Corporate Strategy

Corporate Strategy

Instructor: Bart Vanneste

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123,200 already enrolled

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

2,831 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.

2,831 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

Shareable certificate

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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 videos Total 48 minutes

Welcome to corporate strategy 3 minutes
What does corporate strategy look like? 5 minutes
The core definition - what is corporate strategy? 3 minutes
Understanding difference 1 - number of businesses 4 minutes
Understanding difference 2 - corporate advantage 8 minutes
Understanding difference 3 - competition 8 minutes
Conducting a sum-of-the-parts analysis 13 minutes
Why we cannot infer corporate advantage from a sum-of-the-parts analysis 5 minutes

6 readings Total 50 minutes

Course structure and navigation 5 minutes
Learn effectively this course 5 minutes
Apple sum-of-the-parts valuation 15 minutes
Week 1 Lecture slides 10 minutes
Glossary 10 minutes
Week 1 Progress review 5 minutes

2 assignments Total 25 minutes

Business strategy vs corporate strategy 5 minutes
Corporate advantage 20 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 videos Total 59 minutes

Diversification - why, what, and how to enter new businesses 5 minutes
Understanding the basic modes of diversification 7 minutes
Understanding the diversification test 6 minutes
Understanding synergies 9 minutes
A five-step approach to the diversification decision 2 minutes
Step 1 - Finding synergies 7 minutes
Step 2 - Identifying resource gaps 4 minutes
Step 3 - Identifying candidates 4 minutes
Step 4 - Evaluating ally or acquire 7 minutes
Step 5 - Evaluating organic or inorganic growth 6 minutes
Concluding the five-step approach to the diversification decision 2 minutes

7 readings Total 60 minutes

4Cs Synergies framework 10 minutes
Introduction to the Microsoft-LinkedIn exercise 5 minutes
Microsoft-LinkedIn press release 10 minutes
Microsoft-LinkedIn investor presentation 10 minutes
Microsoft-LinkedIn conference call 10 minutes
Week 2 Lecture slides 10 minutes
Week 2 Progress review 5 minutes

4 assignments Total 45 minutes

Examples of diversification 5 minutes
The diversification test & 4Cs synergies 5 minutes
The Microsoft-Linkedin acquisition 15 minutes
Diversification 20 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 videos Total 36 minutes

Understanding divestiture 4 minutes
Understanding the basic modes of divestiture 4 minutes
Understanding the divestiture test 7 minutes
Understanding the regional perspective 3 minutes
A three-step approach to the divestiture decision 1 minute
Step 1 - Finding synergies 6 minutes
Step 2 - Identifying better parents 6 minutes
Step 3 - Choosing divestiture mode 2 minutes
Concluding the three-step approach to the divestiture decision 2 minutes

3 readings Total 20 minutes

Introduction to the Third Point-Nestlé exercise 5 minutes
Week 3 Lecture slides 10 minutes
Week 3 Progress review 5 minutes

3 assignments Total 30 minutes

Is this a divestiture or not? 5 minutes
Divestiture decisions, modes, and challenges 5 minutes
Divestiture 20 minutes

1 discussion prompt Total 20 minutes

Defending Nestlé’s portfolio strategy 20 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 videos Total 49 minutes

Understanding corporate headquarters 3 minutes
Who controls corporate headquarters? 6 minutes
How to control more than you own 6 minutes
Understanding HQ influence models 6 minutes
Understanding the financial perspective 3 minutes
Understanding the uncertainty perspective 4 minutes
Understanding the synergy perspective 10 minutes
Understanding the social perspective 4 minutes
Using the synergistic portfolio framework 7 minutes

5 readings Total 35 minutes

Introduction to the Fruit4Every1 exercise 5 minutes
Week 4 Lecture slides 10 minutes
Week 4 Progress review 5 minutes
Further readings and resources 10 minutes
Next steps and closing remarks 5 minutes

4 assignments Total 45 minutes

Corporate headquarters basics 5 minutes
Resource allocation perspectives 5 minutes
Resource allocation at Fruit4Every1 15 minutes
Corporate headquarters 20 minutes

Instructor

Instructor ratings

(1,094 ratings)

Bart Vanneste

University of London

1 Course 123,200 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 Nov 10, 2023

I would really like to thank Mr. Vanneste for explaining everything in easy way. This course has really helped me with the better understanding of the Strategies which are used by the Corporate HQs

Reviewed on Nov 29, 2022

The journey to complete the course was amazing. The course materials are Super informative & easy to understand. I would suggest everyone to enroll this course. Thank you coursera!

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