STR463 Strategy and Technology

• Topics

  The question of how technology affects the behavior and performance of firms has occupied the minds of scholars and managers for decades. Technology defines on a large measure the opportunity space for decision makers along key strategic dimensions. The course embraces a broad understanding of technology as the application of scientific insights and knowledge to practical problems and uses recent advances in digital technologies to showcase technology as both enabling force and contextual factor for strategy and the outcomes it produces. In times of increasing technologization of social and economic life, it is paramount for business and management students to develop a sound understanding of the relationship between technology / technological shift and firm conduct and performance, including implications for society and the environment. This course seeks to advance this understanding.

• Learning outcome

  Upon successful completion of the course, the student:

  Knowledge

  • Can explain key concepts and principles that underpin corporate, competitive, and global advantage of business firms.
  • Has acquired comprehensive and in-depth knowledge of theories and research in the areas of strategy and the strategic management of technology and technological innovation.
  • Has gained a sound understanding of the qualitative changes that new technology and technology shift evoke in the behavior of firms, and how these conducts link up to performance and survival.
  • Can understand the potential contributions of new technologies to sustainable growth and knows about the ethical issues involved in creating and capturing value from new technologies.

  Skills

  • Can judge the relevance of new technology and technological trends across different domains of strategy (corporate, competitive, and global strategy).
  • Can make use of new evidence and knowledge on how and under what condition new technologies impact the behavior of firms, including their performance and survival prospects.
  • Can analyze the interplay of strategy and technology in specific industries and draw conclusions from this analysis that can be transferred to other contexts.
  • Can assess new technologies realistically regarding their potential contribution to fostering sustainable growth, which includes balancing business interests of value capture with ethical considerations of fair value distribution.

  General competences

  • Can communicate effectively with academic and practitioner audiences on questions related to technological transition and its implications for firms and their behavior.
  • Can collaborate with others to analyze on and make sense of unstructured and complex business situations exhibiting uncertainty and change.
  • Can recognize the international dimension of technological transition and its implication for firms and their strategies around the globe.
  • Can reflect and take into account sustainability and ethical issues in connection with business’ conduct to create and capture value from new technologies.

• Teaching

  The course design is student-centered and phenomenon-based, blending competitive, corporate, and global strategy perspectives to foster a comprehensive understanding of the impact of new (digital-enabled) technology on strategy and strategic management of organizations.

  We will invite business practitioners as well as technology experts as guest speakers to share their experience and perspectives on latest advancements in technology and the implications for business and strategy.

  Besides regular in-class lectures, students work in teams of 2-3 on two group assignments. For course approval, student groups need to submit these group assignments and pass a minimum of two online multiple-choice quizzes. In addition, student groups are supposed to provide a short, written peer review of the group assignments handed in by other groups. These other groups provide a short response to peer reviews they receive.

  The course does not require specific prior knowledge; yet a basic understanding of strategy and strategic management tools and frameworks will be helpful.

• Recommended prerequisites

  None.

• Required prerequisites

  None.

• Credit reduction due to overlap

  No credit reduction due to overlaps.

• Compulsory Activity

  In groups (consisting of 2-3 students, who together work on all assignments):

  • Approved drafts of two group assignments
  • Submission of two peer reviews of another group's assignments

  Each student individually:

  • Passing two (online) multiple-choice quizzes

  Each of these three elements have to be produced and submitted in the same semester and are only valid for that semester.

• Assessment

  The assessment is based on a portfolio of written group assignments prepared over the semester. A group consists of 2-3 students, who together work on all assignments.

  All assignments that make up for the portfolio have to be submitted in the same semester and are only valid for that semester.

• Grading Scale

  Karakterskala A-F.

• Literature

  A list of mandatory and supplementary readings will be provided via Leganto (Canvas) in due time. The list may be extended and complemented as we go along. Students are expected to prepare on average 1-2 mandatory readings for each class.