Introductory description

The module will deliver students both theoretical and contemporary knowledge of strategy and strategic management within the modern digital era. Students will study concepts, theories, and principles following a vertical top to bottom route to develop a critical and in-depth understanding of business strategy, operations strategy, performance objectives, and also the connections among them. In addition, students will also build up the capability of analytics based on various resources and data via employing a series of tools at different strategic levels for decision-making in a business. The module will introduce some emerging technologies within Industry 4.0 and some key aspects that companies would consider during the strategic analytics and management, including but not limited to digitalization, sustainability, customization etc. Students will have opportunities to apply this knowledge and skills by going through the process of strategy formulation and implementation within international organizations via the in-module exercises. They will be asked to work in a team environment on a project to make the strategic decision on meanwhile develop a strategic plan for embracing the new digital technology in the case company, to enhance the corporate competitive advantages as well as sustainable operations. The module will adopt various teaching methods and approaches to maximize students’ study experience and engagement with both subject knowledge and transferable skills.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

The module will deliver students both theoretical and contemporary knowledge of strategy and strategic management within the modern digital era. It will also train students with analytics principles and skills for decision-making via employing different models and tools. In addition, students will obtain various transferable skills such as confliction management, problem-solving, data collection and resource evaluation, effective communication, team collaboration etc. during the process of applying knowledge into a practical context through the in-module exercises. The key subject topics covered within the module include (but are not limited to) business strategy, operations strategy, performance objectives, operations management, business analytics, digital technology and production, Industry 4.0, supply chain sustainability, strategic management, strategy formation and implementation etc.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate a critical and in-depth interpretation of the concepts, theories, roles of business strategy, operations strategy, and performance objectives as well as the relationships between them.
• Develop a systematic understanding and capability for strategy formulation and implementation in a business context.
• Establish skills of effective communication, data collection and resource evaluation.
• Ability to conduct analytics based on various resources and data via employing a series of models and tools at different strategic levels for decision-making in practice.
• Critically evaluate business operations and management issues in the digital era and develop an innovative solution for corporate ongoing success and sustainable operations.

Indicative reading list

Books:

David, F.R., David, F.R. and David, M.E. (2017) Strategic management: concepts and cases: A competitive advantage approach. Boston: Pearson.
De Wit, B. and Meyer, R. (2010) Strategy: Process, content, context. 4th edn. Hampshire: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Finlay, P.N. (2000). Strategic management: An introduction to business and corporate strategy. Harlow : Pearson Education.
Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D. and Hoskisson, R.E. (2020) Strategic management: Competitiveness and globalization: Concepts and cases. 13th edn. Boston, MA, USA : Cengage.
Lampel, J., Mintzberg, H., Quinn, J.B., and Ghoshal, S. (2014). The strategy process: concepts, contexts, cases. 5th edn. Harlow, England : Pearson.
Porter, M.E. (2011) Competitive advantage of nations: creating and sustaining superior performance. Simon and Schuster.
Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2009) Manufacturing strategy: text and cases. 3rd edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2018) Operations strategy: design, implementation and delivery. London: Palgrave.
Slack, N. and Brandon-Jones, A. (2019) Operations Management. 9th edn. Harlow, England: Pearson.
Slack, N. and Brandon-Jones, A. (2021) Operations and process management: principles and practice for strategic impact. 6th edn. Harlow, England ; London ; New York: Pearson.
Slack, N. and Lewis, M. (2020) Operations Strategy. 6th edn. Harlow, United Kingdom: Pearson Education Limited.
Albright, S. C. and Winston, W. L. (2017) Business analytics: data analysis and decision making. 6th edn. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Giudici, P. and Figini, S. (2009) Applied data mining for business and industry. 2nd edn. Chichester: Wiley.
Kunc, M. (2018) Strategic analytics: integrating management science and strategy. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Levenson, A. (2015) Strategic analytics: advancing strategy execution and organizational effectiveness. 1st edn. Oakland, California : Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Sharda, R., Delen, D., and Efraim, T. (2021) Analytics, data science, and artificial intelligence. 11th edn. Harlow, England: Pearson.
Grzybowska, K., Awasthi, A. and Sawhney, R. (2020) Sustainable Logistics and Production in Industry 4.0. Cham: Springer.
Morana, J. (2013) Sustainable supply chain management. John Wiley & Sons.
Ramanathan, R. and Ramanathan, U. eds. (2020) Sustainable Supply Chains: Strategies, Issues, and Models. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Journal Papers:

Porter, M.E. (1985) Technology and Competitive Advantage, Journal of Business Strategy, 5 (3): 60-78.
Porter, M.E. (1997) Competitive strategy. Measuring business excellence. 5(3): 12-17.
Helfat, C.E. and Martin, J.A., 2015. Dynamic managerial capabilities: Review and assessment of managerial impact on strategic change. Journal of management, 41(5), pp.1281-1312.

International

The nature of the module provides students with knowledge and skills in an international standard. Meanwhile, the module allows students to discuss and application knowledge in the context of international organisations and takes account of intercultural differences and the international diversity of the student body on the degree programmes.

Subject specific skills

Through the module, students will gain subject knowledge such as business strategy, operations strategy, performance objectives, strategy formulation and implementation, analytics, digital technology, sustainability etc. It will also train students with skills in analytics, decision-making, data collection, and resource evaluation etc.

Transferable skills

Students will obtain transferable skills within the module including but not limited to confliction management, debate, problem-solving, effective communication, team collaboration, time management, critical thinking and discussion, self-awareness, reflecting learning. etc.