In this course you will learn how organizations create, capture, and maintain value, and how it is fundamental for sustainable competitive advantage. You will be able to better understand value creation and capture, and learn the tools to analyze both competition and cooperation from a variety of perspectives, including the industry level (e.g., five forces analysis), and the firm level (e.g., business models and strategic positioning).
This course is part of the Strategic Leadership and Management Specialization
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Strategic Leadership and Management SpecializationUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignAbout this Course
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Learner Career Outcomes
83%
started a new career after completing these courses
45%
got a tangible career benefit from this course
25%
got a pay increase or promotion
Shareable Certificate
Earn a Certificate upon completion
100% online
Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.
Course 5 of 7 in the
Flexible deadlines
Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.
Approx. 17 hours to complete
English
Subtitles: Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Italian, Vietnamese, German, Russian, English, Spanish
Skills you will gain
Strategic ManagementBusiness ModelStrategic ThinkingBusiness Strategy
Learner Career Outcomes
83%
started a new career after completing these courses
45%
got a tangible career benefit from this course
25%
got a pay increase or promotion
Shareable Certificate
Earn a Certificate upon completion
100% online
Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.
Course 5 of 7 in the
Flexible deadlines
Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.
Approx. 17 hours to complete
English
Subtitles: Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Italian, Vietnamese, German, Russian, English, Spanish
Offered by
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a world leader in research, teaching and public engagement, distinguished by the breadth of its programs, broad academic excellence, and internationally renowned faculty and alumni. Illinois serves the world by creating knowledge, preparing students for lives of impact, and finding solutions to critical societal needs.
Start working towards your Master's degree
This course is part of the 100% online Master of Business Administration (iMBA) from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
If you are admitted to the full program, your courses count towards your degree learning.
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
2 hours to complete
Course Orientation
You will become familiar with the course, your classmates, and our learning environment. The orientation will also help you obtain the technical skills required for the course.
2 hours to complete
2 videos (Total 10 min), 5 readings, 1 quiz
4 hours to complete
Module 1: Leading Strategically
The Leading Strategically module will lay the foundation of business strategy course. You will learn about mission, vision and values and their role in overall strategy landscape. You will learn about the VARS framework for analyzing business models and SWOT framework for understanding the fit and coherence of business strategy.
4 hours to complete
12 videos (Total 73 min), 4 readings, 2 quizzes
3 hours to complete
Module 2: External Analysis
The Environmental Analysis module will focus on a key aspect of business strategy – analyzing and understanding the external environment of a firm. You will learn about the macro-environment of firms and the PESTEL framework for macro-environmental analysis. You will also learn about firms’ industry environment and understand how to predict industry profitability by using the 5-forces framework.
3 hours to complete
9 videos (Total 83 min), 4 readings, 2 quizzes
3 hours to complete
Module 3: Internal Analysis and Competitive Advantage
The module on Internal Analysis and Competitive Advantage will provide an in-depth understanding of the origins of unique company strengths and how they can produce a competitive advantage. You will learn about the origins and consequences of fundamental internal differences among firms using the analytical viewpoints of activities, resources, and capabilities. You will be introduced to the strategic tools of value chains, value networks, and the V-R-I framework to help you analyze the implications of these within-firm differences for (sustained) competitive advantage.
3 hours to complete
8 videos (Total 64 min), 4 readings, 2 quizzes
4 hours to complete
Module 4: Strategic Positioning and Strategic Renewal
The Strategic Positioning and Strategic Renewal module brings together the internal and external aspects of strategic analysis to formulate an overall strategy for the firm. You will learn about the two main “generic strategies” that businesses can pursue, which can be complemented by broad or narrow scope to yield four key types of strategic positioning. You will also learn about “dual” strategies and why and how a firm's strategy must be adapted to strategically renew its positioning.
4 hours to complete
11 videos (Total 72 min), 5 readings, 2 quizzes
Reviews
TOP REVIEWS FROM BUSINESS STRATEGY
by SDNov 28, 2020
Highly recommended course material. Really enjoyed solving the case studies. The learning from the course on different frameworks was immense. Also the feedback from the peers provided more insights.
by HLAug 25, 2018
I am really honored to review this course. The course and the Professor was really having a high practical approach. 4th Module was little bit confusion although it was a great time doing the course.
by TWAug 10, 2016
I really enjoyed the case studies in this course and the education on various frameworks felt like I could immediately use the material in real world scenarios. Highly recommended course materials.
by KPJun 4, 2018
The topics presented in this course were very interesting, however some of the content needs to be updated. For example, Uber now has UberEats, which I don't believe was reflected in the course.
About the Strategic Leadership and Management Specialization
Enhance leadership and business skills for immediate impact. Practice everyday leadership, manage people, learn and apply concepts and techniques to effectively manage organizations through organizational design, and formulate and implement strategy.
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