Advanced Strategic Management

Strategic management is central to the operation of a variety of businesses in different sectors and environments. The creation of a strategy and the management of its implementation are important in developing businesses that can create and sustain a competitive advantage. In a competitive global environment, understanding strategic principles, tools for analysis and techniques for implementation are of great importance to managers, to assist them in enhancing firm performance. This module will provide students with an overview of issues relevant to corporate and business strategy. It aims to introduce and evaluate major concepts and techniques of strategic analysis, strategy formulation, strategic actions/choices and strategy implementation. Also, the module helps students to identify and analyze "real-world" businesses. Students will learn how to identify relevant information from publicly available data, how to assess the relationships among key variables highlighted by management theory, and how to interpret the findings to formulate a firm's strategy in a specific context.

Having successfully completed this course, students will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the key and advanced dimensions of strategic management - Analysis, Evaluation, Choice & Implementation; diagnostic, practical and creative skills to analyse and evaluate a range of business solutions in differing business contexts; organisations' ability to implement chosen strategies and identify the areas requiring change. Moreover, students will develop skills in generating alternative solutions to complex problem areas, underpinning each with a supportive and well researched rationale in order to achieve critical success; evaluate these solutions, analysing the impact of potential outcomes on the various stakeholder groups; analyse alternative strategies for business development in differing operating contexts; assess the importance of structure, design, culture and working environment to effective strategic management; assess the contribution of strategic leadership to managing the process of strategic change.
To be able to understand and apply strategic management knowledge and tools, students will learn how to obtain, analyse and apply information from a variety of sources in the public domain; embrace new ideas and awareness of alternatives which should be evaluated; work collectively as an effective and efficient group member, including, where appropriate, organising, guiding and motivating others; plan and enact the successful completion of a personal workload; communicate both orally and in written form, using and justifying arguments within reports, presentations and debates.