Business Growth Strategy (Coursera)

Business Growth Strategy (Coursera)

Get the tools you need to analyze, evaluate and recommend specific actions organizations can take to grow their value and avoid common growth pitfalls. In this course, developed at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and taught by top-ranked faculty, you will learn to determine how best to build value, whether by scaling existing markets, entering established markets or creating new markets through innovation and acquisitions.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

What You Will Learn

  • How to identify and evaluate opportunities to scale an organization
  • How to enter new markets and apply game theory to analyze, assess, and respond to competitors
  • How to assess the impact of a potential merger and acquisition and avoid common pitfalls of this type of growth
  • How to unlock the keys to innovation, from building an innovative capability to adding value from innovation to determining an innovation strategy

Course 3 of 5 in the Business Strategy Specialization.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Growth through Scaling
Strategic growth is intentional, proactive, and consistent with a company's purpose. Taking advantage of economies of scale--growing a business by doing more of what it's already doing--is a conceptually easy but operationally complex approach to business growth. In this module, you will learn the Scenario Planning tool to identify and evaluate opportunities to scale an organization. With this tool, you'll have an effective means to understand when and where to grow and how to get there.

WEEK 2
Growth through Entry
Growth through entry--whether by offering new products in existing markets or offering the same products in new markets--doesn't happen in isolation. Multiple firms compete for these markets and so any discussion of growth through entry has to look at the impact of rivalry. In this module, you'll learn how to apply game theory to analyze, assess, and respond to competitors. With the payoff matrices tool, you'll be able to evaluate options and determine an effective position.

WEEK 3
Growth through Acquisition
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are common--but rarely successful--ways firms attempt to grow their business. In this module, we'll show you the pros and cons of M&A, suggest valid alternatives,

WEEK 4
Growth through Innovation
Introducing new ideas, processes, and products that disrupt the market is another common growth strategy. In this module, we'll unlock the keys to innovation, from building an innovative capability to appropriating value from innovation to determining an innovation strategy. Using the Real Options Analysis tool, we'll show you how to grow through innovation and good practices for doing so. The Intel Corporate Venturing case provides an opportunity for you to practice this tool and apply course concepts to a real-world scenario.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

3D Printing Hardware (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

3D Printing Hardware (Coursera)

This course will provide an in-depth exploration of desktop 3D printing hardware. It will examine the history of desktop 3D printing and demonstrate how 3D printers are made and how they work. This course will also provide step-by-step instructions for how to use and repair a 3D printer. It will also explore the different types of materials that can be 3D printed and will demonstrate how you can create various objects using these tools and materials.

Aug 17th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Professional Responsibility and Ethics for Accountants (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Professional Responsibility and Ethics for Accountants (Coursera)

Accountants perform a wide variety of activities which include, but are not limited to, accounting, auditing, tax, management consulting, and financial management. However, a professional accountant’s responsibility is not exclusively to satisfy the needs of an employer or professional services client. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the accounting profession is its acceptance of the responsibility to act in the public interest.

Aug 17th 2026
4 Weeks
Climate Change Mitigation in Developing Countries (Coursera) Coursera
University of Cape Town

Climate Change Mitigation in Developing Countries (Coursera)

This course challenges you to consider how one might lift societies out of poverty while also mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. We explore the inherent complexity of developing country governments wanting to grow their economies in a climate friendly way. You will be introduced to an approach with which to address this challenge. The approach consists of a facilitated process whereby academic researchers and high-level influential actors within society co-produce knowledge. You will track this process in four Latin American countries - Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and South Africa. You will hear from various professionals about their contexts and the different challenges and opportunities the process includes.

Aug 24th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Creative Problem Solving (Coursera) Coursera
University of Minnesota

Creative Problem Solving (Coursera)

This course deals directly with your ability for creativity which is a critical skill in any field. It focuses on divergent thinking, the ability to develop multiple ideas and concepts to solve problems. Through a series of creativity building exercises, short lectures, and readings, learners develop both an understanding of creativity and increase their own ability.

Aug 17th 2026
4 Weeks
Behavioral Finance (Coursera) Coursera
Duke University

Behavioral Finance (Coursera)

We make thousands of decisions every day. Do I cross the road now, or wait for the oncoming truck to pass? Should I eat fries or a salad for lunch? How much should I tip the cab driver? We usually make these decisions with almost no thought, using what psychologists call “heuristics” – rules of thumb that enable us to navigate our lives. Without these mental shortcuts, we would be paralyzed by the multitude of daily choices.

Aug 17th 2026
3 Weeks
Sustainable Vikings: Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility in Scandinavia (Coursera) Coursera
Copenhagen Business School

Sustainable Vikings: Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility in Scandinavia (Coursera)

This course gives you immediate access to the world leading sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. Scandinavian firms dominate the major sustainability and CSR performance indicators including the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). In this course we explore the concepts of sustainability and CSR and focus attention on how Scandinavian firms, like Novo Nordisk, have achieved superior sustainability and CSR performances.

Aug 17th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Excel Modeling for Professionals: Best Practices & Pitfalls (Coursera) Coursera
Delft University of Technology,Erasmus University Rotterdam

Excel Modeling for Professionals: Best Practices & Pitfalls (Coursera)

Through this course learners will gain the tools to decide whether or not Excel is the right software to use. They will learn how to set up good input data, format correctly, and the importance of good documentation. Learners will gain the ability to discern between different functions, to understand the pitfalls and strengths of commonly used functions, and to apply correct functions to their excel models. Those that follow the course will also gain understanding of logical spreadsheet structure, graphs and reporting, and protection and hidden information in Excel, and users will learn how to apply these things to their own models.

Aug 17th 2026
4 Weeks
International Business I (Coursera) Coursera
University of New Mexico

International Business I (Coursera)

We live in a world of intensifying global relationships, one in which international business has become the key determinant of economic development and prosperity. This course, Global Business Environment, Part I, introduces students to a fundamental understanding of the socioeconomic political, cultural, and linguistic environment in which international businesses operate.

Aug 17th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Electric Utilities Fundamentals and Future (Coursera) Coursera
University of Colorado System

Electric Utilities Fundamentals and Future (Coursera)

The approach of this course is truly unique in how it approaches and engages learners. It looks at the electric utility industry, which has remained critical to our quality of life, health and comfort from the eyes of numerous industry experts through on-location interviews, compelling visuals, and animation. You will benefit from having the inside track because you see some behind-the-scenes information not covered in news stories, social media or even if we are in the business ourselves.

Aug 17th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Subsistence Marketplaces (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Subsistence Marketplaces (Coursera)

The foundation for this course lies with unique synergies between pioneering research, teaching, and social initiatives through the Subsistence Marketplaces Initiative. Unique to this approach is a bottom-up understanding of the intersection of poverty and the marketplace. The goals of this course are to help you develop an understanding of marketplace activity in the radically different context of subsistence where much of humanity resides and survives, and for you to design solutions that can be implemented by individuals, businesses, and social enterprises through economically, ecologically, and socially sustainable products for subsistence marketplaces.

Aug 17th 2026
5-12 Weeks