STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Practical information.................................................................................................................................................... 2
Chapter 1: Introduction Strategy ................................................................................................................................... 3
Chapter 2: External Analysis: understanding the industry ............................................................................................. 13
Chapter 3: Internal analysis: Capabilities → core Competencies .................................................................................. 35
Chapter 4: Positioning in the industry: Red Ocean Strategy ........................................................................................... 45
Chapter 5: Restructuring the industry: Blue Ocean Strategy .......................................................................................... 65
Chapter 6: Game Changing Innovation ........................................................................................................................ 76
Chapter 7: Global Strategy of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) ............................................................................... 102
Chapter 8: Corporate Strategy at Multinational Corporations (MNCs).......................................................................... 108
Chapter 9: Accountability and Responsibility of Corporate Leader/strategist ............................................................... 117
Chapter 10: Strategy in Turbulent Times .................................................................................................................... 134
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,PRACTICAL INFORMATION
• Prof. Dr. Peter Verhezen
Peter.verhezen@UAntwerpen.be
o Professor University of Antwerp & Antwerp Management School
o Senior Partner The Boardroom Partnership Ltd (Singapore-Indonesia)
o Adjunct Professor Melbourne Business School (Australia)
o Former Senior Consultant International Finance Corporation – World Bank Asia Pacific
o Former Fellow Ash Institute Harvard Kennedy School (USA)
• Teaching Assistant: Maarten Thys
maarten.thys@UAntwerpen.be
• Suggested Literature:
o We will use as core for this course:
▪ 1) Slides presentations (9-10 themes)
• The slides are summaries of chapters in the textbook +
• Elaborations of the latest concepts and practice in Strategy
• Real Cases in class
▪ 2) Textbook (optional) :
• (Compiled by Verhezen) Thompson, Strickland, Gamble, Peteraf, Janes & Sutton, (2013-
2019), Crafting and Executing Strategy. The Quest for Competitive Advantage, Berkshire,
McGrawHill
▪ 3) Recommended Papers on Blackboard
• Not mandatory, but more explorative
• Oral Exam in January:
o Understanding the theoretical notions I’ll explain in class
o Being able to apply the theory to real cases
o 1 hour of preparation, 15 minutes of oral exam
o For example: explain the strategy of Zara
o Understanding the theory will pass you, but application of it will give you more then that
• Overview strategic management:
SCHEDULE BOOK CHAPTER THEME
9 October 2024 Chapter 1 Introduction Strategy
22 & 23 October 2024 Chapter 2 External Analysis: understanding the industry
29 & 30 October 2024 Chapter 3 Internal Analysis: Capabilities → core Competencies
5 & 6 November 2024 Chapter 4 Positioning in the industry: Red Ocean Strategy
12 & 13 November 2024 Chapter 5 Restructuring the industry: Blue Ocean Strategy
19 & 20 November 2024 Chapter 6 Game Changing Innovation
26 & 27 November 2024
3 & 4 December 2024 Chapter 7 – 8 Global Strategy of & Corporate Strategy at
Multinational Corporations (MNCs)
10 & 11 December 2024 Chapter 9 Accountability and Responsibility of Corporate Leader/Strategist
17 December 2024 Chapter 10 Strategy in Turbulent Times
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,CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION STRATEGY
• Strategy = art + science (based on experience)
• Strategy is about the future (=uncertainty), no guarantee that strategy will work
• Strategy is being critical
WHAT IS THE ESSENCE OF STRATEGIC THINKING AND IMPLEMENTATION?
• An appealing case: Netflix
o Stock price Netflix: 722,21 USD
o Did pretty well in covid, but then has seen a big drop, now they are again going up
o Traditional performance (financial)
o Strategy needs to be refracted in performance
o What’s happening since 1 October 2021?
▪ New platforms like Disney+, Apple plus, Amazon Prime, HBO, … → more and more competition
▪ New competitors, why is that important?
• Market share goes down!
• Customers may move away from you to competitors
• ➔ Profitability will go down
• Does it goes up again?
o The competition didn’t flopped, but also didn’t caused too much trouble
o Netflix changed the whole password sharing policy
▪ In the US, you can’t have one account and see different things at that
account at the same time
o Others weren’t failing, but internationally, Netflix is booming (fe. in Asia)
• It’s true that strategy is about competition
THE QUEST FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
• Competitive advantage
MEETING CUSTOMER NEEDS MORE EFFECTIVELY, WITH PRODUCTS OR SERVICES THAT
CUSTOMERS VALUE MORE HIGHLY, OR MORE EFFICIENTLY, AT LOWER COST.
• Sustainable Competitive Advantage
GIVING BUYERS “LASTING” REASONS TO PREFER A FIRM’S PRODUCT OR SERVICES OVER THOSE
OF ITS COMPETITORS
• Strategy is about competitive advantage
• competitive advantage ≠ comparative advantage
o For example a restaurant: if a restaurant is successful, someone will see and will copy cat
▪ The result is more competition
▪ We can physically be in one place at the same time → going to a restaurant is a lost for another
▪ As a result of competition, you loose clients
▪ Management wants to grasp as much as possible for your organisation
• What’s the purpose of businesses?
o Creating value for the customer and making money
o Maximization of profitability? No, because then you maximize your own happiness, but if you maximize
this, you will be a very unhappy person, because it’s proven that your network are making you happy and
not you as an island on yourself (paradox)
▪ Happiness = doing things for others
▪ If you ignore your customers and suppliers, you may succeed short, but not on the long term
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, • The purpose of a business is creating value for everybody that effects on your organization
o Employees
o Suppliers
o Customers
• Dividends is paid after all the rest has been paid and that makes sense
o You should make profit on top of what has been paid, because you need to reinvest
• Sustain = you need to be able to reinvest
o You need to create that sustainable advantage
• For example Apple and Samsung have a sustainable competitive advantage because the answer preferring a
smartphone brand is stable over the past 5 years → lasting reasons
STRATEGIC APPROACH CHOICES
• Building competitive advantage for example retail
o Low-cost provider Colruyt, Lidl, Aldi
o Differentiation of features Delhaize
o Focus on differentiation market niche particular shops for fish, meet, …
o Focus on cost market niche
THE EVOLVING NATURE OF AN ORGANIZATIONS STRATEGY
• Realized (current) strategy is a blend of
o Proactive (deliberate) strategy elements that include both continued and new initiatives
▪ How are you preparing the organisation in the industry?
▪ Why is Netflix so popular and profitable?
• First one streaming in the market, buying rights and producing own movies and series
▪ Reason of a business = solve a problem to address a challenge
• You see an opportunity that no one has seen yet
• For Netflix, that opportunity was streaming video’s, but that took years because of the
underlying structure
• Blockbuster was not able to react and went bankrupt
• Netflix is an entertainment company, not anymore a logistics company as it was in the
beginning
o That is changing the investments
• The magic of Netflix is probably the AI algorithm that predicts which movie you would
like
o Our behavior doesn’t change overnight, our preferences stay thesame
o Reactive (emergent) strategy elements that are required due to unanticipated competitive developments
and fresh market conditions
o Deliberateness vs. Emergence
▪ Example: Honda case in SUA in
the 50s
• Intended strategy is not
always successful
• Honda in the 50s
decided to compete I
the US with the big
holiday
• The results didn’t work
out as expected
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