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Foundations of Strategy
  • Level Foundation
  • المدة 9 ساعات hours
  • الطبع بواسطة IE Business School
  • Offered by

عن

Strategy is a complex field and intrinsically related to economics. In this first week of this course you will learn the basic logic of how firms and markets function by using economic logic from a distinctly strategic perspective. The economic logics discussed in the first week have shaped the field of strategic analysis from very early on. Porter’s Five Forces – probably the most well-known strategic analysis tool – directly builds on the notion of market structures and helps us to get a deeper understand of how the competitive environment affects the ability of firms to generate true economic profits. In this week, we´ll look at how Porter's Five Forces are related to market structures, economies of scale, and begin to touch on how firms leverage these to create competitive advantage. Week three, we will move away from exclusively considering the external structure of an industry as the source of competitive advantage and instead focus our view on the internal resources and capabilities within firms – and the associated “resource based view” to look at how internal resources and capabilities play out in competitive situations. Looking through the lens of the five forces at the industry, or through that of the resource-based view at firm internal resources and capabilities, feels a bit like swings of a pendulum – and, indeed, strategic theory and practice over the last decades has veered from a near-exclusive focus on the environment to being entranced by firms’ core capabilities. However, to get the full picture of where your firm stands (and where it and its industry may move) requires us to consider both of these perspectives! In this final week we will work on this crucial integration by building our understanding of what a competitive advantage truly is – and what distinct forms it can take. This Course is primarily aimed at Coursera learners interested in exploring an IE Masters program and at professionals interested in building their business skills.

الوحدات

Welcome to Foundations of Strategy

    • 2 Videos
    • 1 Readings
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2 Videos

  • Welcome to Foundations of Strategy
  • What is Strategy?

1 Readings

  • Welcome to Foundations of Strategy!

Rent, Monopoly, and Perfect Competition

    • 4 Videos
    • 4 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Ungraded Practice Questions - Rent, Monopoly, and Perfect Competition

4 Videos

  • Rent
  • Monopoly vs. Perfect Competition
  • Moving Away From Perfect Competition: Strategies at Industry Level (Part 1)
  • Moving Away From Perfect Competition: Strategies at Industry Level (Part 2)

4 Readings

  • A Note on the Readings in This Lesson
  • 7 Near-Monopolies That Are Perfectly Legal in America
  • America's Monopoly Problem
  • Apple, Google Urge Monopoly Watchdog to Leave Them Alone

Test Your Knowledge of Week 1

    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Graded Quiz - Week 1, Part 1

Tools and Frameworks

    • 2 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 ExternalTool
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Ungraded Practice Questions - Porter's Five Forces

1 External Tool

  • Multimedia Tutorial - The S.W.O.T. Analysis Tool

2 Videos

  • Introduction to Competitive Advantage: The External Perspective
  • Five Forces

1 Readings

  • Porter's Five Forces

Economies of Scale

    • 2 Videos
    • 4 Readings
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2 Videos

  • Economies of Scale: The Basic Logic
  • Economies of Scale: Minimum Efficient Scale

4 Readings

  • A Note on the Readings in This Lesson
  • Economies of Scale
  • Why Economies of Sale Can Act as a Barrier to Entry
  • Strategy in the Post-Fixed Costs Economy

Creating Competitive Advantage

    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Quiz
    • 1 ExternalTool
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1 External Tool

  • Multimedia Case - Arrogant Brewing

2 Readings

  • Getting Ready for the Arrogant Brewing Case
  • How Companies Used These 8 Strategies for a Competitive Advantage

1 Quiz

  • Practice Questions: Arrogant Brewing Case

Test Your Knowledge of Week 2

    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Graded Quiz - Week 1, Part 2

The Logic of Industry Evolution

    • 2 Videos
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2 Videos

  • Introduction to Competitive Advantage: The Internal Perspective
  • Industry Evolution

The Learning Curve

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Ungraded Practice Question - Learning Curve

1 Videos

  • Learning Curve

1 Readings

  • Learning Curve Management Of New Products And Services

Resource-Based Barriers

    • 2 Videos
    • 3 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Ungraded Practice Questions - Resource-Based View

2 Videos

  • The Resource-Based View
  • Resource Position Barriers to Entry

3 Readings

  • A Note on the Readings in This Lesson
  • Why Humans, Not Machines, Are Companies' Biggest Competitive Advantage 
  • Examples of Resources That Help Competitive Companies

Walmart: A Study in Strategy

    • 1 Videos
    • 3 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Ungraded Practice Questions - Walmart

1 Videos

  • Walmart: A Study in Strategy

3 Readings

  • A Note on the Readings in This Lesson
  • Why An Emboldened Walmart Is Looking To Beyond Retail For Future Growth
  • Walmart is Using Its Thousands of Stores to Battle Amazon for E-Commerce Market Share

The Value Chain as an Analytical Tool

    • 1 Readings
    • 1 ExternalTool
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Ungraded Practice Question - Value Chains

1 External Tool

  • Multimedia Tutorial - The Value Chain as an Analytical Tool

1 Readings

  • How to Perform a Value Chain Analysis (Explained with Example) 

Test Your Knowledge of Week 3

    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Graded Quiz - Week 1, Part 3

Types of Competitive Advantage

    • 2 Videos
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Ungraded Practice Questions - Types of Competitive Advantage

2 Videos

  • Putting It All Together: The Holistic View
  • What is Competitive Advantage?

Wrapping Up Basic Logic

    • 2 Videos
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2 Videos

  • Wrapping Up Basic Logic: The Pendulum Swing Between External and Internal Analysis
  • The Implications of Scale and Learning Curves: The Tesla Example

Test Your Knowledge of Week 4

    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Graded Quiz - Week 1, Part 4

Congratulations on Completing This Course!

    • 1 Videos
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1 Videos

  • Congratulations on Completing This MOOC!

Auto Summary

"Foundations of Strategy" is a comprehensive course in Business & Management, guided by economic logic to explore firm and market functions. Taught by Coursera, it spans 540 minutes and is available through Starter or Professional subscriptions. The course covers strategic tools like Porter’s Five Forces, market structures, economies of scale, and the resource-based view, making it ideal for foundational learners aiming to understand competitive advantage from both external and internal perspectives.

Carl Kock
Instructor

Carl Kock