Competitive Strategy

2.5 credits

Competitive strategy deals with the most significant decisions that companies make in the marketplace, including entry into a market, product positioning, pricing, investments, technology choice and acquisitions. This course provides tools and concepts for analyzing these decisions and for designing business strategies that help firms make above-normal profits in the long run. Throughout the course, there is an emphasis on how firms interact with existing or potential competitors and other parties in the market. The tools and concepts used to understand this interaction are partly those of the traditional field of Strategic Management, but more importantly those of modern microeconomics, especially the field of Industrial Organization. The first half of the course looks at the 'big picture' and covers industry analysis, value creation and competitive advantage, and integration and diversification decisions. The second half of the course focuses on strategic interaction among firms, and covers specific topics such as the dynamics of price competition in oligopolies, commitment strategies of firms, entry and exit, networks and standards, and technological competition. The course is largely case-based. About one third of all classes are lectures; the other two thirds are case discussions.