Corporate Strategy

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Corporate Strategy

Instructor: Bart Vanneste

124,355 already enrolled

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4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

2,837 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

9 hours to complete

Learn at your own pace

98%

Most learners liked this course

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

2,837 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

9 hours to complete

Learn at your own pace

98%

Most learners liked this course

Skills you'll gain

Details to know

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Assessments

13 assignments¹

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Taught in English

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There are 4 modules in 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?

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.

What's included

8 videos6 readings2 assignments

8 videosTotal 48 minutes

Welcome to corporate strategy3 minutes
What does corporate strategy look like?5 minutes
The core definition - what is corporate strategy?3 minutes
Understanding difference 1 - number of businesses4 minutes
Understanding difference 2 - corporate advantage8 minutes
Understanding difference 3 - competition8 minutes
Conducting a sum-of-the-parts analysis13 minutes
Why we cannot infer corporate advantage from a sum-of-the-parts analysis5 minutes

6 readingsTotal 50 minutes

Course structure and navigation5 minutes
Learn effectively this course5 minutes
Apple sum-of-the-parts valuation15 minutes
Week 1 Lecture slides10 minutes
Glossary10 minutes
Week 1 Progress review5 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 25 minutes

Business strategy vs corporate strategy5 minutes
Corporate advantage20 minutes

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.

What's included

11 videos7 readings4 assignments

11 videosTotal 59 minutes

Diversification - why, what, and how to enter new businesses5 minutes
Understanding the basic modes of diversification7 minutes
Understanding the diversification test6 minutes
Understanding synergies9 minutes
A five-step approach to the diversification decision2 minutes
Step 1 - Finding synergies7 minutes
Step 2 - Identifying resource gaps4 minutes
Step 3 - Identifying candidates4 minutes
Step 4 - Evaluating ally or acquire7 minutes
Step 5 - Evaluating organic or inorganic growth6 minutes
Concluding the five-step approach to the diversification decision2 minutes

7 readingsTotal 60 minutes

4Cs Synergies framework10 minutes
Introduction to the Microsoft-LinkedIn exercise5 minutes
Microsoft-LinkedIn press release10 minutes
Microsoft-LinkedIn investor presentation10 minutes
Microsoft-LinkedIn conference call10 minutes
Week 2 Lecture slides10 minutes
Week 2 Progress review5 minutes

4 assignmentsTotal 45 minutes

Examples of diversification5 minutes
The diversification test & 4Cs synergies5 minutes
The Microsoft-Linkedin acquisition 15 minutes
Diversification20 minutes

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.

What's included

9 videos3 readings3 assignments1 discussion prompt

9 videosTotal 36 minutes

Understanding divestiture4 minutes
Understanding the basic modes of divestiture4 minutes
Understanding the divestiture test7 minutes
Understanding the regional perspective3 minutes
A three-step approach to the divestiture decision1 minute
Step 1 - Finding synergies6 minutes
Step 2 - Identifying better parents6 minutes
Step 3 - Choosing divestiture mode2 minutes
Concluding the three-step approach to the divestiture decision2 minutes

3 readingsTotal 20 minutes

Introduction to the Third Point-Nestlé exercise5 minutes
Week 3 Lecture slides10 minutes
Week 3 Progress review5 minutes

3 assignmentsTotal 30 minutes

Is this a divestiture or not?5 minutes
Divestiture decisions, modes, and challenges5 minutes
Divestiture20 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 20 minutes

Defending Nestlé’s portfolio strategy20 minutes

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.

What's included

9 videos5 readings4 assignments

9 videosTotal 49 minutes

Understanding corporate headquarters3 minutes
Who controls corporate headquarters?6 minutes
How to control more than you own6 minutes
Understanding HQ influence models6 minutes
Understanding the financial perspective3 minutes
Understanding the uncertainty perspective4 minutes
Understanding the synergy perspective10 minutes
Understanding the social perspective4 minutes
Using the synergistic portfolio framework7 minutes

5 readingsTotal 35 minutes

Introduction to the Fruit4Every1 exercise5 minutes
Week 4 Lecture slides10 minutes
Week 4 Progress review5 minutes
Further readings and resources10 minutes
Next steps and closing remarks5 minutes

4 assignmentsTotal 45 minutes

Corporate headquarters basics5 minutes
Resource allocation perspectives5 minutes
Resource allocation at Fruit4Every115 minutes
Corporate headquarters20 minutes

Instructor

Instructor ratings

(1,097 ratings)

Bart Vanneste

University of London

1 Course124,355 learners

Offered by

University of London

UCL School of Management

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Reviewed on Nov 24, 2025

A well-structured course that clearly explains strategic frameworks and competitive analysis. Practical, concise, and highly useful for improving real-world decision-making.

Reviewed on Mar 30, 2023

I found this course very valuable in terms of the information provided and examples given, they tests were focused on making sure we understood the concepts which was great.

Reviewed on Aug 16, 2023

Useful, substantial, and necessary to increase your business. The teacher explains each topic clearly by giving real examples for us to connect in each case. I recommend.

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