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STANFORD UNIVERSITY
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
258
(650) 725-2311
1. COURSE PERSPECTIVE
Successful leaders must be able to analyze their firms competitive environments,
formulate the firms strategy and implement it by guiding and motivating their
employees. This course focuses on the long-term strategy of the business organization
and the role of leaders in formulating and implementing the strategy.
We adopt the perspective of the general manager with overall responsibility for the
performance of the firm or of a business unit within the firm. We separately consider:
2. COURSE OBJECTIVES
The objectives for the course are as follows:
4. REQUIRED READINGS
For each class, you are expected to read the case study, listed required readings and/or
news article. Readings are listed in the course outline and within the respective module
on the course website.
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The readings are an integral part of the course. Some of them provide tools and
frameworks that are applied to specific cases in class. Others apply less specifically to
particular cases or topics, but deal with broader themes that run through the course.
These latter readings will be distributed through the course at the points where it is most
appropriate for you to read them.
Doing the required reading for each class is considered part of the preparation assignment
whether or not the assignment questions specifically refer to the reading.
5. COURSE OUTLINE AND READINGS
The structure of the course and the readings for each session are described below. For
each class session, the title highlights the main theme for that session. All the materials
referred to below are available on the course website.
April 3, 2015
The Evolution of Strategic Management
Case: General Electric, Strategic Position 1981 (HBS 381-174)
Case: General Electric in 1984 (HBS 9-385-315)
Reading: GE Chiefs Overhaul Slips on Oil Wall Street Journal, March 4, 2015.
April 6, 2015
Competitive Advantage I
Case: Capital One (GSB SM135)
Reading: Garth Saloner, Andrea Shepard and Joel Podolny, Chapter 3:
Competitive Advantage, Strategic Management, 2001, pp. 41-53.
April 10, 2015
Competitive Advantage II
Case: Wal-Mart Stores Inc (HBS 9-794-024 and HBS 9-702-466)
April 13, 2015
The 5 Forces: Substitutes & Rivalry
Reading: Michael E. Porter, The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy,
Harvard Business Review, January 2008, pp. 1-18.
April 17, 2015
Switching Costs
Reading: Price War Intensifies for Top Wireless Providers, Wall Street Journal,
December 2014.
April 20, 2015
Barriers to Entry
Case: Airborne Express (HBS 9-798-070)
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May 8, 2015
Vertical Integration/Mergers
Readings: See module on course website
Wrap-Up
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There will be a take-home final exam. The exam can be accessed online and will have a
time limit for completion. More detail on the structure of the final exam will be provided
closer to the exam.
6.D. Absences
Because a case-oriented course relies on class participation for its success, attendance at
every class is expected and is monitored. Since you can participate in multiple ways, not
coming to class is worse than not having anything to say. Please schedule other activities
at times other than when Strategic Management meets. Missing multiple classes will
have a substantial negative effect on your grade, including possibly failing the class.
The exception to this is absences due to genuine emergencies, prolonged illness or other
extreme circumstances. In these situations, you should (at the appropriate time) contact
your professors and the Office of Student Life for appropriate guidance and support.
However, remember: Weddings, interviews etc. may be extreme for you but they arent
for us.
If you do miss a class it is your responsibility to find out from your classmates what
materials were covered, what additional assignments were made and what items may
have been distributed in class. Wrap-up slides will generally be posted on Coursework.
6.E. Honor Code
We consider the Honor Code to be an extremely important part of the educational system
and expect that all students will live up to it.
Students are often unclear about how the Honor Code applies to preparation for case
discussions, especially since we encourage preparation in study groups. To be clear,
discussion within a formal study group or with other class members is acceptable and
encouraged for purposes of general case preparation.
However, your class preparation should not benefit from notes of case discussions from
others, e.g. former students not currently enrolled in the course. We consider it an Honor
Code violation to do any of the following:
Read from notes simply handed to you by others.
Use analyses of cases posted to the free rider home page, formal or informal
email virtual study groups, shared network drives etc.
Consult students in other sections about the right answers.
In short, we expect you to present in class only case analyses that you participated in
preparing.
The reasons for this are threefold. First, class discussion is enriched if there is variety in
points of view. This is diminished if many students come to class with the same case
analysis. Second, a great deal of your learning occurs in the process of preparing the
case. Third, we want to grade your performance.
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