Admas University

MBA Program
Course Description and Outlines

Course Title: Strategic Management

Credit Hours: 3
Course Description:
This course explores a wide range of strategic issues facing businesses, focusing
particularly on the sources of sustainable competitive advantage and the interaction
between industry structure and organizational capabilities. It introduces variety of
modern strategy frameworks and methodologies and builds upon material from core topics
such as economics, organizational processes, operations and marketing. Deals with internal
and external business environment and introduces micro and macro in external
environment.
Course Objectives:
This course intends to make the students be able to:
 Understand meaning of strategy, levels at which strategy operates & strategic
management process
 Identify environmental factors that affect strategy formation, implementation
evaluation & control
 Practice strategic management skills through real world case analyses
 Understand the nature and dynamics of the strategy formulation and
implementation processes
 Identify strategic issues and design appropriate courses of action
COURSE OUTLINE:
Part 1: Overview of Strategic Management
Chapter 1: The Nature of Strategic Management
MCDONALD’S CORPORATION: DOING GREATIN A WEAK ECONOMY
 What Is Strategic Management?
Defining Strategic Management, Stages of Strategic Management, Integrating Intuition and
analysis, adapting to Change
 Key Terms in Strategic Management
Competitive Advantage, Strategists, Vision and Mission Statements, External Opportunities
and Threats, Internal Strengths and Weaknesses, Long-Term Objectives, Strategies, annual
Objectives &Policies.
 The Strategic-Management Model
 Benefits of Strategic Management
Financial Benefits &Nonfinancial Benefits
 Why Some Firms Do No Strategic Planning
 Pitfalls in Strategic Planning
 Guidelines for Effective Strategic Management
 Comparing Business and Military Strategy
THE COHESION CASE: MCDONALD’SCORPORATION

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Part 2: Strategy Formulation

Chapter 2: The Business Vision and Mission
WAL-MART: DOING GREAT IN A WEAK ECONOMY
 What Do We Want to Become?
 What Is Our Business?
Vision versus Mission &the Process of Developing Vision and Mission Statements
 Importance (Benefits) of Vision and Mission Statements
A Resolution of Divergent Views
 Characteristics of a Mission Statement
A Declaration of Attitude &A Customer Orientation &Mission Statement Components
 Writing and Evaluating Mission Statements
Chapter 3: The External Assessment
DUNKIN' BRANDS, INC.: DOING GREAT IN A WEAKECONOMY
 The Nature of an External Audit
Key External Forces &the Process of Performing an External Audit
 The Industrial Organization (I/O) View
 Economic Forces
 Social, Cultural, Demographic, and Natural Environment Forces
 Political, Governmental, and Legal Forces
 Technological Forces
 Competitive Forces
 Competitive Intelligence Programs, Market Commonality and Resource Similarity
 Competitive Analysis: Porter’s Five-Force Model
Rivalry among Competing Firms, Potential Entry of New Competitors, Potential
Development of Substitute Products, Bargaining Power of Suppliers &Bargaining Power of
Consumers
 Sources of External Information
 Forecasting Tools and Techniques
 Industry Analysis: The External Factor Evaluation (EFE)Matrix
 The Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM)
Chapter 4: The Internal Assessment
AMAZON.COM, INC.: DOING GREAT IN A WEAK ECONOMY. HOW?
 The Nature of an Internal Audit
Key Internal Forces &the Process of Performing an Internal Audit
 The Resource-Based View (RBV)
 Integrating Strategy and Culture
 Management
Planning, Organizing, Motivating, Staffing, Controlling & Management Audit Checklist of
Questions
 Marketing
Customer Analysis, Selling Products/Services, Product and Service Planning, Pricing &
Distribution, Marketing Research, Cost/Benefit Analysis & Marketing/Audit Checklist of
Questions
 Finance/Accounting

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Finance/Accounting Functions, Basic Types of Financial Ratios &Finance/Accounting Audit

Checklist
 Production/Operations
Production/Operations Audit Checklist
 Research and Development
Internal and External R&D &Research and Development Audit
 Management Information Systems
Strategic-Planning Software & Management Information Systems Audit
 Value Chain Analysis (VCA)
Benchmarking
 The Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) Matrix
Chapter 5: Strategies in Action
VOLKSWAGEN AG: DOING GREAT IN A WEAKECONOMY. HOW?
 Long-Term Objectives
The Nature of Long-Term Objectives, Financial versus Strategic Objectives & not Managing
by Objectives
 The Balanced Scorecard
 Types of Strategies
Levels of Strategies
 Integration Strategies
Forward Integration, Backward Integration &Horizontal Integration
 Intensive Strategies
Market Penetration, Market Development &Product Development
 Diversification Strategies
Related Diversification &Unrelated Diversification
 Defensive Strategies
Retrenchment, Divestiture &Liquidation
 Michael Porter’s Five Generic Strategies
Cost Leadership Strategies (Type 1 and Type 2),DifferentiationStrategies (Type 3),Focus
Strategies (Type 4 and Type 5),Strategies for Competing in Turbulent, High-Velocity
Markets
 Means for Achieving Strategies
Cooperation among Competitors, Joint Venture/Partnering, Merger/Acquisition, First
Mover Advantages &Outsourcing
 Strategic Management in Nonprofit and Governmental Organizations
Educational Institutions, Medical Organizations, Governmental Agencies and Departments
 Strategic Management in Small Firms
Chapter 6: Strategy Analysis and Choice
APPLE: DOING GREAT IN A WEAK ECONOMY. HOW?
 The Nature of Strategy Analysis and Choice
The Process of Generating and Selecting Strategies
 A Comprehensive Strategy-Formulation Framework
 The Input Stage
 The Matching Stage

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The Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SMOT) Matrix, the Strategic Position

and Action Evaluation (SPACE) Matrix, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix, the
Internal-External (IE) Matrix &the Grand Strategy Matrix
 The Decision Stage
The Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM), Positive Features and Limitations of
the QSPM
 Cultural Aspects of Strategy Choice
 The Politics of Strategy Choice
 Governance Issues
Part 3: Strategy Implementation
Chapter 7: Implementing Strategies: Management and Operations Issues
GOOGLE: DOING GREAT IN A WEAK ECONOMY. HOW?
 The Nature of Strategy Implementation
Management Perspectives
 Annual Objectives
 Policies
 Resource Allocation
 Managing Conflict
 Matching Structure with Strategy
The Functional Structure, The Divisional Structure, The Strategic Business Unit (SBU)
Structure, The Matrix Structure &Some Do’s and Don’ts in Developing Organizational
Charts
 Restructuring, Reengineering, and E-Engineering
Restructuring &Reengineering
 Linking Performance and Pay to Strategies
 Managing Resistance to Change
 Creating a Strategy-Supportive Culture
 Production/Operations Concerns When Implementing Strategies
 Human Resource Concerns When Implementing Strategies
Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Balancing Work Life and Home Life, Benefits of
a Diverse Workforce & Corporate Wellness Programs
Chapter 8: Implementing Strategies: Marketing,Finance/Accounting, R&D, and MIS
Issues
 The Nature of Strategy Implementation
JOHNSON & JOHNSON (J&J): DOING GREAT IN A WEAKECONOMY. HOW?
 Current Marketing Issues
New Principles of Marketing, Advertising Media &Purpose-Based Marketing
 Market Segmentation
Does the Internet Make Market Segmentation Easier?
 Product Positioning
 Finance/Accounting Issues
 Acquiring Capital to Implement Strategies

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New Source of Funding, Projected Financial Statements, Projected Financial Statement for
Mattel, Inc., Financial Budgets, Evaluating the Worth of a Business &Deciding Whether to
Go Public
 Research and Development (R&D) Issues
 Management Information Systems (MIS) Issues
Part 4: Strategy Evaluation
Chapter 9: Strategy Review, Evaluation, and Control
FAMILY DOLLAR STORES: DOING GREAT IN A WEAKECONOMY. HOW?
 The Nature of Strategy Evaluation
The Process of Evaluating Strategies
 A Strategy-Evaluation Framework
Reviewing bases of Strategy, Measuring organizational Performance &taking corrective
actions
 The Balanced Scorecard
 Published Sources of Strategy-Evaluation Information
 Characteristics of an Effective Evaluation System
 Contingency Planning
 Auditing
 Twenty-First-Century Challenges in Strategic Management
The Art of Science Issue, the Visible or Hidden Issue & the Top-Down or Bottom-Up
Approach
Part 5: Key Strategic-Management Topics
Chapter 10: Business Ethics/Social Responsibility/Environmental Sustainability
WALT DISNEY: DOING GREAT IN A WEAK ECONOMY.HOW?
 Business Ethics
Code of Business Ethics, an Ethics Culture, Bribes & Love Affairs at Work
 Social Responsibility
Social Policy &Social Policies on Retirement
 Environmental Sustainability
What Is a Sustainability Report? ,Lack of Standards Changing, Obama Regulations &
Managing Environmental Affairs in the Firm, Reasons Why Firms Should
“BeGreen”&Be Proactive, Not Reactive, ISO 14000/14001 Certification, Electric Car
Networks are Coming &The March 2009 Copenhagen Meeting.
Chapter 11: Global/International Issues
MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL: DOING GREAT IN A WEAKECONOMY. HOW? 330
 Multinational Organizations
 Advantages and Disadvantages of International Operations
 The Global Challenge
Globalization & A Weak Economy
Foreign Business Cultures
Worldwide Tax Rates
Part 6: Strategic-Management Case Analysis
 How to Prepare and Present a Case Analysis

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 What Is a Strategic-Management Case?

 Guidelines for Preparing Case Analyses
The Need for Practicality, the Need for Justification, the Need for Realism, the Need for
Specificity, the Need for Originality &the Need to Contribute
 Preparing a Case for Class Discussion
The Case Method versus Lecture Approach &the Cross-Examination
 Preparing a Written Case Analysis
The Executive Summary, the Comprehensive Written Analysis & Steps in Preparing a
Comprehensive Written Analysis
 Making an Oral Presentation
Guidelines for analyzing a case study
Preparing a Written Case Analysis
In addition to asking you to prepare a case for class discussion, your professor may ask you
to prepare a written case analysis. Preparing a written case analysis is similar to preparing
a case for class discussion, except written reports are generally more structured and more
detailed. There is no ironclad procedure for preparing a written case analysis because
cases differ in focus; the type, size, and complexity of the organizations being analyzed also
vary.
When writing a strategic-management report or case analysis, avoid using jargon, vague or
redundant words, acronyms, abbreviations, sexist language, and ethnic or racial slurs. And
watch your spelling! Use short sentences and paragraphs and simple words and phrases.
Use quite a few subheadings. Arrange issues and ideas from the most important to the least
important. Arrange recommendations from the least controversial to the most
controversial. Use the active voice rather than the passive voice for all verbs; for example,
say “Our team recommends that the company diversify” rather than “It is recommended by
our team to diversify.” Use many examples to add specificity and clarity. Tables, figures, pie
charts, bar charts, timelines, and other kinds of exhibits help communicate important
points and ideas. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.
The Executive Summary
Your professor may ask you to focus the written case analysis on a particular aspect of the
strategic-management process, such as (1) to identify and evaluate the organization’s
existing mission, objectives, and strategies; or (2) to propose and defend specific
recommendations for the company; or (3) to develop an industry analysis by describing the
competitors, products, selling techniques, and market conditions in a given industry. These
types of written reports are sometimes called executive summaries. An executive summary
usually ranges from three to five pages of text in length, plus exhibits.
The Comprehensive Written Analysis
Your professor may ask you to prepare a comprehensive written analysis. This assignment
requires you to apply the entire strategic-management process to the particular
organization. When preparing a comprehensive written analysis, picture yourself as a
consultant who has been asked by a company to conduct a study of its external and internal
environment and to make specific recommendations for its future. Prepare exhibits to
support your recommendations. Highlight exhibits with some discussion in the paper.
Comprehensive written analyses are usually about 10 pages in length, plus exhibits.

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Steps in Preparing a Comprehensive Written Analysis

In preparing a written case analysis, you could follow the steps outlined here, which
correlate to the stages in the strategic-management process.
Step 1 Identify the firm’s existing vision, mission, objectives, and strategies.
Step 2 Develop vision and mission statements for the organization.
Step 3 Identify the organization’s external opportunities and threats.
Step 4 Construct a Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM).
Step 5 Construct an External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix.
Step 6 Identify the organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses.
Step 7 Construct an Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) Matrix.
Step 8 Prepare a Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) Matrix, Strategic
Position and Action Evaluation (SPACE) Matrix, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix,
Internal-External (IE) Matrix, Grand Strategy Matrix, and Quantitative Strategic Planning
Matrix (QSPM) as appropriate. Give advantages and disadvantages of alternative strategies.
Step 9 Recommend specific strategies and long-term objectives. Show how much your
recommendations will cost. Clearly itemize these costs for each projected year.
Compare your recommendations to actual strategies planned by the company.
Step 10 Specify how your recommendations can be implemented and what results you can
expect. Prepare forecasted ratios and projected financial statements.
Present a timetable or agenda for action.
Step 11 Recommend specific annual objectives and policies.
Step 12 Recommend procedures for strategy review and evaluation.
Making an Oral Presentation
Your teacher may ask you to prepare a strategic-management case analysis, individually or
as a group, and present your analysis to the class. Oral presentations are usually graded on
two parts: content and delivery. Content refers to the quality, quantity, correctness, and
appropriateness of analyses presented, including such dimensions as logical flow through
the presentation, coverage of major issues, use of specifics, avoidance of generalities,
absence of mistakes, and feasibility of recommendations. Delivery includes such dimensions
as audience attentiveness, clarity of visual aids, appropriate dress, and persuasiveness of
arguments, tone of voice, eye contact, and posture. Great ideas are of no value unless others
can be convinced of their merit through clear communication. The guidelines presented
here can help you make an effective oral presentation.
Organizing the Presentation
Begin your presentation by introducing yourself and giving a clear outline of topics to be
covered. If a team is presenting, specify the sequence of speakers and the areas each person
will address. At the beginning of an oral presentation, try to capture your audience’s
interest and attention. You could do this by displaying some products made by the
company, telling an interesting short story about the company, or sharing an experience
you had that is related to the company, its products, or its services. You could develop or
obtain a video to show at the beginning of class; you could visit a local distributor of the
firm’s products and tape a personal interview with the business owner or manager. A light
or humorous introduction can be effective at the beginning of a presentation.
Be sure the setting of your presentation is well organized, with seats for attendees,
flipcharts, a transparency projector, and whatever else you plan to use. Arrive at the class

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room at least 15 minutes early to organize the setting, and be sure your materials are ready
to go. Make sure everyone can see your visual aids well.
Controlling Your Voice
An effective rate of speaking ranges from 100 to 125 words per minute. Practice your
presentation aloud to determine if you are going too fast. Individuals commonly speak too
fast when nervous. Breathe deeply before and during the presentation to help yourself
slowdown. Have a cup of water available; pausing to take a drink will wet your throat, give
you time to collect your thoughts, control your nervousness, slow you down, and signal to
the audience a change in topic.
Avoid a monotone by placing emphasis on different words or sentences. Speak loudly and
clearly, but don’t shout. Silence can be used effectively to break a monotone voice. Stop at
the end of each sentence, rather than running sentences together with and or uh.
Managing Body Language
Be sure not to fold your arms, lean on the podium, put your hands in your pockets, or put
your hands behind you. Keep a straight posture, with one foot slightly in front of the other.
Do not turn your back to the audience; doing so is not only rude, but it also prevents your
voice from projecting well. Avoid using too many hand gestures. On occasion, leave the
podium or table and walk toward your audience, but do not walk around too much. Never
block the audience’s view of your visual aids.
Maintain good eye contact throughout the presentation. This is the best way to persuade
your audience. There is nothing more reassuring to a speaker than to see members of the
audience nod in agreement or smile. Try to look everyone in the eye at least once during
your presentation, but focus more on individuals who look interested than on those who
seem bored. To stay in touch with your audience, use humor and smiles as appropriate
throughout your presentation. A presentation should never be dull!
Speaking from Notes
Be sure not to read to your audience because reading puts people to sleep. Perhaps worse
than reading is merely reciting what you have memorized. Do not try to memorize
anything. Rather, practice unobtrusively using notes. Make sure your notes are written
clearly so you will not flounder when trying to read your own writing. Include only main
ideas on your note cards. Keep note cards on a podium or table if possible so that you won’t
drop them or get them out of order; walking with note cards tends to be distracting.
Constructing Visual Aids
Make sure your visual aids are legible to individuals in the back of the room. Use color to
highlight special items. Avoid putting complete sentences on visual aids; rather, use short
phrases and then orally elaborate on issues as you make your presentation. Generally,
there should be no more than four to six lines of text on each visual aid. Use clear headings
and subheadings. Be careful about spelling and grammar; use a consistent style of lettering.
Use masking tape or an easel for posters—do not hold posters in your hand.
Transparencies and handouts are excellent aids; however, be careful not to use too many
handouts or your audience may concentrate on them instead of you during the
presentation.
Steps in presenting an oral case analysis
Oral Presentation—Step 1

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 Introduction (2 minutes)
a. Introduce yourselves by name and major. Establish the time setting of your case and
analysis. Prepare your strategic plan for the three years 2010–2012.
b. Introduce your company and its products/services; capture interest.
c. Show the outline of your presentation and tell who is doing what parts.
 Oral Presentation—Step 2
Mission/Vision (4 minutes)
a. Show existing mission and vision statements if available from the firm’s Web site, or
annual report, or elsewhere.
b. Show your “improved” mission and vision and tell why it is improved.
c. Compare your mission and vision to a leading competitor’s statements.
d. Comment on your vision and mission in terms of how they support the strategies
you envision for your firm.
 Oral Presentation—Step 3
Internal Assessment (8 minutes)
a. Give your financial ratio analysis. Highlight especially good and bad ratios. Do not
give definitions of the ratios and do not highlight all the ratios.
b. Show the firm’s organizational chart found or “created based on executive titles.”
Identify the type of chart as well as good and bad aspects. Unless all white males
comprise the chart, peoples’ names are generally not important because positions
reveal structure as people come and go.
c. Present your improved/recommended organizational chart. Tell why you feel it is
improved over the existing chart.
d. Show a market positioning map with firm and competitors. Discuss the map in light
of strategies you envision for firm versus competitors’ strategies.
e. Identify the marketing strategy of the firm in terms of good and bad points versus
competitors and in light of strategies you envision for the firm.
f. Show a map locating the firm’s operations. Discuss in light of strategies you
envision. Also, perhaps show a Value Chain Analysis chart.
g. Discuss (and perhaps show) the firm’s Web site and e-commerce efforts/abilities in
terms of good and bad points.
h. Show your “value of the firm” analysis.
i. List up to 20 of the firm’s strengths and weaknesses. Go over each one listed without
“reading” them verbatim.
j. Show and explain your Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) Matrix.
 Oral Presentation—Step 4
External Assessment (8 minutes)
a. Identify and discuss major competitors. Use pie charts, maps, tables, and/or figures
to show the intensity of competition in the industry.
b. Show your Competitive Profile Matrix. Include at least 12 factors and two
competitors.
c. Summarize key industry trends citing Standard & Poor’s Industry Survey or Chamber
of Commerce statistics, etc. Highlight key external trends as they impact the firm, in
areas such as the economic, social, cultural, demographic, geographic, technological,
political, legal, governmental, and natural environment.

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d. List up to 20 of the firm’s opportunities and threats. Make sure your opportunities
are not stated as strategies. Go over each one listed without “reading” them
verbatim.
e. Show and explain your External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix.
 Oral Presentation—Step 5
Strategy Formulation (14 minutes)
a. Show and explain your SWOT Matrix, highlighting each of your strategies listed.
b. Show and explain your SPACE Matrix, using half of your “space time” on calculations
and the other half on implications of those numbers. Strategy implications must be
specific rather than generic. In other words, use of a term such as “market
penetration” is not satisfactory alone as a strategy implication.
c. Show your Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix. Again focus on both the numbers
and the strategy implications. Do multiple BCG Matrices if possible, including
domestic versus global, or another geographic breakdown. Develop a product BCG if
at all possible. Comment on changes to this matrix as per strategies you envision.
Develop this matrix even if you do not know the profits per division and even if you
have to estimate the axes information. However, make no wild guesses on axes or
revenue/profit information.
d. Show your Internal-External (IE) Matrix. Because this analysis is similar to the BCG,
see the preceding comments.
e. Show your Grand Strategy Matrix. Again focus on implications after giving the
quadrant selection. Reminder: Use of a term such as “market penetration” is not
satisfactory alone as a strategy implication. Be more specific. Elaborate.
f. Show your Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM). Be sure to explain your
strategies to start with here. Do not go back over the internal and external factors.
Avoid having more than one 4, 3, 2, or 1 in a row. If you rate one strategy, you need
to rate the other because, that particular factor is affecting the choice. Work row by
row rather than column by column on preparing the QSPM.
g. Present your Recommendations Page. This is the most important page in your
presentation. Be specific in terms of both strategies and estimated costs of those
strategies. Total your estimated costs. You should have ten or more strategies. Divide
your strategies into two groups: (1) Existing Strategies to Be Continued, and (2)
New Strategies to Be Started.
Oral Presentation—Step 6
Strategy Implementation (8 minutes)
a. Show and explain your EPS/EBIT analysis to reveal whether stock, debt, or a
combination is best to finance your recommendations. Graph the analysis. Decide
which approach to use if there are any given limitations of the analysis.
b. Show your projected income statement. Relate changes in the items to your
recommendations rather than blindly going with historical percentage changes.
c. Show your projected balance sheet. Relate changes in your items to your
recommendations. Be sure to show the retained earnings calculation and the results
of your EPS/EBIT decision.
d. Show your projected financial ratios and highlight several key ratios to show the
benefits of your strategic plan.

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 Oral Presentation—Step 7
Strategy Evaluation (2 minutes)
a. Prepare a Balanced Scorecard to show your expected financial and nonfinancial
objectives recommended for the firm.
 Oral Presentation—Step 8
Conclusion (4 minutes)
b. Compare and contrast your strategic plan versus the company’s own plans for the
future.
c. Thank audience members for their attention. Seek and answer questions.
CASES
HOSPITALITY/ENTERTAINMENT AIRLINES
1. Walt Disney Company 3. JetBlue Airways Corporation
2. Maryland Amusement Park 4. AirTran Airways, Inc.
RETAIL STORES INTERNET BASED
5. Family Dollar Stores, Inc. 9. Yahoo! Inc.
6. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. 10. eBay Inc.
7. Whole Foods Market, Inc. FINANCIAL
8. Macy’s, Inc. 11. Wells Fargo Corporation

RESTAURANTS NONPROFIT
12. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts 14. The United States Postal Service (USPS)
(KKD) 15. National Railroad Passenger Corporation
13. Starbucks Corporation (AMTRAK)
16. Goodwill of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin
Counties
TRANSPORTATION FOOD
17. Harley-Davidson, Inc. 19. Kraft Foods Inc.
18. Ford Motor Company 20. Hershey Company
PERSONAL CARE BEVERAGE
21. Johnson & Johnson 23. Molson Coors
22. Avon Products Inc. 24. PepsiCo
HEALTH CARE SPORTS
25. Pfizer, Inc. 27. Nike, Inc.
26. Merck & Company Inc. 28. Callaway Golf Company

ENERGY
29. Chevron Corporation

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