Study content week 1
General information
1. What is the difference between competitive strategy and corporate
strategy?
a. Corporate strategy the overall strategy of a diversified firm
consisting of multiple business units; competitive strategy the
strategy of an individual business unit or a single-business firm
2. What is a core competence?
a. “The collective learning in the organization, especially how to
coordinate diverse production skills and integrate multiple streams
of technologies”: bundles of capabilities
3. What is strategic planning?
a. The act of developing detailed plans, goals, and budgets for the
different parts of a firm on the basis of formal and elaborate
analyses performed by planning staff
4. What is logical incrementalism?
a. The act of first establishing a broad strategic direction for a firm,
and then finetuning that direction through small, incremental
actions
5. What is an organizational culture?
a. A system of shared beliefs, assumptions, norms, values, and/or
symbols
6. What type of firm is a “defender”?
a. A firm with a stable set of products/customers, one main technology,
a focus on cost efficiency, and standardized work processes
7. What is organizational inertia?
a. The inability or unwillingness of employees to change
Strategy → the long-term plan/direction for an organization
Why do we need a strategy? → to know how to use resources.
Asymetric information (agency)
Cognitive limitation (bounded rationality)
Irrational behavior
Time limitation
Reduce uncertainty
Structure and organization
o You need a planning in order to establish your:
strategic goals
How to reach the goal → start from the end! (all this together is part of
your strategy)
What is strategy about?
How to outperform competitors
How to use your resources
Which (foreign) markets to enter?
How to develop new products
How to create synergies
With which firms to cooperate
, How to realize organizational change
How to stimulate entrepreneurship
How to deal with environmental changes
Aspects of strategic management
Content of strategy (wk 1, 2)
o What is a good (i.e., profitable) strategy
Process of strategy (wk 3, 4, 6)
o How do strategies come into being?
Context of strategy (wk 5)
o Does the content or process of strategy depend on the type of
organization, the industry, the international environment etc?
Content of the lectures: schedule of schools
Classifying the 12 schools
1. Strategy formulation (process) (focus on intended strategy):
a. Design, planning and vision schools
b. Design school: strategy formulation as a conception
i. Process, CEO formulates a clear, simple and unique strategy
(SWOT), strategy formulation is separated from
implementation
c. Planning school: strategy formulation as formal process
i. CEO responsible, but the process supported by strategic
planning staff, a hierarchy of detailed strategies, action
programs, objectives and budgets at the corporate, business
unit & functional level
d. Vision school: strategy formulation as providing direction
i. Top management ‘only’ develops a broad strategic direction,
room for lower-level contributions
2. Strategic analysis (content)
a. Positioning and resource based schools
b. Positioning school: outside-in
c. Resource based school: inside-out
3. Strategy formation (process) (focus on unplanned/implicit part of strategy)
a. Entrepreneur, power, cognitive & cultural schools
b. Entrepreneurship school: strategy stems from creative acts
General information
1. What is the difference between competitive strategy and corporate
strategy?
a. Corporate strategy the overall strategy of a diversified firm
consisting of multiple business units; competitive strategy the
strategy of an individual business unit or a single-business firm
2. What is a core competence?
a. “The collective learning in the organization, especially how to
coordinate diverse production skills and integrate multiple streams
of technologies”: bundles of capabilities
3. What is strategic planning?
a. The act of developing detailed plans, goals, and budgets for the
different parts of a firm on the basis of formal and elaborate
analyses performed by planning staff
4. What is logical incrementalism?
a. The act of first establishing a broad strategic direction for a firm,
and then finetuning that direction through small, incremental
actions
5. What is an organizational culture?
a. A system of shared beliefs, assumptions, norms, values, and/or
symbols
6. What type of firm is a “defender”?
a. A firm with a stable set of products/customers, one main technology,
a focus on cost efficiency, and standardized work processes
7. What is organizational inertia?
a. The inability or unwillingness of employees to change
Strategy → the long-term plan/direction for an organization
Why do we need a strategy? → to know how to use resources.
Asymetric information (agency)
Cognitive limitation (bounded rationality)
Irrational behavior
Time limitation
Reduce uncertainty
Structure and organization
o You need a planning in order to establish your:
strategic goals
How to reach the goal → start from the end! (all this together is part of
your strategy)
What is strategy about?
How to outperform competitors
How to use your resources
Which (foreign) markets to enter?
How to develop new products
How to create synergies
With which firms to cooperate
, How to realize organizational change
How to stimulate entrepreneurship
How to deal with environmental changes
Aspects of strategic management
Content of strategy (wk 1, 2)
o What is a good (i.e., profitable) strategy
Process of strategy (wk 3, 4, 6)
o How do strategies come into being?
Context of strategy (wk 5)
o Does the content or process of strategy depend on the type of
organization, the industry, the international environment etc?
Content of the lectures: schedule of schools
Classifying the 12 schools
1. Strategy formulation (process) (focus on intended strategy):
a. Design, planning and vision schools
b. Design school: strategy formulation as a conception
i. Process, CEO formulates a clear, simple and unique strategy
(SWOT), strategy formulation is separated from
implementation
c. Planning school: strategy formulation as formal process
i. CEO responsible, but the process supported by strategic
planning staff, a hierarchy of detailed strategies, action
programs, objectives and budgets at the corporate, business
unit & functional level
d. Vision school: strategy formulation as providing direction
i. Top management ‘only’ develops a broad strategic direction,
room for lower-level contributions
2. Strategic analysis (content)
a. Positioning and resource based schools
b. Positioning school: outside-in
c. Resource based school: inside-out
3. Strategy formation (process) (focus on unplanned/implicit part of strategy)
a. Entrepreneur, power, cognitive & cultural schools
b. Entrepreneurship school: strategy stems from creative acts
