Course teacher(s)
Timo Ehrig (Coordinator)ECTS credits
5
Language(s) of instruction
english
Course content
This course is instructed by Timo Ehrig.
To create foundations, this course will cover two dominant views of business strategy -the Positioning View and the Resource-Based View- along with the emerging Theory-Based View of Strategy. Students will work on cases but will also be asked to create a start-up strategy by formulating theories.
This creates the following outline:
Session 1: The practical use of three schools of strategy.
Session 2: Value Capture Theory, case KWS
Session 3: Value Capture Theory, case Amazon
Session 4: Theory Based Learning, case NVIDIA
Session 5: Theory Based Learning, case European AI strategy
Sessions 6: Theory Based Learning
Session 7:
Session 8:
Session 9:
Session 10:
Session 11:
Session 12:
Objectives (and/or specific learning outcomes)
Students will learn the economic principles underlying key strategic decisions of business firms and organizations. Moreover, students will learn to formulate strategies (for instance, of their start-up ideas) as theories, and how to test these theories.
Prerequisites and Corequisites
Required and Corequired knowledge and skills
The course is suitable for all students who got accepted into the Specialized Master’s program, and curiosity for the topic of strategy (and, ideally, interest in the development of the strategy of an own initiative or start-up idea) is more important than any theoretical preparation.
That said, students will be at in advantage if they are familiar with basic economic concepts for business decision-making that are typically covered in introductory courses in microeconomics and/or industrial organization: average and marginal costs, economies of scale, competition, and strategic interaction.
Teaching methods and learning activities
The course will rely on a mix of theoretical analysis (guided by the textbook and the teaching notes) and in-depth case studies to be discussed in class.
References, bibliography, and recommended reading
Grant, Robert M. Contemporary strategy analysis. John Wiley & Sons, 2021. (core reading for the class!)
Ehrig, T. and Schmidt, J., 2022. Theory‐based learning and experimentation: How strategists can systematically generate knowledge at the edge between the known and the unknown. Strategic Management Journal, 43(7), pp.1287-1318.
Felin, T. & Zenger, T. 2017. The theory-based view: Economic actors as theorists. Strategy Science, 2(4), 258-271.
Porter, M. E. "1980 Competitive strategy. New York: Free Press." (1980).
Teaching notes to be posted by the course instructor
Contribution to the teaching profile
Adopt a professional and pragmatic stance to work effectively. Critically analyze situations based on a scientific managerial approach. Devise strategies by developing innovative approaches and practical solutions. Manage resources, tasks, and input of stakeholders, and implement projects by transforming strategic visions into real-life models.
Other information
Contacts
Ehrig Timo <timo.ehrig@ulb.be>
Campus
Solbosch
Evaluation
Method(s) of evaluation
- written examination
written examination
Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)
Written exam
continuous evaluation
Language(s) of evaluation
- english