the goals of the firm.

Reading: Grant, Chapter 2.

Case: Laura Ashley Holdings PLC: The Battle for Survival

Questions for discussion:
[a] Appraise Laura Ashley’s financial performance
[b] Identify reasons for deteriorating performance
[c] Consider whether an how Laura Ashley might be restored to profitability
Session 3. Jan. 21 Industry Analysis
Objectives: To understand how industry structure determines the intensity of
competition in an industry which determines the industry’s profit potential? To
gain proficiency in the use of Porter’s Five Forces Framework to explain and
predict the overall profitability of an industry or market. profitability.

Reading: Grant, Chap. 3

“Steel: Big is Back,” Economist, October 30, 2004, pp. 82-83.

Case: The US Airline Industry in 2004

Discussion questions:
1. Why has the US airline industry been so unprofitable since deregulation?
2. In what ways, and with what success, have the airlines’ strategies attempted
to counteract competitive forces depressing profitability in the industry?
3. What is the outlook for industry profitability for the next five years (2005-9)?

Session 4. Jan. 22 Industry Analysis (continued)

Objectives: To extend industry analysis into an international industry context. To
gain expertise in identifying attractive market segments within industries. To
become proficient in identifying Key Success Factors within an industry.

Reading: Grant, Chapters 3 & 4

Case: Ford & the World Automobile Industry

Questions for discussion:
• What changes in the structure of the world auto industry between 1970
and 2004 caused industry profitability to decline?
• How is the industry likely to evolve over the next 10 years? Will it be more
or less profitable than the past 5 years?
• Which firms will be most successful over the 10 years?

Session 5. Feb. 4 Analyzing Resources and Capabilities

Objectives: To be able to identify and appraise an organization’s resources and
capabilities. To gain expertise in designing strategies that exploit relative strengths
while reducing vulnerability to relative weaknesses. To gain awareness of the
potential and the difficulties of developing new organizational capabilities.

Reading: Grant, Chapter 5.

Case: Wal-Mart Stores Inc., March 2004

Discussion questions:
1. How good is Wal-Mart’s overall performance? To what extent is its superior
performance attributable to industry/market attractiveness and to what
extent to competitive advantage?
2. In which of Wal-Mart’s principal functions and activities (namely: purchasing,
distribution and warehousing, in-store operations, marketing, IT, HRM, and
organization and management systems/style) do WalMart's main
competitive advantages lie? Identify the distinctive resources and
capabilities in each of these functions/activities.
3. To what extent has WM been able to transfer the competitive advantage it
established in discount retailing in the US (a) to other countries, (b) to other
retail sectors and formats?
 4. How sustainable is Wal-Mart’s competitive advantage? What
recommendations would you offer Lee Scott for how Wal-Mart can best
sustain profitability and shareholder return?

Session 6. Feb.5. Analyzing Resources and Capabilities (continued)

Class discussion:
1. Discussion of your own organizations (see resources and capabilities
assignment).
2. Issues in capability development.

Session 7.Mar. 4 Analyzing Cost and Differentiation Advantage

Objectives: To be able to recognize the sources of cost advantage and
differentiation advantage within a business. To be able to identify opportunities for
a company improve its competitive position with regard to cost and differentiation,
and devise strategies fir exploiting such opportunities. to and appraise an
organization’s resources and capabilities.
.
Reading: Grant, Chaps. 7, 8, & 9

Case: Harley-Davidson Inc., February 2004

Discussion questions:
1. Identify Harley-Davidson's strategy and explain its rationale
2. Compare Harley-Davidson's resources and capabilities to those of
Honda? What does your analysis imply for Harley's potential to establish
cost and differentiation advantage over Honda?
3. What threats does H-D face?
4. How can Harley-Davidson sustain and enhance its competitive
advantage?

Session 8. Mar. 5 Emerging Industries and the Management of Technology

Objectives:
• To understand the determinants of competitive advantage in technology-
based industries including issues of appropriability, first-mover advantage, and
the role of standards and complementary resources.
• To be able to select the most appropriate strategy to exploit an innovation.
• To recognize the implications of industry evolution for key success factors and
competitive strategy.

Readings: Grant, Chapters 10 & 11

Case: EMI & the CT Scanner [A] & [B]

Discussion questions:
(A Case) Evaluate EMI’s entry strategy: Should EMI develop a new business to
produce and market the CT scanner, or should EMI exploit its scanner innovation
by licensing to other firms, or through some form of collaborative effort?
(B Case) What problems does EMI’s medical electronics business face in 1977?
What should Powell do?

Session 9. Mar. 18 Diversification and Corporate Strategy

 Objectives:
• To recognize the conditions under which diversification can create value
for companies.
• To recognize how different businesses may be related to one another
and the corporate strategies that can exploit such relatedness.

Reading: Grant, Chapter 15.

Case: Richard Branson and the Virgin Group of Companies

Discussion questions:
1. Does the Virgin group have a corporate strategy?
2. Does membership of the Virgin group of companies add
value to the individual businesses?
3. Which businesses if any should Branson consider
divesting?
4. What criteria should Branson apply in deciding what
new diversifications to pursue?
5. What changes in the financial structure, organizational
structure, and management systems of the Virgin group would you
recommend?

Session 10. Mar. 19 Current Issues and Emerging Trends in Strategic Management
Objectives: To appreciate the current trends in the business environment and the
recent developments in management thinking that are shaping business strategy
during the 21st century.

Reading : Grant, Chapter 17.