Home > Post Graduate > MBA - General Management > Managing Business Strategy

MBA - General Management

Managing Business Strategy

Programme Objectives

The programme has the following aims:

  • To enable the advanced study of organisations, their management and the changing external context in which they operate
  • Equip individuals for and/or development of a career in business and management by developing skills at a professional or equivalent level to assume senior managerial and leadership positions in business
  • Development of the ability to apply knowledge and understanding of business and management to complex issues, both systematically and creatively, to improve business and management leadership and practice.
  • Enhancement of lifelong learning and personal development so as to be able to work with self-direction and originality and to contribute to business and society at large.

Benefits

At the end of the programme the successful student will have the ability to:

  • Demonstrate critical understanding of management theories, current issues of management, the development of conceptual frameworks to guide their application within organisations.
  • Acquire a strong foundation in key functional areas of business management to enable them to succeed as effective managers/leaders in an increasingly complex and dynamic environment.
  • Acquire and use a range of concepts, tools and techniques for problem solving and decision-making for analyzing complex and inter-related business scenarios.
  • Demonstrate and apply independent research and critical skills enabling the investigation and evaluation of valid and relevant management issues and practices.
  • Demonstrate initiative, insight, attitudes of responsibility and ethical leadership in the development of the strategic management agenda in the organization the participant works in or expected to work in the future.

Programme Content

Overview

No. of Credits:7.5 ECTS
Credit Level:Master Mandatory
Pre-requisite:None
Co-requisite:None
Module Description
  • To enable students to develop an awareness of, and become familiar with, academic theories, frameworks, managerial models and techniques that contribute to business strategic planning and management.
  • To critically evaluate and apply appropriate strategic models and techniques which may be relevant when considering students’ own organisations’ or industry strategic development.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module, students will be able to:

  • Apply the appropriate models, techniques and theories to produce an environmental audit of the external and internal environment for an organisation.
  • Critically analyse and evaluate the alternative strategic directions an organisation may consider to employ and propose the most appropriate strategic option for execution.

Indicative Content / Areas of Study

  1. The Concept of Strategy and how it benefits the organization vision, mission and objectives.
    • The Nature of Strategy and links to an organisation’s Vision, Mission and Objectives
    • The Characteristics of Strategic Issues and Problems
    • Key Definitions of Strategy
    • Fundamentals of Strategic Analysis

  2. Transformation of the External Strategic Environment and the Consequences and the Influence of the Internal Environment on Current Practice.
    • The Strategy Systems Framework
    • External Strategic Environment Audit
    • Internal Environment Audit

  3. Key Strategic Techniques for Analysis.
    • SWOT analysis
    • PEST analysis
    • Porter’s Five Forces analysis
    • Four Corner’s analysis
    • Value Chain analysis

  4. Strategic Development and Choices
    • Acquisitions and Mergers
    • Joint ventures and Alliances
    • Divestment
    • Internationalisation

  5. Strategy Implementation
    • Organisational Culture and People Management
    • Strategic Decision Making and Processes
    • Strategic Change Management
    • Uncertainty and Risk

  6. Strategic Performance Analysis
    • Concept of multiple measures of strategic performance
    • Accounting and Economic Based performance
    • Value Based performance
    • Balanced Score Card

Teaching and Learning Strategy

Student centered learning will be strongly encouraged and developed. Cooperative Learning and Problem-Based Learning will be infused into the teaching-learning-assessment strategies.

Group discussion, case analysis and self directed learning resources will be available to support the delivery and the appropriate assessment tools / tasks will be used to assess the intended learning outcomes.

Mode A: Fully taught

Lectures - Tutorials:36 hours
Online interaction:4 hours
Directed Independent Learning:120 hours
Total:160 hours

Mode B: Blended

Lectures –Tutorials:18 hours
Online Learning:18 hours
Directed Independent Learning: 124 hours
Total:160 hours

Mode C: Fully Online

Recorded Video Lectures:18 hours
Online Learning:18 hours
Directed Independent Learning: 124 hours
Total:160 hours

Assessment:

Assessment Weighting: 100%Coursework
A Strategic Plan of about 3500-4000 words is to be developed by individual student which creates recommendations for revising a business strategy to improve the competitive position and financial performance of the organisation. To support the recommendations the student must identifies and evaluates the current competitive strategy of a business, analyzes the conditions and trends in its environment, assesses its resources and competencies, and examines its organization, culture, and leadership.

Resources

Course Materials provided by IPE - PARIS

  • Richard Lynch, Strategic Management, 6th Edition, 2010, FT Prentice Hall.
  • John McGee, Strategy: Analysis and Practice, 2010, McGrawHill
  • Online resources on Online Learning Portal
  • Online data bases from IPE - PARIS E Library

Regulations: Conforms to the relevant PG regulatory framework at IPE - PARIS.