esade

Prerequisites

Previous Knowledge

Workload distribution

COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM

Course Learning Objectives

Competences

The different methodologies applied in this subject are as follows:

* Active classes: Faculty will provide students with the conceptual and technical frameworks for each topic addressed, as well as clarify and enrich these with student questions, suggestions and contributions. This multi-directional communication helps to increase students¿ learning compared to more traditional lecture classes. However, it also requires students to assume a more active role and participate. They cannot be mere spectators.

* Macro-case study: A macro-case study is nothing more than a case study that can be applied to all the course sessions. Its aim is to cover all the concepts and tools examined throughout the course and, consequently, apply each strategic-reflection phase to a single case. Thus, a macro-case study, in general, substitutes the typical series of different case studies in different sessions. The aim is to reduce student workloads (required readings per session) and to apply the strategic reflection process presented and analysed during the course in a more coherent fashion in line with reality. This is achieved by applying the different concepts and tools to a single company (and industry) throughout the entire strategic reflection process. In fact, this truly turns it into a process. This macro-study is completed in groups and consists of turning in written reports (at the start of each session) for each process stage.

* Practical case studies: Though the macro-case study substitutes the majority of smaller case studies, we will use other cases to familiarise students with interesting and real experiences in line with the subject¿s learning objectives. These too will be prepared in groups and require a written report to be turned in at the start of the corresponding session.

* Teamwork: All the cases and some of the readings and exercises have to be completed and analysed in groups. The aim is to enrich students' analyses of complex business scenarios. Each group's conclusions are then discussed by the class as a whole.

* Videos: We will see brief videos illustrating the opinions of some of the authors studied, including Michael Porter, C. K. Prahalad and Henry Mintzberg. We may use other videos to introduce some concepts.

* Business forums: To help students to become more familiar with business reality, the subject includes three business forums in which businesspeople, executives and consultants explain how they interpret and use the different concepts and tools studied in this course.

* Individual work: Despite the variety of methodologies used, we should note that none of them are effective without students' individual efforts and attention. For this, they will be given assignments every day to complete outside of class (readings, case studies and exercises). Faculty have calculated that students will need to dedicate between four to five hours every day outside of class for the most intensive sessions. Students should note that this is important to ensure that in-class sessions are truly active and enriching.

Important note: We might need to adjust some of the course parameters depending on the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Assessment criteria

1) 10% of the grade (group) - Case analysis: Each group will need to submit a written report (max 500 words) for each case study (4 in total: Soutwest, Kerajet, Amazon Go, Alibaba's Taobao) which we will discuss during the course.
2) 10% of the grade (individual) - PeerWise score: Each student will achieve a PeerWise score based on the number and quality of the questions she/he creates as well as on her/his participation in the platform by answering, rating, and commenting on other students' questions. Your score will be determined as follows:
- Question score (5%): Prepare 4 questions and achieve an "answer score? of 400 through the course
- Answer score (2.5%): 1% for an answer score more than 600 or 2.5% for an answer score more than 800
- Reputation score (1%): based on the feedback of your peers and adjusted to 5-10 scale
- Badges score (1.5%): 1% if you earn 8-12 distinct badges or 1.5% if you earn 12 or more distinct badges
3) 50% of the grade (group and individual) - Performance in the BSG simulation (see below for breakdown)
- Overall company performance on the 5 scoring measures (25%)
- BSG Quiz 1 (2.5%)
- BSG Quiz 2 (5%)
- Performance on the 3-year strategic plan (5%)
- Company presentation (10%)
- Peer evaluation scores of co-managers (2.5%)
- Self-evaluation (1%)
- Peer-evaluation (1.5%)
4) 30 % of the grade (individual) - Final exam: The final exam is individual and seeks to evaluate both the understanding of the basic concepts and contents learned throughout the course, and its application to specific business problems. The exam may include essay questions, multiple choice questions, or reflective essays based on a reading. Depending on the type of question, the exam may be open- or closed-book. Some questions from the PeerWise (or variations of those) may appear on the final exam.

Bibliography

Timetable and sections