Introduction to Business Strategy | 2020-21
This course starts by familiarizing participants with effective business strategies and the concept of industry attractiveness. You will learn to define and articulate strategy and its application in delivering value. You will then start moving into understanding the “Digital Business Models”, explained with examples and frameworks, the module helps participants in selecting a suitable digital business strategy and model for their company.
Faculty
Prof. Phillip Leslie
Professor
Dr. Phillip Leslie is currently the Chief Digital Economist at Amazon. He trained as a business economist with expertise in strategic management, the applied econometrics of data analytics, demand pricing and information disclosure. His work on pricing has examined how firms can implement practical strategies for consumer-specific pricing. Much of this work has been in the context of event ticketing, making Phillip a leading expert on ticket pricing.
Phillip has also written a series of papers on information disclosure as a policy tool. For example, in one study he shows that restaurant hygiene grade cards caused a 20% decrease in the number of people admitted to hospital with food-related illnesses. Another study shows that consumers at Starbucks reduced calorie purchases by 6% due to calorie posting on the menus.
In other research, Phillip has written about managerial incentives in private equity, consumer boycotts, inspection design and the behavior of inspectors, and the returns to education. His research is published in the American Economic Journal, American Economic Review, Journal of Labor Economics, Quantitative Marketing and Economics, Quarterly Journal of Economics and the RAND Journal of Economics.
Education
Ph.D. Economics, 1999, Yale University
M.Phil. Economics, 1996, Yale University
M.A. Economics, 1994, Yale University
- Comm. Economics, Honors 1993, University of Melbourne
- Comm. Economics, First Class Honors 1991, University of Melbourne
Course Learning Objectives:
- Compose a draft strategy statement for a company, stating how it will create, capture, and deliver value.
- Based on research, create a value map comparing the relative strengths of two competitors that shows six to eight characteristics.
- Adjust Total Cost, Price, and Firm Profit for a specific customer, focusing on capturing maximum value.
- Use Five Forces Analysis to determine the attractiveness of a given industry.
- Build on an existing draft to refine a strategy statement so that it expresses in detail how the company is unique in its approach to creating, capturing, and delivering value.
- Propose at least one way to improve the situation so as to deliver more value, given circumstances describing how a company is failing to deliver maximum value to its customers.
- Identify a digital business opportunity and craft a digital value proposition.
- Review digital business models and select a suitable digital business model for your business.
- Kick start your company’s digital transformation strategy.
Syllabus
Learning Objectives:
- Compose a draft strategy statement for a start-up company, stating how it will create, capture, and deliver value.
- Based on research, create a value map comparing the relative strengths of two competitors that shows six to eight characteristics.
- Adjust Total Cost, Price, and Firm Profit for a specific customer, focusing on capturing maximum value.
Module Components:
Video Lectures:
- Understanding Strategy – Art and Science
- Creating Value
- Capturing Value
Readings:
- Porter’s Strategy Framework
- Capture More Value
Case Study:
- Drastic Publishing
Quiz:
- Understanding Strategy
Learning Objectives:
- Use Five Forces Analysis to determine the attractiveness of a given industry.
- Build on an existing draft to refine a strategy statement so that it expresses in detail how the company is unique in its approach to creating, capturing, and delivering value.
- Propose at least one way to improve the situation so as to deliver more value, given circumstances describing how a company is failing to deliver maximum value to its customers.
Module Components:
Video Lectures:
- Industry Attractiveness
- Strategy Articulation
- Delivering Value
Readings:
- Porter’s Five Forces – Strategy Framework
- Rethinking Strategy for an Age of Digital Disruption
Case Study:
- Drastic Publishing
Quiz:
- Developing Strategy
Learning Objectives:
- Identify a digital business opportunity and craft a digital value proposition.
- Review digital business models and select a suitable digital business model for your business.
- Kick start your company’s digital transformation strategy.
Module Components:
Video Lectures:
- Clarifying the Digital Business Opportunity
- Defining the Digital Value Proposition
- Examples of Digital Business Models
- Digital Transformation : Creating an Operational Backbone
- Digital Transformation : Creating an Digital Services Backbone
Readings:
- Designing a Business Model for the Digital Economy
- Unlocking Success in Digital Transformations
Quiz:
- Digital Business Models