Macquarie University
Strategic management: Be competitive
Macquarie University

Strategic management: Be competitive

This course is part of Strategising: Management for Global Competitive Advantage Specialization

Taught in English

Some content may not be translated

9,175 already enrolled

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Course

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals

4.8

(308 reviews)

Beginner level
No prior experience required
21 hours (approximately)
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

  • Identifying the forces that shape competition for economic exchanges

  • Analysing the sources of value in company offerings and how do segment markets in order to create value

  • Developing strategic options that are suitable, feasible, and acceptable

Details to know

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Assessments

12 quizzes

Course

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals

4.8

(308 reviews)

Beginner level
No prior experience required
21 hours (approximately)
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills

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This course is part of the Strategising: Management for Global Competitive Advantage Specialization
When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.
  • Learn new concepts from industry experts
  • Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
  • Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
  • Earn a shareable career certificate
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There are 6 modules in this course

This week you will be introduced to the strategy framework that captures the components of competitive strategy. The components of competitive strategy are: strategy content, internal strategy context, and external strategy context. You will develop an understanding of how those components contribute to value creation and value capture. You will gain understanding of the key characteristics of competitive strategy, starting with two foundational topics: First, we will establish that organisations are all about value creation. You will understand what value means, and also how value creation has become a central topic in organisations. Second, you will learn about what strategy actually is and what the characteristics of competitive strategy are.

What's included

5 videos5 readings2 quizzes1 discussion prompt

This week you will learn to analyse the aspects of the external strategy context directly related to your business: customers and competitors. You will learn how to conduct customer segmentation and targeting, assess the competitive landscape in an industry, and know which factors affect the degree of competition in an industry.

What's included

3 videos3 readings2 quizzes

This week you will continue to look at the external strategy context, this time analysing the industry and the broader macro-environment. You will learn how to discover the stakeholders that affect your industry, know which industry forces affect competitive strategies,and identify which macro-environmental factors affect competitive strategies. You will develop understanding of the Porter's 5 Forces framework to analyse the forces in the industry context. You will also learn how to conduct a PESTEL analysis to assess the impact of Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental/physical and Legal (PESTEL) factors on business.

What's included

3 videos4 readings2 quizzes

This week, you will focus on the competitive strategy content. you will learn about the so-called generic competitive strategies, which are also often called positioning strategies. After conducting customer segmentation, competitor analysis, and a macro-environmental scan, you have to decide which competitive strategy and strategic positioning is most promising in your industry and for the respective segments: differentiating your products based on provided benefits or following a low cost strategy?You will develop skills to help you understand how to position your organisation as a value for money provider by being a cost leader in the market, and how to become a differentiated provider.

What's included

4 videos2 readings2 quizzes

This week, you will learn how to analyse your organisation’s strategic options. You will understand the importance of strategic fit and how to achieve it. You will learn how to assess key capabilities to competitive strategy, and evaluate and choose between strategic options. You will learn about a set of criteria and frameworks, based on the Resource Based View, to evaluate capabilities and strategic options to achieve competitive advantage.

What's included

4 videos2 readings2 quizzes

This week, you will be introduced to the idea of ambidexterity and the need to set up your strategy to exploit current advantages and opportunities, while simultaneously using your resources & capabilities to form new advantages. This week you will learn how to develop growth strategies for your organisation by thinking about your organisation as a portfolio of businesses. You will learn about analytical frameworks such as the growth share matrix and the Ansoff matrix. You will learn how to come up with new value offerings for your customers by applying blue ocean thinking to create value propositions.

What's included

4 videos3 readings2 quizzes

Instructor

Instructor ratings
4.6 (92 ratings)
Associate Professor Ralf Wilden
Macquarie University
2 Courses9,353 learners

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Recommended if you're interested in Business Strategy

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4.8

308 reviews

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Reviewed on Jan 13, 2021

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Reviewed on Jan 25, 2023

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