Syllabus

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students will develop an understanding of two big issues that entrepreneurial businesses entering new markets face: (1) market and competitive analysis and (2) strategic positioning and dynamics. Students will learn to apply a number of theoretical ideas to analyse these issues, such as transaction costs, asset specificity, predatory strategies and price discrimination.

Credits: 6

Schedule: 11.01.2022 - 25.02.2022

Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):

Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Johannes Gartner

Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation):

CEFR level (valid for whole curriculum period):

Language of instruction and studies (applies in this implementation):

Teaching language: English. Languages of study attainment: English

CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD

Content

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Entrepreneurial businesses from start-ups to established corporations enter new markets with innovative products and services. This course covers strategic considerations and analysis tools that are relevant for understanding the market that the firm is about to enter and for developing a strategy that leads to a successful entry and sustainable competitive advantage.

• applies in this implementation

  Innovations are crucial for economic development and societal welfare. Entrepreneurship is the key function in bringing innovations to the market. This course examines how entrepreneurial businesses from start-ups to established corporations bring new innovative products and services to the market.

  The first objective of the course is developing an understanding of strategic considerations and analytical tools that are relevant for evaluating the market that the firm is about to enter and for developing a strategy that leads to a successful entry and sustainable competitive advantage.

  The second objective is learning to apply that understanding to analysing real market entry situations through business case analysis.

Assessment Methods and Criteria

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Midterm and final exams (online)

• applies in this implementation

  Pass requirements and marking

  In order to complete this course successfully you will need to collect 50 or more points out of the total of 100 available. The distribution of the points and the work required are described in more detail below.
  
  The final marks are based on the total points as follows:

  50-59 points               1
  60-69 points              2
  70-79 points               3
  80-89 points              4
  90-100 points            5

Workload

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Contact hours 8 h (optional; the course can also be completed fully online)
  Individual study 152 h

• applies in this implementation

  1. Completing the online learning modules (0 or 10 points)

   You will need to complete all seven online learning modules such that you score at least 70% correct in the questions included in each module. You can repeat each module as many times as you wish. The online learning systems opens on Tuesday, 11 January at 8:00 and stays open until Monday, 31 January 23:55. Within this time frame, you can complete the modules at your own pace. You will get 10 points if you complete all seven modules on time (by Monday, 31 January 23:55) and 0 points if you fail to do so.

  2. Midterm exam (0-30 points)

  The midterm exam tests what you have learned in the seven online learning modules. The exam comprises 30 single-choice questions with 5 answer options each. For each correct answer, you get one point – up to a total of 30 points. You have 45 minutes to complete the exam.

  The exam is administered online on MyCourses on Tuesday, 1 February 17:00-17:45. Time is very limited so make sure you have logged in well before the exam commences.

  Because the exam is online, you can take it wherever you wish, as long as you can access MyCourses with a reliable internet connection. You can use any supporting materials you wish – but note that you have on average 90 seconds per question, so don’t rely on studying while taking the exam.

  Note that the questions and answer options are presented to each student in a random order. Thus, asking a fellow student sitting next to you what the answer to question 10 is won’t work.

  Should you miss or not pass the exam, or you are unhappy with your score, you can retake the exam on Tuesday, 8 February 17:00-17:45. If you take the exam twice, the higher score counts to your final mark.

  3. Final exam (0-60 points)

   The final exam requires you to apply the concepts you have learned in the online learning modules to four cases: Flybaboo, Newlight Technologies, Slavic Treasures and Plumis.

   There will be two questions requiring answers of up to 1000 words each. The exam will be open books, open notes and it is highly advisable to prepare well in advance. The slide set we have prepared for you should be a handy memory aid of the theoretical material covered in the course.

  In addition to the conceptual material, you will need to know the four cases thoroughly in order to do well in the exam. It is highly advisable to analyse the cases in advance – working alone or with peers – and make notes as you go.

  The exam will be organised online in MyCourses on Tuesday, 15 February 9:00-21:00. You can start the exam at any time in the above time frame. Once you click the start button, time will start running and you will have three hours to write your answers. We recommend using a word processor or another offline text editing software to write your answers and copy them to MyCourses once you are done.

  Should you miss or not pass the exam, or you are unhappy with the score, you can resit it on Friday, 25 February 9:00-21:00. If you take the exam twice, the higher score counts to your final mark.

DETAILS

Study Material

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Theoretical material in the online learning environment in MyCourses
  Cases (available in MyCourses)

• applies in this implementation

  All materials needed for the course are available in MyCourses. You will need to study:

  1)     The online learning materials. The materials have been divided into seven thematic modules, each of which comprises one to three learning objectives. We have also prepared a set of slides that offers a summary of the principal theoretical content that you can study in addition to the interactive learning modules in MyCourses.

  2)    Four business cases: Flybaboo, Newlight Technologies, Slavic Treasures and Plumis.

  Additionally, you can use the following textbook to enhance your learning:

  Besanko, David, Dranove, David, Shanley, Mark, & Schaefer, Mark (2013). Economics of Strategy. 6^th Edition International Student Version. Wiley. Chapters: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8 and 9 (and the Economics Primer at the beginning of the book if you need to brush up on basic microeconomics).

  There are several copies of the book available in the library.

Substitutes for Courses

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Substitutes for Courses

Prerequisites

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Prerequisites

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further Information

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  The course can be completed either as a combination of contact teaching and online materials or as online-only. Participation in contact teaching is recommended but not mandatory.
  Max 100 students can be accepted to the course. Students are admitted to the course in the following priority order: 1) Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2) Aalto students.

  
  

  Teaching Period:

  2020-2021 Spring III

  2021-2022 Spring III

  
  

  Course Homepage: https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/search.php?search=25E52000

  
  

  Registration for Courses: In the academic year 2021-2022, registration for courses will take place on Sisu (sisu.aalto.fi) instead of WebOodi.

  Registration via Sisu ends 7 days before the period starts.

• applies in this implementation

  Marking criteria

  You will receive high marks if your exam answers analyse rather than describe the case. The most important marking criterion is your ability to apply theoretical material from the course to analysing the case and arriving at well-justified conclusions. Your overall analysis and the way you arrive at your conclusion or strategy recommendation to the case company is more important than what you actually recommend.

  Example: An exam question might ask you to recommend the case company to either make their own product or outsource production to another firm. Whether you recommend making or outsourcing is not as important as how you justify the recommendation.

  For examples of how case analysis using the theoretical material in this course can be crafted, there are two examples of excellent case analysis reports in MyCourses (uploaded with the students’ permission). The answers required in the exam are of course much shorter than the aforementioned case reports, but the reports give you a good idea of how to analyse, rather than just describe a case, with good application of theory.

  Timetable and how the course is organised

   The online learning system on the MyCourses site for the course will open on Tuesday, 11 January at 8:00. It will stay open until Monday, 31 January at 23:55. In this time, you will have to complete all seven learning modules, achieving 70% correct answers in the questions included in the modules. You can repeat each module as many times as you want.

  The midterm exam will take place online in MyCourses on Tuesday, 1 February at 17:00 and a resit will be organised on Tuesday, 8 February at 17:00. See below for more information.

  The final exam is on Tuesday, 15 February and can be taken at any time between 9:00 and 21:00. A resit is organised on Friday, 25 February, also between 9:00 and 21:00. The exam is online in MyCourses.

Details on the schedule

• applies in this implementation

  Date & time	Room	Content
  11 Jan – 31 Jan	Online (MyCourses)	Online learning material ·       Costs and cost advantages ·       Competitors and competition ·       Competitive advantage ·       Market entry ·       Make or buy ·       Industry analysis ·       Pricing
  1 Feb 17-17:45	Online (MyCourses)	Midterm exam
  2 Feb-14 Feb	Self-study	Case analysis: Flybaboo, Newlight Technologies, Plumis and Slavic Treasures
  8 Feb 17-17:45	Online (MyCourses)	Resit of the midterm exam
  15 Feb 9-21	Online (MyCourses)	Final exam
  25 Feb 9-21	Online (MyCourses)	Resit of the final exam

  
  

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