Strategic thinking, and the strategic leadership resulting from it, are critical inputs to an effective strategic management focus, and in Unit 1 we will discuss strategic thinking and its link with effective strategic management. This relationship is more critical in the current competitive environment, which is characterised by globalisation and increased technological change. Unit 1 also examines the emergence of strategic management as a discipline. Some of the important early work in the field is reviewed, as are contemporary ideas in the field.
In Unit 2 we focus on how firms analyse their external environment and internal organisation. The internal analysis of a firm and the purpose of such an analysis is to identify the resources, capabilities, and core competencies that can help a firm to achieve competitive advantages. The unit then moves on to a discussion of what a firm might do, as suggested by the external environment.
Unit 3 examines the creation of competitive advantage that focuses on business level strategies, including analyses of cost leadership/differentiation strategies. We then move on to discuss corporate level strategy that is concerned with the businesses in which the diversified firm intends to compete, and with how it will manage its portfolio of businesses. Four major corporate strategies are examined, ranging from one with relative diversification, the single business, to one with substantial diversification.
Because of the important role of managers in the strategic management process, Unit 4 uses a comprehensive model to describe how managers, as strategic leaders, foster better strategic thinking throughout the organisation. Unit 4 opens with a discussion of strategic thinkers, their decision-making styles, and factors that influence their strategic decisions. The unit then broadens to a discussion of top management teams, including the influence of team heterogeneity, team power, and executive succession processes. The rest of the unit briefly examines key strategic leadership responsibilities and actions, which include ensuring that the firm is well positioned economically, and managing relationships with external stakeholders, amongst other themes.
The final unit, Unit 5, explores both corporate level and business level international strategies. After selecting an international strategy, a firm must decide which mode of entry to pursue when implementing the chosen strategy. Exporting, licensing, strategic alliances, acquisitions, and establishing a new wholly owned subsidiary are entry modes that firms consider when entering markets. This is followed by a brief discussion of the outcomes of international diversification and the attendant political and economic risks that rounds off this final Unit.