Professor:	Christine Nielsen, Professor of International Business  Director of Global Business Studies and the  Northrop Grumman International Scholar
Office:	Thumel Business Center, Room 552
Office Hours:	Mondays 4:00 - 5:30 pm  Following class, or by appointment
Phone:	(410) 837-4992
E-mail:	cnielsen@ubmail.ubalt.edu
Website	http://home.ubalt.edu/ntsbniel/cnielsen.html

Students must be seniors in the final semester before graduation and must have successfully completed the Upper Division Core.

Required Text

Strategic Management and Business Policy, 7^th edition, by Thomas L. Wheelen and J. David Hunger, Addison-Wesley. Additional readings will be made available during the semester, through electronic library reserves, or handed out in class.

Purpose and Objectives

The purpose of the course is to integrate previous studies in the functional areas of business into a general consideration of corporate purpose and strategy in both domestic and international contexts. The objectives of the course are:
 
 

1. To create an awareness of the importance of strategic management as a cornerstone of success in today’s global environment.
2. To develop the ability to describe, evaluate, and recommend business strategies.

 

 
 
 
 
 

Purpose and Objectives (Continued)

3. To relate the functional areas of business to the needs of the organization as a whole.
4. To enhance analytical and problem-solving abilities in an unstructured and uncertain environment typical of the working world.
5. To enhance strategic decision-making capabilities, at both individual and group levels.
6. To foster written and oral professional communication skills.
7. To develop a deeper understanding of management as a profession and the impact of personal goals, values, ethics, and attitudes on business behavior.

The course will be conducted through case analyses, discussions, lectures, a role-play simulation, and strategic management research reports. Case Analyses will place students in the position of managers who are responsibility for strategic management planning and implementation. Lectures will elaborate on basic issues in the field to ensure a breadth of understanding. Discussions and Reading Assignments will offer more specific insights into particular areas of strategic management. The Role-Play Simulation will put students in the shoes of two entrepreneurial companies who are negotiating a strategic partnership. The Strategic Management Team Research Project will serve as the capstone of this course, calling on students to integrate course material in order to analyze environmental as well as firm-specific factors, and to evaluate the firm's strategic management performance. 
 
 

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENTS Participation in Class and Case Discussions  Mid-Term Examination Final Examination Peer Evaluations	DUE Weekly  April 1 May 13 May 6
TEAM ASSIGNMENTS Strategic Management Research Project  Strategic Management Research Presentation	DUE April 29  April 29 or May 6

Assignments are due at the beginning of a class period. Assignments will be accepted up to one week late, but will be penalized one letter grade. If you are unable to attend class on any date when an assignment is due, please turn it in before class, or fax your work to Dr. Nielsen at (410) 837-5675 before class time. 
 
 
 

COURSE GRADE EVALUATION CRITERIA
 

CLASS PARTICIPATION

Participation in all class sessions is essential for the student to understand key concepts and to demonstrate mastery of the course material. Please note that attendance during both presentation dates for the Strategic Management Team Research Project is required. These contributions will be reflected in your participation grade.  Your contributions to case analyses and participation in class discussions will be a major component of your participation grade. 

Students will be drawn into in-depth analyses of real case examples from a variety of industries. Each student will be challenged to make significant decisions that will affect the strategic interests of the firms under review. Students will exercise their abilities to apply what they have learned in a proactive process. 

Participation in case discussions should follow the guidelines summarized below: 

• Each student will analyze his or her own approach based on a comparison of the approaches presented by his or her classmates

"THE STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT TEAM RESEARCH PROJECT:

A DESCRIPTION OF THE CAPSTONE PROJECT FOR THIS COURSE

Student teams will describe and analyze the strategic management process of a local area firm. In most cases students will include the following components of a Strategic Audit: 

1. Current Situation
2. Corporate Governance
3. External Environment (Both Societal and Industry Analysis)
4. Internal Environment
5. Analysis of Strategic Factors
6. Alternatives and Recommendations
7. Implementation
8. Evaluation and Control

CAPSTONE PROJECT PRESENTATIONS

Each team will present a summary of its project work during one of the last two class sessions. Teams are encouraged to use audio-visual, and other graphic aids to enliven their presentations. Tables, graphs, and figures should be used for concise presentation of comparative data. Guest speakers from the companies with which teams have worked will be encouraged to participate. Presentations are not expected to exceed 45 minutes; however, the addition of a guest speaker could increase the presentation period. Presentations will be scheduled in advance. Presentations will be evaluated by your classmates. 

PEER EVALUATION

Each student will be evaluated by his or her team members in a confidential report provided to Prof. Nielsen.  These evaluations are to be signed and submitted to the professor in a sealed envelope on May 6.  (Submissions by e-mail will not be accepted.)  Each student will be rated by their peers on the following criteria: a) Amount of work done; b) Intellectual contribution; c) Reliability; and d) Group relations.  Each factor for each team member should be considered separately.  Then, a numerical evaluation should be assigned based on a scale of 0 to 10 (nil contribution to outstanding) on the basis of your evaluation of each team member.  A paragraph or two of explanation for the grade assigned should be submitted for each team member evaluated.  A student's failure to submit peer evaluations may delay release of that student's final grade.  General guidelines for peer evaluations are provided below. 

Four factors should be considered separately for each team member: 

1.  Amount of work done: interviews, meetings attended, research and analyses, report writing, typing, editing, etc. 

2.  Intellectual contribution: ideas, provocative suggestions, sage advice, useful devil's advocacy, etc. 

3.  Reliability: the team member's performance at meeting deadlines, attendance at meetings, delivery of work promised, etc. 

4.  Group relations: leadership supplied, constructive actions vs. disruptive behavior, assistance provided to teammates, etc. 

The following guidelines should apply: 

1.  Identical evaluations of all team members are unlikely.  Please do not avoid the responsibility of this procedure. 

2.  Very high and very low evaluations should be given extra substantiation in writing. 

The degree to which these evaluations will be reflected in the grades assigned by the professor will depend upon the quality of the substantiation evidence. 

GENERAL NOTES

"…Academic honesty is based on the principle that one's work is one's own. The University of Baltimore Academic Integrity Policy encourages all members of the University to accept responsibility for taking academic honesty seriously be being well-informed, by contributing to a climate in which honesty is valued, and by considering responsible ways to discourage dishonesty in the work of others.

Students. faculty, administrators, and staff shall not condone or tolerate cheating, plagiarism, or falsification, since such activity negatively affects all members of the academic community…

1. Responsibilities of Students

Course Schedule
 

Date	Assignments Due	Topics
Jan 28		Introductions and Course Overview The Tower Exercise
Feb 4	• Read Chapts. 1 & 14, and Appendices 14.A, B, C	Library Session: How to make best use of reference materials for your Strategic Management Research Report- including on-line sources ***Alert! Alert!*** Meet at 5:30 pm in Langsdale Library, Room 200- Please be on time!
Feb 11	• Read Chapt. 10, just section 10.7, pages 251-259, "Using the Strategic Audit to Evaluate Corporate Performance" • Read Chapt. 2 • Read one or more articles about Enron- (A total of at least 5 pages)- Bring articles to class. Be prepared to discuss and turn in.	Introduction to the Strategic Audit How to organize your team's Strategic Management Research Report Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Discussion of the Enron Fiasco (Note: There is no Enron Case in our textbook. We will use current articles for our discussion.) Tool:  Financial Ratios
Feb 18	• Read Chapt. 3 • Read the Strategic Practice Exercise, p. 78-79 • Read "Black & Decker Confronts Japanese Competition At Home and Abroad" (Case and tools in MGMT 475 Course Study Package)	Environmental Scanning and Industry Analysis Porter's "Forces Driving Industry Competition" Black and Decker Case Discussion and Industry Matrix exercise Tools:  Industry Matrix  Porter's Industry Analysis
Feb 25	• Read and prepare answers to questions on p.10 of this syllabus for Case #2 class discussion: "The Wallace Group" (Change date of case for your decision-making purposes to Sept. 12, 2001.)	Environmental Scanning and Industry Analysis (Continued) The Wallace Group Case Discussion     Tool (In course study package):  EFAS Table
March 4	• Read Chapt. 4  • Read and prepare answers to questions on p. 10 of this syllabus for Case #5 class discussion: "Arm & Hammer (1998): Poised for Growth?"	Internal Scanning: Organizational Analysis Arm & Hammer Case Discussion Tools (In course study package): Financial Ratio Table for Arm & Hammer  IFAS Table
March 11	• Read Chapt. 5 • Read and prepare answers to questions on p. 11 of this syllabus for Case #15 class discussion: "Harley-Davidson, Inc. (1998): The 95th Anniversary"	Strategy Formulation: Situation Analysis & Business Strategy Porter's Generic Competitive Strategies Harley-Davidson Case Discussion Introduction to Tools (In course study package): Financial Ratio Table for Harley-Davidson  SFAS Table TOWS Matrix BCG Growth-Share Matrix limitations
March 18	• Read Chapts. 6 & 7 • Prepare your role for the Harley-Davidson Board meeting (Roles to be assigned in class.)	Strategy Formulation (Continued):  • Corporate Strategy • Functional Strategy Applying Tools: SFAS Table and the TOWS matrix
March 25	• Enjoy Spring Break!	But don't forget your team projects!
April 1	• Prepare for Mid-Term Exam	Mid-Term Exam
April 8	• Read Chapts. 8 & 9 • Read one or more articles about one successful business leader of interest to you. (At least 5 pages)- Bring articles to class. Be prepared to discuss and turn in.	Strategy Implementation: Organizing for Action  Leadership in Strategic Management Strategy Implementation: Staffing & Directing
April 15	• Read Chapts.10 and 11 • Read and prepare answers to questions on p. 11 of this syllabus for Case #9 class discussion: "Cisco Systems, Inc. Compare Cisco in 1998 to Cisco today. • Read one or more articles about Cisco describing its performance in 2001. (At least 5 pages)- Bring articles to class. Be prepared to discuss and turn in.	Evaluation and Control Strategic Issues in Managing Technology and Innovation     Cisco Systems Case Discussion  1998 to present: What went wrong?
April 22	• Read Chapts. 11 and 12 • Read one or more articles about one successful on-line business that you have identifed. (At least 5 pages)- Bring articles to class. Be prepared to discuss in relation to chapters 11 and 12, and turn in articles.	Strategic Issues in Entrepreneurial Ventures and Small Businesses
April 29	• Strategic Management Research Papers Due	Strategic Management Research Presentations begin
May 6	• Peer Evaluations Due	Strategic Management Research Presentations end
May 13	• Prepare for Final Exam	Final Exam

 

INDIVIDUAL PREPARATION FOR CASE DISCUSSIONS

For those cases drawn from you textbook, please consider how you would answer the questions listed below. Items that need to be turned in are in bold: 

Case 2: The Wallace Group
 
 

Prepare an External Factor Analysis Summary (EFAS) table for The Wallace Group and turn it in.

What is (are) the most important problem(s) facing The Wallace Group?

What recommendations would you, as a consultant, make to Mr. Wallace, and in what order of priorities?

How do you educate a Stage I manager (entrepreneur) to become a Stage II or III professional manager? What impact does this problem have on this case?

How do you handle the transfer pricing problems involved in the backward integration? The acquisition of the plastic company has locked the Electronics Group into using their plastic products at a higher cost.

If Mr. Wallace is found to be one of the major problems, should he be addressed directly or indirectly?

Has The Wallace Group's diversification strategy been effective? Please explain your answer.

Case 5: Arm & Hammer (1998): Poised for Growth

What factors have led to Church & Dwight's long history of slow and stable growth?

What are the major strengths and weaknesses of Church & Dwight?

What is your assessment of the future outlook for Church & Dwight, in terms of the following:

• Pricing and profitability
• Specialty Products Division
• Vulnerability

Prepare an External Factor Analysis Summary (EFAS) table for The Wallace Group and turn it in.
 
 

Case 15: Harley-Davidson, Inc.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of Harley-Davidson?

What are the opportunities and threats facing Harley Davidson?

Does Harley- Davidson have core competencies? If so, what are they?

Does Harley-Davidson have any distinctive competencies? If so, what?

What are the pros and cons of Harley-Davidson's large backlog?

What is your assessment of the financial condition of Harley-Davidson? Complete the financial ratio table and turn it in.

Prepare an SFAS Table for Harley-Davidson and turn it in.
 
 

Case 9: Cisco Systems

Analyze strategy formulation, implementation, evaluation and control at Cisco Systems, in light of the case and current information.

Does Cisco have one or more core competencies?

Does Cisco have one or more distinctive competencies?

What was the secret of Cisco's success? What went wrong?

What competitive strategy has Cisco used? Is it still appropriate?

Of which industry is Cisco a part?

Who are the primary competitors in this industry?

What are the other current industry forces, such as power of suppliers, etc.?

How has Cisco's industry changed? 

To what extent has Cisco achieved corporate entrepreneurship?

What strategic changes would you recommend?