This Course Guide has been taken from the most recent presentation of the course. It would be useful for reference purposes but please note that there may be updates for the following presentation.
MGT B820
Strategy
Welcome to MGT B820, a ten-credit compulsory course in the MBA programme and an elective course in the MEC, MHRM and MPA programmes offered by the Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration (the School) at Hong Kong Metropolitan University. There are no compulsory or advisory prerequisites for this course.
As a discipline, strategy is about formulating and implementing actions that are expected to improve an organization's performance. This course is designed for executives to apply concepts and theories in strategic management with particular emphasis on combining theories with practice. Teaching through case discussion is an integral approach adopted in this course. The main areas covered in this course include how an organization in a complex and changing environment can assess its operating environment; identify its resources, capabilities and competitive advantages; pinpoint its market position; develop strategic alternatives; evaluate and choose from strategic alternatives; and, implement its chosen strategy to achieve its mission and its competitive advantages.
Course aims
MGT B820 aims at helping students learn the key concepts in strategy and apply these concepts in real business situations for effective strategic management.
Course learning outcomes
Upon the completion of MGT B820, students should be able to:
MGT B820 Strategy has been designed to be a self-contained course. In addition to this Course Guide, the course has the following important components: study units, a set textbook, and an Assignment File.
Study units
The study units provide instructions on how to proceed, detailed course materials, and examples to help you fully understand the concepts and principles presented in the text. The study units provide you with a series of real and hypothetical cases that relate to elements of strategy.
Strategic actions may include actions relating to different business functions such as marketing, human resource management, accounting, finance, information systems and operations. Your previous exposure to these disciplines as well as other business-related disciplines such as economics and organizational behaviour, will be helpful for studying this course. Students with different backgrounds will, therefore, find the course to be difficult and challenging in different ways and may have to read supplementary readings in specific disciplines to understand the subject more thoroughly.
How much time you will need to complete all of the work involved in this course will differ from learner to learner; however, an estimated time you need to spend on this course is about eight hours per week. This estimate includes time for reading the study units and the textbook, working on activities and self-tests, completing your assignments, undertaking the suggested reviews, attending online tutorials and preparing for your final examination. Although you can deviate from the suggested schedule, you must successfully complete the assignments and examination according to the schedule.
Each study unit contains activities and self-test questions to help you check your understanding of different techniques or principles. In many cases, the activity is simply a practice exercise that covers the topic you have just learned. You can find the answers at the end of the activity. Try to think about the activities and do them on your own before you refer to the answers. By doing the self-tests, you will gain useful feedback on your progress. There are suggested answers at the end of each unit. Try to answer all the self-test questions before looking at the suggested answers. This will help you better prepare for your assignments and examination.
Note that you must read both the study units and the textbook — they are not alternatives to each other. In addition to these materials, try to read articles in newspapers and journals. The more widely you read, the better you will appreciate and understand the subject.
The following is an overview of the course for your reference:
| Unit | Title | Study time (weeks) | Assignment |
| 1 | The core issues and analytical framework of strategic management | 3 | |
| 2 | The external environment and industry evolution | 3 | |
| 3 | Internal analysis I: The internal environment and strategy implementation | 3 | Assignment 1 |
| 4 | Internal analysis II: Resources, capabilities and sustainable competitive advantage | 3 | |
| 5 | Strategic positioning and managing customers | 3 | |
| 6 | Strategy, tactics, games and business warfare | 3 | Assignment 2 |
| 7 | Corporate strategy | 3 | |
| 8 | International strategy | 3 | |
| 9 | Leadership and governance | 3 | Assignment 3 |
| 10 | The value of strategic management | 2 | |
| Revision | 1 | ||
| Total | 30 | Examination | |
Readings
You may be instructed in the study units to read articles or other supplementary materials. These will be available online or from our E-Library, or provided as hard copies at the backs of the study units. For online readings, instead of typing in the URL, you can click the links in the online study unit provided in the Online Learning Environment (OLE) on the HKMU website.
E-Library E-Reserve readings
To read these items, go to the University's E-Library and click E-Reserve. Log in, click Accept/Agree on the Copyright Restrictions page, fill in the Course Code box, and click Search.
Assignment File
Assignment details for this course are contained in your Assignment File. The nature of these assignments is described in the section, 'Assignments' below. You are required to complete your assignments and submit them to your tutor in accordance with the timetable provided in the Presentation Schedule (available on the OLE).
Set textbook
There is one compulsory textbook required for this course:
Hill, C W L, Schilling, M A and Jones, G R (2020) Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach, 13th edn, South-Western Cengage Learning.
The textbook is not provided by HKMU. You need to buy the textbook separately.
Presentation schedule
The Presentation Schedule is available on the OLE. It shows the exact dates for your tutor's receipt of your assignments. Remember, you are required to submit all your assignments in time to reach your tutor by the actual dates shown in the Assignment File. You should guard against falling behind in your work.
Equipment required by students and tutors
You are expected to have access to a personal computer (PC) with an Internet connection. HKMU provides some PCs for your free access at the HKMU PC Lab, many of which have access to the Internet.
The formal assessment for this course consists of three assignments that you must submit to your tutor for formal assessment, along with the final examination. To help you succeed in your assignments and on the final exam, the ten units contain questions and answers and practice exercises. Although practice exercises, which appear in each unit, are not part of your formal assessment, it is important to complete them as you work through the course. They will expose you to the types of questions you will be required to answer in assignments and on your final exam. They will also introduce you to problems encountered in strategy. The questions are designed to help you understand and apply those principles covered in the unit.
Assignments
There are three required assignments and you should submit them to your tutor for marking in order to gain credits for this course. You should submit each completed assignment to your tutor, via the OLE, on or before the cut-off date. This is the last date for the assignment to be uploaded onto the OLE. Please refer to the section on 'How to submit your assignments' in the Assignment File. You should keep a copy of all assignments you submitted. These will prove useful if you wish to refer to them during telephone conversations with your tutor. The assignments are found in your Assignment File. All three assignment scores will count toward your final grade for this course. You can complete all the assignments from the material contained in your study units and textbook. But it is preferable in all postgraduate-level education to demonstrate that you have read and researched more widely than the required minimum. Using other references will give you a different viewpoint and a deeper understanding of the subject.
The nature of the assignments varies, but normally they require problem-solving or decision-making. It is useful to illustrate any theoretical points with local examples, as this allows you to apply the theory you have just learned to real business situations.
How to submit assignments
You must use word processing software (such as Microsoft Word) to prepare the assignments, and submit the assignments via the Online Learning Environment (OLE). All assignments must be uploaded to the OLE by the due date.
Failure to upload an assignment in the required format to the OLE may result in the score of the assignment being adjusted to zero.
Assignment submission extension policy
The assignment policy of the University as stated in the Student Handbook should be observed. You are required to submit assignments for this course in accordance with the dates communicated by your Course Coordinator. You may apply for a submission extension on the grounds of illness, accident, disability, bereavement or other compassionate circumstances.
Applications for extensions must be submitted online via the OLE. Please note the following:
After an assignment is submitted via the OLE, it is your responsibility to check that the assignment has been successfully submitted. Extension applications due to any problem with uploading will not be accepted. The University cannot accept any responsibility for assignments that are not received by your tutor due to any problem with submission via the OLE. As a precaution, you are advised to keep a copy of each assignment you submit.
According to the University's policy, no extension of the due date will be allowed for the final assignment. This policy will be strictly enforced. Any late submission of the final assignment will result in the score of the assignment being adjusted to zero.
Final examination
At the end of the course there is a three-hour examination worth 60% of the total course grade. You should review course materials, with reference to the textbook when necessary, together with your practice exercises, assignments and your tutor's comments on them.
The final exam covers information from all parts of the course (Units 1–10). You will be provided with a specimen examination, similar in format to the final examination but with different questions.
Assessment summary
The assessment items are outlined in the following table.
| Assessment | Weighting |
| Assignment 1 | 10% |
| Assignment 2 | 15% |
| Assignment 3 | 15% |
| Examination | 60% |
| Total | 100% |
Student support for MGT B820 will include 11 two-hour live online tutorials. You will be notified of the dates and times of the online tutorials at the beginning of the presentation. It is strongly recommended that you attend the live online tutorials. They will provide considerable assistance in your studies and improve your chances of gaining higher marks. They will also bring you into contact with other students who are studying this course.
Live online tutorials
During live online tutorial sessions, you will meet you own tutor. You will have opportunities to work on activities, exercises and cases in order to ensure your understanding of the concepts, theories and models. This is also a time for you to ask questions and clarify your understanding.
Tutors
A tutor will be assigned to students in each tutorial group in this course. The tutor will:
Your tutor will comment on and mark your assignments, keep a close watch on your progress and on any difficulties you might encounter, and will assist you during the course. Your assignments should be submitted in accordance with the timetable provided on the OLE. Your tutor will mark and return them to you as soon as possible.
It is a good idea to keep copies of all the assignments you submit for marking. Copies will prove useful should you wish to refer to them during telephone conversations with your tutor.
Do not hesitate to contact your tutor by telephone if you need help. The following might be some typical circumstances in which you would find help necessary. Contact your tutor if:
As mentioned, regular learning sessions will be organized with your assigned tutor to assist you in this course. As soon as you are allocated to a tutorial group, you will be notified of the dates and times of the online tutorials, together with the name and phone number of your tutor.
Tutors are required to start the live online tutorials on time. If a tutor fails to turn up 30 minutes after the scheduled starting time, students may assume that the session is cancelled and they should report the case to the Course Coordinator so that a make-up session can be arranged.
Online Learning Environment
This course is supported by the Online Learning Environment (OLE). You can find course material and the latest course information from the OLE. Through the OLE, you can also communicate with your tutor, the Course Coordinator as well as fellow students. A discussion forum will be provided to discuss case analysis with other students and get feedback from tutors and the Course Coordinator. For details about the OLE and how to access it, please refer to the Online Learning Environment User Guide.
MGT B820 Strategy attempts to cover the various aspects of strategy, from strategic analysis to strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation. In the process, students will also be introduced to a framework that links together the various factors that affect an organization's performance. The course will also help students to develop skills in applying various concepts to make strategic decisions in real-life situations.
Good luck, and enjoy the course!
Dr Anthony Ko is currently Associate Professor and Strand Leader of the Management, Marketing and Decision Science Strand of the Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration. Dr Ko has a PhD from the University of Hong Kong and was an Associate Professor at the City University of Hong Kong before he joined HKMU. His research interests are in the areas of strategic management, family business and Chinese management.
Mr Samuel Chan is a senior tutor of Strategy in the Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration. He is also Managing Consultant of an international consulting firm specializing in strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions and IPO activities in China, Southeast Asia and North America. Mr Chan received his MBA from California State University, Hayward and Financial Engineering Program from Stanford University, Palo Alto, California.
If you wish to defer your studies of this course until a later date, you should apply for deferment of studies. For the regulations governing deferment of studies, please refer to your Student Handbook. If you have applied for deferment of studies you should continue with your studies of this course and submit the required assignments until formal approval is given by the university.
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