LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon completion of the course, students will:
- Understand the role of historical knowledge in the evolution of industries and companies
- Understand how central concepts in strategy and marketing (e.g. dynamic capabilities, market orientation) have evolved and how they have been adopted and applied in real-life company settings
- Understand how the historical method can be applied to the study of diverse topics in management research
- Be able to write and present a concise academic seminar paper on a chosen historical topic.
Credits: 6
Schedule: 14.09.2021 - 21.10.2021
Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):
Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Henrikki Tikkanen, Axel Juslin
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:
Research in strategic management on the one hand and strategic marketing on the other have traditionally tended to go separate paths. Strategic management research has focused on topics such as dynamic firm-internal capabilities, competitive actions and dynamics, upper echelons of corporations, strategic leadership, and strategy practices and processes. The customer and market viewpoint has often been missing. Strategic marketing research has studied corporate orientations and their performance implications, customer value and customer relationships, marketing performance measurement, and value networks. Therein, the top management and leadership viewpoint has been scarce.
This course offers a business history perspective to strategic management and marketing. It has often been claimed that a lot of management research is void of relevant historical understanding, which may lead practicing managers to repeat past mistakes (e.g. in the case of business cycles). Extant historical studies on the above-mentioned diverse topics on strategy and marketing published in the leading journals of these fields are included in the readings package of the course. What is more, the students prepare and present an academic seminar paper on a chosen historical topic. This not only offers insights into historical past-dependencies in strategy-making and marketing activities in different industry and company settings, but also sheds light on how the historical research method can be successfully applied to provide answers to relevant research questions.
Assessment Methods and Criteria
valid for whole curriculum period:
- Readings assignment (20 % of the grade, individual grading)
- Class participation and discussion (10 % of the grade, individual grading)
- Seminar paper (50 % of the grade, group grading)
- Learning diary (20 % of the grade,
Workload
valid for whole curriculum period:
6 cr, 160h
- Lectures & interactive seminars, 21 h
- Preparation of a seminar paper in groups of 1-3 people, 40 h
- 1-2 three-hour presentation sessions for the seminar papers, 6 h
- Individual work with the preparation of literature summaries and the final report, 93 h
DETAILS
Study Material
valid for whole curriculum period:
ca. 25 academic journal articles representing historical research in the areas of strategy and marketing.
Substitutes for Courses
valid for whole curriculum period:
Prerequisites
valid for whole curriculum period:
SDG: Sustainable Development Goals
8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
16 Peace and Justice Strong Institutions
FURTHER INFORMATION
Further Information
valid for whole curriculum period:
The number of participants is limited to 60. Priority is given to (1) Aalto students studying in MSc Program of Marketing, (2) CEMS-studens, (3) BIZ exchange students, (4) Aalto BIZ B.Sc. students with 150 credits, (5) other BIZ students
Teaching Period:
(2020, 2021) - No teaching
2021-2022 Autumn I
Course Homepage: https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/search.php?search=23E21555
Registration for Courses: In the academic year 2021-2022, registration for courses will take place on Sisu (sisu.aalto.fi) instead of WebOodi.
Check registration time in Sisu.
- Opettaja: Tikkanen Henrikki
- Opettaja: Örnhjelm Axel