COURSE NUMBER: MBA 299E.2 (formerly MBA 217)
COURSE TITLE: Competitive and Corporate Strategy (2-unit
version)
UNITS OF CREDIT: 2
INSTRUCTOR: Paul
Tiffany
E-MAIL ADDRESS: tiffany@haas.berkeley.edu
CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION (HTTP URL): none
MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Monday mornings, 8:00-11:00 AM, for ten
sessions
PREREQUISITE(S): First year core courses
CLASS FORMAT: Cases and lecture/discussions by the
Instructor
REQUIRED
BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Participation (40%), and final exam
or group paper (60%)
ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
Competitive and Corporate Strategy is a course in
management. It is designed to acquaint
the student with delineation of business policy by the firm, and the
development and implementation of a business strategy that will allow the firm
to achieve its goals and objectives. The
pursuit of these goals and objectives usually occurs within a competitive
context, in which other rival organizations often seek similar if not the same
ends (e.g., market share, profits, control of scarce resources, etc.). Accordingly, the essential drama of the
marketplace is how one firm attempts to "win" vis-a-vis
its rivals-- that is, how it develops and implements a competitive strategy.
The basic perspective of the course will be that of the
"general manager" of the firm, or that person charged with overall
responsibility for competitive performance. We shall apply the concepts of the
course to firms that compete in single businesses as well as multiple lines of
activity, to firms that compete in domestic markets as well as international
venues, and to firms that engage in production sector activity as well as the
service sector of the economy. Finally,
while this course is not specifically concerned with high-technology markets,
it will make reference to this sector, as well as more mature and traditional
industries.
This offering of MBA 299E will be highly participatory,
relying heavily on class discussions of case and related readings. Students must be willing and ready to engage
in classroom discussion of the subject matter if they expect to pass the
course. In addition, a written group
project will be required of all students.
Required readings consist of a Course Reader (cases,
articles, and lecture notes available through studynet.com), and a text: Robert
M. Grant, Contemporary Strategy Analysis, 5th Ed. (
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
See http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/faculty/tiffany.html