Strategic Management

BPS6310-501
Fall 2005

Marilyn R. Kaplan, Ph.D.

972-883-2742
www.utdallas.edu/~mkaplan
Email through WebCT ONLY
Office SOM4.216
Hours: Monday/Tuesday 11-12, before or after class, or by appointment

The strategic management course is a capstone class, integrating the knowledge you have gathered in your
coursework including accounting, finance, marketing, MIS, and organizational behavior. We will be
studying the creation of a strategic plan; analyzing the firm’s environment, structure, culture, and
leadership through case analyses and a computer simulation.

Course Objectives:
Upon completion of this course, the student will:
1. Communicate a firm’s strategic vision by creating a clear and comprehensive mission statement.
2. Complete an analysis of the external environment of a firm.
3. Determine the resources and capabilities of a firm.
4. Integrate skills acquired in finance, accounting, marketing, and MIS courses to create a successful
generic strategy.
5. Identify the strategic fit of the firm in its industry.
6. Explain the importance of culture and leadership on strategic implementation.

Required reading:

1. Custom text (e-book or printed – the e-book is considerably cheaper)

a. http://ebooks.primisonline.com/eBookstore/index.jsp
b. Click on custom books, then follow directions to find UTD,
Strategic Management, and my name.
2. Business Strategy Game : www.bsg-online.com
a. Your text gives you a prepaid access code
3. E-Reserves (Business Week articles)
a. http://www.utdallas.edu/library/services/disted.htm
b. You need a Comet Card number for access

Grading Policy:
Business Strategy Game 30% A: 90 and up;
Group Case Presentation 15% B: 80-89;
Individual Written Assignments 45% C: 70-79;
Participation 10% F: Below 70
100%
 Individual Written Assignments

Over the weeks of the course, you will complete any 5 of 7 written assignments. You will write a 3-5 page
paper that is assigned for the module. You will be researching a firm or firms for each assignment. Your
paper will likely include diagra ms and data. These papers will be graded on a scale of 1-10. (Note that there
are 6 cases – you will choose any 5). You must support your opinions with theory and facts. Papers that are
mere opinion will receive failing grades! Please note that the deadline for uploading papers is strict - late
papers cannot be accepted!

Assignment submission instructions: You will submit your assignments (in the required file format with a
simple file name and a file extension) by using the Assignment Dropbox tool on the course site. Please see
the Assignments icon on the designated page. You can click each assignment name link and follow the on-
screen instructions to upload and submit your file(s). Please refer to the Help menu or the WebCT Student
Guide for more information on using this tool. Please note : each assignment link can only be used once
and will be deactivated after the assignment due time. After your submission is graded, you may click each
assignment’s “Graded” link to check the results and feedback.

Group Assignments

1. Business Strategy Game

Game performance 10%

Report 20%

The Business Strategy Game is an online simulation of the international athletic footwear industry. Each
group will be a firm competing with the other groups’ firms in that industry.
Your decisions will include:
• where to produce and sell
• whether or not to sell online
• whether to produce private label brands
• employee compensation
• shipping
• pricing
• marketing, including celebrity endorsements
• financing.

You will choose a generic strategy for your firm based on your mission statement and proceed with your
decisions. We will begin with practice rounds (that do not count toward your grade) and continue by
restarting the game for 8 rounds. Once the final results are in, you will complete a report for your firm, due
11/22. The following rubric will be used for grading:
 Excel
Characteristic Assessed -lent Good Fair Missing

Mission Statement 10 8 6 0
Graphic
Directional
Flexible
Focused

External Analysis
Stakeholder Analysis 10 8 6 0
Competitive Analysis 10 8 6 0

Internal Analysis
Value Chain Analysis 10 8 6 0
Financial Analysis 10 8 6 0

Generic Strategy
Generic strategy fit 10 8 6 0
Explanation of variance from strategy 10 8 6 0

Culture 5 4 3 0

Leadership 5 4 3 0

Implementation 10 8 6 0

Paper Format & Presentation 10 8 6 0

Organization/Continuity
Writing Style/Technical Quality
Format/Spelling/Grammar

2. Group Case Discussion Presentation

Each group will choose one of the Business Week articles and perform a case analysis. Additional research
will be required. The format for the case analysis will be a power point file and a short (15-20 minute) oral
presentation.

The presentation will consist of information that communicates a picture of the focus firm and its industry.
Most of your slides will be diagrams and tables. Instead of making recommendations and drawing
conclusions, the group will identify questions for discussion for the rest of the class. Students from other
groups will then discuss the presentations and respond to the discussion questions. The following rubric
will be used for grading:
 Excel
Characteristic Assessed -lent Good Fair Missing

Industry analysis 25 20 15 0
Industry stage
Industry structure
Status of competition

Firm analysis 25 20 15 0
Historical performance
Current financial picture
Core competencies
Structure
Strategy

Problem Identification 25 20 15 0
Importance
Timeliness

Discussion questions 25 20 15 0
Application of strategic theory
Complexity

Scholastic Dishonesty

Scholastic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Students who violate the University of Texas at Dallas’
rules on scholastic dishonesty will be subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of
failure in the course and/or dismissal from the University. I will strictly enforce the University’s
policies. This policy applies to all assignments, whether papers, homework, oral presentations, tests,
etc.

In order to monitor possible plagiarism, all assignments are subject to be uploaded to a website that
uses special software, www.turnitin.com.

Each student in this course is expected to exercise independent scholarly thought, expression and aptitude.
This addendum to the course syllabus is provided to assist you in developing and maintaining academic
integrity while seeking scholastic success.

General Comments:
• All academic exercises (including assignments, essays, and reports, etc.) require individual,
independent work. All grades for group assignments are subject to adjustment for peer
evaluations.
• Be sure your name and section number is on all assignments.
• Complete and turn in academic exercises on time and in the required format (hardcopy, electronic,
etc.).
• Retain confirmation of document delivery if submitted electronically.
• Retain all research notes and drafts until the project or assignment has been graded.
 • Obtain written authorization from your instructor prior to submitting a portion of academic work
previously submitted for any academic exercise. (This includes an individual or group project
submitted for another course or at another school.)

Essays and Significant Papers:

Be prepared
• To present periodic drafts of work in process
• To correctly and completely reference all sources of information using the citation format prescribed
• To turn your completed assignment in timely and in the prescribed manner (electronic, hardcopy, etc.)

All episodes of suspected scholastic dishonesty will be reported according to University policy. Students
who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the
possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from the University. Since such dishonesty harms the
individual, all students and the University, policies on scholastic dishonesty will be strictly enforced.
Penalties that may be assessed for scholastic dishonesty may be reviewed in Subchapter D. Penalties at
http://www.utdallas.edu/student/slife/chapter49.html.
 Class Participation

The class participation component means that you must come to class prepared to discuss the assigned
readings and participate in the case discussions. I must be able to know your name and your level of
participation for you to receive participation credit. I will call on people at random if necessary to make
sure that the quiet students have a chance.

Email

U.T. Dallas provides each student with a free email account that is to be used in communication with
university personnel. The Department of Information Resources at U.T. Dallas provides a method for
students to forward their U.T. Dallas mail to other accounts. Students may go to the following URL to
establish or maintain their official U.T. Dallas computer account: http://netid.utdallas.edu/. Please email
through WebCT as I will not reply to non-UTD email addresses.

Classroom Rules

You are required to attend class. Respect your fellow students – turn off cell phones, no talking amongst
yourselves, try to be on time. This course is discussion driven, so please allow everyone a chance to speak
and be heard.
All power point slides are available on WebCT.
No late assignments!
Unclaimed papers will be retained for one year.

Group Rules

Groups will be assigned at the beginning of the class. Please see the Groups icon for group list with
member names. Each group can also use the group tool for file exchanges or sending internal emails to the
group. Please check the WebCT Help menu on how to use the features of the group tool. A private
discussion forum will also be set up on Discussions board for each group for use for group discussion and
communications.

All groups have hiring and firing capabilities. Individuals have the ability to resign from a group. However,
every student must belong to a group. If you have conflicts with your group, you may resign – but you must
interview and find a position with another group. Conversely, groups may discharge members, but the
students fired from a group must find another group. Social loafing will not be tolerated!

At the end of the semester, each student will rate the performance of their fellow team members. This
rating will be used to determine for individual student grades for group assignments.
Date Topic Chapter Reading BW BSG Ind.
Assignment
8/23 Introduction Registration
8/30 BSG 1
9/6 Mission 2 Markides Beyond
Kanter Blue
9/13 Stakeholders 10 Johnson Animal Practice # 1
Smith Rights
Why GE
9/20 External Detroit Practice #2 #1 due
Environment
9/27 5 Forces 3 Broadband Round 1 #2 due
10/4 Internal 4 Miller P&G Round 2 3# due
Analysis Ridderstrale
10/11 Generic 5 Small Round 3 #4 due
Strategy Biotech
Squeezing
10/18 Industry 8 Dresses Round 4 #5 due
Analysis
10/25 BSG analysis Round 5
11/1 Diversification 9 D’Aveni Antenna Round 6 #6 due
Wakeam Adjustment
Zook &
Allen
11/8 Alternative 6&7 Barthelemy East Meets Round 7
Strategies Gupta & West
Gonidarijan Tech’s
Future
11/15 Structure 12 Round 8 #7 due
11/22 Culture & 11 & 13 Chapman & Nissan’s Final Report
Leaderhip Cha Boss due