FREEMAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
MGMT 4010-03(H): FALL 2011
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
(Business Senior Honors Thesis Section) – Fall Semester Only
Instructor: Professor Mike Wilson Office Phone: (504) 247-1282
E-mail:
Office: Room 642, GWI
Blackboard Site: myTulane.blackboard.com
Office Hours: 1-2 T/Th; 3-5 Wed
and by Appointment anytime Class Location: Room 140, GWI
Class Meeting Day & Time:
Tuesday/Thursday, 3:30p-4:45p
Course Description:
A writing intensive component is included in this course.
This section of MGMT 4010 is for BSM students in the Tulane Honors Program. Students enrolled in this
section of the course will begin work on their Business Senior Honors Thesis. They will complete the Business
Senior Honors Thesis in MGMT 5000 in the spring semester. This course is one part of the senior honors thesis
and does not count as an honors elective course.
Course Prerequisites:
All 3000-level BSM core classes, enrollment limited to students in the Tulane Honors Program with senior
standing. MGMT 4010 must be taken concurrently with MGMT 4900. Together, these courses serve as the
Business Capstone Experience.
Course Goals
This course is designed to teach students the elements of strategy from the executive’s perspective. Some firms
systematically perform better than other firms that operate in the same industry. In some industries, the firms
tend to have consistently higher returns than firms in other industries. Our key premise in this class is that those
performance variations can be caused by the firm’s strategic choices as well as by the industry structure. Top
managers of the firm can significantly influence the choice of strategy and the choice of industries in which the
firm operates, thus affecting its financial performance and its shareholders’ wealth.
The perspective adopted in this course is therefore that of top managers making decisions about what businesses
their corporation should focus on and how to run these individual businesses.
► We will explore different analytical models that allow us to identify and diagnose the strategic
issues companies face in complex and competitive environments.
► We will also learn how to propose sound and realistic solutions to such problems based upon a
deep understanding of the firm’s resources and capabilities.
1
, ► Because the job of the general manager cuts across all functional areas, this course builds on your
previous work in the program and provides a “total business” perspective.
► Aside from preparing future general managers, the course is useful for functional specialists as well.
► In order to capture the pragmatic, action-oriented, complex and ambiguous nature of the
strategic management issues, this course is taught by the case method.
► We will supplement the case discussions with readings, lectures, and conceptual discussions.
► Our objective is for you to develop your own personal synthesis and approach for identifying the
key contingencies and solving the key problems facing a business organization.
Student Learning Objectives
As the result of this course students should be able to understand and analyze strategy from several levels.
► Student will know how to apply strategies in order to gain a competitive advantage and understand
the consequences and performance indicators of their strategies.
► Students will develop their strategies and implement them in a competitive business simulation.
► Student experiences in the course should give them both a local and global view business applications
in various industries.
Course Material
Foundations Simulation from CAPSIM at http://capsim.com at a cost of $44.99, when you register. There are
four industries, pick one and register yourself and place you and your two teammates in one of the
companies (no more than 3 students per company/team).
Readings
All cases and readings are available for purchase as a course pack at www.study.net (see page 11 of this syllabus
for details on how to obtain the materials).
Grading:
Evaluation
Your final grade will consist of two parts: individual and team grade. The individual part will determine 50% of
your final grade and will be comprised of the scores that you receive on the exam, the case analysis, class
participation, and the firm analysis in the term project. The team part of the grade will determine the remaining
50% of your final grade and will comprise the scores you receive on the industry analysis in the term project.
Each team member is required to participate in the oral presentation of the team’s industry analysis project.
Oral presentation grades will be based on individual performance during the presentation.
THESIS STUDENTS:
Individual grade
Microsoft (case analysis) 15%
Firm Analysis in the Term Project 10%
Case Analyses throughout course 20%
Honors Case Thesis Deliverables 16%
Team grade:
Industry Analysis in the Term Project 15%
Foundations Simulation (running a company for 12 years) 24%
Total: 100%
2
MGMT 4010-03(H): FALL 2011
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
(Business Senior Honors Thesis Section) – Fall Semester Only
Instructor: Professor Mike Wilson Office Phone: (504) 247-1282
E-mail:
Office: Room 642, GWI
Blackboard Site: myTulane.blackboard.com
Office Hours: 1-2 T/Th; 3-5 Wed
and by Appointment anytime Class Location: Room 140, GWI
Class Meeting Day & Time:
Tuesday/Thursday, 3:30p-4:45p
Course Description:
A writing intensive component is included in this course.
This section of MGMT 4010 is for BSM students in the Tulane Honors Program. Students enrolled in this
section of the course will begin work on their Business Senior Honors Thesis. They will complete the Business
Senior Honors Thesis in MGMT 5000 in the spring semester. This course is one part of the senior honors thesis
and does not count as an honors elective course.
Course Prerequisites:
All 3000-level BSM core classes, enrollment limited to students in the Tulane Honors Program with senior
standing. MGMT 4010 must be taken concurrently with MGMT 4900. Together, these courses serve as the
Business Capstone Experience.
Course Goals
This course is designed to teach students the elements of strategy from the executive’s perspective. Some firms
systematically perform better than other firms that operate in the same industry. In some industries, the firms
tend to have consistently higher returns than firms in other industries. Our key premise in this class is that those
performance variations can be caused by the firm’s strategic choices as well as by the industry structure. Top
managers of the firm can significantly influence the choice of strategy and the choice of industries in which the
firm operates, thus affecting its financial performance and its shareholders’ wealth.
The perspective adopted in this course is therefore that of top managers making decisions about what businesses
their corporation should focus on and how to run these individual businesses.
► We will explore different analytical models that allow us to identify and diagnose the strategic
issues companies face in complex and competitive environments.
► We will also learn how to propose sound and realistic solutions to such problems based upon a
deep understanding of the firm’s resources and capabilities.
1
, ► Because the job of the general manager cuts across all functional areas, this course builds on your
previous work in the program and provides a “total business” perspective.
► Aside from preparing future general managers, the course is useful for functional specialists as well.
► In order to capture the pragmatic, action-oriented, complex and ambiguous nature of the
strategic management issues, this course is taught by the case method.
► We will supplement the case discussions with readings, lectures, and conceptual discussions.
► Our objective is for you to develop your own personal synthesis and approach for identifying the
key contingencies and solving the key problems facing a business organization.
Student Learning Objectives
As the result of this course students should be able to understand and analyze strategy from several levels.
► Student will know how to apply strategies in order to gain a competitive advantage and understand
the consequences and performance indicators of their strategies.
► Students will develop their strategies and implement them in a competitive business simulation.
► Student experiences in the course should give them both a local and global view business applications
in various industries.
Course Material
Foundations Simulation from CAPSIM at http://capsim.com at a cost of $44.99, when you register. There are
four industries, pick one and register yourself and place you and your two teammates in one of the
companies (no more than 3 students per company/team).
Readings
All cases and readings are available for purchase as a course pack at www.study.net (see page 11 of this syllabus
for details on how to obtain the materials).
Grading:
Evaluation
Your final grade will consist of two parts: individual and team grade. The individual part will determine 50% of
your final grade and will be comprised of the scores that you receive on the exam, the case analysis, class
participation, and the firm analysis in the term project. The team part of the grade will determine the remaining
50% of your final grade and will comprise the scores you receive on the industry analysis in the term project.
Each team member is required to participate in the oral presentation of the team’s industry analysis project.
Oral presentation grades will be based on individual performance during the presentation.
THESIS STUDENTS:
Individual grade
Microsoft (case analysis) 15%
Firm Analysis in the Term Project 10%
Case Analyses throughout course 20%
Honors Case Thesis Deliverables 16%
Team grade:
Industry Analysis in the Term Project 15%
Foundations Simulation (running a company for 12 years) 24%
Total: 100%
2
