Advanced Topics in Management and Strategy

1.5 units

This course deepens concepts and analytical frameworks for understanding and creating high-performing organizational strategies. We build directly on the core courses that you took during your previous semester in the Olin MBA program. In keeping with the first strategy course you took last fall, we adopt the perspective of the general manager who has overall responsibility for the performance of an organization. While the course typically focuses on the creation and defense of profits, you can—and we will—apply all of the tools that we study to non-profit contexts. While we adopt the perspective of a high level manager, strategy cannot be the domain of top managers alone. In particular, functional specialists and mid-level managers—the starting positions of many MBAs—must understand the organization’s overall strategy when confronting day-to-day issues. Our aim is to increase your ability to assume a leadership role in your organization, no matter your formal position. We will do this by cultivating your ability to make well-grounded and insightful recommendations as to how your organization should be competing. This course is primarily taught through the case method. We will supplement the case discussions with in-class games and exercises, discussions of current events, and out-of-class writing assignments. There are, of course, no easy answers regarding how a particular organization can formulate and implement strategy. My objective is for you to develop your own personal synthesis and approach for identifying and addressing key issues.