Management 441:  Strategic
Management

Fall 2006

Dr. Tim Schoenecker

Room 3305 (in School
of Business Administrative Suite)

Phone: 650-2485

E-mail: [email-masked]

Internet: www.siue.edu/~tschoen

Class Time:  Friday
9:00am-11:50am

Office Hours:  Friday
12:00pm-1:00pm or by appointment

Required Materials

1.   Barney, J.B. and Hesterly, W.S., Strategic
Management and Competitive Advantage, 2006, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

2.
Thompson, A.A., G.J. Stappenbeck, and M. Reidenback, The
Business Strategy Game Online Version, 2006, Glo-Bus Software, Inc. (www.bsg-online.com)  Note: All students will be required to
register and pay for this simulation later in the semester.

Course Overview

Strategic Management focuses upon
the activities of the general manager—the person who has the
responsibility for determining the shape and character of a total enterprise or
of one of its business units or divisions.
A general manager must possess a point of view that differs from that of
managers in functional areas at lower levels of the organization.  At the functional level (marketing,
accounting, etc.), the activities of managers and other employees are
influenced and constrained by the organization's overall strategy.  While functional managers are more
concerned with efficiency (“Are we doing things right?”), general
managers are more concerned with effectiveness (“Are we doing the right
things?").  Among your business
courses, Strategic Management is unique in its focus on the organization as a
whole and its relationship with the external environment.

The strategic activities of top managers
have an important role in determining whether the firm survives in the long
run.  Top managers exercise this
influence in two ways. First, they do so through the content of specific strategic decisions that they make or
approve.  Second, they do so through
the processes of designing an
organization structure, selecting executive personnel, measuring and evaluating
managerial performance, and determining the set-up of the formal planning
system.

The major focus of this course is on the analytical tasks of
strategic managers: identifying, evaluating, and formulating strategies.  These activities include analysis of the
business environment, assessing the firm's strengths and weaknesses, setting
goals for the business, and developing specific plans for how the firm will
achieve its goals.  Less emphasis
will be placed on strategy implementation issues, i.e., those activities that
make it possible for the strategy to be carried out by the organization.  Throughout the course, the ethical
implications associated with strategic decisions will be discussed.

Course Goals

This course will strive to achieve the following specific
goals:

1.   To develop an awareness of the
strategic decisions that organizations must make, and of the concepts upon
which these decisions depend.

2.   To teach the theories and
analytical techniques of strategic management.  Additionally, you will learn the
appropriate circumstances for applying these skills and how to critically
interpret the results of these analyses.
We will apply these techniques in the context of various, real-world
case studies and through a business simulation exercise.

3.   To integrate the material already
learned in other business courses -- accounting, finance, operations, etc.,
into a broader organizational context.
While you have already learned problem-solving skills in your other coursework,
they typically have been presented within a specific functional context.  In this course, we will be looking at
entire organizations; this will require a broader perspective and the ability
to draw on skills learned in multiple courses to solve complex problems.

4.   To prepare you for the transition
into the business world.  A
successful managerial career requires good communications skills.  Therefore, class participation will be emphasized
in this course.  It is vital that
you develop the ability to verbally express your ideas, recommendations, and
criticisms in a clear, professional manner.  It is also important for you to become
comfortable speaking in front of groups, both in formal presentations and in
informal discussions.  Therefore, we
will conduct case discussions as interactively as is possible.  Finally, several written assignments
will provide you with the opportunity to enhance your written communications
skills.

Grading Policy

Midterm
Examinations                                                  140
pts.

Industry and
Company Analysis Project                          75
pts.

Simulation
Results (Team)                                              50
pts.

Simulation Presentation
(Team)                                       40
pts.

Simulation
Assignments (Team and Individual)                25
pts.

Class
Participation                                                          50
pts.

Major Field
Test in Business                                           20
pts.

400
pts.

Attendance

In Management 441, there is no such thing as an excused
absence. You are either present or you are not.  Because so much of the learning in this
course occurs in the classroom, excessive absences can lead to either a failing
grade or dismissal from the course.
While good attendance does not
ensure high marks in class participation, poor attendance will result in a poor
class participation grade.

Exams

Two written examinations will be held during the first ten
weeks of the semester.  They are
tentatively scheduled for September 22 and October 20.  Each exam will be worth 70 points. The
exams will consist primarily of essay questions.  A
make-up exam will not be given without prior notification of absence.

Industry and
Company Analysis Project (ICAP)

Each student will complete the ICAP, in which he/she
analyzes the structure of an industry, the strategy of a publicly-traded firm
that competes within that industry, and makes recommendations regarding the
company’s future.  No two students
will be allowed to analyze the same firm, although some students may analyze
firms that compete within the same industry. I reserve the right to review your
selection of the company to be analyzed. This ICAP will be completed in the
following stages:

Stage

Description

Due Date

Points

1

Select industry and company

Sept. 8

0

2

Perform industry analysis

Sept. 29

25

3

Develop company profile and analyze company strategy

Oct. 27

25

4

Assess strategic “fit” and make
recommendations

Nov. 17

25

At stage 4, all three sections of the paper must be
submitted together.  Specific
details on each stage of the ICAP will be forthcoming.  A
late assignment will receive an automatic five-point deduction for each day
that it is turned in late. Handing in the assignment after the class period has
ended will be considered one day late.

Strategy Simulation Game

The final six weeks of this
course will be devoted to a computer simulation exercise.  Participation in the game will be a team
project with each team consisting of 4 or 5 members.  Each team will manage an athletic
footwear manufacturing company.  All
of the teams formed from this section constitute an industry, and these teams
(companies) will compete against each other.

There are several distinct
components to this exercise that will be graded separately.  Fifty points will be determined by the
financial performance of your team relative to its competitors.  Another 40 points will be determined by
a team presentation that discusses your firm’s strategy and performance.  This presentation will take place on December
14 during the final exam period.  Finally,
25 points will be determined by several short assignments that are associated
with the simulation.  These vary
from on-line quizzes (taken individually) associated with the simulation to brief
team memos.  Details on all aspects
of the simulation will be provided later this semester. The attached class
schedule provides a tentative schedule
of when the decisions are due.

With the exception of the on-line quiz, all of the items associated
with the simulation are expected to be team activities.  Since these activities represent a large
portion of your final grade, it is critical that each team member makes a
significant contribution to the team’s effort.  I have developed two incentives to try
to discourage any “free-riding” by team members.  First,
members of each team have the option of “firing” a team member for
the final presentation.  In that
case, the person “fired” would have to write an individual report
on the simulation.  Second, your grade
on any of the three elements of the exercise  may be modified based on the results of
required peer evaluations of your contributions in each element of the exercise.  The peer evaluations will be used to
adjust each team member’s grade by as much as 25% of the points
associated with each of the elements. While you should try to solve any
team-related problems internally (this will be a skill that you will need in
your careers), do not wait until the end of the semester to let me know that
your team is having serious difficulties dividing the workload.

Major Field Test in
Business

As a part of the School’s
assessment program, each student enrolled in Management 441 is required
to take the Major Field Test in Business (MFT).  The MFT covers virtually
all of the areas of business that you have studied (economics, accounting,
marketing, management, etc.).
Student performance on the MFT provides the School with an understanding
of how well our students are retaining important business knowledge. Because it
includes topics covered by virtually all of your business courses, you are not
expected to study for the MFT.  For
this section of Management 441, the MFT will be taken on Friday, December 8
during our regular class time.

Five percent (20 points) of your course grade will be determined by your
performance on the MFT. Students who do not complete the Major Field
Test in Business will not receive a course grade for Management 441.

Class Participation

As was stated earlier, a critical
skill for any manager is the ability to clearly articulate his or her method of
analysis and to persuade others to the merits of this analysis.  Active class participation by students
is an essential part of the learning experience in this course.  Points for class participation will not
be awarded for simply “showing up”.  You must be an active participant in
class discussions (especially on case study days) to earn a good grade in
participation.  Fifty points will be
associated with class participation in this course.

Failure to take an active role in class discussion penalizes
you and your classmates in several important ways. Additionally, because regular
presentation of your ideas sharpens your mastery of the subject matter, failure
to participate in class discussions on a regular basis may be associated with
other work (exams, written assignments, etc.) that does not reach its
potential.  On the other hand,
please remember that the quality of your participation is also important.  You will not raise your participation
grade by speaking frequently and saying nothing.  Keep in mind that there is a difference
between "being wrong" and "saying nothing".  A comment that may be wrong, but that
deals with a critical issue, can be very valuable to the discussion.  A comment that says nothing, or simply
restates another student's comment, is of little value to the class.

Policy on Fatal Errors

Formal written work
in this course is expected to conform to professional business standards.  As business students, you must practice
professional standards of writing.
To this end, all written assignments done out of class must meet minimal
standards to be acceptable.  These are
minimal standards and address such things as spelling, punctuation, format
and basic grammar.  Mistakes of this
sort make readers question your basic competence and they have negative
consequences for career advancement.
The following “fatal error policy” will be used in this
course.

The term fatal
errors refers to technical errors in language and errors of form.  Specifically, fatal errors include the
following:

1)   Misspelled words

2)   Sentence fragments

3)
Run-on sentences and comma splices

4)   Mistakes in capitalization

5)   Errors in punctuation

6)
Errors in verb tense or
subject/verb agreement

7)   Improper citation/references

8)   Lack of consistency in format

Writing assignments with
more than three fatal errors on any one page or six or more in the entire
document are unacceptable and will be returned to you without a grade.  The assignment must be corrected and
returned to me by the next class period.
Grades on papers returned because of fatal errors will be reduced by the
equivalent of one letter grade.
Resubmitted assignments exceeding the fatal error limit will receive a
failing grade.

One way of avoiding
some of these errors is to pay careful attention to what you write.  Other ways of avoiding these errors
include: 1) the use of spelling and grammar software (available in our computer
and writing labs); these programs will detect some kinds of fatal errors, but
not others; 2) enlisting the help of someone else to proofread your document
(your fellow students or team members can help here); 3) writing a draft and then
editing it into a final product well before it is due, allowing you to do a careful
final check; and 4) taking advantage of the assistance available in the Writing
Lab.  Ultimately, you are
responsible for producing a document that meets acceptable standards for professional
writing.  These minimal standards
are quite reasonable for university-level work.

School
of Business Code
of Professionalism

Faculty, staff, and students in the School of Business
at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville are expected to contribute to a
culture of integrity and professionalism.
Our School’s culture encourages behaviors associated with educated
and self-disciplined individuals.
Those behaviors include:

·
being honest;

·
being reliable and prepared;

·
being responsible for one’s own actions
and decisions; and

·
being respectful of all individuals.

One Final Note

As your Management 441 instructor, I am committed to work
with you to make your learning experience in this course productive and
valuable.  At the same time, I
expect you to make a good-faith effort to succeed in this course.  I will come to all class sessions well-prepared
and expect you to do the same.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any difficulty
understanding the course materials or any of the assignments.  I am readily available via phone or
email and am willing to meet with you outside of my regularly scheduled office
hours.

Management
441 Class Schedule—Fall 2006

Date

Topics

Reading/Decision

Comment

8/25

Course
Introduction; Fundamental Concepts

Chapter 1

9/1

Industry
and Competitive Analysis/Roadway Express, Inc

Chapter
2/Case 1-1

9/8

Internal
Analysis/Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Chapter
3/Case 1-4

ICAP
stage one due

9/15

Cost
Leadership/JetBlue Airways

Chapter
4/Case 2-2

9/22

Midterm
Examination I/Differentiation

Chapter
5

Exam
covers Chs. 1-4

9/29

Vertical
Integration/Nike, Inc. in 1998

Chapter
6/Case 2-5

ICAP
stage two due

10/6

Diversification/Nucleon,
Inc.

Chapter
7/Case 3-2

10/13

Alliances
& Mergers/Acquisitions/easy Group’s Business Model

Chapters
9 & 10/Case 3-4

10/20

Midterm
Examination II

Exam
on Chs. 5,6,7,9,10

10/27

Simulation
Workshop

BSG
Player’s Manual

ICAP
stage three due

11/3

Simulation

Practice
decision due (R)

11/10

Simulation

Y11
(R) & Y12 (F)

Team
Memo 1 due

11/17

Simulation

Y13
(R) & Y14 (F)

ICAP
final report due

11/24

Thanksgiving
Holiday

12/1

Simulation

Y15
(R) & Y16 (F)

Team
Memo 2 due

12/8

Major
Field Test

Y17
(R)

12/14

Team
Presentations

Begin
at 10am