Instructional goals
The course provides fundamental tools in Strategic Planning and Risk Management to design, assess, govern, and implement business plans in dynamic and competitive environments.
During the course, the students will develop competencies across three key areas:
Applications of Corporate Strategy in real-world contexts
Growth and Innovation Strategies
Practical approaches to Risk Management
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of corporate strategy, accounting and corporate finance
Intended learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
1. Applications of Corporate Strategy in real-world contexts
Analyze an organization’s competitive position and assess its strategic implications.
Develop a comprehensive strategic business plan incorporating value creation principles and Total Shareholder Return (TSR).
Evaluate and optimize a corporate portfolio using established portfolio management tools and frameworks, and recommend resource allocation choices aligned with strategic priorities and long-term objectives.
Translate a corporate strategy into a structured execution plan, defining priorities, milestones, and success metrics.
Identify organizational and cultural enablers required to support strategic transformations.
Apply change management principles to steer complex strategic initiatives.
2. Growth and Innovation Strategies
Identify opportunities for organic and inorganic growth and assess their fit with the overall corporate strategy.
Analyze M&A transactions, vertical/horizontal integrations, and strategic partnerships, evaluating potential risks and synergies.
Assess the impact of emerging technologies on business models and outline potential innovation pathways.
3. Practical approaches to Risk Management
Identify key strategic, operational, and financial risks relevant to an organization’s context.
Apply risk assessment and quantification techniques and interpret results to support decision-making.
Develop a risk-based planning approach integrated into strategic and operational processes.
Design effective risk governance and oversight models tailored to different modern organizational settings.
Course Contents
Course contents are developed across three key areas:
Applications of Corporate Strategy in real-world contexts: principles of strategic business planning, value creation and Total Shareholder Return (TSR), corporate portfolio management, and strategic resource allocation, enablers of strategic transformations, fundamentals of change management, and practical best practices for effective strategy implementation.
Growth and Innovation Strategies: analysis and application of both organic and inorganic growth levers (M&A, vertical and horizontal integration), with a focus on how emerging technologies are reshaping business models.
Practical approaches to Risk Management: methods for identifying, assessing, and quantifying risks; risk-based planning approaches; and governance models for enterprise risk oversight.
Reference Books
Suggested readings (selection):
- U. Pidun, Corporate Strategy: Theory and Practice, Springler Gabler
- R. Grant, Contemporary Strategy Analysis, Wiley, latest ed.
- Johnson, Whittington, Scholes, Exploring Strategy, Pearson, latest ed.
- Kaplan & Norton, Strategy Maps / The Execution Premium, Harvard Business Press.
- J. Lam, Enterprise Risk Management, Wiley.
- D.W. Hubbard, The Failure of Risk Management, Wiley.
Additional readings and cases will be shared in class.
Teaching Methods
Interactive lectures, real business cases discussion, quantitative exercises, team project with feedback.
Assessment Method
The course assessment will be based on two components:
2 group project works (33%):
Topic per assignment: (i) Risk management; (ii) TSR, competitive advantage and Corporate Portfolio Strategy; (iii) strategic business planning
Assessment modes per assignment: (i) in class discussion of project executive summary; (ii) offline submission of long report
Final Written Exam (67%): individual written examination aimed at assessing students’ understanding of the concepts, frameworks, and methodologies covered throughout the course.
Thesis assignment criteria
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Week 1
1) Applications of Corporate Strategy in real-world contexts: course presentation, key concepts of corporate strategy
2) Applications of Corporate Strategy in real-world contexts: total shareholders’ return and strategic business planning
Week 2
1) Applications of Corporate Strategy in real-world contexts: project works presentation and tools to crack them (real cases of strategic / industrial plans, storytelling, and executive communication)
2) Applications of Corporate Strategy in real-world contexts: corporate portfolio management and strategic resource allocation
Week 3
1) Applications of Corporate Strategy in real-world contexts: corporate portfolio management – exercise
2) Growth and Innovation Strategies: supply chain strategies and make vs buy
Week 4
1) Growth and Innovation Strategies: key concepts of corporate growth strategy and innovation
2) Growth and Innovation Strategies: Mergers & Acquisitions
Week 5
1) Growth and Innovation Strategies: End-to-end value chain reinvention
2) Growth and Innovation Strategies: post -merger integration
Week 6
1) Growth and Innovation Strategies: how technology is redefining business models
2) Practical approaches to Risk Management: models and frameworks to guide and protect corporate value
Week 7
1) Other: students’ presentation of the TSR, competitive advantage and Corporate Portfolio Strategy assignment (I/II)
2) Practical approaches to Risk Management: risk quantification and risk-based capital
Week 8
1) Practical approaches to Risk Management: risk-based capital exercise
2) Other: students’ presentation of the TSR, competitive advantage and Corporate Portfolio Strategy assignment (II/II)
Week 9
1) Practical approaches to Risk Management: risk governance
Week 10
1) Practical approaches to Risk Management: regulation and prudential supervision of risk
Week 11
1) Practical approaches to Risk Management: risk-based planning
2) Applications of Corporate Strategy in real-world contexts: corporate governance as a key to strategy execution
Week 12
1) Applications of Corporate Strategy in real-world contexts: change management
2) Other: students’ presentation of the strategic business planning assignment (I/II)
1) Growth and Innovation Strategies: from continous improvement to continous distruption
1) Other: how to crack business cases in recruiting processes
2) Other: students’ presentation of the strategic business planning assignment (II/II)