Strategic Management

The course is a compendium of knowledge and skills necessary to perform managerial functions responsible for the preparation and implementation of development strategies. The course explains the importance of strategic decisions in the management hierarchy, discusses the dilemmas of contemporary strategists and classifies strategies at their various levels. The core of the course is a typology of strategies at the business level, specifying the differences between cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy and focus strategy. Going beyond this classification model, the course also discusses “hybrid strategies”. Another perspective is a typology of strategies pursued by multi-industry corporations, introducing such terms as: diversification strategies, integration strategies, and focus strategies. All types of strategies are discussed in the context of the rationale for and risks of their application.

Prerequisites

Before taking the course, it is desirable to know and understand the basics of organisation, management and microeconomics. Knowledge of English is highly desirable as many terms in the field of strategic management are used in their original (English) versions.

Course objectives

• General objective:

   

  The general objective of the course is to provide participants with the knowledge, practical skills and competences necessary to act as managers responsible for designing and implementing strategies in their business organisations.

• Detailed objectives:

   

  Objective of Module 1 – to show the importance and location of strategic decisions against the background of a hierarchical structure of management.

   

  Objective of Module 2 – to familiarise students with concepts and terminology in the area of strategic management and to identify the features of strategic thinking in business.

   

  Objective of Module 3 – to specify the levels of strategic management against the background of the company structure and organisation.

   

  Objective of Module 4 – to shape practical skills of declaring strategic aspirations in business organisations so as to guarantee the success of strategic plans.

   

  Objective of Module 5 – to present the classification of strategies at the business level, including contemporary concepts of competitive strategies.

   

  Objective of Module 6 – to present the typology of strategies at the corporate level, along with the rationale for and risks of their application.

Topics

Module 1

Strategic decisions in the management hierarchy

Module 2

Strategies and strategic thinking in business

Module 3

Strategic management process and levels

Module 4

Strategic aspirations

Module 5

Strategies at the business level

Module 6

Strategies at the corporate level

Requirements for a pass

To successfully complete the course, it is necessary to take a final test and score at least 51%. The final test consists of 25 closed-ended questions.

Requirements for getting a certificate

To successfully complete the course, it is necessary to take a final test with 25 closed-ended questions and score at least 51%. A certificate of completion of the course will be automatically generated within 24 hours from its successful completion. It can be downloaded from the “My courses – My certificates” tab.

Lecturers

You can contact the course author at: azelek@zpsb.pl

dr hab., prof. ZPSB Aneta Zelek – economist, academic lecturer and trainer of managers; professor and rector of the West Pomeranian Business School (ZPSB). She is the author of over 230 academic publications in the field of economics and management, mainly on strategic and crisis management. Her original textbook: “Business Strategies: From Classics to Post-Modernism in Management” received Karol Adamiecki scientific award from the Scientific Society for Organisation and Management (TNOiK).

A woman of numerous talents and passions, but her greatest passion is “explaining economics”. Although, as she claims, there is nothing fascinating about economics, one has to understand it! That is why she has been talking and writing about economic and business topics for over thirty years with an unwavering commitment. Her students and audiences unanimously agree that she is a “truly erudite scholar in economics”, which is why they so often reward her efforts with laurels and prizes for the best lecturer.