Business Strategy
On Day 1 of class, I listed the University’s goals for BUAD 441 students. They are:
· To develop critical thinking skills and the capacity to think strategically about a company and its competitive situation.
· To learn how to apply strategic management models and tools to analyze a variety of business problems and develop practical recommendations for senior management.
· To integrate knowledge gained in previous business courses.
· To develop oral communication and discussion skills, including the ability to listen carefully, respond thoughtfully and interact in such a way as to encourage the open flow of ideas.
· To develop skills in writing clear, well organized, convincingly argued business reports.
· To develop team interaction skills, including knowing when to lead and when to follow, how to encourage the most out of teammates, and how to work together to complete a project successfully.
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Not unsurprisingly, when I presented this list, I was met with a collective shrug. I’m used to that. Here we are 3 1/2 months later, and I want to give you a chance to think about these goals and your personal experience in achieving them. Particularly –
1. BUAD 441 is a “capstone” course, where you are challenged to integrate the course work you’ve done in accounting, finance, marketing, organizational behavior and more. Thinking about this goal:
a) On a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 being poorly and 5 being excellently, how well do you think you’ve mastered this goal of knowledge integration? Provide an example of a case you worked on this semester – either individually or in a group – where you had to integrate knowledge and had a greater understanding of the strategic issues for the firm because you could understand more than one facet of the organization. (One well written paragraph)
Notes to guide your answer: we worked on a chipotle case and analyzed it’s strategy, competitive advantage, financial analysis (margins, cash flow, liquidity), external analysis (PESTEL, 5 force, KSF), and internal analysis (VRIN, value chain, weighed competitive assessment).
b) Of these four areas of business (accounting, finance, marketing, OB) which do you think you need to continue to strengthen to become a better strategist? Why? (One paragraph)
2. Team interaction skills – because of the circumstances of this semester, you’ve had much more team interaction than is typical in my 441 sections. Think about this goal: To develop team interaction skills, including knowing when to lead and when to follow, how to encourage the most out of teammates, and how to work together to complete a project successfully. (No more than one page for these 4 parts)
Notes to guide your answer: I worked with a group on multiple cases, where we assessed the strategies of different businesses. We had group discussions, we made recommendations of how the business could expand, be more profitable etc.
a) On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being poorly and 5 being excellently, how well do you think you’ve achieved this goal of improving your team interaction skills. Consider – leadership you provided, follower-ship that you developed, motivation or influence skills you developed, communication skills.
b) Finish this sentence: “When my teammates think of me, they would say that my greatest strength or contribution was…..”.
c) Finish this sentence: “When I think of my team, the area where my weaknesses were strengthened, or where I learned the most was…..”
d) How will you apply what you learned in achieving this goal of improved team interaction skills to your career?