Seminar of Business Strategy

Theoretical introduction: review of key strategic concepts; key objectives and logistics of the seminar; presentation of cases to be analysed as well as key dynamics in the industry - Ex cathedra course, 4 hours, incl. small test on strategic and financial concepts based on the pre-reading material.

4 case study sessions of 4 hours each : Students split in 2 groups of ~20 students, baed on industry. Introduction to each session; Presentation of strategic context of the companies under review and first strategic options, by groups of 4 students; feedback and suggestions on improvement potential.

2 guidance sessions of 45 minutes with each group : Q&A to prepare the upcoming presentations, problem-solving discussion on the case and data availability.

2 sessions of 4 hours each to present the final documents, in front of a top leader in the industry : Presentation of the strategic final recommendations for each group, feedback and suggestions on improvement potential.

Acquire a practical strategic mindset through group case studies.

Analyse in depth the strategy applied by companies in order to understand and apply the fundamental concepts of strategy.

Theoretical (1st session), case studies moderated and evaluated by experienced consultants from a large consulting firm.

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

What Is Strategy? (Michael Porter, HBR)

Writing a Business Plan: The Basics (HBR)

Is your growth strategy flying blind? (Viguerie, Smit, HBR)

Breakthrough Thinking from Inside the Box (Coyne, Gorman Clifford, Dye, HBR)

Perspectives on Strategy (John Stuckey, McKinsey)

The Granularity of Growth (Mehrdad Baghai, Sven Smit, and S. Patrick Viguerie, McKinsey)

Evolve or Perish - Digital Darwinism for Belgian Companies (Bughin, Spittaels, McKinsey)

Contacts

Eric Grunberger : 010/434.425

Method(s) of evaluation

• Other

Other

Alignment between Professor and teaching assistant

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

Content and presentation of the 3 case studies (25%-25%-50%)

+/- 3 points in function of : quality of answers to questions asked after the presentations, interventions during other students' presentations, exercises during 1st session.

Language(s) of evaluation

• english