Developing Strategies to Win in the Marketplace (Coursera)

What You Will Learn

- Understand strategy, and industry's implications for a firm’s strategy and its performance

- Develop superior resources and capabilities that can lead to competitive advantage

- Competitive advantage and value-based strategy

- Appreciate the linkage between a firm’s strategy and its business model, and implementing strategies for growth

Syllabus

WEEK 1

Course Introduction

This course deals with the fundamentals of strategy formulation and execution. Strategy is all about winning in the marketplace, yet very few companies can do so consistently. In this course, we will dive head-on into different tools and frameworks that you can use to create winning strategies.

What is Strategy?

In this module, we will talk about what is strategy? How can you distinguish between a good strategy and a bad strategy? What are the five elements of the strategy diamond framework? How to design a strategy for any company using the strategy diamond framework?

WEEK 2

Industry and its Implications for a Firm’s Strategy and its Performance

In this module, we will talk about Importance of the firm’s environment for its strategy creation and its long-term performance, industry analysis using Porter’s five forces framework, and strategist and the industry analysis.

WEEK 3

Resource Based View of Strategy

In this module, we will talk about why some firms have superior performance compared to others, what makes firms sustain that superior performance over a long period of time, and resource-based view of strategy.

WEEK 4

Competitive Advantage

In this module, we will talk about what does competitive advantage mean? What is value-based strategy? How to use value-based strategy framework to identify the drivers of competitive advantage.

WEEK 5

Strategy and Business Models

In this module, we will talk about business models and different elements of a business model. We will also talk about the link between a firm’s strategy and it's business model.

WEEK 6

Strategies for Growth

In this module, we will talk about the different ways in which firms can grow. How should firms be thinking about these choices between build, borrow, or buy? How can a firm grow sustainably over a long period?