Fundamentals of Strategy (POK)

This course will start from discussing the elements of the Individual level of Strategy decision-making process, to then focus on the Business level.
In Business & Management, Strategy is fundamentally a quest for sustained superior performance compared to competitors.
Strategists working in either incumbent companies or startups ultimately and systematically aim at outperforming rivals, by creating and sustaining what is traditionally called a competitive advantage.
To achieve such overarching goal, they have to deeply analyze and understand the competitive environment their companies operate in, by investigating the factors responsible for their firm’s past performance and by spotting those changes (inside or outside the firm) that are most likely to enhance or hurt future performance.

This course addresses this reality head-on, by examining the fundamental conditions that enable a firm to conceive, formulate, and sustain a superior strategic position. In particular, we will focus on introducing the key theories, concepts, models and approaches strategist may leverage to perform:

1. the analysis of the various external and environmental factors that impact the firm at a Business Strategy level, representing opportunities or threats;
2. the assessment of a company’s internal sources of competitive advantage or disadvantage at a Business Strategy level, embodied in its strengths and weaknesses;
3. the formulation and assessment of a Business Strategy to achieve and sustain competitive advantage at an industry level;

the creation and evaluation of a firm’s Business portfolio at a Corporate Strategy level.
You can access the course absolutely free of charge and completely online.