Strategic analysis course

Lesson 1 • What Strategy Means in Practice

Distinguishes management strategy from tactics, goals, and day-to-day managerial operations using real organisational examples. Establishes the vocabulary used throughout the course.

Lesson 2 • Defining the Unit of Analysis

Teaches how to scope an analysis correctly before applying any tool. Prevents common errors caused by misidentifying the firm, market, or problem boundary.

Lesson 3 • The Strategic Analysis Mindset

Develops structured, evidence-based thinking habits essential for rigorous analysis. Connects analytical discipline to better strategic decisions.

Lesson 1 • Stakeholder and Market Analysis

Identifies key stakeholders, their interests, and their influence on strategic choices. Grounds external analysis in the realities of market demand and power dynamics.

Lesson 2 • Macro-Environment Scanning

Applies the PESTLE framework to identify political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental forces. Links macro trends to strategic implications.

Lesson 3 • Synthesizing External Findings

Converts raw environmental data into prioritised strategic insights using structured synthesis methods. Prepares analysts to feed external findings into integrated management frameworks.

Lesson 4 • Competitor Analysis

Maps competitor objectives, capabilities, and likely moves using structured profiling tools. Enables anticipation of competitive responses to strategic actions.

Lesson 1 • Value Chain Analysis

Disaggregates organisational activities to locate cost advantages and differentiation opportunities. Connects activity-level analysis to overall competitive positioning.

Lesson 2 • Resource-Based View of the Firm

Explains how valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable resources drive sustained advantage. Provides the theoretical lens for all internal analysis in this chapter.

Lesson 3 • Core Competency Identification

Distinguishes core competencies from ordinary capabilities using diagnostic criteria. Helps analysts identify what the organisation does better than rivals.

Lesson 4 • Organisational Performance Review

Uses financial ratios and operational metrics to surface performance strengths and weaknesses. Anchors qualitative capability claims in quantitative evidence.

Lesson 1 • Identifying Strategic Issues and Priorities

Translates integrated analysis into a ranked list of strategic issues requiring decisions. Bridges assessment and management strategy formulation by clarifying what must be addressed.

Lesson 2 • Strategic Position Assessment

Evaluates the organisation's current strategic position relative to competitors and market demands. Identifies strategic fit gaps that require attention.

Lesson 3 • SWOT Analysis Done Right

Moves beyond listing to using SWOT as a strategic matching tool that generates options. Corrects common misapplications that reduce SWOT to a superficial exercise.

Lesson 1 • Strategy Selection and Trade-Off Analysis

Applies structured criteria to evaluate and select among competing strategic options. Teaches analysts to make and defend explicit strategic choices with supporting evidence.

Lesson 2 • Generic Competitive Strategies

Examines cost leadership, differentiation, and focus strategies with their requirements and trade-offs. Establishes the foundational strategic options available to any organisation.

Lesson 3 • Competitive Dynamics and Timing

Examines first-mover advantages, follower strategies, and the timing of competitive moves. Adds a dynamic, time-sensitive dimension to competitive strategy selection.

Lesson 4 • Competitive Advantage and Sustainability

Analyses how advantages are built, defended, and eroded over time in competitive markets. Connects advantage sustainability to resource and capability analysis from prior chapters.

Lesson 1 • Corporate Strategy vs. Business Strategy

Clarifies the distinct logic and decisions at corporate versus business-unit levels. Establishes the scope of corporate strategy analysis covered in this chapter.

Lesson 2 • Vertical Integration and Boundaries

Analyses decisions to expand upstream or downstream along the value chain. Connects integration choices to transaction cost logic and capability considerations.

Lesson 3 • International and Market Expansion

Applies strategic analysis to geographic expansion decisions and global competitive dynamics. Addresses how market entry mode selection affects risk and value creation.

Lesson 4 • Mergers, Acquisitions, and Alliances

Examines inorganic growth vehicles and the strategic logic behind each. Teaches analysts to evaluate fit, synergy, and risk in growth-through-combination strategies.

Lesson 1 • Aligning Structure with Strategy

Examines how organisational design choices enable or constrain strategy execution. Applies the structure-follows-strategy principle to real organisational configurations.

Lesson 2 • Strategic Resource Allocation

Applies analytical management frameworks to prioritise and deploy financial, human, and operational resources. Connects resource allocation decisions directly to strategic priorities.

Lesson 3 • Monitoring and Adaptive Execution

Establishes feedback loops and review processes that keep execution on track. Teaches analysts to distinguish strategy failure from implementation failure.

Lesson 4 • Culture and Leadership Alignment

Analyses how organisational culture and leadership behaviour support or undermine strategy. Provides tools for diagnosing cultural fit and leading strategic change.

Lesson 1 • Stakeholder-Driven Strategic Complexity

Addresses how competing stakeholder interests create strategic constraints and opportunities. Teaches analysts to navigate political and social complexity in strategic decisions.

Lesson 2 • Disruptive Innovation and Strategic Response

Examines how disruptive technologies and business models threaten established strategies. Develops analytical approaches for detecting disruption early and responding effectively.

Lesson 3 • Integrating Analysis into Strategic Recommendations

Synthesises all analytical outputs into a structured, evidence-based strategic recommendation. Develops the judgment needed to make clear choices when analysis is incomplete.

Lesson 4 • Analysing Strategy Under Uncertainty

Applies scenario planning and real options thinking to management strategy in high-uncertainty environments. Builds analytical confidence when data is incomplete or futures are contested.