20944 - CORPORATE STRATEGY
Department of Management and Technology
Course taught in English
Course Director:
CARLO SALVATO
CARLO SALVATO
Instructors:
Class 1: GUIDO GIUSEPPE CORBETTA, Class 2: PAOLO MOROSETTI, Class 3: GIOVANNI BERTI, Class 5: CARLO SALVATO
Class 1: GUIDO GIUSEPPE CORBETTA, Class 2: PAOLO MOROSETTI, Class 3: GIOVANNI BERTI, Class 5: CARLO SALVATO
Mission & Content Summary
MISSION
International firms develop either through organic growth or through acquisitions and alliances. This need arises as a result of the increasing globalization of industries and the impact of technology. All companies must thus develop, in addition to the competitive strategy for individual sectors, an adequate Corporate Strategy both in terms of composition of the portfolio (portfolio strategy) and its management and changes (parenting strategy). The course aims to develop the knowledge of the constituent elements of the Corporate Strategy of companies and the ability to develop successful growth strategies. The development of skills related to portfolio strategy and parenting strategy (the constituent elements of Corporate Strategy) is useful for framing the specialized skills developed in the various functional or sectoral management courses. The course also aims to convey to students the importance of ownership structures. Corporate ownership is an element that has a very important impact on the corporate strategy of a company. The objectives in terms of control and economic expectations, the resources available, the risk appetite of the owners of capital are all elements that must be considered for the definition of the possible strategies.
CONTENT SUMMARY
- Introduction to Corporate Strategy.
- Resources in Corporate Strategy.
- Portfolio strategy decisions.
- Growth alternatives: internal development, acquisitions, and alliances.
- Main characteristics and decisions of parenting strategy.
- Transforming Corporate Strategy.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
- Identify the contents of Corporate Strategy: portfolio strategy and parenting strategy.
- Recognize the different managerial tools that allow to present and evaluate Corporate Strategy.
- Recognize how to integrate ESG strategies into Corporate Strategy.
- Identify and describe operational and financial synergies and valuable corporate resources.
- Identify the core business of a company or group and analyze the related industries.
- Recognize the growth paths of companies with a synergistic-organizational approach.
- Recognize the growth paths of companies with a financial approach.
- Distinguish the alternative approaches to growth as internal development, alliances, and acquisitions.
- Recognize the different implementation phases of M&A operations.
- Recognize the different implementation phases of strategic alliances.
- Recognize the impact of the geographical context in the Corporate Strategy.
- Distinguish the different ownership structures and identify their impact on Corporate Strategy choices.
- Recognize the different roles and functioning of boards of directors.
- Recognize the different roles and functioning of Corporate Headquarters.
- Describe the different phases of a company's strategic and organizational transformation.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
- Choose the Corporate Strategy that is best suited to a firm’s corporate resources.
- Apply the different managerial tools correctly to present and evaluate Corporate Strategy.
- Assess the corporate resources of a company or a group.
- Apply the possible different definitions of core business and analyze the related industries.
- Measure the conglomerate discount.
- Evaluate M&A transactions using the various tools presented in the course.
- Demonstrate recognition of the motivations of strategic alliances.
- Compare the advantages and disadvantages of the various ownership structures.
- Design an effective and efficient Board of Directors.
- Designing the structure of the Corporate Headquarters also according to the different modes of relationship between these and the individual business units.
- Design a successful strategic and organizational transformation by overcoming resistance to change.
- Learn to work in a group of students defending opinions and learning from the opinions of others.
- Learn how to effectively present the set of slides related to the work of your team.
Teaching methods
- Lectures
- Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
- Collaborative Works / Assignments
DETAILS
Besides class lectures, the course includes guest lectures on specific themes.
- The discussion of cases revolves around discussion questions that allow students to prepare in advance. The cases are chosen with the aim of proposing a variety of ownership structures, portfolio strategy and parenting strategy.
- Group works are assigned to teams of students who have to analyze the Corporate Strategy of a company by answering some questions. Some of the outcomes of teamworks are presented in class.
Assessment methods
Continuous assessment | Partial exams | General exam | |
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ATTENDING STUDENTS
Students who decide to attend the course assiduously are evaluated as follows (additional elements will be illustrated in the detailed syllabus):
- Group work: each group of students is evaluated on the basis of a collective work of analysis and presentation in the classroom of business cases. The group work aims to check the capability of the students to apply theories and tools to one specific firm and to present them in a synthetic way.
- Written final exam: open questions. The final exam aims to evalutate the understanding of the theoretical contents of the course and to apply them to one company.
NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
The evaluation of students who choose the non-attending method is based on the same contents of the students attending.
- Unlike attending students, non-attending students are required to submit an individual work consisting of a Word document aimed at analyzing the case of a multi-business enterprise. Individual work must be delivered no later than one week before the date on which the final exam is to be held. It is the responsibility of the non-attending student to ask the subject matter of the individual work. The individual work aims to check the capability of the student to apply theories and tools to one specific firm.
- The final exam for non-attending students includes, in addition to what is expected for attending students, one question on an additional book. The finale exam aims to evaluate the understanding of the theoretical contents of the course and to apply them to one company.
Teaching materials
ATTENDING STUDENTS
- Teaching materials for attending students are illustrated in the detailed syllabus on Blackboard.
NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
- Teaching materials for NON attending students are illustrated in the detailed syllabus on Blackboard.
Last change 27/05/2024 13:51