Universidad Pública de Navarra - Nafarroako Univertsitate Publikoa
Public University of Navarre
| Course code: 176801 | Subject title: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT | ||||
| Credits: 6 | Type of subject: Mandatory | Year: 4 | Period: 2º S | ||
| Department: Gestión de Empresas | |||||
| Lecturers: | |||||
| CAVERO BRUJULA, M. SANDRA (Resp) [Mentoring ] | ZOUAGHI BEDDA, FERDAOUS [Mentoring ] | ||||
Contents
The course prepares students to understand the range of decisions that fall under the responsibility of an organization's General Management, as well as the key elements that should guide the development of strategic solutions that are efficient, effective, and impactful.
It is part of the General Management module within the Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and Management, specifically within the Strategy track. This track focuses on the critical factors that influence decision-making processes in highly competitive environments, where firms compete for both resources and customers.
Strategic Management is taught alongside Industrial Organization and Strategic Competition. While the latter emphasizes the economic foundations of strategic decision-making, Strategic Management focuses on applying that knowledge to real-world business situations. Decisions related to human resource management, which also fall under the scope of General Management, are addressed in the Human Resource Management course, also part of this module.
The subject is closely connected to other core courses such as Marketing Management, Financial Management, and Operations Management, which address decision-making within specific functional areas. In contrast, Strategic Management provides a broader, integrative perspective from the standpoint of General Management, whose role is to design strategies that ensure the firm¿s long-term sustainability.
From this perspective, the course addresses essential questions regarding efficiency (are resources being allocated appropriately?), effectiveness (are the stated objectives being achieved?), and impact (are these objectives well-defined?), while understanding the firm as an interdependent system. Additionally, students are introduced to strategic planning processes and the use of tools for monitoring and controlling strategy implementation.
The specific course contents are detailed in the Agenda section.
Learning outcomes
LO1: Identify relevant sources of economic information for the company and their content.
LO2: Understand economic institutions as a result and application of theoretical or formal representations of how the economy works.
LO3: Derive relevant information for the company from data that cannot be recognized by non-professionals.
LO6: Understand the principles of economic analysis in order to contribute to the efficient allocation of resources.
LO15: Understand the fundamentals of business strategy.
LO16: Be familiar with the company's main competitive and corporate strategies.
LO17: Analyze small businesses and their specific problems, as well as their management methods.
LO18: Plan, organize, and control global management projects or projects within the different functional areas of the company.
LO19: Manage and administer a company or organization, understanding its competitive and institutional position and identifying its strengths and weaknesses.
LO20: Plan, organize and control global management projects or projects in the different functional areas of the company.
LO23: Use personal, social and methodological knowledge, skills and abilities to issue advisory reports on specific situations of companies and markets.
Methodology
| Activity | Number of hours requiring attendance | Attendance not required |
| A-1 (Theoretical Sessions) | 36 | |
| A-2 (Practical Sessions) | 12 | |
| A-3 (Exercises and projects) | 7 | 30 |
| A-4 Mentoring | ||
| A-5 Individual Study | 60 | |
| A-6 Exams, assesments | 3 | |
| A-7 Seminars, Conferences | 2 | |
| TOTAL | 60 | 90 |
The teaching methodologies used in the course are:
MD1: Expository method.
MD2: Case studies.
MD3: Inverted class.
MD4: Experiments and simulations.
MD5: Problem-based learning.
Evaluation
| Assessment activity |
Weight (%) | It allows test resit |
Minimum required grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE1 and SE3: Tests, exercises, case studies, seminars, debates | 20 | Yes | 6 our of 10 |
| SE1: Final exam | 40 | Yes, in the resit exam | 5 out of 10 |
| SE2: Group report preparation and presentation | 40 | No |
Agenda
The first chapter serves as an introduction to the course and focuses on the fundamentals of business strategy, the scope of strategic decisions, and the analytical framework used throughout the subject. This framework positions strategy as the most suitable link between the competitive environment in which the firm operates and the internal resources and capabilities it must leverage to achieve its goals.
The second chapter lays the foundation for conducting a thorough analysis of any industry environment. This analysis enables the identification of key success factors for firms operating within the industry, as well as an assessment of its attractiveness in terms of potential profitability for companies considering diversification as a growth strategy.
Building on the previous framework, the third chapter presents the key concepts for performing an in-depth analysis of a firm's resources and capabilities. The aim is to identify core competencies that can serve as strategic levers¿either to gain a competitive advantage in the current industry or to explore new business opportunities through innovation and/or entrepreneurship.
The fourth chapter addresses the specific features of strategy formulation in cooperative enterprises, highlighting their distinctive organizational and management characteristics.
The fifth chapter integrates the external and internal analyses to guide the formulation of strategies that align organizational strengths and weaknesses with environmental opportunities and threats, with the goal of achieving sustainable competitive advantages.
Chapters six and seven focus on the foundations of corporate growth strategies, specifically diversification, vertical integration, and international expansion.
The final chapter introduces the processes of strategic planning and the use of the balanced scorecard as a tool for monitoring and controlling strategy implementation and outcomes.
The course content is structured into the following units or chapters:
- Unit 1: Strategy and Strategic Decisions
- Unit 2: External Analysis
- Unit 3: Resource and Capability Analysis
- Unit 4: Strategy and the Cooperative Management Model
- Unit 5: Competitive Advantage
- Unit 6: Directions and Modes of Growth
- Unit 7: Internationalization of the Firm
- Unit 8: Strategic Planning and the Balanced Scorecard
Bibliography
Access the bibliography that your professor has requested from the Library.
Basic Bibliography:
Besanko, D. Dranove, D., Schaefer, S. y Shanley, M., 7th Edition (2017): Economics of Strategy.
Birchall, J. (1997). Co-operative strategy: Economic, business and organisational issues. Palgrave Macmillan.
Kaplan, R. S., and Norton, D. P. (2004). Strategy maps: Converting intangible assets into tangible outcomes. Harvard Business School Press.
Navas, J.E and Guerras, L.A: (2018): Fundamentals of Strategic Management, 2nd Edition. Aranzadi.
Rothaermel, F. (2020). Strategic Management. Ed. Mac Graw-Hill.
Recommended Bibliography:
Grant, R. (2015): Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Text and Cases Edition, 9th Edition. John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Johnson, G., Whittington, R. Scholes, K., Regner, P., Angwin, D. (2014): Fundamentals of Strategy. Pearson Education Limited.
Porter, M. (1982): The Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. New edition in 2004. The Free Press.