Outline

Overview

How can managers understand their environment, industry, resources and capabilities to achieve business success? This unit explores different levels of strategy, including corporate and business-level strategy. Strategy is, fundamentally, about making choices and deliberately choosing to be different. Strategic management seeks to understand how these choices and differences can (and sometimes cannot) create sustainable and exceptional value for shareholders, customers, employees and other related stakeholders. Questions addressed include: How can market opportunities be reviewed and understood? How can creativity be harnessed to generate strategic options? How does a firm build and develop resources and capabilities in a global and local competitive environment? When is collaboration preferable to competition? The unit highlights the challenges of strategic decision making as well as implementation. Insights from innovation theory and practice are integrated throughout the unit.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit	Management Education
Credit points	6
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Prohibitions ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	No

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Jingyu (Gracy) Yang, jingyu.yang@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Final exam	Final exam n/a	35%	Formal exam period	2 hours
Outcomes assessed:
Presentation	Group case presentation n/a	20%	Week 05	n/a
Outcomes assessed:
Participation	Class preparation and participation n/a	10%	Week 06	n/a
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Mini project n/a	35%	Week 11	3000
Outcomes assessed:
= group assignment ?

Assessment summary

Class preparation and participation: Much of your learning in this unit will take place in the classroom. You are expected to apply the course concepts and your distinctive skills to the cases and issues discussed in class, share your insights, and engage each other in debate. For the learning process to be effective, you will need to prepare carefully before class and participate actively during class. Preparation involves both thorough analysis and developing a personal position on the issues raised in the pre-assigned cases and readings. Unless you have thought about the case issues and adopted a personal position, it is hard to learn from others’ contributions in the class.
Mini research project: The objective of this research project is to apply the analytical tools to evaluate the strategic contexts and business models of real companies, and to offer thoughtful and contextualized recommendations. Each group will take the role of a team of management consultants to appraise the business situations, diagnose business problems and inform future directions. In the recent years, students have chosen to work on companies such as Airbnb, Malaysia airlines, Nintendo, Netflix, Tencent, Uber and many others. The project has two principal outputs: a 15-page written report and a 15-minute presentation. The written report should be double-spaced and professionally formatted.
Group case presentation: An important part of this unit is case study. Case study is designed to provide exposure to the hard realities of business and the constraints involved in decision making. By analysing a variety of situations and diverse problems, students can experience, to some degree, the challenges and dilemmas faced by top managers.
Final exam: The final exam will cover the entire unit of study and will involve a selection of essay questions. Additional
information on this assessment will be provided during an examination review session in the class of last week.

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a high distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an exceptional standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Distinction	75 - 84	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a very high standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Credit	65 - 74	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a good standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Pass	50 - 64	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an acceptable standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 02	Introduction to strategy	Lecture and tutorial (4 hr)
Week 02	Managerial thinking vs. entrepreneurial thinking	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 03	Strategy tripod: Institution-based view of strategy	Lecture and tutorial (4 hr)
Week 03	Later mover strategies: Emerging market firms	Lecture and tutorial (4 hr)
Week 04	Industry- and resource-based view of strategy	Lecture and tutorial (4 hr)
Week 04	Business strategy and corporate strategy	Lecture and tutorial (4 hr)
Week 05	Blue ocean strategy and Platform strategy	Lecture and tutorial (4 hr)
Week 05	Strategy execution	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 06	Project presentation	Lecture and tutorial (5 hr)
Week 06	Unit overview	Lecture and tutorial (2 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Lecture recordings: All lectures and seminars are recorded and will be available on Canvas for student use. Please note the Business School does not own the system and cannot guarantee that the system will operate or that every class will be recorded. Students should ensure they attend and participate in all classes.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

The following sources are particularly useful for up to date, practically oriented information and analysis of issues relevant to Australian and international business:

Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, Sloan Management Review, McKinsey Quarterly, The Economist, Financial Times, Australian Financial Review.
Podcasts: BBC Business Daily, BBC World Business Report, FT World Weekly.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. apply relevant concepts and frameworks in order to make sense of the strategic challenges facing both small and large businesses operating in international and culturally diverse contexts
LO2. critically apply a systems perspective to inform strategic decisions so that they are integrated effectively across business functions to produce optimal results
LO3. apply appropriate analytical tools and techniques to the relevant evidence bases in order to generate practically useful solutions to strategic challenges across various business settings.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

No changes have been made since this unit was last offered

Additional information

Business School Policies

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

MMGT6001: Strategy

Intensive February - March, 2020 [Block mode] - Castlereagh St, Sydney

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect