everything.study
15.904

Strategy and the CEO

3-0-3 units · Graduate

Builds on 15.900 and 15.902 to explore key concepts that have shaped the field of strategic management teaching and strategy consulting over the past several decades. Uses lectures, readings, case studies, and videos to review the evolution of strategy teaching, research, and practice; differences between analytical versus prescriptive tools for strategic thinking and planning; external versus internal influences on financial results; and sources of enduring competitive advantage. Key themes include the role of CEO leadership in strategy formulation and execution, how to view company performance in context, and the role of platform strategies as a tool for competition in the digital age.

Fall 2005 · Strategic Management II

Topics

  • Course Overview
  • Customer Segmentation and Customer Value Proposition
  • The Firm as a Bundle of Competencies
  • Group Presentations The Firm as a Bundle of Competencies
  • The Mission of the Firm and the Craft of the Strategic Agenda
  • Operational Effectiveness
  • Innovation
  • Aggregate and Granular Metrics and Financial Evaluation
  • Final Wrap-up

Readings

  • Hax, Arnoldo C. and Nicolas S. Majluf. The Strategy Concept and Process: A Pragmatic Approach. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Prentice Hall, 1996. ISBN: 0134588940.
    Required
  • Hax, Arnoldo C. and Dean L. Wilde. The Delta Project: Discovering New Sources of Profitability. New York, NY: Palgrave, 2001. ISBN: 0333962451.
    Required
  • Bartlett, C., and S. Ghoshal. Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solution . Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2002.
    Listed reading
  • Brandenburger, A. M., and B. J. Nalebuff. Co-opetition . New York, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1996.
    Listed reading
  • Kim, W. Chan, and R. Mauborgne. Blue Ocean Strategy . Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2005.
    Listed reading
  • Christensen, C. The Innovator’s Dilemma: When Technologies Cause Great Firms To Fail . Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1997.
    Listed reading
  • ———. The Innovator’s Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2003.
    Listed reading
  • Collis, D., and C. Montgomery. Corporate Strategy: Resources and The Scope of The Firm . Westport, CT: Irwin Press, 1997.
    Listed reading
  • Cusumano, M. A., and C. C. Mardikes, eds. Strategic Thinking for The New Economy . Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass, 2001.
    Listed reading
  • Foster, R., and S. Kaplan. Creative Destruction . New York, NY: Doubleday & Company, 2000.
    Listed reading
  • Galbraith, J. Designing The Global Corporation . Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass, 2000.
    Listed reading
  • Ghemawat, P., D. Collis, G. Pisano, and J. Rivkin. Strategy and The Business Landscape . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001.
    Listed reading
  • Hamel, G., and C. K. Prahalad. Competing for The Future . Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1996.
    Listed reading
  • Hayes, R., G. Pisano, and D. Upton. Strategic Operations: Competing Through Capabilities . New York, NY: Free Press, 1996.
    Listed reading
  • Kaplan, R. S., and D. P. Norton. Strategy Maps: Converting Intangible Assets into Tangible Outcomes . Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2004.
    Listed reading
  • Pfeffer, J. The Human Equation . Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1998.
    Listed reading
  • Porter, M. Competitive Advantage . New York, NY: Free Press, 1985.
    Listed reading
  • ———. The Competitive Advantage of Nations . New York, NY: Free Press, 1990.
    Listed reading
  • Prahalad, C. K., and V. Ramaswamy. The Future of Competition . Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2004.
    Listed reading
  • Reichheld, F. Loyalty Rules . Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2001.
    Listed reading
  • Saloner, G., A. Shepard, and J. Podolny. Strategic Management . New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 2001.
    Listed reading
  • Shapiro, C., and H. Varian. Information Rules . Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1999.
    Listed reading
  • Stern, J. M., and J. S. Shiely. The Eva Challenge: Implementing Value-Added Change in an Organization . New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 2001.
    Listed reading
  • Thompke, S. Experimentation Matters: Unlocking The Potential of New Technologies for Innovation . Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2003.
    Listed reading
  • Ulrich, D. Human Resource Champions . Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1997.
    Listed reading
  • Buy at MIT Press von Hippel, E. Democratizing Innovation . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005. ISBN: 0262002744. ↗
    Listed reading
  • Hax, Arnoldo C., and Nicolas S. Majluf. The Strategy Concept and Process: A Pragmatic Approach. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Prentice Hall, 1996. ISBN: 0134588940.
    Required
  • Hax, Arnoldo C., and Dean L. Wilde. The Delta Project: Discovering New Sources of Profitability. New York, NY: Palgrave, 2001. ISBN: 0333962451.
    Required

Prerequisites & course information

Prereq: 15.900 or permission of instructor G (Spring; second half of term) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-3 units

Sources