Strategy and Competitiveness

The course will work with theoretical and practical classes, seeking to combine the expository dimension of the subject with the necessary practical exemplification, where the teacher and students will present and discuss the resolution of various cases of real life examples.

In order to accelerate the understanding of the subject matter and make the lectures more attractive, audiovisual aids will be used whenever possible.

A notebook with practical cases and some specialized texts and articles will be made available in Nónio.

Strategy is indispensable for the success of organisations. In order to define the future path of an organisation, company or other type of institution, it is vital to have a strategy to ensure that the intended objectives are achieved. Strategy seeks to understand the reasons that explain persistent differences in performance between companies.

In the context of the strategy, the strategic diagnosis will start by evaluating the strategic possibilities, choosing the one that is more adequate for the organisation and more adjusted to the external conditions. Then, the selected strategies are implemented and the results or objectives that are being achieved are verified and, if necessary, corrections are made in order to obtain the desired performance.

The focus of this curricular unit is on the Choice and Implementation of the strategy, contrary to what happens in undergraduate courses where the emphasis is on Diagnosis and Strategic Analysis.

At the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Know the meaning of Organizational Strategy
• Understand the evolution of the concept of Strategy
• Recognize the importance of Strategic Thinking and Planning in a company
• Know the different competitive strategies that exist
• Recognize the characteristics that make a company competitive
• Understand the stages of the strategic planning process
• Understand the BSC as an alternative strategy management tool.

I.  The Organisational Strategy

1. The nature of Strategy

2. Characteristics of strategic decisions and strategy

3. Levels of Strategic Decision

4. Evolution of Strategic Thinking.

5. Strategic Thinking and Planning.

6. Terminology of the Strategy: basic definitions

7. The process of Strategic Management

II – Strategic Analysis and Positioning

1. External Environment

1.1 Understanding the nature of the environment

1.2 Auditing the Influences of the Environment

1.3 The Macro Environment: PEST Analysis

1.4 The Micro Environment: The structural analysis of the competitive context: Porter’s 5 forces

1.5 Identification of the competitive position of the company: Strategic Groups analysis

2. Internal Environment: Analysis of resources and strategic capability

2.1 Resources audit

2.2 Value Chain Analysis

2.3 Capability and Competence Analysis   

2.4 Critical Success Factors and Strength Points

2.5 Benchmarking

2.6. Final SWOT Analysis

III. History, culture and stakeholders’ expectations

3.1 The cultural process of the company: the cultural levels

3.2 Stakeholders’ expectations

3.3 Business ethics        

IV – The Choice of Strategy

1. Business strategy.

2. Corporate strategy and diversification.

3. International strategy.

4. Innovation and entrepreneurship.

5. Mergers, acquisitions and alliances

V – Strategy Implementation

1. Strategy evaluation.

2. Process of development and organization for the success of the strategy.

3. Strategy implementation through BSC – Balanced Scorecard.

VI – Applications

1. Summaries of articles throughout the lessons.

2. Presentation of cases by the students.

3. Construction of cases by the students.

4. Application of the concepts of Mission, Vision and Strategy to a national company

5. Essay presentation.

6. Essay topics:

a)     Dynamic capabilities

b)    Human capital as a source of competitive advantage.

c)     Strategy as practice.

d)    Real options.

e)     Platforms and networks

f)      Creation and appropriation of value.

g)    Growth of the company.

h)    Industry or firm effect on competitive advantage.

i)      Strategy and digitalization

j)      Vertical integration

k)     Growth strategies: M&A, Alliances and Organic Growth.

NAO

Barney, JB (2002). Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage, 3rd edition, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.

Freire, Adriano (2020). Estratégia. Ed Bertrand Editora.

HBR’s Must-Reads on Strategy (2012). Harvard Business School Press.

Johnson, G, Scholes, K, Whittington, R, Angwin, D and Regnér, P. (2014). Exploring Strategy. 10th edition, Pearson.

Kaplan, R. e Norton, D. (2001). The Strategy Focused-organization, Harvard Business Review Press, Boston.

Kaplan, R. e Norton D. (2008). The Execution Premium, Harvard Business Press, Boston.

Kim, WC and Mauborgne, R. (2005). Blue Ocean Strategy, Harvard Business Review Press, Boston.

Lampel, J, Mintzberg, H, Quinn, JB and Ghoshal, S. (2014). Strategy Process, 5th edition, Pearson.

Montgomery, C. (2012). The Strategist, Harper Business.