Corporate Strategy

CORPORATE STRATEGY
Course Booklet
Semester 2a
2011/2012
MBA
Core Course

Contents Page Number

Course Details .................................................................................................... 3
Course Description and Objectives .................................................................... 3
Learning Outcomes ............................................................................................ 4
Planned Student Learning Experiences ............................................................. 5
Teaching Approach............................................................................................. 5
Assessment ........................................................................................................ 6
Feedback ............................................................................................................ 7
Guidelines for Formatting and Handing in Assessed Work: ............................... 7
Failure to Attempt or Complete Assessed Coursework or an Examination ........ 8
Exam Arrangements for Disabled Students........................................................ 8
Plagiarism Statement.......................................................................................... 9
Appeals............................................................................................................... 9
Consultation........................................................................................................ 9
Course Monitoring Surveys ................................................................................ 9
Required Text ..................................................................................................... 9
Course Website .................................................................................................. 9
Advised Preparatory Work................................................................................ 10
Course Lecturer ................................................................................................ 10
Study Programme............................................................................................. 10
Lecture Outlines and Readings ........................................................................ 11
Exam Papers .................................................................................................... 11
Appendix 1: Case Assignment and Presentation Questions ............................ 11
Appendix 2: Further Reading............................................................................ 13
Name of Site ..................................................................................................... 25
Appendix 3: Case Studies ................................................................................ 26

Putting you at the heart of business 2 Corporate Strategy

Course Details
Course Code: BUST11195
Title: Corporate Strategy
College: Humanities and Social Science
School: The University of Edinburgh Business School
Course Organiser: Chris Carr
Contact Hours: 30
Semester: 2a
Lectures and Case
Studies

This is a 10-credit course.

Contact hours 10 x 3 hour lectures 30
including group
presentations
Preparatory reading 9 x 4 hours in advance of 36
lecture
Assignments 20 hours case analysis 20
and group discussion
12 hours writing up 12
contribution to group
report

Exam 2 hour case exam 2
Total 100 student effort hours

Course Description and Objectives
Introduction and Course Objectives

Corporate Strategy is an integrating module; it is concerned with the totality of what a trading
business or other organisation is trying to achieve. In other words, it assesses a wide variety of
environmental and organisational aspects which, when considered overall, help us to understand why
some organisations thrive and similar organisations may struggle. These aspects will be relevant
whether the organisations are trying to sell clothes world-wide or provide health care in a
geographically defined community.

Remember the MBA is intended to prepare you for general management, the management of the firm
from a holistic not functional or specialist viewpoint. For the “general manager” as the Dean of the
Harvard Business School has commented in a private paper (19/1/90) the task is “not unlike that of
an explorer leading an enterprise through unrelated territories in uncertain and unpredictable
conditions with imperfect navigational instruments”. Each part of the MBA programme will introduce
you to simple frameworks, modest analytical tools, concepts and ideas, rules of thumb and above all
ways of thinking, which will assist you in your future task of “managing”! The aim of the Corporate
Strategy course is to help you examine the corporate strategic possibilities of an enterprise and also
to encourage you to integrate what you have learnt from other courses and elective choices.

There are some implications of this approach. The questions we ask in strategy [whether in an
assessment or in real life] may appear simple, but the answers can be very complex. ‘What business
are we in?’ is a classic strategy question that examiners ask of students, consultants ask of
companies, and boards of directors should ask themselves all the time.


The reading we suggest to you, that you may find very diverse; may be a single article from The
Financial Times or Business Week, a lengthy academic article, a biography extract.

There may not be a right answer, and if there is we may not necessarily have that answer. By the
end of this course some of you will be developing insights into the strategy of organisations which will
impress those of us who are teaching you, and certainly impress some of the people running those
organisations - I can guarantee that!

The overall objectives of our strategy courses are therefore:
• to integrate the functional courses which form the rest of the MBA programme
• to emphasise the generalist nature of management work
• to examine the role of top management in setting the direction of enterprise
• to examine and to be able to apply techniques of strategic analysis
• to be aware of competing arguments behind a number of strategic approaches
• to gain an understanding of processes of strategy formulation and implementation

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course students will have learned:
• The need for a holistic approach to the analysis of strategy.
• Analytical approaches to strategy consistent with this holistic approach to organisations.

Knowledge and Understanding:
Students on completion of the course will have:
• Knowledge of strategic planning techniques, and tools for strategic analysis including templates.
• An understanding of the application of these techniques in business contexts.
• An appreciation of the main drivers of strategic change in an organisation.
• Knowledge of approaches to the implementation of strategic change processes.
• At the corporate level they will have particular knowledge of diversification, acquisitions, and
the management of a group handling a variety of business units.
• They will be familiar with many examples of successful and less successful strategies.
• They will have extensive knowledge of industry cases, and major types of strategic decisions.
• From visiting speakers, they will get first hand accounts of contemporary strategic
management practice.

Cognitive Skills:
• The ability to take a holistic approach to the application of analytical templates and other
techniques.
• Ability to analyse cases which approximates closely to the rapid analysis of business
situations.

Subject Specific Skills:
• Rapid structuring of ideas and presentations both as individuals and as members of the team.
• Organisational abilities in relation to teamwork including presentation and report writing skills.
• The ability to sift material quickly and efficiently, and to structure it into a coherent argument
• The ability to research material related to companies and business contexts under pressure of
tight deadlines.


Planned Student Learning Experiences
• Students will learn from each other in the group situations in the preparation case studies.
• In interactive plenary sessions they will learn from each other and from the teacher’s input.

Teaching Approach
This document maps out the subject area’s holistic approach and our overall programme. Course
readings (as well as case studies) are extremely demanding. This guidance and also the course pack
are provided ahead so that a good start can be made prior to the first lecture. Part of the exam at the
end of the Semester 2a is a multiple-choice exam designed to test your knowledge of the course
textbook, so it is recommended you buy and read this ahead. Recommended readings are shown in
the table at the end of this section.

There is no team presentation in week one, however, teams do need to press ahead with case
preparation to be ready for assessed presentations starting in week 2. See schedule in Appendix 1
for all case assignment questions, including major formal presentations assigned. The best
preparation here is to read Ch 14 of the text on Case Analysis and then the text-based readings for
week one.

Notice that you need to utilise at least some basic concepts or techniques covered in the text and
programme and also a high level of detailed analysis, drawing on pertinent aspects from all policy
disciplines and generally pulling together highly specific case data, so as to create a coherent overall
argument. In case analysis, though, you must not expect some right answer (as in say double-entry
accounting) – strategic issues are far too complex and ambiguous – but we are looking for coherent
analysis, displaying some depth and consideration of issues on which there is literature and evidence.
We appreciate a ‘critical perspective’ which usually begins with some performance review, thus
setting the scene for explanations of what’s going right or seriously wrong. We value insights,
creativity, evidence that ideas have been thought through (e.g. in terms of implementation details),
and themes that are clear, ‘punchy’ and carrying a sense of action-orientation. We don’t value broad
generalisations like ‘this company should do more market research’ or merely re-hashing material in
the case (which we have all read anyway!).

On normal cases (from week 2 onwards), what we ask for on the programme is that each team come
in well prepared and ready to respond as teams on assigned issues. You should be prepared to
defend your analyses or arguments if challenged. This would enable you to press on with readings,
as you will otherwise be under immense time pressure in Semester 2a, because of the time taken for
case analyses week by week. The detailed course outline indicates the readings most pertinent to
any particular week, but you are strongly advised to read ahead, skim reading if necessary and then
revisit readings most useful for any particular case. From week 2 onwards there is generally one
major formal team presentation for each case session as laid out in the next section. You will receive
a folder with all cases and all assignment questions in late December 2011 to enable you to plan and
work ahead.

Semester 1 provides an essential backdrop for Strategic Management in providing a basic level first
programme, including a deeper appreciation the processes of strategic management, and several
policy fields including sustainability and ethical issues. An aim in this Corporate Strategy course is to
increase your confidence in seeing how these overall policy considerations inevitably come together
in terms of an organisations overall strategy and direction, with a heavy emphasis on case analysis
as well as some new theoretical areas such as generic strategy, value chain analysis and corporate
level issues such as M&As, as detailed in the programme.

The Corporate Strategy course runs in Semester 2a and is taken by all students, including those


going overseas later in the year. It entails 10 three-hour lecture / case-based sessions, and a
comprehensive complementary guest speaker programme, culminating in a written exam at the end
of Semester 2a. This exam involves case-based questions. An indication of past questions is given in
Appendix 2 and case questions will follow a similar format. A detailed programme and readings are
shown on page 14.

Case Studies

Each team has to produce a formal presentation (absolute maximum of 12 minutes) in response to
one case during Semester 2a. Case assignment questions accompany the case pack, issued
together with these programme details. By the time of the formal presentation the team must also
provide a very short, complementary written report (maximum 750 words) to be handed in together
with copies of slides (6 per page, is fine so long as still fully readable). This written report need not
repeat any slide analysis, and it can be more succinct, but it must fully articulate the logical
arguments: slides alone can easily camouflage weakly structured arguments and superficial analysis!
The combination should constitute the ‘main story’; a self-sufficient document which could effectively
be circulated more widely. Both the verbal presentation and the submitted overall report will be
assessed. However, no marks are given out or finalised until all Semester 2a presentations have
been completed, so that they can all be compared fairly once all presentations have been made
(bearing in mind anticipated progression in terms of skills as the course proceeds). Please note that
feedback is provided solely for educational learning. Any attempt at lobbying for or attempting to
negotiate on grades is inequitable in respect to other groups and is strictly forbidden. There is no
formal team presentation on Air Asia or HSBC.

Formal presentation slides need to be given in to the MBA admin office and a second copy also to the
lecturer by the start of these sessions. All teams need therefore to come well prepared for all
sessions. Please note that all members of teams need to be involved both in preparing and
presenting these presentations. If a team assigns say all except one (possibly two) member/s to
make the presentation, then one member (possibly two) need/s to be the primary respondent to
questions.

At each case session one group not presenting will be asked to lead off and facilitate the first part of
plenary discussion. Their performance in such a facilitation role will not be formally assessed, but we
will have a prize for the group most effective in this capacity. The aim is to keep all groups well
prepared and to take some ownership for well organised inter-active discussions. It’s an opportunity
to ensure that students get to hear each others’ views and not just those of the lecturer!

Individuals not making formal presentations also need to prepare thoroughly for each case. This can
be done on an individual basis and individuals are likely to be asked to respond to case questions in
the case plenary sessions. Please note that individual verbal contributions will be assessed to the
extent of 10 marks (see Assessment Section). This is aimed at responding to a feeling expressed in
previous years that students wanted greater weight placed on their own personal contributions. The
aim is to facilitate and encourage exchange of ideas and experiences by students themselves and to
create an atmosphere that is a little more ‘electric’ with well-prepared, professional contributions from
everybody. To enable this, students will have name cards and assessment will be cumulative, week
by week. Each week students will be chosen randomly to ensure equity when seeking direct
individual contributions; but the intention is also to make it easier for shyer students or for those for
whom English is a second language to get more opportunities to contribute, if they have not already
done so. We want to promote an atmosphere that is conducive to contributions from all well-prepared
students. If you are ill or there are special circumstances in the period leading up to the case, please
be sure to notify your Programme Director.

Assessment


Corporate Strategy Examination 65

Group Case Presentation and Report 25

Individual contributions 10

Form of Assessment: Corporate Strategy Examination end of Semester 2a
Students will receive a case study about 3 days before the examination. In the formal examination
you will be asked questions on the case to test your knowledge and understanding of the text and
strategy theory and literature, and particularly the application of such theory and techniques. You will
not have seen this formal exam paper in advance. You should bring the case to the exam unmarked,
except for highlighting. Some examples of case questions are shown in Appendix 2.

Assessment Criteria:

Students will be assessed on:
• Their ability to understand the strategic issues in the cases they present, to use the
appropriate analytical techniques, and to marshal the relevant data.
• The quality of the presentations, the written reports and the examination questions; by quality
in this context we mean the clarity and persuasiveness of each bit of work. This implies an
ability to work in teams.
Students failing to participate in their teams will lose the marks for that piece of work, and may
become liable to disciplinary action.

Dates of Assessment:
Please refer to pages 12-13

Feedback
Assessment feedback will be provided on a feedback form in the appropriate format. Assessment
marks and feedback will be made available by 31 March 2011 for group case presentations and
within six weeks of the main exam which takes place roughly at this time: i.e. by Friday 4th May 2011.
There are three elements: first the group case presentations; secondly the exam assesses two
components of learning – firstly knowledge of theory as in the textbook, and secondly the case-based
assessment. Students thus received feedback on all three elements.

Guidelines for Formatting and Handing in Assessed Work:
All completed assignments should be stapled and clearly labelled with the student’s examination
number for individual assignments and each student’s matriculation numbers for group assignments.
Names should NOT be written on the assignments themselves, so that they can be marked
anonymously. Students are asked to attach an assignment submission sheet as a front cover. The
student’s name should be written on this sheet along with the examination number if an individual
assignment or each student’s matriculation number for a group assignment. A template for this can
be found at www.business-school.ed.ac.uk/mybiz.

When the assignments are received the assignment submission sheet will be removed before the
assignments are sent to the relevant lecturer(s) for marking. Students must also submit each
assignment electronically by TURNITIN which can be located on WebCT. For the group assignment,
once the groups have been composed, a group member will be assigned as responsible for this.
Please see instructions via the student portal. This is to enable checks to be carried out for plagiarism
on a random basis, or if suspicions are raised.

The University has a standardised penalty for late submission of coursework. The School will apply a
uniform penalty of a reduction of 5 marks for each 24 hours beyond the coursework deadline


(Saturday, Sunday and University Public Holiday not included) unless late submission has been
requested in advance of the submission date and approved in writing by the course organiser. For
example:
- an essay with a mark of 65% which is less than 24 hours late will be given a final mark of 60%
- an essay with a mark of 65% which is between 24-48 hours late will be given a final mark of 55%
- an essay with a mark of 65% which is 48-72 hours late will be given a final mark of 50% and so on...
The penalty will not be applied if good reasons can be given, such as documented illness.

COURSEWORK DEADLINES ARE ABSOLUTE AND MUST BE STRICTLY ADHERED TO
OTHERWISE THE STANDARDISED PENALTY WILL BE APPLIED WITHOUT EXCEPTION.

Extensions to coursework deadlines will normally only be granted in cases of illness or other
extenuating circumstances. An extension can only be granted by the course organiser; requests for
an extension to the deadline must be agreed with the course organiser prior to the coursework
deadline. If this proves impossible, students must attach a letter of explanation to the coursework,
signed and dated. If you are given an extension, you must ensure that the Postgraduate Office (Room
GF.15, 29 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh, EH8 9JS) has written proof of this, e.g. in the form of an
email from the course organiser.

Failure to Attempt or Complete Assessed Coursework or an Examination
Where a student fails to attempt or fails to complete assessed coursework or an examination, the
course organiser will seek to establish from the student whether the failure is legitimate (i.e.
supported by appropriate documentary evidence) or not. A failure to attempt assessed coursework or
an examination without good reason will result in a zero mark being awarded for that element of
assessment. In the case of a legitimate failure to attempt or complete assessed coursework, the
course organiser may decide to offer an extended submission deadline (without marks deduction for
late submission). Where a student is able to produce evidence of legitimate reasons for failure to
attempt or complete an examination, and where it has not been possible to offer an extended
submission deadline for a legitimate failure to attempt or complete assessed coursework, the course
organiser will refer the case to the Special Circumstances Committee.

Groupwork Issues
Where group work is involved, should there be any problems with the group dynamic, these should
be raised by two concurring members of the team with the course organiser before the Reading
Week.

Exam Arrangements for Disabled Students
If required, specific reasonable adjustments will be made to enable disabled students to sit
examinations, including any written, practice or oral examination, continuously assessed coursework
or dissertation which counts towards the final assessment. For more information about the support
disabled students can receive and the approval process for making reasonable adjustments visit
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/student-disability-service. Arrangements for degree
examinations must be approved in advance by the Registry (650 2214), and the Student Disability
Service (650 6828) for dyslexic students, and reported to the examiners. Academic Registry requires
notification of specific examination arrangements for dyslexic students well in advance of examination
weeks and specific deadlines apply (see http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/registry/other-
info/dyslexia). For all other disabled students Academic Registry must see and accept a medical
certificate or similar documentation relating to the student or be satisfied that an acceptable certificate
will be produced. Such students should discuss their requirements with their Programme Director
and/or the Student Disability Service at the earliest opportunity.


Plagiarism Statement
Plagiarism and cheating are offences against the University discipline. The full text of the University’s
regulation on plagiarism and cheating can be found on the University’s website:
http://www.docs.sasg.ed.ac.uk/AcademicServices/Discipline/StudentGuidanceUGPGT.pdf

Appeals
The process for students appealing against the assessment of grades is described in the Code of
Practice for Taught Postgraduate Programmes.

Consultation
Students are encouraged to raise any concerns of a subject specific nature with the relevant course
organiser. All but the simplest issues take time to resolve, and so please raise the issues as soon as
you are aware of them.

In the event that your course organiser cannot assist you, please contact your Programme Director.

Course Monitoring Surveys
As the PGT programmes are constantly being streamlined to remain progressive and contemporary,
it is essential that you provide feedback on the courses you undertake so that the academic and
administrative staff can be aware of your needs and the needs of your peers; the only way we can do
this is if you let us know our strengths and what can be improved to make your learning experience
with us as relevant and fulfilling as possible.

At the conclusion of every semester you will be asked to complete anonymous online course
monitoring surveys. You will be notified when the surveys relevant to your programme become live.
The results of these surveys will then be collated and distributed to the course lecturer(s) who will in
turn provide feedback on the course.

All information provided by students and course lecturer(s) will be taken into consideration by
decision makers within the Business School – and may alter the way that future courses are
administered. We are providing you with an outlet to voice your opinions and it is very important for
the current state and the future of the Business School and its students that you do so.

Required Text
Grant R. (2010) Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Text and Cases, 7th, Edn. Oxford: Blackwell.

Course Website
Lecture materials will be made available online via WebCT, which is accessible from the “quick links”
area on MyBiz http://www.business-school.ed.ac.uk/mybiz/home

On the course website you will be able to find a copy of this booklet, course handouts,
announcements and other facilities. It is important that you regularly check the WebCT system in
order to keep up to date with the course. You should be automatically registered for all your courses;
if you are not please consult the Programme Secretary (email office+mba@business-school.ed.ac.uk)
to ensure that your records are in order. A user guide and full details of how to logon and use the
system are available on the website. N.B. It is vitally important that you check your WebCT mailbox
regularly OR set it up so that it forwards messages automatically to your regular e-mail account.


Advised Preparatory Work
Since application of theory is core to our final examination and since class contributions as well as
team presentation assignments are also based on your ability to apply theory to cases, it is highly
recommended that you read the course text before beginning the course. Reading and preparing
cases each week during the course is demanding so it is a major advantage to do this reading over
the break before Semester 2a begins. Secondly it is worth looking at the Gibson Carpets case before
the programme either individually or as a team. This was once set as an exam case, so if you have
done some thinking on this, the model case answer that will be given out at the start of the
programme will then be a valuable learning experience, giving you a sense of course requirements.
Please note quickly glancing at a case and then at a model answer is rarely that much use when it
comes to having to do something yourself! Thirdly ensure you read any additional assignment
readings required before each session, as laid out in the schedule below.

Course Lecturer
Chris Carr MA (Cantab), D.Phil (Warwick), DMS, ACMA, CEng, MIMechE.
Professor in Corporate Strategy (Course Organiser)

Previously Senior Lecturer in charge of strategy at Manchester Business School, following
lectureships at Buckingham, Warwick and Bath universities. Teaching and research experience at
overseas universities includes: Brasil (FIA, University of Sao Paulo and Imbec, Rio), Russia (Moscow
State University Graduate School of Business and Administration, St. Petersburg University School of
Management and the Presidential Academy), China (Zheiiang, South West and Shenzen
Universities), India (IIMB, Bangalore), the USA most recently as Visiting Scholar at Harvard Business
School, Germany as Professor in International Business at Witten-Herdecke University in Germany,
France at HEC, Spain at the University of Carlos III in Spain, Bicoca, Italy and Bilgi in Turkey. He has
spent over 30 years researching strategic approaches to globalisation, comparing 369 companies in
21 countries worldwide through extensive field research particularly in the vehicle components
industry. Prior to this he worked in industry for over 10 years with British Aerospace and then GKN,
Britain’s two largest engineering companies in terms of market value.

Office: Room 2.15, Business School, 29 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh, EH8 9JS
Email: Chris.Carr@ed.ac.uk. Tel: 0131 650 6307

Study Programme
Week Dates 1st part of session 2nd part of session *Readings from to
be read prior to
session.

1 19 Jan Course intro. Concept of Generic strategies, market share Chs 1, 2, (3, 4)
strategy and SWOT
2 26 Jan *Walmart Stores Inc, 2009 (P1) Value chain analysis Chs 8, (5, 6)
3 2 Feb Ryanair, 2011 (P2) *AirAsia: The World’s Lowest Cost Ch 9 & 10
Airlines
4 9 Feb *Ford and the World Automobile Strategic management of Chs 11,13, (14)
Industry in 2012. Environmental innovation Watanabe 2007
Sustainability Initiatives at Ford


Motor Company. (P3)

5 16 Feb Video Game Console Industry Strategies for going international Ch 12. Kim et al 1997;
in 2012: the Next Round (P4) Eisenhardt & Sull
2001; Zook et al 2003;
Christiansen et al
2003
6 23 Feb Zara Inc (P5 ) International strategies Ch 15.
Leknes & Carr 2004

7 1 Mar Vodafone in 2011 (P6) Role of the Centre & M&As Ch 16
Lecture points on General Electric
under Jack Welch. Hanson Video.
8 8 Mar *General Electric and Jeff Leading strategic & cultural Ch 17.
Immelt 2009 (P7) change processes Immelt et al. 2009

9 15 Mar HSBC (P8) Course review and revision. Ch 18
Tesco A&B (Tesco Bank) (P9).
Presentation only.
10 22 Mar Tesco A&B (Tesco Bank) John Allan, Chairman of Dixons, Ch 7
Plenary Case session. Strategic Leadership & Change
Management

*Ref. Grant R. (2010, 7th Edition) Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Text and Cases, Oxford: Blackwell
Please note that most readings relate to the case to be studied in the work listed. Most cases are
supported by lecturers in the preceding week (except for the final week) so students are encouraged to
apply both ideas from lecturers and assigned readings when preparing for case sessions and
discussions. Please note, Grant’s chapters 3-6 largely just re-cover material from your earlier Semester
1 Strategic Management programme, so should be glanced at briefly as essentially revision. We are
using cases 2, 5, 9 and 23 (shown with stars) from Grant, R. (2010). Others (Environmental
Sustainability Initiatives at Ford Motor Company, Zara, HSBC, and Tesco A&B) are in the
supplementary case pack.

Case and presentation assignment questions are detailed in Appendix 1. Further readings are detailed in
Appendix 3.

Lecture Outlines and Readings
As above

Exam Papers
Where applicable all available exam papers can be found on the University of Edinburgh website at:
http://www.exampapers.lib.ed.ac.uk/

Appendix 1: Case Assignment and Presentation Questions
Presentation groups will be expected to make presentation of 12 minutes, leading off at the start of
case sessions into response to all assignment questions, unless stated to the contrary. One of the
teams not presenting will be asked to lead off the subsequent plenary. So please come along well
prepared. Unless explicitly stated below, please analysis the case in the time frame of that case.


Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 2009
1. Appraise Walmart’s key sources of competitive advantage.
2. Appraise its broad SWOT position making recommendations for the development of their
future competitive strategy.
Presentation team 1 to lead off in response to question 1.

Ryanair – the Low Fares Airline: Whither Now
1. Appraise Ryanair’s generic competitive strategy as a low cost airline.
2. Appraise its broad SWOT position including rivalry from other airlines, making
recommendations for the development of their future competitive strategy.

Air Asia: the World’s Lowest Cost Airline
1 Appraise Air Asia’s generic competitive strategy as a low cost airline.
2. Which sorts of low cost airline approaches will win out internationally in the future, Ryanair or
Air Asia approaches?
There will be no major team presentation for this case.

Ford and the World Automotive Industry in 2012 and Environmental Sustainability Initiatives at
Ford Motor Company 2010
1. In the context of mature, international rivalry, appraise Ford’s turnaround strategy?
2. Evaluate the contribution of Ford’s sustainability programme has contributed to their recent
turnaround?

Video Game Console Industry in 2012
1. Analyse the reasons for Nintendo’s much earlier success in entering this market in the face
from rivals such as Atari.
2. Analyse the reasons for Sony’s success in entering this market with Playstations 1 and 2 even
in the face of rivals such as Nintendo.
3. Critically appraise Microsoft’s subsequent entry strategy in respect to X-box.
4. Analyse the reasons for Nintendo’s renewed success with respect to the Wii?
5. Which world players will ultimately win out? And why?
6. What should Nintendo do next?
Presentation team 4 to lead off on questions 4 & 6.

Zara Inc: A Cut Apart from the Competition (supported by Prof Carr’s case supplement)
1. Appraise Zara’s unique competitive strategy and its approach to internationalisation.
2. Appraise its position at the end of the case. What recommendations for the development of
their future international strategy.
Presentation team 5 to lead off in response to questions 1&2.

Vodafone in 2011
1 Analyse the factors that have contributed to Vodafone’s past success internationally.
2. Appraise its position at the end of the case, including particularly its international retrenchment
moves. Make recommendations for the development of their future international strategy.
Presentation team 6 to lead off in response to questions 1&2.

Jeff Immelt and the Reinventing of General Electric, 2009
1. Appraise the key features of Immelt’s corporate strategy.
2. Appraise GE’s position at the end of the case. What threats or opportunities do you see on the
horizon and what advice would you now give to Jeffrey Immelt?
Presentation team 7 to lead off in response to question 1 & 2.


HSBC
1. Appraise HSI as an appropriate M&A target for HSBC?
2. Given the poor subsequence performance this acquisition, what lessons can be drawn from
the viewpoint of HSBC’s overall corporate leadership and governance?

Tesco A & B and Tesco Bank: From Food to Finance
1. Appraise the factors underlying Tesco’s sustained success historically.
2. How far is success due to executive and leadership skills here?
3. How far does the use of Tesco’s ‘Steering Wheel’ contribute to this?
4. Overall assess Tesco’s approach to corporate level management, highlighting any strategic
initiative(s) which you feel have greatest potential or those on the other hand might be more
vulnerable in terms of sustained future performance. Does the move into banking make
sense?
5. What lessons would you draw for effective CEO leadership styles or approaches?
6. What recommendations would you have looking to the future?
Presentation team 9 to lead off in response to question 4 and 5.

Appendix 2: Further Reading

The following books may help you to understand the concepts we study and will supplement the
lectures and discussions. You should choose from the list those books which address your particular
interests. Brief reasons are given why each book is on the list. Two words of warning: these books
have generally been written by American or British writers to meet the needs of their own managers
and societies, their applicability to other societies is variable. This list of suggested books should be
viewed as indicative, and not compulsory. Please remember that all bibliographies reflect the taste
and preference of the compiler; this one is no exception.

* Useful for additional reading or purchase if it relates to your interests

Other Excellent Texts

*Johnson, G., Scholes, K. and Whittington, R. (2011) Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases.,
9th Edn, London: Prentice Hall. This is an excellent text, more comprehensive than Grant on
implementation issues and alternative perspectives; but long for a relatively short programme.

More Advanced or Specialised Books particularly recommended for further inspection. (which
students can use or consult)

*Calori, R., Atamer, T. and Nunes, P. (2000) The Dynamics of International Competition: from
Practice to Theory. Sage. An interesting research based book from France offering analysis of
companies’ perceived strategies for internationalisation. Worth pursuing if you get interested in global
strategy.

*Christensen, C.M. and Raynor, M.E. (2003) The Innovator’s Solution: Creating and Sustaining
Successful Growth. Harvard Business School. Excellent on innovation following Christiansen’s very
well received The Innovation Paradox. Some later books though largely recover his older ground. But
his most up-to-date book, is Dyer, J., Gregersen, H. and Christensen, C.M. (2011) The Innovator’s
DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators, Harvard Business School Press, as below.

*Campbell, A. and Park, R. (2005) The Growth Gamble: When Leaders Should Bet on New Business


and How to Avoid Expensive Failures. London: Nicholas Brealey. Good on diversification.

*Dyer, J., Gregersen, H. and Christensen, C.M. (2011) The Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the Five Skills
of Disruptive Innovators, Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

*Ghemawat, P. (2011). World 3.0: Global Prosperity and How to Achieve It, Harvard Business School
Press. Similar to 2007 book but more up to date.

*Gladwell, M. (2000). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, London:
Abacus. His other new book Outliers (2008) has some interesting ideas too, but is less novel.

*Hamel, G. and Prahalad, G.K. (1994) Competing for the Future. Harvard Business School Press. An
influential book on strategy which is particularly strong on core competencies. Paperback version.

*Kroeger, F., Vizjak, A. and Moriary, M. (2008). Beating the Consolidation Game: Nine Strategies
Winning in Niches. New York: McGraw Hill. Good.

*Laszlo, C. (2008). Sustainable Value: How the World’s Leading Companies are Doing Well by Doing
Good, Sheffield: Greenleaf Publications. Interesting for examples of sustainable leadership in a
number of top companies.

*Porter M. (1980). Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors. Free
Press, is a classic and very good, although the basic ideas are well covered in the recommended
text.

*Porter, M. (1998) On Competition. A Harvard Business Review Book. A nice collection of his work.

*Rugman, A.M. (2005). The Regional Multinationals: MNEs and “Global” Strategic Management.
Cambridge University Press. A quick, simple read, though controversial.

*Rumelt, R. (2011) Good Strategy. Bad Strategy: the Difference and Why It Matters.. London: Profile
Books. A bit off-syllabus, but a valuable critique of a lot of rubbish that is spoken of in the name of
strategy!

*Slatter, S., Lovett, D. and Barlow, L. (2006). Leading Corporate Turnaround. How Leaders Fix
Troubled Companies. Jossey-Bass/John Wiley: San Francisco. Good on turnaround strategies and
options here.

*Zook, C. (2004) Beyond the Core: Expand Your Market Without Abandoning Your Roots, Harvard
Business School. Good on related diversification.

Other More Advanced or Specialised Books

Ariely, D. (2008), Predictable Irrationality: the Hidden Forces that Shape our Decisions. London:
Harper Collins. An interesting psychological take on decision making.

Bartlett, C.A. and Beamish, P.W. (2011) (6th Edition). Transnational Management: Text, Cases and
Readings in Cross-Border Management. New York: Sage.

Behrens, A. (2009). Culture and the Americas. Compares Europe with USA, Brazil and Argentina. Nice
summarises literature on cross-country cultural differences more generally.

Beinhocker, E.D. (2006). The Origin of Wealth: Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of
Economics, Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Very different, but mind stretching, panoramic in
scope and very interesting. But you’ll probably not have time for this during the course.


Berger, S. et. al (2006). How We Compete: What Companies Around the World Are Doing to Make it
in Today’s Global Economy. New York: Currency. Very strong on outsourcing and globalisation.

Bourne, M. and Bourne, P. (2007). Balanced Scorecard. London: Hodder Education. Quick
practioner’s guide.

Branine, M. (2011). Managing Across Cultures: Concepts, Policies and Practices. London: Sage.

Bryan, L., Fraser, J., Oppenheimer, J. and Rall, W. (1999) Race for the World, Harvard Business
School Press. A quick read with some good ideas on global strategy, though most summed up on
page 91, so I wouldn’t necessarily purchase unless you get particularly keen on global strategy.

Calori, R., Atamer, T. and Nunes, P. (2000) The Dynamics of International Competition: from Practice
to Theory. Sage.

Carr, C. (1990). Britain’s Competitiveness: the Management of the Vehicle Component Sector.
London: Routledge.

Carr, C., Bayliss, B. and Tomkins, C. (1994) Strategic Investment Decisions. Avebury Press. A
research based book – very detailed comparative analysis of strategic investment decision processes
in Britain and Germany. Specialised, academic and expensive.

Chandler, A.J. (1990). Strategy and Scope: the Dynamics of Industrial Competition. Boston: Harvard
University Press Paperback. A classic in the field of business history, organisation structures and
diversification.

Child, J. and Faulkner, D. & Tallmar, S. (2005, 2nd Edit). Cooperative Strategy: Managing Alliances,
Networks and Joint Ventures. Open University Press.

Collins, J. (2000) Good to Great, Random House Business Books, London. His previous book Built to
Last was a bit like a more up to date In Search of Excellence, and may raise similar issues. Do all
these successful companies actually last? But this one is addressed to a pertinent question. How do
companies actually move from being mediocre to excelling on performance?

Daussauge, P. and B.Garrette (1999) Cooperative Strategy: Competing Successfully through
Strategic Alliances, Chichester, Wiley.

Dicken, P. (2009) (6th Edit). Global Shift: Mapping the Contours of the World Economy. Sage. This is
highly relevant for global strategy.

Dixit, A.K. and Nalebuff, B.J. (1991) Thinking Strategically. Norton & Company.

Doz, Y. and Kosonen, M. (2008). Fast Strategy: How Strategic Agility will Help You Stay Ahead of the
Game, Harlow: Pearson Education. Quite good with nice examples such as Nokia from high tech’
sectors, though maybe a bit uncritical in light of Nokia’s more recent problems.

Drucker, P.F. (1989) The New Realities. London: Heinemann Professional Publishing.

Evans, D.S. and Schmalensee, R. (2007). Catalyst Code: the Strategies behind the World’s Most
Dynamic Companies. Boston. Harvard Business School Press. E.g. covers Google, DoCoMo,
Sotherby’s & MySpace.

Friedman, T.L. (2006). The World is Flat. London: Penguin. Stimulated debate (over 2m copies) but
over-rated.


Gabarra, J.J. (1987). The Dynamics of Taking Charge. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Ghemawat, P. (2007). Global Strategy in a World of Differences, Boston: Harvard Business School
Press. Great issues and some good data, though his interpretation is highly open to question. Most of
his case studies and a good deal of his data actually point to pro-active global strategies being pretty
crucial; his theme though is that we really just need to be ‘semi-global’.

Goold, M., Campbell, A. and Alexander, M. (1994) Corporate-level Strategy - Creating Business
Value in the Multi-business Company. Chichester: Wiley. How can corporate headquarters can add
value to subsidiaries?

Galpin, T.J. and Herndon, M. (2007). Mergers and Acquisitions: Process Tools to Support M&A
Integration at Every Level. John Wiley/Jossy Bass: San Francisco.

Gratton, L. (2007). Hot Spots: Why Some Companies Buzz with Energy and Innovation and Others
Don’t. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall.

Hamel, G.(2000) Leading the Revolution, Harvard Business School Press. Provocative, though
uncritical adulation of New Economy companies like Enron!

Harvard Business Review (2002) Harvard Business Review on Advances in Strategy, Boston:
Harvard Business School Press.

Hill, C.W.L. (2011) (8th Edition). International Business: Competing in the Global Market Place. New
York: McGraw Hill. Excellent, up-to-date international business text but you’ll probably cover content
on IB programmes.

Hofstede,G.; Hofstede, G.J. and Minkov, M. (2010) (3rd Edition). Cultures and Organisations:
Software of the Mind. Latest version of a classic.

House, R. et al. (2005). The Globe Leadership Project. London: Sage. Impressive. Expensive though.

Inkpen, A. and Ramaswamy, K. (2006). Global strategy: creating and sustaining competitive
advantage across borders. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Jackson, T. (2011). International Business Ethics: A Critical Cross-Cultural Perspective, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. Very good cross-cultural perspective on business ethics and issues of
sustainable leadership worldwide.

Johnson, G., Langley, A., Melin, L. and Whittington, R. (2007). Strategy as Practice: Research
Directions and Resources. Cambridge University Press. Other perspectives on how strategies are
formulated.

Kanter, M.R. (1989) When Giants Learn to Dance. Routledge. A description of her view of ‘post-
entrepreneurial’ corporations. Final 30 pages best overview.

Khanna, T. and Palepu, K.G. (2010). Winning in Emerging Markets: A Road Map for Strategy
and Execution, Harvard Business School Press.

Kim, W.C. and Mauborgne, R. (2005). Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested
Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Kotter, J.P. (2008). A Sense of Urgency. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Pertinent to
strategic implementation and leadership.


Lees, S. (2003) Global Acquisitions: Strategic Integration and the Human Factor, Basingstoke:
Palgrave/Macmillan.

Lendrum, A. (2004). The Strategic Partnering Pocketbook: Building Strategic Partnerships and
Alliances. Sydney: McGraw Hill.

Linch, R. (2010). (6th Edition). Strategic Management. Harlow: Prentice Hall. A good strategy text.

Linder, J.C. (2004). Outsourcing for Radical Change: A Bold Approach to Enterprise
Management. New York: Amacom.

McCraw, T.K. (2000). Creating Modern Capitalism: How Entrepreneurs, Companies, and
Countries Triumphed in Three Industrial Revolution, Boston: Harvard University Press. Great
business history.

Middleton, J. (2006). Gurus on eBusiness. London: Thorogood.

Miller, D. and Le Breton-Miller, I. (2005). Managing for the Long Run: Lessons in Competitive
Advantage from Great Family Businesses. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Miniter, R. (2002). The Myth of Market Share. Nicholas Brearley. A fast, controversial read.

Mintzberg, H. (1994) The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning. London: Prentice Hall. Worth reading.

Mintzberg, H.; Ahstrand, B. and Lampel, J.S. (2009). (2nd Edition) Strategy Safary: Your Complete
Guide through the Wilds of Strategic Management. Edinburgh: Pearson Education.

Mourdoukoutas, P. (2006) Business Strategies in a Semiglobal Economy. New York: M.E. Sharpe.

Nishiguchi, T. (1994) Strategic Industrial Sourcing: the Japanese Advantage, Oxford, Oxford
University Press. Excellent on role of subcontractors across Europe, the USA and Japan,
including historical trends.

Nolan, P., Zhang.J. and Liu, C. (2007). The Global Business Revolution and the Cascade Effect:
Palgrave Macmillan. Superb for data on global consolidation taking place in many sectors worldwide,
including aerospace, beverages and retail amongst others.

Nonaka, I. and Takeuchi, H. (1995) The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies
Create the Dynamics of Innovation. Free Press

Ohmae, K. The Mind of the Strategist. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Ohmae is one of the few Japanese
writers in the field of strategy. He was head of McKinsey’s office in Tokyo. This original approach is
still worth reading.

Ohmae, K. (1985) Triad power: The coming shape of global competition, New York: Free Press.

Ohmae, K. (1990) The borderless world. New York: Harper Business.

Ohmae, K. (2001) The invisible continent: four strategic imperatives for the new economy. Nicholas
Braeley.

Patel, A.B. and Aran, H. (2005). Outsourcing Success: the Management Imperative, Basingstoke:
Palgrave Macmillan.


Penn, M.J. with Zalesne, E.K. (2007). Micro Trends: Surprising Tales of the Way we Live
Today. London: Penguin. Interesting trends.

Peng, M. and Meyer, K. (2011). International Business. London: Cengage Learning. Another
excellent, up-to-date international business text but you’ll probably cover content on IB programmes.

Peters, T. and Waterman, R.(1982) In Search of Excellence. Harper & Row. Influential,still
controversial!

Porter, M. (1985) Competitive Advantage - Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. Free
Press.

Porter, M.E. (1990). Competitive Advantage of Nations. Macmillan Press.

Prahalad, C.K. and Y.L. Doz (1987) The Multinational Mission: Balancing Local Demands and
Global Vision, Free Press, New York

Rappaport, A. (1996). Creating Shareholder Value: The New Standard For Business
Performance (New York, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 1996)

Rugman, A. (2004). The End of Globalisation. Controversial but stimulating.

Schein, E. (2010) (4th Edition). Organisational Culture and Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Segal-Horn, S. and D. Faulkner (2010) Understanding Global Strategy. Cengage, EMEA

Shenkar, O. (2010). Copycats: How Smart Companies Use Imitation to Gain a Strategic Edge.
Harvard Business Press. An interesting really quick read.

Sheth, J. and Sosodia, R. (2002). The Rule of Three: Surviving and Thriving in Competitive Markets,
Free Press

Simon, H. (1996) Hidden Champions: Lesssons from the World’s Best Unknown Companies, Harvard
Business School Press.

Simon, H. (2009). Hidden Champions of the Twenty-First Century: The Success Strategies of
Unknown World Market Leaders, Springer. Very good, especially on Germany and on smaller
companies that have excelled internationally.

Sirkin, H.L., Hemerling, J.W. and Bhattacharya, A.K. (2008). Globality. Competing with Everyone fro
Everywhere for Everything. London: Headline Business Publishing. Very good value.

Stefanowski, R. (2007). Making M&A Deals Happen. New York: McGraw Hill.

Stern, C.W. and Deimler, M.S. (2006, Ed). The Boston Consulting Group on Strategy: Classic
Concepts and New Perpectives, Chichester: John Wiley. Slightly dated, but a nice amalgam.

Sutton, J. (1998). Technology and Market Structure: Theory and History. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Taleb. N.N. (2007). The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. London: Penguin. First
two chapters an interesting critique of our inability to really forecast future: good on the credit crunch.

Tapscott, D. (2009). Grown Up Digital. New York: McGraw Hill.


Tomalin, B. and Nicks, M. (2007). The World’s Business Cultures and How to Unlock Them.
Thorogood.

Trompenaars, F. and Prud’Homme, P. (2004). Managing Change Across Cultures. Chichester:
Capstone/Wiley.

*Van Agtmael, A. (2008). The Emerging Markets Century. How a New Breed of World-Class Compani
is Overtaking the World. London: Simon and Schuster. Good.

Van Der Heydjen, (1995) Scenarios: The Art of Strategic Conversation. Wiley

Van Der Heydjen et al, (2002) The Sixth Sense: Accelerating Organizational Learning with
Scenarios. Wiley

Watkins, M. (2003). The First 90 Days. Harvard Business School Press.

Wheeler, C., McDonald, F. and Greaves, I. (2003) (Eds) Internationalization: Firm Strategies and
Management, Basingstoke: Palgrave / Macmillan. I will refer to chapter 6.

Whittington, R. (2001) What is Strategy and Does It Matter? London: Thomson Learning. Stimulating
on the process of strategy debates. Brief and succinct.

Wiebes, E., Baaij, M., Keibek, B. And Witteveen, P. (2007). The Craft of Strategy Formulation:
Translating Business Issues into Actionable Strategies. Chichester: Wiley.

Womack, J.P, Jones, D.T. and Roos, D. (1990), The Machine that Changed the World, Rawson
Associates.

Womack, J.P. and Jones, D.T. (2003) Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your
Corporation, Free Press / Simon & Schuster, paperback edition.

Yip, G. (2001) Total global strategy (latest edition). Prentice Hall. Draws on the extensive
academic/research / consultancy work. Succinct and very useful, if rather lacking in empirical data.

Practical Experience of Management Particularly Recommended.

**Asakura, A. (2000). Revolutionaries at Sony: the Making of the Sony PlayStation and the
Visionaries Who Conquered the World of Video Games, McGraw-Hill. Extremely good read showing
inside story of technology innovation and strategic change at one of Japan’s best companies.

*Carlzen, J. (1988?). Moments of Truth. Paperback. Excellent (if you can still find it) on service
management, turnaround and cultural change processes.

*Creaton, S. (2004). Ryanair: How a Small Irish Airline Conquered Europe. London: Aurum Press.

*Liker, J.K. (2004). The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World’s Greatest
Manufacturer. New York: McGraw-Hill. An excellent account of the world’s leading car company. See
also Extreme Toyota (2008) by other authors.

*Lorenz, A. (2009). GKN: the Making of a Business 1759-2009. Wiley. A superb, strategically
insightful, 250 year corporate history of a company still highly successful in world markets. This is
really is sustained corporate leadership!

*MacIntosh, J. (2011). Dethroning the King: The Hostile Takeover of Anheuser-Busch, an American Ico
Hoboken, New York: Wiley. If you want an inside account of the end of USA’s national champion


brewing and it’s takeover by AmBev, this is a classic recent example.

*Magee, D. (2003) Turnaround: How Carlos Ghosn Rescued Nissan. Harper Books.Good.

*Morita, A. and Sony. (1986) Made in Japan. Fontana Collins. Lovely paperback if you can still get it.

*Welch, J. (2002) Jack: What I’ve Learned Leading a Great Company and a Great People, London:
Headline.

*Ze, S. and Ng, J. (2008). The Air Asia Story. Malaysia: Kanyin Publications.

Other Practical Experience of Management

Bevan, J. (2007). The Rise and Fall of Marks and Spencer…and How it Rose Again, London: Profile.

Branson, R. (2006). Screw It. Let’s Do It. London: Virgin Books. Certainly short.

Burgelman, R.A. (2001). Strategy is Destiny: How Strategy Making Shapes a Company’s Future, Free
Press (a study of Intel).

Cadbury, D. (2010). Chocolat Wars. From Cadbury to Kraft: 200 Years of Sweet Success and Bit
Rivalry. London: Harper Press.

Clark, T. (2008). Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce & Culture. London: Sceptre.

Dauphinais, G.W., Means, G. and Price, C. (2000). Wisdom of the CEO. New York: John Wiley. 29
CEO views on topical strategic issues.

Fiorina, C. (2007). Tough Choices: A Memoir. London: Nicholas Braerley.

Gallo, C. (2011). The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs, McGraw-Hill.

Garten, J. (2002) The Mind of the CEO: One to One with the World’s Top Business Leaders, London:
Penguin (paperback). A nice, quick read reviewing perspectives of several top firms / CEOs.

Gerstner, L.V. (2002) Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? Inside IBM’s Historic Turnaround, London:
Harper Collins (paperback). Very good.

Giraud, B. (2009). The Google Way, San Francisco: No Starch Pres.

Hamilton-Paterson, J. (2010). Empire of the Clouds: When Britain’s Aircraft Ruled the World. Londo
Faber and Faber. History of the aircraft industry and quite inspiring!

Jones, E. (1987). A History of GKN. Vol One: Innovation and Enterprise. 19759-1918. Basingstoke:
Macmillan.

Jones, E. (1990). A History of GKN. Vol Two: The Growth of a Business. 1918-1945. Basingstoke:
Macmillan.

Jones, G. (2005) Renewing Unilever: Transformation and Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
An excellent, pertinent and up to date business history on a classic multinational.

Jones, G. (2010). Beauty Imagined: A History of the Global Beauty Industry. Oxford: Oxford Univers
Press. A great history of the beauty industry.


Johnson, J. and Orange, M. (2003) The Man Who Tried to Buy the World: Jean-Marie Messier and
Vivendi Universal, London: Penguin/Viking.

Kelly, D. (2004). Driven: Inside BMW, the Most Admired Car Company in the World, Hoboken: Wiley.

Levine, R. (2011). Free Rider: How the Internet is Destroying the Culture Business and How the
Culture Business Can Fight Back. London: Bodley Head.

McInevny, F. (2007). Panasonic: the Largest Corporate Turnaround in History. New York: Truman
Tally Books.

McQueen, R. (2010). Blackberry: the Inside Story of Research in Motion. London: Aurum.

Osono, E., Shimuzu, N. and Takeuchi, H. (2008). Extreme Toyota: Radical Contradictions That Drive
Success at the World’s Best Manufacturer. Hoboken: Wiley. The latest book on Toyota, by a good
team with excellent recent access. A bit disappointing in terms of more specific themes: wait for the
paperback.

Ratner, G. (2006). The Rise and Fall…and Rise Again. Chichester: Capstone/John Wiley. The story
of Gerald Ratner’s rise and slightly infamous fall of the Ratner’s jewellery chain, now know as Signet.

Ruddock, A. (2007). Michael O’Leary: a Life in Full Flight. Dublin: Penguin.

Simms, A. (2007). Tescopoly. London: Constable.

Steinbok, D. (2001) The Nokia Revolution: the Story of an Extroadinary Company that Transformed
an Industry, New York, Amacom.

Stenebo, J. (2010). The Truth About Ikea. Gibson Square.

Teerlink, R. and Ozley, L. (2000) More Than a Motorcycle: the Leadership Journey at Harley-
Davidson. Harvard Business School Press.

Vise, D.A. (2005). The Google Story. London: Pan.

Vlasic, B. and Stertz, B.A. (2000) Taken for a Ride: How Daimler-Benz Drove Off with Chrysler,
William Morrow.

Yenne, W. (2007). Guinness: the 250 Year Quest for the Perfect Pint. Chichester: Wiley.

Newspapers/Periodicals

The following are particularly relevant and the Financial Times in particular should be a regular read:
Business Week; Economist; Harvard Business Review*; Forbes; Fortune; Long Range Planning;
Sloan Management Review

Recommended Articles

Baden Fuller, C. and Stopford, J. (1991) Globalisation Frustrated: The Case studies of White Goods.
Strategic Management Journal, 12: 493-507.

Bartlett, C. and Ghoshal, S. (2000) Going Global: Lessons from Late Movers, Harvard Business
Review, March

Barney, J.B. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management,


17 (1), 99-120.

Brandenberger, A.M. and Nalebuff, B.J. (1995), The Right Game: Use Game Theory to Shape
Strategy. Harvard Business Review, July-August, 57-71.

Brockstedt, E. and Carr, C.H. (2005). “Collaborative R&D alliances in the pharmaceutical industry”.
Innovation: Management, Policy and Practice, Vol 7, No 3, 2005.

Buzzell, R., Gale, B., and Sultan, R. (1975) Market Share –a Key to Profitability, Harvard Business
Review, Jan

*Campbell, A., M. Goold, and M. Alexander. (1995) The Value of the Parent Company, California
Management Review, 38 (1): 79 -

Campbell, A., Whitehead, J. and Finkelstein, S. (2009). Why good leaders make bad decisions.
Harvard Business Review, Feb, 87 (2) 60-67.

Carr, C.H. (1993) Global, National and Resource Based Strategies. Strategic Management Jrnl, 14:
551-568.

Carr, C.H. (1999) Globalisation, strategic alliances, acquisitions and technology transfer, R&D
Management, Vol 29, No 4, 405-421.

*Carr, C.H. (2005). Are German, Japanese and Anglo-Saxon Strategic Decision Styles Still Divergent
in the Context of Globalization? Journal of Management Studies 42 (6), 1155-1188.

Carr, C.H. (2006). “Russian strategic investment decision practices compared with those of Great
Briton, Germany, the United States and Japan: diversity, convergence and short-termism”,
International Studies , Management and Organization. Vol 36, No 3.

*Carr, C.H. and Collis, D. (2011) “Should you go global?”, Sloan Management Review, Fall.

Carr, C.H., Kolehmainen, K. and Mitchell, F. (2010). “Strategic investment decision making: a
contextual approach”, (Co-authors.). Management Accounting Research, 2010, Vol 21, Issue 3,
pp.167-184.

Carr, C.H. and Bateman, S. (2010). “Does culture count? Comparative performances of top family
and non-family firms”, International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management, Vol 10, No 2, pp.241-262.

Carr, C.H. and Bateman, S. (2009). “International strategy configurations of the world’s top family
firms: another factor affecting performance”, Management International Review, Vol 6, No 6, 2009,
733-758.

Carr, C.H. and Garcia, C-E. (2003) Globalisation and strategic choice: how multinational and local
perspectives differ: a Spanish case study, European Management Journal, Vol 21, No 6, 671-685.

Carr, C.H. and Pudelko, M. (2006) “Convergence of national practices in strategy, finance and HRM
between the USA, Japan and Germany”, International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, Vol 6,
No 1.

Carroll, P.B. and Mui, C. (2008). Seven ways to fail big. Harvard Business Review, September.

Collis, D. and Montgomery, C. (1995) Competing on Resources: Strategy in the 1990s, Harvard
Business Review, Vol 76, No 3, 1998, 70-83


Dawar, N. and Frost, A. (1999) Competing with Giants. Survival Strategies for Local Companies in
Emerging Markets. Harvard Business Review, March, pp119-129.

Day, G.S. (1997) Strategies for Surviving a Shakeout, Harvard Business Review (March), 92-102.

Eisenhardt, K.M. (1989). Making Fast Strategic Decisions in High-Velocity Environments. Academy of
Management Journal, 32, 3, 5430-76.

*Eisenhardt, K.M. and Sull, D. (2001) Strategy as Simple Rules, Harvard Business Review, January
107-116.

Frei, F.F. (2008) The Four Things a Service Business Must Get Right, Harvard Business Review, 86,
4, 70-80.

Fried, V.H. and Oviatt, B.M. (1989). Michael Porter’s Missing Chapter: the Risk of Antitrust Violations,
The Academy of Management Executive, 3 (1), 49-56.

Garnier, J-P. (2008) Rebuilding the R&D Engine in Big Pharma, Harvard Business Review, 86, 5, 68-
77.

Ghemawat, P. (2005). Regional strategies for global leadership. Harvard Business Review, Dec, pp.
99-108.

*Ghemawat, P. and Ghardir, F. (2000) The Dubious Logic of Global Megamergers. Harvard Business
Review, (July-August), 65-72.

*Ghemawat, P. and Ghardir, F. (2006). Global integration is not equal to global concentration.
Industrial and Corporate Change, 15 (1) 595-623.

Ghosn. C. (2002). Saving the business without losing the company. Harvard Business Review, 80,
No 1, 37-45

Goold, M. and Campbell, A. (2002). Parenting in complex structures. Long Range Planning, Vol 35,
219-243.

Gottfredson, M., Puryear, R. and Phillips, S. (2005). Strategic sourcing: from periphery to the core.
Harvard Business Review, 83 (2) 132-9.

*Hagiu, A. and Yoffie, D.B. (2009). “What’s your Google strategy?’, Harvard Business Review, April.

*Hamel G. and Prahalad, C. K. (1989), Strategic Intent, Harvard Business Review, May/June: 63-76.

Hamel, G., Doz, Y. and Prahalad, C. (1989) Collaborate with Your Competitors and Win. Harvard
Business Review, Jan-Feb: 133-139.

Hamel, G. and Valikangas, L. (2003). The quest for resilience. Harvard Business Review, Vol 81, No
9: 52-63.

Hansen, M.T., Nohria, N. and Tierney, T. (1999). What’s your strategy for managing knowledge?
Harvard Business Review, Vol 77, No 2: 106-116

Harris, S. and Carr, C.H. (2008). “National cultural values and the purpose of business” (Co-author S.
Harris), International Business Review, 17, 2008:103-117.

Hout,T., Porter, M.E and Rudden, K.(1982) “How global companies win out”, HBR Sep-Oct, 98-


109

*Immelt, J.R., Govindarajan, V. and Trimble, C. (2009). “How GE is disrupting itself’, Harvard
Business Review, Vol 82 (10), 56-65.

Johnson, G. J. (1999), Managing Strategic Change; The Role of Symbolic Action. British Journal of
Management, 1: 183-200.

Jones, G. and Khanna, T. (2006). Bringing history (back) into international business research. Journal
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E Reads

It is also increasingly easy to access material electronically. Some sites you might try include
the following which I have accessed and found helpful. There are increasing numbers of other
electronic sites including Wikepedia, and www.12manage.com, which gives a bit overview on
strategy and other techniques. Just don’t try plagiarising any of these though!

URL Name of Site


http://COBA.SHSU.edu/jbs/ Journal of Business Strategies
http://www.smswbe.org/ Strategic Management Society [USA]
http://www.sps.org.uk/ Strategic Planning Society [UK]
http://www.itbp.com/strategy/dewit.html Dewit and Meyer text – part
downloadable
http://www.strategy-business.com/ Strategy & Business
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codez/straha Nasa strategic planning guide; useful
nd/toc.htm
http://www.wits.ac.za/miu/p15htm Witwwtersrand Uni strategic planning
guide

Appendix 3: Case Studies
In case studies, the individual groups examine together a real life example of a management situation
(edited for teaching purposes). Some cases are ‘dated’ but it is felt that the lessons to be learnt justify
their use, some are contemporary business challenges. There is not always a “teacher’s answer”.
What is crucial is the depth of analysis, an understanding of assumptions made, and the creative
quality of the solution that comes from solid analysis and thought.

Notes on Case Preparation: The following comments may help you in case study preparation:-

In discussing problems of Corporate Strategy it is useful to have descriptions of real life company
situations in addition to readings and lectures on the concepts. This is provided by the case study
method. To be comprehensive in giving the reader an appreciation of the environment, the various
functions, resources, constraints and opportunities before the management, inevitably the case has to
be adequately long.

In preparing a case for classroom discussion the following suggestions may be useful.

1. Read the case hurriedly through once to give yourself an idea of the total perspective. Note
what Exhibits there are.
2. Read it through again. Read particularly the sections which seem most significant to
addressing the questions posed or your own opinions of the important issues. Study the
‘numbers’ often in exhibits carefully; they sometimes tell a different story from the ‘words’.
3. As you go through steps one and two do not hesitate to make extensive notes

Look Out for:

1. Evolution of the corporate strategy of the organisation, including overall objectives and how they
relate to stakeholders.
2. Evolution of strategies in particular functions such as marketing, manufacturing, finance,
organisation, systems and techniques, and above all the comparative advantage possessed!

In making recommendations for the future as to how the company needs to maintain some parts of its
strategy but to change others, you may find it useful to analyse the four following areas:

1. Opportunities in the environment


2. Threats in the environment
3. Strengths of the company
4. Weaknesses of the company

Also look at the abilities, styles, administrative competence of the Chief Executive or the Chief
Executives whose regimes are described in the case study. Put yourself firmly in the position of a
consultant or a manager in the company and see what realistic insights and recommendations you
can come up with in the various functions and overall corporate strategy. Finally see what lessons you
can distil from the story of the particular company whose case we are discussing, and relate it to your
own experience and that of your colleagues.

In the classroom discussions the duties of the ‘teacher’ will be to orchestrate the discussion of the
group so as to provide the necessary intellectual and emotional environment which encourages the
class to participate actively in obtaining the objectives of a given session. The degree to which the
‘teacher’ takes an active part depends partly on his/her own personality and style and partly on the
abilities of the class to reach meaningful conclusions without help. In the discussions, it is hoped that
unsubstantiated statements will be challenged, points made, group colleagues defended with clearly
reasoned, analytical argument. Here the ‘teacher’ may be required to act as arbitrator or as a source
of information, and s/he may choose to make notes on the whiteboard of issues raised, solutions
proposed. This will assist the class in following the direction in which the discussion is moving and
the ‘teacher’ in summarising the principal lessons that can be drawn from a specific case.

It is easy for you to ‘opt out’ of case studies either out of shyness or disinterest. The old truism about
getting out what you put in is particularly apt for case studies. An individual who is by nature rather
inarticulate in a general discussion has all the more reason to learn to overcome this feeling before a
sympathetic audience of one’s peers. Please note that those who refuse to ‘help’ in the group may
not find friends to assist them when their own time comes to be the presenter.

There will be marked case exercises over Semester 2a and 2b, and you will be asked to prepare a
case. Groups are asked to meet, discuss the case and prepare a written report, which will be marked
and commented upon. Groups may be required to present their findings to the class. Group
members will each receive the mark given to the group report. Please note:
- Reports must be handed in by the stated deadline preceding the class session at which the
case is taught. Reports received after this time will be penalised.
- Reports must be typed on good quality paper in adequate English. Headings are suggested.
You should use reasonably full sentences. The whole should, generally, be couched in the
form of a consulting report to a client.
- Poor presentations will be penalised.
- It is a group exercise but all must learn to carry the shared responsibility and gain experience
writing up a report.
- The course teachers are willing to discuss comments but cannot enter into protracted
discussions on marks for individual cases.
- The Group “Reporter” (the person nominated to coordinate the writing of the report) is asked
to type in alphabetical order the names of all members of the group who attend or contribute to
the group report preparation. Anyone not on the list is assumed not to have assisted in the
group exercise and will receive no marks for that exercise. In addition, “Reporters” are asked
to indicate clearly who they are at the front of the report.

Frustrations of Strategic Case Studies

Some people find case studies difficult, even frustrating, because cases draw both on specific
techniques of analysis (i.e. accounting ratios) and on structured common-sense. There is no ‘right’ or
‘maestro’ answer. Strategic decisions are not necessarily optimal solutions. Not only is the future
uncertain but, also, the internal political situation; the relationships between the key executives are
such that certain ideal solutions are unacceptable to some or even all of top management. Strategy


then is also the art of the possible, a best fit, and an acceptable solution given the circumstances.
Reality is not clear cut, black and white but an ever changing, shifting, messy shade of grey.
Managers have to learn to work with ambiguity, with emotion laden constraints, with insufficient and/or
biased data. Decisions can rarely be taken with the apparent mathematical, scientific precision of the
laboratory, or the engineering formula. Strategy and managerial decision making is hedged in by the
unpredictability of human players and of the future.

This does not mean that solid qualitative analysis, the use of techniques of strategic analysis (such as
those ‘templates’ offered by Porter) are not helpful. A healthy scepticism, good lateral thinking and a
creative approach are equally required, which means that there is rarely an ideal solution. There are,
however, a number of possible choices, the most appropriate of which must be weighed and
considered in the light of the known facts, assumptions and circumstance (like the decision maker’s
own ability to carry through and implement the choice made). Assumptions must be identified and
made explicit so that strategy can be adjusted for changes.

Group Work for Case Studies

There is no ideal method as to how groups should operate. Each group will develop its own culture
and ways of doing things that serve its members best. However, a few general comments culled from
the ‘successful’ (in meeting their own learning aims) groups may be found helpful.

- Arrange agreed times at which the group will meet weekly. This should fit with each
member’s work and travel schedule. Book one of the group rooms to hold the meeting.

- At the first meeting for the weekly case/project, a Chairperson and separately the reporter (to
write up the study) will be appointed for the week if not previously agreed. Since everyone will
have already read the case, major issues can be isolated at this time - half an hour should
suffice. A second meeting 2-3 days later will allow the writer to read out the first draft. Help
may be required by some participant reporters with English, grammar, spelling and syntax. All
will make comments based on their own notes of the case. The reporter can, so far as
feasible, incorporate major points in the final draft. One to one and a half hour sessions
should suffice. A third meeting (half an hour) possibly on the morning of the hand-in will
revise the final proposal. All to receive a copy of the group’s report to assist in the classroom
discussion.

- It is not beneficial to the group, or to individual members’ relationships with each other, to
spend more than three or four hours on each case in total. You are not expected to bring
large amounts of additional information to bear. If you do, you will drown in information
overload!

- Members will have to learn to speak up, listen, and occasionally ‘shut up’. Strong
Chairpersonship may occasionally be required to encourage the shy, and calm the excitable.
Further, participants must concentrate on key issues, not spend wasted minutes on trivial
points.

Private Reading

You will need to be aware of the major topical business issues and events (and the factors which
effect business such as economic or political changes), through regular reading of the Financial
Times, Economist, etc. Furthermore, you may be required to follow up on readings suggested in the
reading list.


Corporate Strategy

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