SMO 810: The Manager As Strategist

EXECUTIVE MBA PROGRAM

Term: August 13
th
to 17
th
, 2012
Instructor: Roy Suddaby
Office: 4-21B Business Building
E-mail: roy.suddaby@ualberta.ca
Telephone: 492-2386
THE UNIVERSITY OF
ALBERTA
ALBERTA SCHOOL OF
BUSINESS
Competitiveness
Internal
Environment
External
Environment
The Strategic
Management
Process
Strategic Intent
Strategic Mission
Strategic
Competitiveness
Above Average
Returns
Feedback
Strategy Formulation
Business-Level
Strategy
Competitive
Dynamics
Corporate-Level
Strategy
International
Strategy
Cooperative
Strategies
Acquisitions &
Restructuring
Strategy Implementation
Corporate
Governance
Structure
& Control
Strategic
Leadership
Entrepreneurship
& Innovation
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A history of analytic techniques
in Strategy
SWOT analysis
Ansoff s product market mix
Portfolio analysis:
Boston Consulting Groups Growth Share
Matrix
McKinseys Nine Block Matrix
Porters Five Forces
An integrated approach

SWOT
Strengths
internal conditions of
a firm in which the firm
excels
Weaknesses
internal conditions in
which the firm is lacking
compared to similar
competitors
Opportunities
factors of the external
environment that confer
advantage
Threats
factors of the external
environment that confer
disadvantage
Andrews Strategy Framework
Environmental
Conditions

Economic
Technical
Physical
Political/Social
Community/Nation
World
Opportunities & Risks

Identification & Assessment

Distinctive
Competence
Capabilities:
-Financial
-Managerial
-Functional
-Organizational
Reputation
History

Corporate Resources
SWOT
Can capability be increased?
Strategy
Ansoff s Product/Mission Mix
Market
Penetration
Product
Development
Market
Development
Diversification
Present Mission
New Mission
Present product New product
BCGs Growth Share Matrix
High Growth
Low Growth
High Share Low Share
star Question mark
Cash cow
dog
Industry Attractiveness-Business
Strength Matrix
Investment
&
Growth
Selective
Growth
Selectivity
Selective
Growth
Selectivity
Harvest/
Divest
Selectivity
Harvest/
Divest
Harvest/
Divest
Industry Attractiveness
Threat of
new entrants
Bargaining
Power of
Suppliers
Bargaining
Power of
Buyers
Threat of
Substitute
Products
High Rivalry
Internal Environment
1. Does the company know what its
resources are and how they contribute
to the firms success?
2. Is it deploying those resources in a
way that provides a competitive
advantage?

Core
Competencies
Capabilities Resources
rare
valuable
imitable
substitutes
Case Analysis: An integrative
approach
External Environment:

1. General environment
2. Competitive environment
Internal Environment:
1. Key Resources
2. Core Competencies
Strategy
What textbooks dont tell you
about Strategic Management
1. Theres more than one way to skin a cat
2. Strategy is a maze, not a motorway
3. Success, in strategy, is often relative
4. and is always transient.
Theres more than one way to skin a cat
equifinality: the notion that there are multiple paths
to a final goal
Target takes aim at
Canada, with plans to
open six stores in
Calgary

THE GLOBE & MAIL
Aug. 13
GOOGLE TO BUY
FROMMERS
Google is buying the
Frommer's brand of travel
guides from publishing
house John Wiley & Sons
for an undisclosed price.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Aug. 13
STRIDES NEW FLAVOR
OF CHEWING GUM
RED HERRING
ON Aug. 1, a billboard
appeared in the SoHo
neighborhood of
Manhattan displaying only
a date, 08.13.12, and
clues seemed to point to
Apple.

NEW YORK TIMES
Aug. 13
2. Strategy is a maze, not a motorway
there are unintended consequences of strategic action
You meet the nicest
people on a Honda!
sometimes strategy is emergent rather than deliberate
sometimes it isnt clear who your competitors are or what
industry your in
tax
assurance accounting
corporate finance
investment advice
estate planning
personal financial planning
information
technology
systems design
organization design
reengineering
change management
HR management
strategic management
actuarial
services
valuation
insolvency
forensic
accounting
environmental
accounting
?
?
?
Ernst & Young
McKinsey
KPMG
Deloitte
Arthur
Andersen
IBM
BCG
PwC
AT&T
H&R
Block
William
Mercer
Co.
Goldman
Sachs
Baker
McKenzie
3. Success, in strategy, is often relative

1996 1999
1.5 million users
$5 million annual revenue
$48 million in venture capital
funding (Softbank, Compaq,
General Electric)
$240 million valuation
Bundle agreement with
Microsoft
$450 million buy-out offer
from News Corp.
1 million users
burn rate of $2 million a
month
Lays off 1/3 employees
CEO/founder resigns
April 9/99 sold to competitor
for $20 million
Look for multiple measures of
success (i.e., long term survival)
4. and is always transient.
1961 2001 1981
1. Exxon
2. General Motors
3. Mobil
4. Texaco
5. Ford
6. IBM
7. Standard Oil
8. Dupont
9. Gulf
10. Atlantic Richfield
1. General Motors
2. Standard Oil
3. Ford
4. General Electric
5. Mobil Oil
6. US Steel
7. Texaco
8. Gulf
9. Western Electric
10. Swift
1. Exxon
2. Wal Mart*
3. General Motors
4. Ford
5. General Electric*
6. Citigroup*
7. Enron*
8. IBM
9. AT&T*
10. Verizon*
Top ten US corporations (by sales): Fortune
What textbooks dont tell you about
Strategic Management
1. Equifinality
2. Emergent strategy
3. How you measure success matters
4. Sustainable competitive advantage
COURSE FORMAT

The course will be run as a seminar. You will be
expected to read and study all required articles and
cases in advance of each class. You should be
prepared to answer questions regarding the
readings if called upon in class by the instructor.
Small-group discussion sessions will be used in each
class along with scheduled group presentations.
Cases will typically be discussed during the first part
of each class and text chapters and supplemental
readings will be discussed during the latter part of
each class

TEXTBOOK/READINGS
There is no textbook. The course will rely on
business cases and supplemental readings taken
primarily from Harvard Business Review. The
Supplemental Readings are available on the U-
Learn Blackboard site for this course.
Blackboard will be used to notify you of important
information, discussion questions and changes
in reading assignments. It is critical that you
monitor the site as you prepare for each class.
ASSESSMENT

Class Participation 40%
Project A Strategic Diagnosis 30%
Project B Strategic Solution 40%
CLASS PARTICIPATION
Your participation in class is essential, both to
your learning and that of your peers. Effective
participation is not simply a function of being
noisy, but is accomplished by focused
comments, analyses that illustrate how a
particular concept of strategy is used in the case
or how a problem in the case might be solved.
Quality of comments, rather than quantity, is the
key. Your individual class participation
comprises 20% of your total evaluation.

CASE ANALYSES
For your own benefit you should prepare a brief
(i.e., no more than two pages) written summary
of each case before class.
The summary should briefly summarize the facts
of the case, identify the primary and subsidiary
issues and provide suggested solutions to the
issues.
If the case has specific questions to be addressed
at the end of the case, these should be answered
as well.

PROJECT A STRATEGIC
DIAGNOSIS
This assignment requires you to conduct a
strategic diagnosis of your organization and its
existing strategy. The Assignment is due on the
last day of class Friday, August 17
th
. This
assignment comprises 30% of your total
evaluation.
PROJECT B STRATEGIC
SOLUTION
This assignment extends Project A by requiring
you to recommend modifications to the current
strategy of your organization. The assignment is
due on the following Friday August 24
th
. This
project comprises 30% of your evaluation.
CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION
OF WRITTEN WORK
All individual written work, team projects and
presentations will be evaluated on the basis of the
following considerations:

THEORY: How well does the written material reflect your
understanding and application of the conceptual constructs
presented in class? Are you using terminology appropriately?

DATA: How well do you use data to justify your analyses, to
make appropriate inferences and to support your arguments?

CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION
OF WRITTEN WORK
WRITING: How effectively are you communicating
your analyses? Is the writing clear? Are the arguments
logical? Is the data presented clearly? Is the
communication style appropriate for the intended
audience?

CREATIVITY: Is this analysis a routine or generic
application of concepts to data or does the analysis
customize existing knowledge of strategic management to
create a unique solution for this specific firm? Does
the analysis integrate knowledge from a variety of
disciplines?