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Course Syllabus

Course Description

Examines strategic management activities and benefits, including a practical, integrative model of the strategic- management process and the important relationship between business ethics and strategic management.

Course Textbook(s)

David, F. R., David, F. R., & David, M. E. (2020). Strategic management: A competitive advantage approach, concepts and cases (17th ed.). Pearson. https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780135203736

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

1. Analyze the nuances of strategic management. 2. Correlate the characteristics of vision and mission to business success. 3. Analyze external and internal audit processes. 4. Evaluate policy creation strategies. 5. Examine the process of selecting an industry appropriate strategy. 6. Establish a strategic management follow-up process. 7. Examine the process of implementing strategies across business operations. 8. Assess the strategy evaluation process.

Academic Integrity

Honesty and integrity are taken very seriously at Waldorf University. All students should be familiar with the Waldorf University Academic Integrity Policy (found in the current Student Handbook) and the consequences that will result from breaches of this policy.

Credits

Upon completion of this course, the students will earn 3.00 hours of college credit.

Course Structure

1. Study Guide: Course units contain a Study Guide that provides students with the learning outcomes, unit lesson,

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required unit resources, assignments, and supplemental resources. 2. Learning Outcomes: Each unit contains Learning Outcomes that specify the measurable skills and knowledge

students should gain upon completion of the unit. 3. Unit Lesson: Unit Lessons, which are located in the Study Guide, discuss lesson material. 4. Required Unit Resources: Units contain Required Unit Resources from one or more chapters from the textbook

and/or outside resources. 5. Suggested Unit Resources: Suggested Unit Resources are listed within the Study Guide. Students are encouraged

to read the resources listed if the opportunity arises, but they will not be tested on their knowledge of the Suggested Unit Resources.

6. Discussion Boards: Students are required to submit Discussion Board posts in Units I-VIII. Discussion Boards provide students the opportunity for student-to-student and professor-to-student interaction based on relevant course concepts and ideas. Specific information about accessing the Discussion Board rubric is provided below.

7. Unit Assessments: This course contains Unit Assessments, which test student knowledge on important aspects of the course. These tests may come in many different forms, ranging from multiple choice to written response questions.

8. Unit Assignments: Students are required to submit for grading Unit Assignments. Specific information and instructions regarding these assignments are provided below. Grading rubrics are included with each assignment. Specific information about accessing these rubrics is provided below.

9. Ask the Professor: This communication forum provides students with an opportunity to ask their professor general questions or questions related to course content.

10. Student Break Room: This communication forum allows for casual conversation with other classmates.

Unit Assignments

Unit II Scholarly Activity

In Unit VIII of this course, you will submit a final paper on a company of your choice. You will complete this paper over several units in this course. In this unit, you will be completing the first part of this project. For this first part of the project, follow the instructions below.

Using the Waldorf Online Library, select a Fortune 500 company to research for your paper. Compose a brief paper that gives an overview of your company. Your paper should include the following:

Introduce the type of company, what industry it is in, and any relevant background information. Analyze the company’s current mission statement and vision statement. Create a revised mission and vision statement. Explain why the mission and vision statements were changed. Summarize how the company’s actions are vision and mission driven. Describe how the organizational culture helps keep employees motivated in the company.

You will need to reference your textbook and at least one source from the Waldorf Online Library for this assignment. Your project must be a minimum of two full pages in length. Adhere to APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. APA formatting, however, is not necessary.

You can locate official information about the Fortune 500 company of your choice in the ABI/Inform database, which features company profile information about public and private companies alike. This database can be found on the A-Z Databases page in the library.

Unit III Case Study

You work as a strategist for your selected Fortune 500 company in the Unit II assignment. As you read through the Required Unit Resources, pay close attention to your firm’s strategy, and write a case study analyzing the following points:

Examine your firm’s internal strengths and weaknesses. How can organizational relationships improve performance in the firm? Who are your firm’s competitors? Do you see your firm’s strategy as effective or ineffective? Why?

Your completed case study must be at least two pages in length, and you must use at least your textbook as a reference. Other references may be used as needed. Adhere to APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment.

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APA formatting, however, is not necessary.

Unit IV Case Study

In this unit, you will continue researching the company that you selected for your final project. For this assignment, you will create a new product or service line for your firm. In your analysis, include the following items:

Provide a brief description of the product or service. Explain how the new product or service line fits into the firm’s strategy and new mission statement. Create a new organizational structure/chart for the company; explain how the new organizational structure/chart is improved. What are the company’s short-term and long-term goals?

You will need to reference your textbook and at least one source from the Waldorf Online Library for this assignment. Your case study must be a minimum of two full pages in length. Adhere to APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. APA formatting, however, is not necessary.

In the Waldorf Online Library, the database Business Insights: Global (a GALE database) carries access to all kinds of individual company information, including SWOT Reports on individual companies. You can either do a quick company search in the general search box on the search page inside the database or you can first navigate through the Companies tab then to SWOT Reports to view of list of SWOT Analysis reports.

Unit VI PowerPoint Presentation

In Unit II of this course, you selected a Fortune 500 company and revised the mission and vision statements. In Unit III you identified the firm’s internal strengths and weaknesses, and in Unit IV you created a new product or service line for your selected project firm. In this unit, the board of directors have requested that you conduct a SWOT analysis for the company and relate how the information may affect the new product or service line. The board is requesting that you present the information in a PowerPoint presentation.

Remember that a SWOT analysis identifies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of an organization. This is an important analysis for any organization as it can be used for strategic planning. Include the following components in your presentation:

Identify at least two strengths of the company. Identify at least two weaknesses of the company. Identify at least two opportunities the company has. Identify at least two threats facing the company. Based on information from your SWOT analysis, explain where the company stands in relation to its competitors. Discuss how information from the SWOT analysis can be used in developing and launching the new product or service line. What role does company leadership have in implementing changes and processes?

Use of speaker notes is required in the presentation. In the speaker notes, you will provide what you would say if you were actually giving the presentation to the board. Explain each element of the SWOT analysis and how it affects the company. Please write your notes in complete sentences and adhere to typical grammar and/or punctuation rules.

Your PowerPoint presentation should be at least 10 slides, not including the title slide and reference slide. You must use a minimum of one academic or peer-reviewed reference source in addition to your textbook. Adhere to APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment.

The PowerPoint Basics tutorial from the Success Center is a great resource to help with creating your presentation.

Unit VIII Project

For the final assignment of this course, you will continue your work with the company you used in previous units. The Unit VIII Project will now combine what you previously developed into a final strategic plan for the company.

When creating your strategic plan, focus on the following points:

Analyze internal and external issues. Assess global and national competition. Analyze key financial statements, and explain how items such as corporate tax rates can affect your company’s ability to compete on a global scale. Examine the future outlook for the industry and your selected organization.

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Implement performance tools used for measuring business performance. Integrate corrective actions to take if the business is not performing successfully. Explain how training programs, job enrichment, and motivation techniques can improve employee satisfaction and performance evaluation.

Regarding the future of the organization, you may be creative and add your own insight on where you see the company going. This can include information about how the new product or service line you introduced in Unit IV will impact the company.

Your paper must be at least three full pages in length (does not include the title page or the reference page), and you must use at least two academic sources from the Waldorf Online Library. Adhere to APA Style when constructing this assignment, including in-text citations and references for all sources that are used. Please note that no abstract is needed.

This formal paper example provided by the Waldorf University Writing Center shows this type of formatting.

The How to Find Journal Articles tutorial is another great resource to help with your research.

Submitting Course Papers/Projects

Once you have completed your papers/projects, submit your completed papers/projects by uploading through the Assignment tab in each unit. Do not e-mail your paper directly to your professor. By using the Assignment tab, your record will automatically be updated to indicate you have submitted your papers/projects, and the assignment will be provided to your professor for grading. Instructions for submitting your assignment can be found under the Assignment tab in each unit.

APA Guidelines

Waldorf University requires that students use the APA style for papers and projects. Therefore, the APA rules for formatting, quoting, paraphrasing, citing, and listing of sources are to be followed. Information about using APA style can be found in APA Style Help in the Course Menu. This area provides links to Internet sites, tutorials, and guides that provide comprehensive information on APA formatting, including examples and sample papers.

Grading Rubrics

This course utilizes analytic grading rubrics as tools for your professor in assigning grades for all learning activities. Each rubric serves as a guide that communicates the expectations of the learning activity and describes the criteria for each level of achievement. In addition, a rubric is a reference tool that lists evaluation criteria and can help you organize your efforts to meet the requirements of that learning activity. It is imperative for you to familiarize yourself with these rubrics because these are the primary tools your professor uses for assessing learning activities.

Rubric categories include (1) Discussion Board, (2) Assessment (Written Response), and (3) Assignment. However, it is possible that not all of the listed rubric types will be used in a single course (e.g., some courses may not have Assessments).

The Discussion Board rubric can be found within Unit I’s Discussion Board submission instructions.

The Assessment (Written Response) rubric can be found embedded in a link within the directions for each Unit Assessment. However, these rubrics will only be used when written-response questions appear within the Assessment.

Each Assignment type (e.g., article critique, case study, research paper) will have its own rubric. The Assignment rubrics are built into Blackboard, allowing students to review them prior to beginning the Assignment and again once the Assignment has been scored. This rubric can be accessed via the Assignment link located within the unit where it is to be submitted. Students may also access the rubric through the course menu by selecting the “Grades” link.

Again, it is vitally important for you to become familiar with these rubrics because their application to your Discussion Boards, Assessments, and Assignments is the method by which your instructor assigns all grades.

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Communication Forums

These are non-graded discussion forums that allow you to communicate with your professor and other students. Participation in these discussion forums is encouraged, but not required. You can access these forums with the buttons in the Course Menu. Instructions for subscribing/unsubscribing to these forums are provided below.

Click here for instructions on how to subscribe/unsubscribe and post to the Communication Forums.

Ask the Professor

This communication forum provides you with an opportunity to ask your professor general or course content questions. Questions may focus on Blackboard locations of online course components, textbook or course content elaboration, additional guidance on assessment requirements, or general advice from other students.

Questions that are specific in nature, such as inquiries regarding assessment/assignment grades or personal accommodation requests, are NOT to be posted on this forum. If you have questions, comments, or concerns of a non- public nature, please feel free to email your professor. Responses to your post will be addressed or emailed by the professor within 48 hours.

Before posting, please ensure that you have read all relevant course documentation, including the syllabus, assessment/assignment instructions, faculty feedback, and other important information.

Student Break Room

This communication forum allows for casual conversation with your classmates. Communication on this forum should always maintain a standard of appropriateness and respect for your fellow classmates. This forum should NOT be used to share assessment answers.

Schedule/Grading

The following pages contain a printable Course Schedule to assist you through this course. By following this schedule, you will be assured that you will complete the course within the time allotted.

Unit I Overview of Strategic Management [ Weight: 11% ]

Read/View: Unit I Study Guide Chapter 1: The Nature of Strategic Management Part 6: How to Prepare and Present a Case Analysis (1 section): See Study Guide

Discuss: Unit I Discussion Board 2%

Submit: Unit I Assessment 9%

Unit II Mission and Vision [ Weight: 13% ]

Read/View: Unit II Study Guide Chapter 2: Business Vision and Mission

Discuss: Unit II Discussion Board 2%

Submit: Unit II Scholarly Activity 11%

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Unit III External and Internal Assessment [ Weight: 11% ]

Read/View: Unit III Study Guide Chapter 3: The External Assessment Chapter 4: The Internal Assessment

Discuss: Unit III Discussion Board 2%

Submit: Unit III Case Study 9%

Unit IV Strategy [ Weight: 13% ]

Read/View: Unit IV Study Guide Chapter 5: Strategies in Action Chapter 6: Strategy Analysis and Choice

Discuss: Unit IV Discussion Board 2%

Submit: Unit IV Case Study 11%

Unit V Implementing Strategy [ Weight: 11% ]

Read/View: Unit V Study Guide Chapter 7: Implementing Strategies: Management and Marketing Issues Chapter 8: Implementing Strategies: Finance and Accounting Issues

Discuss: Unit V Discussion Board 2%

Submit: Unit V Assessment 9%

Unit VI Evaluating Strategies [ Weight: 14% ]

Read/View: Unit VI Study Guide Chapter 9: Strategy Evaluation and Governance

Discuss: Unit VI Discussion Board 2%

Submit: Unit VI PowerPoint Presentation 12%

Unit VII Ethics and Social Responsibility [ Weight: 11% ]

Read/View: Unit VII Study Guide Chapter 10: Business Ethics, Environmental Sustainability, and Corporate Social Responsibility Unit Resources (2 articles): See Study Guide

Discuss: Unit VII Discussion Board 2%

Submit: Unit VII Assessment 9%

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Unit VIII International Issues [ Weight: 16% ]

Read/View: Unit VIII Study Guide Chapter 11: Global and International Issues

Discuss: Unit VIII Discussion Board 2%

Submit: Unit VIII Project 14%

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