James Cook University Subject Handbook - 2019

LB5113 - Corporate Strategy

Credit points: 03
Year: 2019
Student Contribution Band: Band 3
Administered by:

Please note that this subject is offered through JCU Online.

This subject covers the fundamentals of corporate-level strategy as opposed to business-level strategy. "Business-level" (business) strategy deals with achieving and sustaining a competitive advantage in a discrete and identifiable business. "Corporate-level" (corporate) strategy deals with the way a company creates value through the selection of a portfolio of businesses and the configuration and coordination of these businesses. The primary way in which corporate strategy ultimately creates value is through increasing the ability of businesses in the portfolio to create and sustain a competitive advantage. For example, sharing manufacturing activities may reduce costs. Alternatively, sharing a strong brand may increase differentiation while reducing overall marketing costs. Hence there is a very close relationship between business and corporate strategy. The major topics we will cover are diversification (related and unrelated), vertical integration, restructuring, synergy, alliance strategy, and global strategy. We will be introducing a variety of tools to help us analyse these topics. The primary objective of the subject is to introduce you to the primary decisions, tools, and concepts of corporate strategy. By the end of the course you should be able to understand how multi-business firms can create and destroy value; be able to engage in a thoughtful discussion of corporate strategy with senior executives; be able to identify opportunities to improve corporate strategy; understand and be able to analyse the major benefits and risks of various diversification strategies; understand the economic and organizational realities behind the term "synergy" and be able to identify and analyse synergy opportunities; understand the role alliances play in corporate strategy and be able to analyse the major trade-offs between alliances and acquisitions; understand the role a particular business plays in a corporate strategy; and understand the nature and strategic implications of both regional/global rationalization and local responsiveness in global strategy.

Learning Outcomes


Availabilities

, Study Period 81
Census Date 24-Jan-2019
Contact hours:
  • 65 hours - Online resources including readings, screencasts, embedded quizzing
    Method of Delivery:Online - JCU
    Assessment:research paper (20%); industry analysis (35%); case study (45%).

    , Study Period 85
    Census Date 12-Sep-2019
    Contact hours:
    • 65 hours - Online resources including readings, screencasts, embedded quizzing
      Method of Delivery:Online - JCU
      Assessment:research paper (20%); industry analysis (35%); case study (45%).

      Note: Minor variations might occur due to the continuous Subject quality improvement process, and in case of minor variation(s) in assessment details, the Subject Outline represents the latest official information.