About this course: Corporate strategy is the strategy a firm uses to compete across multiple businesses. Many small firms want to grow by entering new businesses. Many large firms already are in multiple businesses, e.g. a photo camera producer selling also sunglasses. We developed this course to help you make good corporate strategy decisions. Of the many decisions a firm has to make, corporate strategy decisions are among the most consequential. We will look at these key corporate strategy decisions: - Diversification: How and which businesses should your firm enter? - Divestiture: How and from which businesses should your firm exit? - Corporate HQ: How should we organize corporate headquarters to create value across the different businesses?

Who is this class for: The course is designed for a broad audience but will be particularly relevant for those working in multi-business firms, those working in single business firms that want to expand into a new business, those considering a consultancy career, or anyone who simply wants to understand how a firm competes across multiple businesses. This is an introductory course. Hence, no prior experience is needed. Some basic understanding of finance is useful but not essential.

Created by: University of London, UCL School of Management

Taught by: Bart Vanneste, Associate Professor
UCL School of Management

Level	Beginner
Commitment	4 weeks of study, 3-5 hours/week
Language	English
How To Pass	Pass all graded assignments to complete the course.
User Ratings	4.7 stars Average User Rating 4.7See what learners said

Syllabus

WEEK 1

Corporate Advantage

Welcome to week 1! This week, we introduce corporate strategy and its main goal: corporate advantage. To deepen our understanding of corporate strategy, we compare it with business strategy. We also cover sum-of-the-parts analysis, an often used technique to value multi-business firms, and we discuss how it relates to corporate advantage.

8 videos, 7 readings

Video: Examples of Multi-Business Firms
Video: Defining Corporate Strategy
Reading: How to Use Discussion Forums
Reading: Get to Know Your Classmates
Video: Understanding Difference 1: Number of Businesses
Video: Understanding Difference 2: Corporate Advantage
Video: Understanding Difference 3: Competition
Video: Conducting a Sum-of-the-parts Analysis
Reading: Optional: Example of a Sum-of-the-Parts Analysis
Video: Why We Cannot Infer Corporate Advantage from a Sum-of-the-Parts Analysis
Reading: Lecture slides
Reading: Chapter Corporate Advantage
Reading: Glossary
Reading: Assessment

Graded: Corporate Advantage

WEEK 2

Diversification

Welcome to week 2! A key decision in corporate strategy is determining which businesses a firm should be active in. This week we look at the diversification decision: entering a new business. If you get stuck on the quiz or assignment, you should post on the Discussions to ask for help. (And if you finish early, I hope you'll go there to help your fellow classmates as well.)

11 videos, 4 readings

Discussion Prompt: Examples of Diversification
Video: Understanding the Basic Modes of Diversification
Video: Understanding the Diversification Test
Video: Understanding Synergies
Reading: 4Cs Synergies Framework
Video: A Five-step Approach to the Diversification Decision
Video: Step 1: Finding Synergies
Video: Step 2: Identifying Resource Gaps
Video: Step 3: Identifying Candidates
Video: Step 4: Evaluating Ally or Acquire
Video: Step 5: Evaluating Organic or Inorganic Growth
Video: Concluding the Five-step Approach to the Diversification Decision
Reading: Lecture slides
Reading: Chapter Diversification
Reading: Introduction to quiz on Microsoft-Linkedin acquisition

Graded: Diversification

Graded: Microsoft-Linkedin acquisition

WEEK 3

Divestiture

Welcome to week 3! A key decision in corporate strategy is determining which businesses a firm should be active in. This week we look at the divestiture decision: exiting from a business. If you get stuck on the quiz or assignment, you should post on the Discussions to ask for help. (And if you finish early, I hope you'll go there to help your fellow classmates as well.)

9 videos, 2 readings

Video: Understanding the Basic Modes of Divestiture
Video: Understanding the Divestiture Test
Video: Understanding the Regional Perspective
Video: A Three-step Approach to the Divestiture Decision
Video: Step 1: Finding Synergies
Video: Step 2: Identifying Better Parents
Video: Step 3: Choosing Divestiture Mode
Video: Concluding the Three-step Approach to the Divestiture Decision
Reading: Lecture slides
Reading: Chapter Divestiture: Stay or Exit

Graded: Divestiture

Graded: Respond to letter of activist investor

WEEK 4

Corporate Headquarters

Welcome to week 4! A key decision in corporate strategy is determining how to organize to create value across businesses. This week we look at corporate headquarters and how they can influence the different businesses. If you get stuck on the quiz or assignment, you should post on the Discussions to ask for help. (And if you finish early, I hope you'll go there to help your fellow classmates as well.)

9 videos, 5 readings

Video: Who Controls Corporate Headquarters?
Video: How to Control More than You Own
Video: Understanding HQ Influence Models
Video: Understanding the Financial Perspective
Video: Understanding the Uncertainty Perspective
Video: Understanding the Synergy Perspective
Video: Understanding the Social Perspective
Video: Using the Synergistic Portfolio Framework
Reading: Course review
Reading: Lecture slides
Reading: Chapter Designing the Corporate HQ
Reading: Further readings
Reading: Introduction to quiz on resource allocation

Graded: Corporate Headquarters

Graded: Resource allocation

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How It Works

Coursework

Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.

Help from Your Peers

Connect with thousands of other learners and debate ideas, discuss course material, and get help mastering concepts.

Certificates

Earn official recognition for your work, and share your success with friends, colleagues, and employers.

Creators

University of London

The University of London is a federal University which includes 18 world leading Colleges. Our distance learning programmes were founded in 1858 and have enriched the lives of thousands of students, delivering high quality University of London degrees wherever our students are across the globe. Our alumni include 7 Nobel Prize winners. Today, we are a global leader in distance and flexible study, offering degree programmes to over 50,000 students in over 180 countries. To find out more about studying for one of our degrees where you are, visit www.london.ac.uk

UCL School of Management

The UCL School of Management is the business school of University College London, one of the world’s leading universities, consistently ranked in the global top 20 for its academic excellence and research. UCL counts 30 Nobel Prize winners amongst its academics and alumni, and the School takes full advantage of being part of a world-leading university through its interdisciplinary outlook, and builds on close collaborations in both research and education with other UCL departments, including computer science, engineering, economics, psychology, public policy, statistics and medical sciences.

Ratings and Reviews

Rated 4.7 out of 5 of 57 ratings

Great explanations, really clear with excellent examples.

Would be good to get a few more practice situations and scenarios played out. More sample quizzes and things would be useful.

This course contains everything a corporate company needs to know within corporate strategy. I enjoyed researching Nestle' Corp and will continue my research into Sony.

I feel everyone should know the credentials of CEO Ulf Mark Schnider, he holds a doctorate in economics and a MBA within.the Harvard Business School. At fifty four he brings youth and health to Nestle'. He worked as CEO of a health company prior to Nestle'. Things are quickly changing within the management and employment within Nestle' under CEO Ulf Mark Schnider.

Third Point is a investment company who is run by CEO Daniel S. Loeb, who would like to see Nestle' prosper further, but I believe time is of the essence with CEO Ulf Mark Schnider.

Short and structured way to learn basics of corporate strategy, good when you work in such business and helps you to understand better logic of corporate HQ decisions.

amazing course. this course has helped understand what goes into making a strategic decision on the corporate level. I am sure that i would be able to apply the knowledge that i have gained from this course and implement to the fullest in my professional life ahead. Thanks a ton.

Corporate Strategy

Corporate Strategy