This course is intended to be an introduction to research in business strategy taught by the Department of Business Policy. The objective on completing the course is for participants to have a view of the historical evolution of this field, through basic texts, and to know some of the lines of research that are currently being developed.
 

The sessions for this course, after the initial introductory session, are grouped into two thematic modules. The first module will endeavour to offer a historical view of Business Strategy and will go from session 2 to session 6. The second module will be devoted to presenting some lines of research in Business Strategy and will go from session 7 to session 10.

1. Introduction

· Presentation definitive programme
· Course organization
· Short introduction

Module I, A historical view of Business Strategy

2. Research on the structure of organizations and the contributions of Alfred Chandler

Textbooks:

Khandwalla, P. N. (1977) Design of Organizations. Harcourt Jovanovich Inc.
Shafrit, J. M.; Steven, J. (1996) Classics of Organization Theory. Harcout Brace&Company.
Mintzberg, H. (1980) “Structure in 5’S: A Synthesis of the Research in Organization Design”. Management Science, 26, 3, March.
Chandler jr., A.D. (1962) Strategy and Structure (Chapters in the History of the American Industrial Enterprise). Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press.
McCraw, T. K. (1988) The Essential Alfred Chandler. Harvard Business School Press.

Reference material:

Chandler, A. D. (1965) The Railroads: The Nation’s First Big Business. Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc.
Chandler, A. D. (1977) The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business. The Belknap Pree of Harvard University Press.
Chandler, A. D.; McGraw, T.; Tedlow, R. (1996). Management, Past and Present: A Case Book on the History of American Business. South-Western College Publishing.

3. The debate between the normative and the prescriptive school

Textbooks:

Andrews, K.R. (1971). The Concept of Corporate Strategy
Mintzberg, H. (1987). “Five Ps for Strategy”. California Management Review, fall.

Reference material:

Learned, E.P; Christensen, C.R.; Andrews, K.R.; Guth, W.D. (1965). Business Policy: Text and Cases. Irwin Inc.
Ansoff, H. I. (1979). Strategic Management. The MacMillan Press Ltd.
Mintzberg, H. (1973). The Nature of Managerial Work. Harper&Row Publishers.
Mintzber, H.; Quinn, J.B. (1988). The Strategy Process, Prentice Hall Inc.

4. The contributions of Michael Porter and the strategic positioning school

Textbooks:

Porter, M. (1999). On Competition. Harvard Business Review Book.
Porter, M. (1996). What is Strategy?. Harvard Business Review, November-December.

Reference material:

Porter, M. (1980). Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. The Free Press.
Porter, M. (1985). Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior performance. The Free Press.
McGahan, A.M.; Porter, M. (1997). How much does industry matter, really?. Strategic Management Journal, 18, summer special issue.

5. The Resource-Based View school

Textbooks:

Barney, J. (1986). Strategic Factor Markets: Expectations, Luck, and Business Strategy. Management Science, 32, 10, October.
Barney, J. (1991). Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage. Journal of Management, 17, 1.
Rumelt, R.P. (1991). How much does industry matter?. Strategic Management Journal, 12.

Reference material:

Penrose, E.T. (1959). The theory of the growth of the firm. Blackwell.
Wernefelt, B. (1984). A resource-based view of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 5.
Prahalad, C.K.; Hamel, G. (1990). The Core Competence of the Corporation. Harvard Business Review, May-June.
Peteraf, M.A. (1993). The Cornerstone of Competitive Advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 14, 3.
Teece, D.J.; Pisano, G; Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management. Strategic Management Journal, 18, 7.

6. The evolution of ideas within business strategy from a historical perspective

Textbooks:

Nieto, J. (2001). Apuntes para una historia de la estrategia. ESADE
Ghemawat, P. (2002). “Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective”. Business History Review, 76, spring.

Reference material:

Claude, G. (1972). The History of Management Thought. Prentice-Hall Inc.
Wren, D. (1979). The Evolution of Management Thought. John Wiley&Sons.
Erro, C. Ed. (2003). Historia Empresarial: Pasado, Presente y Retos de Futuro. Editorial Ariel.

Module II. Lines of research in Business Strategy

7. Strategies based on knowledge management (J.Nieto/E.Nomen)

Textbooks:

Foss, N.J. (1996). Knowledge-based Approaches to the Theory of the Firms: Some Critical Comments” Organizational Science, 7,5, September-October.
Nomen, E; Nieto, J. (2004). El conocimiento protegido. Harvard Deusto Business Review (en publicación).

Reference material:
Besanko, D.; Dranove, D.; Shanley, M. (1996). The Economics of Strategy. John Wiley&Sons Inc.
Nomen, E. (1996). Activos intangibles y Política de Empresa. Harvard-Deusto Business Review, Marzo-Abril.
Nomen, E. (1998). Creaciones intelectuales y Estrategia Empresarial. Harvard-Deusto Business Review, Mayo-Junio

8. Diversification strategies for rapidly expanding businesses (P.Parada)

Textbooks:

Palich et al. (2000). Curvilinearity in the diversification performance linkage: an examination of over three decades of research. Strategic Management Journal
Moreira, J.; Parada, P.; Planellas, M. (2003). Diversification and performance: emerging vs. developed economies. Iberoamerican Academy of Management.
Parada, P.; Planellas, M. (2004) Diversification Revisited: reconciling paradigms. Under review at Strategic Management Journal.

Reference material:

Campbell et al. (1995). Corporate strategy: the quest for parenting advantage. Harvard Business Review
Parada et al. (2000). Strategy harmony and dissonance: a corporate-metrics based approach to parent-lower management relationship. Strategic Management Society
Bowman et al. (2001). Does corporate strategy matter?. Strategic Management Journal
Parada et al. (2002). On the measurement of the corporate effect. Strategic Management Society.

9. Research in entrepreneurship (M.Planellas)

Textbooks:

Veciana, J.M. (2003). “Creación de empresas como programa de investigación científica”. En.: Arnal, J.C., Creación de empresas: los mejores textos. Ariel empresa.
Planellas, M. (2004). Influence of the Entrepreneur, Industry and Strategy on Early Success: a Longitudinal Study of Spanish Technology Start-ups. ESADE (work in process)

Reference material:

Lamolla, L. (2003). Algunas cuestiones de género en la creación de empresas. Iniciativa Emprendedora, 40, julio-agosto-septiembre.
Amorós. J.E. (2003). Influencia de la utilización de Internet en el crecimiento de las pequeñas y medianas empresas. Iniciativa Emprendedora, 40, julio-agosto-septiembre.
Bieto, E. (2003). La transformación emprendedora de la empresa” Iniciativa Emprendedora, 40, julio-agosto-septiembre.
Gimeno, A; Labadie, G.; Saris, W. (2004). The Effects of Management and Corporate Governance on Performance in Family Businesses: A Model and Test in Spanish Firms (accepted Family Business Network)

10. Strategies of collaboration between the public and the private sector (A.Vernis)

Textbooks:

Powell, Walter W. (1990). Neither Market Nor Hierarchy: Network Forms of Organization. Research in Organizational Behavior 12: 295-336.
Vernis, Alfred.2001. Managing Public-private collaborations in social services. The case of New York City and Barcelona. Barcelona: Human Resources Global Management Conference.

Reference material:

Levine, Sol, and Paul White. (1961). Exchange as conceptual framework for the study of interorganizational relationships. Administrative Science Quarterly 5: 583-601.
Van de Ven, Andrew H. (1976). On the nature, formation and maintenance of relations among organizations. Academy of Management Review 1: 24-36.
Pfeffer, Jeffrey, and Gerald R. Salancik. (1978). The external control of organizations. New York, NY: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc.
Mendoza, Xavier.(1991). Algunas reflexiones acerca de la "transición al mercado" de los servicios sociales.
Barcelona: Jornadas Público-Privado y Bienestar Social.
Scott, Richard. (1992). Organizations: rational, natural, and open systems. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. (1994). Collaborative Advantage. Harvard Business Review 72, no. 4: 96-108.
Huxham, Chris. (1996). Creating Collaborative Advantage. London: SAGE
 

The methodology that will be followed is that of the seminar. The textbooks selected will be explained and discussed in each of the sessions. The participants are expected to have read the texts in advance so that they can participate actively in the discussions. In each session two participants will act as speakers and a third as the reporter. Both the speakers and the reporters will have to prepare a 3-page written text to be distributed among those attending.

Either English or Spanish can be used for both the sessions and the projects.
 

On completing all the sessions the participants will have to prepare an in-depth project on some of the aspects studied in either of the two modules (the subject of the project can be related to a school of thought, an author, a text, or a line of research). The project will have an approximate length of ten pages.
 

Every Monday from 26/04/10 to 03/05/10
From 15:00 h. to 18:00 h.
Every Tuesday from 27/04/10 to 04/05/10
From 15:00 h. to 18:00 h.
Every Wednesday from 28/04/10 to 05/05/10
From 15:00 h. to 18:00 h.
Thursday 29/04/10
From 15:00 h. to 18:00 h.
Thursday 06/05/10
From 15:00 h. to 18:00 h.