Learning Objectives

Prerequisites

Program

Books

Bibliography

Teaching methods

Exam Rules

Attendance Rules

Aggiornato A.A. 2025-2026

University Tor Vergata Department of Management & Law

Bachelor program in

Business Administration & Economics

Course “Business and Corporate Strategy”

Professor Marjan Bojadjiev

1. BACKGROUND OUTLINE

            In Management 101 we learn about the importance of planning, setting goals and the strategy setting and execution. The latter is the most important item in the process which leads to     the implementation of plans in order to achieve previously set goals. Furthermore, strategy and strategic capability are of key importance to the firm’s resilience.

       We live in time when the only static thing is permanent change. The environment in the last half a century has changed dramatically. Ha have had changes in the broad environment, from G7 to G20, China’s transition from underdeveloped nation to a world power and the change of composition of Dow Jones Index which doesn’t feature a single firm from its establishment. We have had lesser and bigger crisis: from the financial turmoil in 2009 to the Covid crisis that started in 2019.

            As students of business we need to understand why some firms are successful and some are not; why some businesses strive and some go down. Nokia was by far the largest cell phone producer, Yahoo the biggest search engine, but not anymore. The main topic we’d try to understand in this course is strategic capability of the firm!

1. 1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Upon successful completion of this module, the student should be able to:

• Understand the strategic capability of the firm.
• Understand the importance of strategy for navigation in challenging and unpredictable business environment, Understanding the importance of value creation.
• Get a deeper understanding of customer needs, competitive forces and the firm’s strengths and weaknesses with regards to the newer concepts of complementarity and the role of “state” in the situational analysis.

II.2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES ACCORDING TO THE DUBLIN DESCRIPTORS

III TEACHING METHODS

The module will use a variety of teaching and learning methods to enhance learning and understanding including lectures, workshops and seminars, and it will place emphasis on developing critical skills of analysis, strategic choice and implementation through the use of workshops and case studies.

During the course we’ll have a number of videos and movies that are relevant to the course. We will use them as a basis for class discussion.

This is participant centered learning module so students are invited to be active in class discussion. Activity is strongly encouraged and graded.

Due to the Covid pandemic the module is delivered online.  Many of participants will join the course from Italy and many from other countries but we shall all depend on broadband internet.  We might experience sporadic difficulties in communication. I encourage everyone to be patient and calm and we can sort out all the problems and difficulties together.

We shall try to implement discussion based participatory classroom as much as possible in this situation.

IV.1 EVALUATION METHOD FOR ATTENDING STUDENTS[1]

            Evaluation method for attending students will include:

• Final Exam……………………..….………..100%
• Class activity, participation and case analysis can earn up to 15% of the total grade.
• If a student has earned maximum points, these 15% will be used towards the CUM LAUDE grade

IV.2   EVALUATION METHOD FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

            Evaluation method for non- attending students will include:

• Final Exam……………………..….………..100%

            Final exam can be structured as written exam with essay questions, case analysis, project or a combination of the above mentioned!

IV.3 GRADING

• Tor Vergata follows the policy of 0-30 points for the grading.
• Exceptional students may earn 30 “Cum Laude”
• Passing threshold is 18 points (60%)

V.1 REFERENCE BOOKS

Required Textbook:

“Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Text and Cases Edition”, 9th Edition

Robert M. Grant ; ISBN: 978-1-119-12084-1 December 2015, or the previous edition

“Contemporary Strategy Analysis” Robert M. Grant 7^th Edition and “Cases to Accompany Contemporary Strategy Analysis”

Optional Textbooks:

“Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases: Competitiveness and Globalization” Michael A. Hitt, R. Duane Ireland, Robert E. Hoskisson, Cengage Learning,, 2016

“Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases:” Fred R. David, 13^th Edition, Prentice Hall International 2011

V.2 ADDITIONAL READINGS:

• “The Art of War” Sun Tzu, Penguin Great Ideas
• “What is strategy” Michael E. Porter ( https://hbr.org/1996/11/what-is-strategy )
• “Knowing who your competitors are?” Niraj Dawar, HBR Press, 2013
• “Michael Porter’s Five ( And a half) Forces” Daniel Mc Ginn ( 2010) https://hbr.org/2010/05/michael-porters-five-and-a-hal
• How to have an honest conversation about your business strategy?” Michael beer, Russel Einstat, 2004 (https://hbr.org/2004/02/how-to-have-an-honest-conversation-about-your-business-strategy)
• “Global Strategy” David J. Collins HBSP 2018, 9 – 712-489
• “Reboot Your Strategy” Special Collection of Articles by MIT Sloan School of Management (https://sloanreview.mit.edu/offers-free-download-reboot-your-strategy/)
• “Blue Ocean Strategy” W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne , 2004 (https://hbr.org/2004/10/blue-ocean-strategy)

NOTE ON Intellectual Property Rights

• HBR and MIT Sloan Review offer free download of limited number of articles.
• During the class professors will assign a number of readings and cases. Students are not allowed to distribute or replicate materials protected with IPR.
• Professor’s presentations can serve as a) an outline of the material and b) reminder of the main topics. However, they cannot replace textbooks and suggested readings.
• ACADEMIC HONESTY

University Tor Vergata cherishes integrity of its students and faculty members. Any form of behavior which may be deemed unethical and or inappropriate for the academic community will be thoroughly sanctioned. Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses and may be punished by failure on the exam, paper or project and eventually failure in the course.

Usage of generative AI (including but not limited to ChatGPT) without a prior consent of the professor is considered plagiarism.

VIII. COURSE PROGRAM AND TOPICS

BREAK

PART III THE ANALYSIS OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

[1] Attending students are those with minimum 60% class presence. The status attending student is valid one year after the class was delivered (i.e. until December 2021)

[2] “Contemporary Strategy Analysis” by Robert M. Grant

[3] Cases to accompany: “Contemporary Strategy Analysis” by Robert M. Grant

[4] 09^th Edition

Learning Objectives

Aggiornato A.A. 2022-2023

1. BACKGROUND OUTLINE

            In Management 101 we learn about the importance of planning, setting goals and the strategy setting and execution. The latter is the most important item in the process which leads to     the implementation of plans in order to achieve previously set goals. Furthermore, strategy and strategic capability are of key importance to the firm’s resilience.

       We live in time when the only static thing is permanent change. The environment in the last half a century has changed dramatically. Ha have had changes in the broad environment, from G7 to G20, China’s transition from underdeveloped nation to a world power and the change of composition of Dow Jones Index which doesn’t feature a single firm from its establishment. We have had lesser and bigger crisis: from the financial turmoil in 2009 to the Covid crisis that started in 2019.

            As students of business we need to understand why some firms are successful and some are not; why some businesses strive and some go down. Nokia was by far the largest cell phone producer, Yahoo the biggest search engine, but not anymore. The main topic we’d try to understand in this course is strategic capability of the firm!

1. 1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Upon successful completion of this module, the student should be able to:

• Understand the strategic capability of the firm.
• Understand the importance of strategy for navigation in challenging and unpredictable business environment, Understanding the importance of value creation.
• Get a deeper understanding of customer needs, competitive forces and the firm’s strengths and weaknesses with regards to the newer concepts of complementarity and the role of “state” in the situational analysis.

Aggiornato A.A. 2021-2022

1. BACKGROUND OUTLINE

            In Management 101 we learn about the importance of planning, setting goals and the strategy setting and execution. The latter is the most important item in the process which leads to     the implementation of plans in order to achieve previously set goals. Furthermore, strategy and strategic capability are of key importance to the firm’s resilience.

       We live in time when the only static thing is permanent change. The environment in the last half a century has changed dramatically. Ha have had changes in the broad environment, from G7 to G20, China’s transition from underdeveloped nation to a world power and the change of composition of Dow Jones Index which doesn’t feature a single firm from its establishment. We have had lesser and bigger crisis: from the financial turmoil in 2009 to the Covid crisis that started in 2019.

            As students of business we need to understand why some firms are successful and some are not; why some businesses strive and some go down. Nokia was by far the largest cell phone producer, Yahoo the biggest search engine, but not anymore. The main topic we’d try to understand in this course is strategic capability of the firm!

1. 1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Upon successful completion of this module, the student should be able to:

• Understand the strategic capability of the firm.
• Understand the importance of strategy for navigation in challenging and unpredictable business environment, Understanding the importance of value creation.
• Get a deeper understanding of customer needs, competitive forces and the firm’s strengths and weaknesses with regards to the newer concepts of complementarity and the role of “state” in the situational analysis.

II.2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES ACCORDING TO THE DUBLIN DESCRIPTORS

III TEACHING METHODS

The module will use a variety of teaching and learning methods to enhance learning and understanding including lectures, workshops and seminars, and it will place emphasis on developing critical skills of analysis, strategic choice and implementation through the use of workshops and case studies.

During the course we’ll have a number of videos and movies that are relevant to the course. We will use them as a basis for class discussion.

This is participant centered learning module so students are invited to be active in class discussion. Activity is strongly encouraged and graded.

Due to the Covid pandemic the module is delivered online.  Many of participants will join the course from Italy and many from other countries but we shall all depend on broadband internet.  We might experience sporadic difficulties in communication. I encourage everyone to be patient and calm and we can sort out all the problems and difficulties together.

We shall try to implement discussion based participatory classroom as much as possible in this situation.

IV.1 EVALUATION METHOD FOR ATTENDING STUDENTS[1]

            Evaluation method for attending students will include:

• Class activity and participation...…………………….10%
• Homework cases analysis …..............................15%
• Extensive case analysis……………………………………15%
• Final Exam (short essay questions) ………………...30%
• Final Exam Individual Project ………………………….30%

All regular attending students are kindly invited to create working groups (3-5 members) from the second week. The same group should perform all the in-class activities and home assignments. All these formative assessments aim at demonstrating knowledge and mastery of the theories, ability in apply them to real-life situations experienced during the course by the groups, making sound judgments and making decisions.

IV.2 Explanation of activities

• Class Activity and participation – refers to the activities and discussion in class;
• Homework cases analysis – is a group project prepared for discussion. Cases are assigned by professor and they are closely related to the assigned topic;
• Extensive case analysis - is a group project, prepared and submitted. Only the best projects will be presented on the selected date.
• Final exam - is written or oral exam conducted online. Usually in consists of discussion on 3-4 topics or 3-4 essay questions.

 Final exam – Individual Project

Students can conduct an in-depth study ( minimum 3, 000 words) of the firm of choice and apply the concepts, analytical tools and frameworks of this course (PESTEL, Five forces, VRIO, SWOT-TOWS) to analyze its external and internal environments, identify the firm’s strategic options, and come up with a set of recommendations to maximize the firm’s long-term performance.     

Construct short- & long-term strategy statements covering the goals, scope and advantage of the company.

Using the headings of environments, strategic capability, strategic purpose and culture seen identify key positioning issues for the company and consider their relative importance.

Groups will be asked to present to the class their final work. The structure of the presentation can be: Power Point, Prezi or Keynote, or a pre-filmed video presentation.

IV.2   EVALUATION METHOD FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

            Evaluation method for non- attending students will include:

• Short case analysis……………………….30%
• Exam……..……………………...….…..……..70%

            Final exam can be structured as: oral exam, essay questions, case analysis, project or a combination of the above mentioned!

IV.3 GRADING

• Tor Vergata follows the policy of 0-30 points for the grading.
• Exceptional students may earn 30 “Cum Laude”
• Passing threshold is 18 points (60%)

V.1 REFERENCE BOOKS

Required Textbook:

“Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Text and Cases Edition”, 9th Edition

Robert M. Grant ; ISBN: 978-1-119-12084-1 December 2015, or the previous edition

“Contemporary Strategy Analysis” Robert M. Grant 7^th Edition and “Cases to Accompany Contemporary Strategy Analysis”

Optional Textbooks:

“Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases: Competitiveness and Globalization” Michael A. Hitt, R. Duane Ireland, Robert E. Hoskisson, Cengage Learning,, 2016

“Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases:” Fred R. David, 13^th Edition, Prentice Hall International 2011

V.2 ADDITIONAL READINGS:

• “The Art of War” Sun Tzu, Penguin Great Ideas
• “What is strategy” Michael E. Porter ( https://hbr.org/1996/11/what-is-strategy )
• “Knowing who your competitors are?” Niraj Dawar, HBR Press, 2013
• “Michael Porter’s Five ( And a half) Forces” Daniel Mc Ginn ( 2010) https://hbr.org/2010/05/michael-porters-five-and-a-hal
• How to have an honest conversation about your business strategy?” Michael beer, Russel Einstat, 2004 (https://hbr.org/2004/02/how-to-have-an-honest-conversation-about-your-business-strategy)
• “Global Strategy” David J. Collins HBSP 2018, 9 – 712-489
• “Reboot Your Strategy” Special Collection of Articles by MIT Sloan School of Management (https://sloanreview.mit.edu/offers-free-download-reboot-your-strategy/)
• “Blue Ocean Strategy” W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne , 2004 (https://hbr.org/2004/10/blue-ocean-strategy)

NOTE ON Intellectual Property Rights

• HBR and MIT Sloan Review offer free download of limited number of articles.
• During the class professors will assign a number of readings and cases. Students are not allowed to distribute or replicate materials protected with IPR.
• Professor’s presentations can serve as a) an outline of the material and b) reminder of the main topics. However, they cannot replace textbooks and suggested readings.
• ACADEMIC HONESTY

University Tor Vergata cherishes integrity of its students and faculty members. Any form of behavior which may be deemed unethical and or inappropriate for the academic community will be thoroughly sanctioned. Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses and may be punished by failure on the exam, paper or project and eventually failure in the course.

VIII. COURSE PROGRAM AND TOPICS

[1] Attending students are those with minimum 70% class presence. The status attending student is valid one year after the class was delivered (i.e. until December 2022)

[2] “Contemporary Strategy Analysis” by Robert M. Grant

[3] Cases to accompany: “Contemporary Strategy Analysis” by Robert M. Grant