BUSI 1633 Strategy for Managers

Welcome to study at the University of Greenwich Business Faculty and a particular welcome to the module Strategy for Managers (BUSI1633)!
This module aims to help you to learn about the core aspects of effective strategy, the processes of its development and successful implementation. It is designed to enable you to accumulate and utilise previously acquired knowledge and skills for building a deep understanding of the key strategic principles. Knowing such principles is especially important for responding the needs of today’s competitive business environment and achieving superior outcomes. The module will help you to get a clear vision of the main characteristics of strategy and appreciate its role in business success. You will have an opportunity to learn about the core components of a strategy formulation process, explore the main tools and techniques for strategic analysis, understand the main reasons of business failures and common traps, and develop an ability to think strategically.
The module materials are built on a wide range of recent theoretical frameworks in the field of strategic management and modern business cases. It integrates well traditional approaches and new techniques to ensure your interest in the subject and aspiration to learn more. You will be encouraged to read beyond a textbook, critically evaluate relevant theoretical approaches and develop your own solutions for formulating and executing effective strategy.
BUSI1633 module leader
This handbook provides essential information that you will need during your undertaking of this module. It is not intended to be exhaustive, but should help you to see at a glance key information about the module such as the aims and learning outcomes, the proposed schedule of delivery, assessment details, reading list and any additional resources that will be needed by you. Please ensure that you familiarise yourself with its contents.
The university will do all that it reasonably can do to provide educational services to support your learning. Sometimes circumstances may mean that we cannot provide such educational services or that the university has to withdraw or change aspects of this module and/or student services detailed in the information you have been provided with by the university. This might be because of, for example:
industrial action by university staff or third parties; the unanticipated departure or absence of key members of university staff; acts of terrorism; the acts of any government or local authority; academic changes within subject areas; or where the numbers expected on a module are so low that it is not possible to deliver an appropriate quality of education for students enrolled on it. In these circumstances, the university will take all reasonable steps to minimise the resultant disruption to those services and to affected students, for example by making reasonable modifications, but to the full extent that it is possible under the general law, the university excludes liability for any loss and/or damage suffered by any applicant or student as a result of these circumstances.
The modifications we make may be to:
the content and syllabus of modules, including in relation to placements; the timetable, location and number of classes; the content or method of delivery of your module; the examination process; and the timing and method of assessment Many of the changes that we make are in response to feedback from students and are intended to improve the experience of students and student outcomes.
In making any changes, the university will aim to keep significant changes to the minimum necessary and will notify and where reasonably possible also consult with you in advance about any significant changes that are required.
Based on student feedback received in previous year, a few changes to the module content were implemented. These include the following: providing more detailed information to key theoretical tools at lectures, offering more details on implications of learnt theoretical material, as well as updating and diversifying tutorial activities.

Key Contacts

The list below summarises the contact details of key individuals relevant to this module.

Module Leader: Location: QA Email: @gre.ac.uk Tel: 0208331 Office hours: Module Lecturer: Aaron Tan Location: TBC Email: [email protected] Tel: TBC Office hours: TBC External Examiner: Dr Boyi Li

Key Module Specification Details

Department: Systems Management and Strategy Number of Credits: 15 Term of delivery: Term 1 Site of delivery: Greenwich Maritime
Pre-requisites/Co-requisites: N/A
Aims: To provide students with a deep understanding of strategy and its key components; To develop students’ ability to analyse the influence of external and internal factors in strategy formulation and identify he methods of effective strategy implementation; To enable students to identify and critically evaluate the main challenges in strategy implementation process and the ways to address them.
Learning Outcomes: Analyse different aspects of strategy formulation and implementation linking theoretical knowledge and practice, with a specific focus on change management; Understand the issues and challenges in strategy formulation and implementation; Identify and critically evaluate the key components of successful strategy; Develop a profound understanding of the relationship between organisational activities contributing to strategy success and an ability to think strategically. Define and evaluate the main challenges in strategy implementation and execution.

Enquiry-Based Learning and Research-Led Teaching
Enquiry-Based Learning (EBL)
Defined as ‘an approach based on self-directed enquiry or investigation in which the student is actively engaged in the process of enquiry facilitated by a teacher. EBL uses real life scenarios (for example, from case studies, company visits, and project work) and students investigate topics of relevance that foster the skills of experimental design, data collection, critical analysis and problem-solving’.
To stimulate EBL, students are required to research definitions before each session, search for relevant company cases in business news (e.g. Financial Times) to discuss those in class, and provide their own solutions to strategic issues through assessments (individual video presentation and individual report).
Research-Led Teaching (RLT)
An element of Enquiry Based Learning links to RLT, which involves faculty introducing students to their own research where it is relevant to the curriculum being taught as well as drawing on their own knowledge of research developments in the field, introducing them to the work of other researchers. RLT sees students as active participants in the research process, not just as an audience. This is achieved by discussing such developments in lectures and classes, and setting reading lists including recent research publications at the frontier of the field. The definition of a diverse assessment regime at the programme level (incorporating an expectation of familiarity with, and use of, such publications in assignments) and the inclusion of projects at every level of the programme is also fundamental to achieving these objectives.
Where feasible, tutors will incorporate their own research into the curriculum and actively engage and incorporate students into their projects. In addition, students are expected to engage in deep learning by researching key topics at the library and with the use of online databases by going beyond the required reading list
BAME/ Inclusive curriculum
Learning is designed to ensure that the curriculum is inclusive and that the diversity of the student body is taken into account. To assist learning of culturally diverse students, recordings of lectures will be provided on Moodle, as well as other supporting materials.
International aspects This module is delivered at partner institutions in several countries in South East Asia. It incorporates international aspects by using geographically diverse case studies and working collaboratively with international colleagues on designing module content.

Employability Skills Gained

The module will help you to develop the following employability skills: Cognitive Skills: Theability to generate effective decision-making techniques and solve problems independently, make sensible assumptions in real life scenarios, and reflect on skills gained and the impact of the proposed strategic solutions.
Generic Competencies Students will be engaged in various tasks and class activities in small groups in order to help them to develop joint decision-making skills. Through preparing for group presentations as a part of assessment students will be abilities to set common goals, plan and allocate workload, question proposed solutions, listen to the opinion of others, persuade group members and enhance their interpersonal sensitivity. Individual assessment will encourage students to develop their writing skills, the ability to analyse data and construct arguments to convince reader.
Personal Capabilities The course will stimulate actual applications to stay in line with plan (including graduate job and further study) and offer extra-curricular opportunities, such as outside speakers, entrepreneurship, team-building exercises, further group work and group competitions.
Organisational Awareness Students will have an opportunity to understand industry organisational structures for developing organisational goals and strategic directions.
You can find out more about the Greenwich Employability Passport online https://www.gre.ac.uk/articles/ils/greenwich-employability-passport-for-students
Information about the Career Centre is also available online
https://www.abintegro.com/public/career-transition-and-job-search You can log on to the Career Centre with your Portal ID and Password
https://orca.gre.ac.uk/cas/login?service=https://idp.gre.ac.uk/oala/auth.php

Key Dates

2019/20 Term Dates
Please note that dates may differ depending on when you start your programme of study, and where you are studying. Please refer to https://docs.gre.ac.uk/rep/sas/term-dates for full details, and details of University closure dates.
Welcome Week 16^th September 2019 20^th September 2019 Term 1 23^rd September 2019 13^th December 2019 Examination Period 06^th January 2020 10^th January 2020 Term 2 13^th January 2020 03^rd April 2020 Examination Period 27^th April 2020 15^th May 2020 Resit Examination Period 20^th July 2020 24^th July 2020

Schedule of Teaching and Learning Activities

The module will be taught by lectures, tutorial discussions, debates and seminars, with a use of interactive lectures, case studies and videos.

Week beginning Activity 23.09.2019 Lecture 1: Introduction to Strategy: Key concepts and terms Tutorial 1: What strategy is NOT 30.09.2019 Lecture 2: Strategists: Who are they? Tutorial 2: Debate ‘Who develops an organisation’s strategy?’ 07.10.2019 Lecture 3: The role of external environment Tutorial 3: Case study (applying PESTEL) 14.10.2019 Lecture 4: Industry environment Tutorial 4: Case study (applying Porter’s 5 forces) 21.10.2019 Lecture 5: How to Outcompete Rivals? Tutorial 5: Case study (applying VRINO) 28.10.2019 Lecture 6: Activity-based view on strategy Tutorial 6: Case study (applying Porter’s value chain) 04.11.2019 Lecture 7: ‘How’ of Competition: Business-level strategies Tutorial 7: Debate ‘Low-cost strategy is the best!’ 11.11.2019 Lecture 8: Organisational culture and Strategy Tutorial 8: How to develop a strong culture? 18.11.2019 Lecture 9: Developing strategic options for growth Tutorial 9: Case study (applying Ansoff and TOWS) 25.11.2019 Lecture 10: Strategic decision making Tutorial 10: Improving decision making skills 02.12.2019 Lecture 11: Strategy Implementation and Execution Tutorial 11: Implementation – key success factors 09.12.2019 Lecture 12: Module revision Tutorial 12: Assignment Q&A

Assessment Tasks

The overall pass mark for this module is 40%

Assessment Schedule Assessment (including resits) Length Weight towards Module grade Learning Outcomes
Anonymous Submission? Anticipated Return Date Header sheet number Presentation 15 min 20% 1-5 01.11.19 at 23:30PM Yes 22.11.19 242802 Report 3500 80% 1-5 09.12.19 at 23:30PM Yes 07.01.2020 242803

Return of marked work with feedback will normally be given up to 15 working days after the due date indicated. In exceptional circumstances where you experience a delay in receiving this then you will be informed by the tutor. The timetable for examinations will be available closer to the examination period.
Assessment Details Each part of assessment should be done individually.
Presentation. Students are required to demonstrate how they would develop and implement their strategy for a new start-up.
Task guidelines and tips:
Your task is to develop a strategic direction for your start-up. You are free to choose the industry your start-up is going to enter and the nature of your product/service. Please develop about 7 PPT slides to present your individual video presentation (excluding the references and appendix) and do not exceed 15 minutes. You should consider the following items for your video presentation:
– Strategic goals, vision and mission of your company. – Competitor analysis (what industry you are going to enter and why) and sources of your competitive advantage (how you are going to compete). – Brief outline of your strategic plan (e.g. the resources, short- and long-term outcomes, roles and responsibilities, timeline and budget). – References – Appendices
You may include the following information as part of your appendices: – Current media articles related with your selected industry by using screenshots to illustrate your points. – Any information to support your PP slides, your notes.
Please also note the following information: You may record your voice over of your PowerPoint slides, if you do not wish to be on the camera. Youtube permits videos of up to 15 minutes for unverified accounts. You should not exceed 15 minutes if you select to use Panopto or some other venue. Please be reminded that you are not expected to upload any of your media recording on Moodle. The easiest way for you to get around this is to cut and paste the link to your video into the word document and upload it along with appendices (optional) on a header sheet and submit.
Some suggestions for preparing an effective presentation: https://www.forbes.com/2010/02/24/effective-presentation-skills-leadership-careers-rosenthal.html http://www.sussex.ac.uk/skillshub/?id=258

Marking Criteria
Marks allocated to criteria: Understanding of a company’s strategic position Does the student articulate well company’s strategic direction? 20 Strategic orientation Does the student have an adequate perception of competitive environment and principles of competitive advantage? 35 Strategic thinking Does the student have a realistic strategic plan? 25 Quality of delivery Was the presentation organised logically and delivered effectively? 20

Report. The task for the second assignment includes a strategic analysis of a given company. Specifically, students are required to identify factors influencing the company strategy and evaluate the main issues and challenges.
Task guidelines and tips:
Please follow the following format and suggested wording per each section: Table of Contents Introduction (300 words) You need to identify to the marker the purpose of the report and information you will provide in your report. Overview of Company Strategy (300 words) Introduce the case study and discuss the company’s strategic goals. Their vision and mission statements need to be discussed in-depth in this section. Evaluation of Environmental Impacts (900 words) PESTEL analysis Porter’s 5 forces analysis Strategic Capabilities and Sources of Competitive Advantage (1000 words) The Value Chain analysis VRINO Analysis Issues and Challenges (500 words) Based on the analysis undertaken above, you may discuss and consider the SWOT analysis. Make sure to link the external analysis to OT and the internal analysis to SW. Conclusions and Recommendations (500 words) References (at least 10-15 references including books and academic peer reviewed articles) Appendices (optional)
Please refer to the module Moodle site for more information.
Marking Criteria Marks allocated to criteria: Focus Does the report stay within and fulfil the topic parameters? 20 Synthesis Does the report bring together the literature to support strategic analysis? 30 Soundness Does the report indicate a comprehensive understanding of the topic area and literature discussed? 30 Clarity of structure Is the report well organised and logically constructed to achieve synthesis while being mindful of the needs of the reader? 10 Mechanical Soundness Is the report clearly written, spell checked and grammatically sound and referenced appropriately? 10

Re-Sit Assessments
The Progression and Award Board (PAB) will determine whether students who have failed items of coursework or exams will be permitted to complete re-sits. These normally take place in July/August. If your results letter advises you that you have been given a re-sit opportunity you will need to check the portal for details of the assessment element(s) that you will need to complete and for the timings of re-sit examinations. For non-exam re-sits (e.g. coursework, essay, presentation, group work assessments), please consult the relevant Module’s Moodle page for instructions on what is required of your re-sit assessment. The due date will be Wednesday 8^th July 2020. You should be aware that there is no automatic right to take re-sits; this is at the discretion of the PAB and dependent on the scale of failure and your overall profile. If you are offered a re-sit opportunity which you do not take up, you will be recorded as having a non-submission; you will not keep the original grade for that item if you are told by a PAB that they want you to re-sit.

10. Reading Lists

Author	Title	Publisher	ISBN
Johnson, G., Whittington, R., Scholes, K., Angwin, D. & Regner, P.	Exploring strategy: Text and cases.	Pearson Education
Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B. & Lampel, J.B.	Strategy Safari	Financial Times
Whittington, R	What is strategy-and does it matter?	Routlege

Please refer to the module Moodle site for suggested reading to each session.

Additional Module Specific Information and Costs

N/A

Glossary of Terms

Pre-requisites/Co-requisites	This describes the learning you are expected to have completed before starting the module or the learning (or other modules) that you should be undertaking alongside it.
Aims	These define the overall educational purpose of the module
Learning Outcomes	These are subject specific statements that define the learning that will be assessed during this module
Assessment Weight	This refers to the proportion of the overall result for the module that is based on your performance in each of the assessment tasks

Other Details

The majority of information relevant to you while you study at the University has been brought together into your programme handbook. Please refer to your programme handbook for any further information you might require including:
Deadlines and extenuating circumstances, Plagiarism and referencing, Who to go to for advice or if you are concerned, How to provide us with feedback, Key administrative procedures.

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