Welcome to the International Business Strategy Program at MMUBS

1. Welcome to the International BusinessStrategy Program at MMUBS Slides No.1

2. International BusinessStrategy Henry Palowski Senior Lecturer Subject Group: Strategy, Enterprise & International Business Tel: 0161 247 3755E-mail: h.palowski@mmu.ac.uk

3. International Business Strategy • The programme is primarily concerned with Business Strategy. i.e. the Business Models developed by Business Units to create competitive advantage in specific product market contexts. • Some elements of Corporate Strategy will be considered in as far as they impinge on International/Global Strategy • A central aim of the course is combining theory with practice, and this is achieved by the use of case studies for class work, assessment and in the examination. Slides No.3

4. The Objectives of the Module • To present economic analysis that will be useful for understanding strategic management as an area of study; • To present a systematic approach to the subject that will permit structured thinking to some difficult questions. Slides No.4

5. International Business Strategy: Sessions Influence of Economics Program 1 Rise of Strategy Frameworks Program 2 Strategy process Paradoxes, debates Program 3 Positioning and Choice Program 4 Threats to Positioning Program 5 New Economy Models Program 6 Globalisation versus Localisation Program 7 International Co-operative Strategy Program 8 Slides No.5

6. Session One Introduction & Overview: The Development of Strategy - The Influence of Economics • In this session the subject of strategic management is defined and we explore its origins, foundation and scope as an academic discipline. • The opening session provides an historical account of strategic management and in particular a case is made for why the field is now influenced by competitive thinking. Slides No.6

7. Session Two The Development of Strategy – The Rise of Strategy Frameworks • Competitive markets imply that economic profit, or excess risk-adjusted profit is competed away wherever possible. This sits uncomfortably with the notion of competitive advantage, a term frequently used in the business strategy literature to describe a situation where a firm has gained a superior product market position, such that it can earn above-average returns in an industry. • The session identifies a number of obstacles to competition and discusses why these obstacles have the potential in some markets to earn positive economic rents, at least for some firms. The session also provides some tools for conducting an industry analysis. Slides No.7

8. Sessions Three and Four • Three: The Strategic Management Process. Strategy Paradoxes. Current debates. • Four: Positioning and Choice • The session examines the strategic choices available to business using positioning analysis. • Positioning facilitates competitive cost-benefit comparisons of the factor/product-market positions implied by different strategic options. Slides No.8

9. Session Five • Threats to Positioning • A central debate in strategic management is whether superior product market positions can be sustainable. Evidence from studying the performance of companies over time suggests that in most cases any advantage is quickly competed away. • There are exceptions to this rule as there are examples of companies that continue to enjoy monopoly profits without any significant threat for many decades. This session examines the issues. Slides No.9

10. Session SixNew Economy Models and “winner takes most” Industry Dynamics. • This session explores, what is sometimes referred to as, the New Economics of increasing returns, which is a phenomenon often found in the information technology industry. Case studies which are relevant to this area include firms such as Microsoft, Intel and Google. Slides No.10

11. Session Seven The Paradox of Globalisation and Localisation • To what extent can firms operating internationally treat the world as one market? • And, conversely, to what extent do they need to acknowledge national differences? • This session will examine the tensions involved with reference to relevant case studies. Slides No.11

12. Session Eight International Co-operation and Partner Selection • This session study explores some of the reasons why organisations choose to expand, or reconfigure, their activities internationally through acquiring or merging with other businesses, rather than internal growth. Slides No.12

13. Assessment • An individually assessed assignment contributes 40% of the total module marks.(There is no assessed group work in this module) This will normally be based on the analysis of a case study. • The summer examination contributes the remaining 60%. The final examination requires you to answer four essay questions out of seven or eight. Most questions are based around case studies analysed in class. All questions carries equal marks. Slides No.13

14. Teaching and Learning Approach • There will be a strong emphasis on case study analysis, given that Strategy requires the application of relevant theory to practice. • Case studies will normally be analysed in groups with group presentations in plenary session. • Feedback will be provided on group performance, but this will not form part of the formal assessment of the course. • All sumative (formal) assessment will be based on individual performance in the assignment and the exam- i.e. no group assessed work is used in this module. Slides No.14

15. Thank You…and looking forward to seeing you all on the course! Slides No.15