Prof Richard (Rick) Smith

Competitive Strategy Management 377 Fall 2014

Prof Richard (Rick) Smith 3107 Gerdin Business Building 294-3865 [email protected] Office hours: M, W, F; 8:00 – 9:30 and arranged http://www.bus.iastate.edu/rlsmith/

Disability Accommodation: If you have a documented disability and anticipate needing accommodations in this course, please make arrangements to meet with me soon. Please request that the Disability Resources staff send an SAAR form verifying your disability and specifying the accommodation you will need.

Prerequisite: Management 370

Text: Competing for Advantage, 3E, Robert Hoskisson, Michael Hitt, R. Duane Ireland, Jeffrey Harrison, SOUTH-WESTERN, Cengage Learning, 2013.

You are expected to purchase a traditional text book for Mgmt 377. Please note that you will NOT be required to purchase any supplemental materials offered by the publisher (SOUTH-WESTERN, Cengage Learning) to accompany the required text.

Supportive Reading: Most students enrolled in Management 377 have little or no management experience. So how can you begin to build a solid management base? You should READ! There are tons of business pubs that offer the reader insight into the missions, strategies, and tactics employed by successful managers. There are also “post- mortem” articles written about managers who have not been successful. These selections can be just as enlightening as you learn what not to do.

Course Description and Objectives: Management 377, Competitive Strategies, is a course designed to introduce management students to developing competitive strategy which translates into developing competitive advantage in organizations. Our study addresses industry analysis, generic strategies, hyper-competition, “blue ocean” strategies, developing core competencies, real-world awareness and applications of ethics, as well as building distinctive capabilities. You will be required to think critically. You will learn to recognize ambiguity as a norm rather than an exception. You will develop an appreciation for “effectiveness” and “relevancy.”

Management overlaps all functional disciplines and is rather non-technical in and of itself. Management skills are often “soft” skills. Unlike other courses that you’ve taken, there may be no right or wrong answers to some questions (except exam questions).

1 Outcomes: Successful completion of Management 377 should equip students to analyze competitive environments and situations as affected by:

 attractiveness of industries  strengths and weaknesses of organization(s)  opportunities and threats of environments  competitive posturing  core competencies  competitive advantages

Grading: There will be three exams during the semester plus a final examination. All exams will be essay-exams with the student’s score depending on how well he/she applies course material to “relevant” points. There is a definite “application” spin to Mgmt 377. Scores will also be impacted by how well students write (grammar, structure, and organization). Responses to exam questions should demonstrate critical thinking. The final exam will be comprehensive.

Available point summary:

Exam I 60 pts September 15 Exam II 60 pts October 13 Exam III 60 pts November 17 Final Exam 100 pts Per Registrar’s Final Exam Schedule Total 280 pts

In order to encourage students to come to class prepared to discuss assigned materials, your instructor will utilize unannounced short-answer quizzes.

The class format includes extensive open discussion opportunities of cases, articles, and lecture topics. Students will also be expected to do an individual classroom presentation (adequate notice will be given). Note that this is “an individual” task; not as part of a team effort.

Your instructor reserves the right to make changes to this syllabus or any course-related document/schedule he deems necessary to correct or update for whatever reason.

There will be neither make-up exams nor extra-credit available.

Grading (+/- grading will be used. Percentages will be rounded to a whole number. No decimals):

2 A >92% C >72% - <78%

A- >90% - <92% C- >70% - <72% B+ >88% - <90% D+ >68% - <70% B >82% - <88% D >62% - <68% B- >80% - <82% D- >60% - <62% C+ >78% - <80% F <60%

The following is a tentative schedule and is subject to change. It is rigorous but doable.

Week of Topic

August 25 Introduction to Strategic Management (Chp 1) Strategic Leadership (Chp 2)

September 1 No class on September 2 Internal Organization (Chp 4) SWOT Analysis

September 8 The External Environment (Chp 3) Blue Ocean Strategy

September 15 Exam I (Sept 15) Business-Level Strategy (Chp 5) The Five Forces that Shape Strategy

September 22 Business-Level Strategy (Chp 5, Continued) Competitive Rivalry and Competitive Dynamics (Chp 6) Zara: Fast Fashion or Ikea

September 29 Cooperative Strategy (Chp 7)

October 6 Corporate-Level Strategy (Chp 8)

October 13 Exam II (Oct 13) Acquisition and Restructuring Strategies (Chp 9) Cirque du Soleil – The High-Wire Act of Building Sustainable Partnerships

October 20 International Strategy (Chp 10) Airbus A380

October 27 Corporate Governance (Chp 11)

November 3 What’s Your Strategy for Managing Knowledge?

3 JetBlue Airways: Managing Growth November 10 What is Meant by “Strategy for Sustainability?”

November 17 Exam III (Nov 17) Strategic Entrepreneurship (Chp 12)

November 24 Thanksgiving Break

December 1 Strategic Flexibility and Real Options Analysis (Chp 13) JetBlue Airways: Managing Growth

December 8 Loose Ends

December 15 Final Exam (Per Registrar’s Final Exam Schedule)