Topic outline

  • General

    Welcome to Strategy Process Fall 2022!

    The lectures are conducted in person. Remote participation (zoom link on bottom of this page) only possible for a special reason, to be agreed separately with course staff. The online delivery will not be of professional quality. You get points for active participation in person (details below).

    *We follow Aalto University's COVID-19 guidelines and will make potential adjustments accordingly.

    Passing the course requires completing the group assignment for a case company, consisting of graded sub-deliverables and a final report. We encourage active interaction within the groups.

    Students form their group (4 persons) and select their case company independently. The assignment can be completed using only public information, but real interaction with a case company is encouraged. Rich data about the company (e.g. interviews or internal data) will likely lead to a better grade than an assignment based purely on public data.

    Lectures are interactive, and lecture attendance is highly recommended. If you miss a (part of a) lecture, you should agree with your group on how you will compensate for your absence. We will work on the group assignment during the lectures and introduce the relevant instructions and theoretical frameworks. Hence, if you cannot attend the lectures, you should put extra effort into the group outside the lecture (everyone is expected to work on the group assignment around 15 hours per week outside lectures). Lecture slides and recommended additional readings will be available on MyCourses.

    See the course schedule for assignment details and a list of recommended readings.

    Please contact Joona Koistinen (@aalto.fi) with any questions or concerns.

    Learning outcomes

    Students will learn to formulate a strategy for a company through a systematic, structured process. They will also learn to plan strategy implementation and a continuous strategy process for a company. 

    Students will apply theoretical lessons in a hands-on assignment for a case company. The assignment is the key task in the course and theoretical lessons are organized to support students in the assignment. 

    The course is targeted at master’s students majoring in strategy or related areas. 

    Passing the course

    The course grading consists of the following elements (details of weighing different elements informed later):

    -Group assignment max 80 points: 50% of the assignment grade consists of sub-deliverables, and 50% of the final report. You need to return a set of slides every week and these slides will be graded. You need to get at least 40 points from the group work in total to pass the course. 

    -Active participation in lectures max 18 points: 2-3 points for active live participation; 1 points for passive live participation; 1 points for active remote participation; 0 points passive remote participation

    -To earn extra points, you can write voluntary essays. Detailed instructions will be provided during the course, along the following principles
       1. Read an article or set of articles related to the course topic (provided by the course staff)
       2. Write an essay that summarizes, applies, criticizes, and integrates the readings
       3. You can get max 3 points per essay and write max 3 essays during the course

    Course grade:

    5: 85 - 107 points 
    4: 76 - 84 points
    3: 67 - 75 points
    2: 58 - 66 points
    1: 50 - 57 points
    0: <50 points

    - The group work is mandatory and you must get at least 40 points from the group work to pass the course

    -To prevent free-riding, you will also be peer-graded by your fellow group members twice during the course. This can have a significant effect on your grade (between +-2 grades) or passing the course. 

    Deliverables and deadlines - Group assignment 

    Formulate a strategy for the case company in the specified domain. The final deliverable is a PowerPoint presentation with about 20 slides covering the elements described below.

    Group-assignment sub-deliverables:

    1. No deliverable after first lecture

    2. Analyze the strategic situation and create options 

    3. Elaborate on the strategic options 

    4. Evaluate the strategic options 

    5. Plan the execution of the chosen strategic option

    6. Final report

    In each lecture, some groups will present their slides and get feedback.


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