What is Strategic Management?

The central goal of strategic management is to understand how organizations might achieve advantage relative to competitors. It is of interest to individuals who act as integrators – that is, they might make decisions that cut across the functional and product boundaries of a firm. Such decisions include:

• What type of advantage (e.g., low cost or differentiation) does the firm aim to deliver?
• What is the scope (geographic, market) over which the advantage is targeted?
• What are the activities throughout the value chain that deliver the intended advantage, and how do they interact?
• What range of businesses is appropriate within a single firm and how should they be organized?

Area Description

Strategic Management courses provide students with the necessary concepts and practical tools to be effective integrators, or general managers, in organizations. It is ideal for two types of students.

• One type aspires to jump immediately into a general manager role with an established company (e.g., product manager, business unit manager, country manager, member of top management team), as a consultant, or as part of an entrepreneurial team.
• A second type of student might plan upon graduation to take a functional position (e.g., finance, marketing, accounting, human resources, MIS, operations) but will likely report to a manager who has general management responsibilities. These individuals may find it helpful in their careers to better understand the issues to which their superiors are concerned. These students may also hope to eventually aspire to general management responsibilities. For this type of student, combining the strategic management option with another functional option is a lethal combination.