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22641-01 - Lecture: Competitive Strategy (3 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2025 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Jeffrey Macher (jeffrey.macher@unibas.ch) |
| Content | Political, economic, demographic and social environments differ and evolve across industries. Industries differ in the extent to which they provide opportunities for sustained profitability. Industries also evolve over time, providing firms with continuously changing opportunities and threats. The first section of the course examines the external (industry) environment. While industry analysis provides firms insights into what they must do to succeed, it does not shed much light on what they can do. Resource and capability analysis provides insights into firms strengths and weaknesses (as they relate to the external environment). An understanding of internal strengths enables firms to fully exploit and build their capabilities to compete successfully, while an understanding of internal weaknesses suggests recommendations for improvement. The second section of the course examines the internal environment. Firms jockey for position in industries through their actions and interactions. Every firm seeks to obtain a unique and sustainable competitive position through an appropriate configuration of its assets and products in relation to the external environment in order to generate superior value for its customers. The third section of the course examines competitive advantage and competitive positioning. Firms need to understand their nonmarket environments, or the external forces that operate “beyond the market.” Laws, regulations, institutions, and societal norms structure and shape market competition, and governments, regulators, courts, the media, non-governmental organizations, and activists affect how firms compete and whether certain resources and capabilities are valuable. The fourth section of the course examines the nonmarket environment. |
| Learning objectives | Competitive Strategy is concerned with managing the development and competitive position of the business enterprise in order to ensure its survival and long-term success. Every firm must create and sustain a competitive advantage if it is to survive and prosper. This course provides frameworks, tools and concepts to help students analyze and understand the creation and sustainability of competitive advantage. |
| Bibliography | Course materials consist of journal articles, notes, and cases. Journal articles represent some of the most popular Harvard Business Review articles on strategy and strategic concepts, and are designated HBS in the syllabus. Journal articles require registration and purchase and are available at the HBS course. The cost for the HBS course material is roughly $40. For further details, please see the syllabus. |
| Comments | This course is part of the Summer School in Law, Business and Economic Policy. |
| Weblink | Weblink to the Summer School |
| Admission requirements | Solid understanding of business and economics on the BA level. Theory of the Firm (62651) Product Management (Produktmanagement, 10653) Advanced International Trade and Business (10625) |
| Course application | All applications have to be processed through the Summer School office. The enrollment for the course is at the same time the final registration for the exam! The online application is open from 20 February - 17 March 2025. Applications that are submitted by 3 March (23:55) will be handled on a priority basis. Please fill in the application form, which can be found on the weblink: https://wwz.unibas.ch/de/studium/summer-school/ If there are still vacancies, we will accept late applications until 31 May 2025 |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| täglich | See individual dates | ||
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 30.06.2025 | 09.30-12.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S10 HG.45 |
| Tuesday 01.07.2025 | 09.30-12.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S10 HG.45 |
| Wednesday 02.07.2025 | 09.30-12.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S10 HG.45 |
| Thursday 03.07.2025 | 09.30-12.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S10 HG.45 |
| Monday 07.07.2025 | 09.30-12.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S10 HG.45 |
| Tuesday 08.07.2025 | 09.30-12.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S10 HG.45 |
| Wednesday 09.07.2025 | 09.30-12.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S10 HG.45 |
| Thursday 10.07.2025 | 09.30-12.00 | Juristische Fakultät, Seminarraum S10 HG.45 |
| Modules |
Module: Business Field: Marketing (Master's Studies: Business and Technology) Module: Business Field: Strategy and Organization (Master's Studies: Business and Technology) Module: Core Courses in International Business, Trade and the Environment (Master's Studies: Business and Economics) Module: Core Courses in Marketing and Strategic Management (Master's Studies: Business and Economics) Module: Field Electives in Economics and Public Policy (Master's Studies: Economics and Public Policy) Module: Specific Electives in Business and Economics (Master's Studies: Business and Economics) Module: Specific Electives in International Business, Trade and the Environment (Master's Studies: Business and Economics) Module: Specific Electives in Marketing and Strategic Management (Master's Studies: Business and Economics) |
| Assessment format | record of achievement |
| Assessment details | Attendance and good preparation are prerequisites for being a valuable participant in the class. You are expected to prepare for and attend every class and participate actively. Grading will be based on your performance in class participation, two case write-up submissions, and a final examination. The grading weights are as follows: Class participation: 30% Case write-ups (2): 30% Final examination: 40%. Date of final examination: 11 July 2025. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Registration/deregistration: faculty |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | 1-6 0,1 |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Business and Economics , studiendekanat-wwz@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Faculty of Business and Economics |