BE_PH_STM Strategic Management

NEWTON University
summer 2026
Extent and Intensity
2/1. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Alexandra Zhereb, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Alexandra Zhereb, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Ing. Karina Tatek Benetti, Ph.D.
Centre for International Programmes – International programmes – NEWTON University
Timetable
Tue 13:30–15:00 PH Učebna 09
  • Timetable of Seminar Groups:
BE_PH_STM/01: each even Thursday 13:30–15:00 PH Učebna 04, A. Zhereb
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
Course objectives

The course is aimed at acquiring basic knowledge of strategic management in corporate practice. Students will learn about the content, scope, approaches and use of strategic management. Emphasis is placed on stimulating habits for applying particular methods, techniques and tools in specific situations of managing a business entity at a strategic level. The course is taught in the form of lectures explaining the basic principles of strategic management with follow-up examples of best practices and case studies demonstrating the individual practices. Practical cases of strategy development are implemented in the seminars as part of the students' active participation in a team project.

Course Objectives:

- to gain a basic knowledge and understanding of the principles of strategic management in business practice; 

- to acquire skills and have the ability to analyse the business environment in its complexity;

- to increase competence in understanding strategic thinking and competitive market;

- to foster the skills and abilities to define strategic direction and determine, select and implement strategies.


Syllabus

  • Main topics of the course:

    1. The nature of strategy. 1. 1. Definition of strategy. The case of Southwest Airlines. Mission. Vision. The case of Ikea. The Tesla case. The Amazon case. The Kopi Luwak case. True strategic management. False strategic management. Red Ocean Strategy. Blue ocean strategy. The case of Cirque du Soleil. The three pillars of blue ocean strategy. The case of RegioJet.

    2. Strategic management. Levels of corporate governance. Hierarchy of strategy. Strategy at the societal level. Strategy at the top level of the organisation. Strategy at the SBU level. Operational (functional) strategy. The case of Unilever. Evolution of strategy development (redefinition of strategy). Strategic management. Management levels according to information characteristics of managerial decision-making. Distinction between strategic, tactical and operational management. Strategic management process. Prostrategic and counter-strategic arguments. The process of strategy development. The Tesla case - strategy formation. Strategic tools. Business environment. Tools for analysing the macro environment, micro environment and internal conditions. Use of strategic tools in domestic companies.

    3. Macro environment analysis. Strategic analysis in relation to the structure of the business environment. Sources of data for analysis. The case of macroeconomic aggregates. Analysis of the macro environment. Dependent and independent uncertainties. Directional factors. PESTLE. PESTLE checklist based on 72 analytical factors. The Tesla case - analysis of the macro environment. Pepsi case - PESTLE analysis.

    4. Microenvironment analysis - Porter's five forces analysis. Definition of the microenvironment. Robustness of strategic analysis. The process of applying Porter's Five Forces Analysis. Five Forces Checklist based on 31 analytical factors. Threat of new competitors entering the industry. Competition between current competitors. Bargaining power of buyers. Bargaining power of suppliers. Threat of substitutes. Data collection. Evaluating the facts and linking them to strategic decisions. The Tesla case - an analysis of the five forces. 

    5. Microenvironmental analysis - Analysis of the four competitive corners and BCG matrix. The nature of the four competing corners. Competitive strategies. Motivation and action. Drivers. Assumptions. Strategies. Capabilities. The case of PepsiCo vs. Coca-Cola. Use of four corners analysis to formulate competitive strategy. Analysis of current and future competitors. The suitability of competitor-oriented analytical tools. BCG matrix. The Boston matrix and its genesis. Relative market share. Market growth. Question marks. Stars. Cash cows. Hungry dogs. Strategic decisions tied to product position in the BCG matrix. The case of Coca-Cola. BCG matrix and the product life cycle. Strategically balanced product portfolio.

    6. Analysis of internal conditions. Enterprise resource categories. McKinsey's 7S model. VRIO analysis. Competitive disadvantage. Competitive match. Temporary competitive advantage. Untapped competitive advantage. Permanent competitive advantage. The case of Starbucks. Critical success factors. Porter's value chain. ABC method. Benchmarking. Market gap analysis. Ohmae's strategic matrix. Coordinate networks. EFE, IFE, IF, SPACE matrices. Financial analysis. 

    7. Strategy formation. Variant scenarios. Variant strategies. Realistic, optimistic and pessimistic scenarios. Prediction of future reality formation. The Megatech case - creation of variant scenarios. Applicability of strategy variants in variant scenarios. What If...? Decision tree. Decision and situation nodes. Sequences. Generic strategies. Ansoff matrix. Market penetration. Market development. Product development. Diversification. Intensive, defensive, integration, diversification strategies. Porter's competitive strategies. Performance and cost advantage. Low cost leadership and differentiation. Principles of strategy formulation. SMART. SWOT.

    8. Organizational structure. Strategy - structure - culture link. Definition of the organization. Stability. Flexibility. Division of labour. System - structure - behaviour. Process structure. Processes. Distinction level. Process modelling. Unit structure. Number of subordinates. Level of organization. Functional specialization. Subject specialization. Linear organisational structure. Functional organisational structure. Line-staff organisational structure. Degree of aggregation of organizational structures. The case of Metrostav. 

    9. Organizational culture. Declared and lived culture. Implementation of organizational culture. Schein's model of culture. Basic assumptions. Values. Attitudes. Standards of behaviour. Artifacts. The FedEx case. The content and power of culture. The link between organizational culture and strategy. Factors influencing culture. Trompenaars' culture models. Deal's and Kennedy's models of culture. Subcultures. The case of Google.

    10. Strategic alliances. The impact of globalisation, market dynamics and competition on the development of corporate cooperation. The nature of inter-company cooperation. Organisational and procedural aspects of decision-making.  Network theory in the context of social, cultural and political conditions. The formation of transnational organisational structures. Corporate networks. Management of network processes. Holding companies. Concerns. 

    11. Social responsibility. Egoism. Altruism. Authority. Cooperation. Competition. Morality and ethics. Ethical problem. Ethical dilemma. Corporate Social Responsibility. PPP (Profit, People, Planet). Hertz and the creeping revolution. The EU Green Paper. CSR supporters (Küng, Rich, Anderson). Opponents of CSR (Friedman, Galbraith). Gilles Lipovetsky. The new trichotomy of quality, price and ethics. Adam Smith and the neoclassical paradigm. Etzioni's modifications. CSR effects. CSR in the context of domestic enterprises. The state and social responsibility. The case of Ikea.

    12. Development of strategic management methods. The early days of strategy. Strategem. Offensive and defensive actions of warfare. The 1950s and the military importance of strategy (Newman 1951, Drucker 1954, SWOT matrix). The 1960s and long-term planning (Chandler 1962, Ansoff 1965, long-term forecasting, trend extrapolation, PEST analysis). The 1970s and strategic planning (customer orientation, diversification, market variation, BCG matrix). The 1980s. The 1990s and strategic management (Porter 1980, competitive winning, competitive strategy, Porter's strategic tools, Japanese management inspiration, search for best practices, Peters and Waterman 1982, McKinsey's 7S analysis, Mintzberg). The 1990s and corporate complexity (absolute customer orientation and global markets, Karlöf and Östblom 1993, outsourcing, integration, Lean Management, Six Sigma, reengineering). Strategic management in the 21st century.


Assessment methods
Ungraded credit: minimum attendance at seminars, obtaining a specified minimum number of points for activity at seminars and preparation of continuous assignments
Examination: written final test + oral examination
Language of instruction
English
The course is also listed under the following terms summer 2023, summer 2024, summer 2025.
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