Strategic Planning and Leadership
(CSC 211 3.0 Cr)
Business & Management

Course Description

Effective management requires the use of specific managerial practices and techniques in combination with a broad-based perspective. This capstone course integrates the disciplines of management, marketing, finance, and accounting, as well as related areas such as economics and human resources to help students develop breadth of perspective and capability as they practice their managerial strategy and develop decision-making abilities.

Using a problem-based pedagogy with actual applications, this course gives students, working individually and in teams, the opportunity to put their accumulated knowledge, experience, and creativity to use as they address realistic and complex situations in the business environment.

Learning Objectives
After completing this course, students will be able to:

• Understand the concept of strategy and the strategy formulation tasks of the general manager
• Assess the need for external environment and an internal organization analysis and perform them as appropriate
• Comprehend the differences and overlaps among organizational mission, vision, and strategy
• Use strategy analysis skills, particularly of the organization's goals, product/market scope, and competitive emphasis
• Design implementation plans for a chosen organization strategy
• Analyze strategic change situations and schedule the sequence and timing of change activities
• Develop an integrated knowledge of strategic management principles and the ability to apply the appropriate concepts, tools, techniques to a variety of strategic management situations

Breadth of Assignments
This course utilizes a variety of activities including reading, both online and textbook-based, interactive course materials, structured discussions, research, and report preparation. Course work is based on critical reading, case study analyses, and development of a complete analysis and strategic plan of an actual company. Students work on these assignments both individually and in teams.

Required Resources
Thompson, Jr. & A.J. Strickland III (1998). Crafting and Implementing Strategy: Text and Readings. Irwin/McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-256-24145-7
Bourgeois III, L.J., I.M. Duhaime & J.L. Stimpert (1999). Strategic Management: Cases in Strategic Management. The Dryden Press, Harcourt Brace & Company. ISBN 0-03-022614-7

Strategic Planning and Leadership
Business & Management
Module/Topics

Module 1: Overview: Tasks of a General Manager
• The concept of strategy
• Strategy making tasks of the general manager

Module 2: External Environment and Internal Organization Analysis
• The need for and the methods of an external environment and an internal organization analysis
• Developing external environment analysis skills, particularly the application of Porter's Five Forces Analysis and Competitor Mapping
• Developing internal organization analysis skills, particularly Resource and Capability Gap Analysis and Value Chain Analysis

Module 3: Strategy Formulation
• The need for external and internal organization consistency in the formulation of organization strategy
• The differences and overlaps between organizational mission, vision, and strategy
• The types and elements of organization strategy
• Strategy analysis skills, particularly of the organization's goals, product/market scope, and competitive emphasis
• The ability to formulate organizational strategies that maximize the development of competitive advantages

Module 4: Strategy Implementation and Change
• The need for a suitable implementation plan for a chosen organization strategy
• The elements of design including structure, systems, style, and staffing
• Developing the ability to discern the strategy suitability of these design elements
• Developing the ability to analyze strategic change situations and schedule the sequence and timing of change activities

Module 5: Course Summary: Strategy and the Future
• Developing an integrated knowledge of strategic management principles
• The ability to apply the appropriate concepts, tools, techniques to a variety of strategic management situations