Strategic Management

Course Description

MAN4720 – Strategic Management is a 3-credit-hour upper-division capstone course in Florida bachelor's-level business administration programs. The course integrates the functional disciplines of business — accounting, finance, marketing, operations, human resources, and information systems — through the lens of strategic decision-making at the corporate, business, and functional levels. Students develop the analytical frameworks and judgment required of senior managers and leaders responsible for the long-term direction and competitive positioning of organizations.

Students learn the strategic management process: environmental scanning, internal analysis, strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and strategy evaluation. The course emphasizes the analysis of cases drawn from real-world organizations across industries — from established Fortune 500 firms to startups, from for-profits to non-profits, from domestic firms to multinationals. A signature element of most strategic management courses is a substantial team-based project, often a comprehensive strategic analysis of a real company or a competitive simulation.

MAN4720 is a Florida common course offered at approximately 32 Florida institutions, primarily four-year universities and Florida College System institutions offering bachelor's degrees in business and related fields. As a 4000-level course, it is typically taken in the senior year and serves as the integrative capstone for the business administration major. It transfers as the equivalent course at all Florida public postsecondary institutions per SCNS articulation policy.

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Apply the strategic management process, including environmental scanning, internal analysis, strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and strategy evaluation.
• Conduct external environmental analysis, including PESTEL analysis (political, economic, social, technological, environmental, legal), industry analysis using Porter's Five Forces, and competitor analysis.
• Conduct internal analysis using the resource-based view (RBV), VRIO framework (valuable, rare, inimitable, organized to capture value), value chain analysis, and SWOT analysis.
• Apply business-level strategy frameworks, including Porter's generic strategies (cost leadership, differentiation, focus) and the resource-based view of competitive advantage.
• Apply corporate-level strategy frameworks, including diversification (related, unrelated), vertical integration, mergers and acquisitions, alliances, and divestiture.
• Apply international strategy frameworks, including motivations for going international, entry modes (export, license, franchise, joint venture, wholly owned subsidiary), and the integration-responsiveness framework (multidomestic, global, transnational, international).
• Apply strategy implementation concepts, including organizational structure design, organizational culture, leadership, change management, control systems, and resource allocation.
• Apply strategic decision-making in dynamic and uncertain environments, including disruptive innovation, blue-ocean strategy, real options reasoning, and strategic agility.
• Apply ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management to strategic decisions, including stakeholder analysis, corporate social responsibility, ESG considerations, and triple-bottom-line thinking.
• Conduct comprehensive case analyses, integrating concepts from across the business curriculum to diagnose strategic issues and recommend justified action.
• Communicate strategic recommendations in written and oral form at a level appropriate for senior management audiences.
• Work effectively in strategic management teams, including team formation, role allocation, conflict management, and joint decision-making under time pressure.

Optional Outcomes

• Apply competitive simulation tools (e.g., Capsim, Marketplace) to test strategic decisions in a competitive market environment.
• Apply scenario planning to address strategic uncertainty.
• Apply strategic analysis to non-profit and public-sector organizations.
• Apply strategic analysis to entrepreneurial ventures and small businesses.
• Apply strategic management to digital and platform business models.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• The Strategic Management Process: Defining strategy; the strategic management process; strategic intent; mission, vision, and values; intended vs. emergent strategy; strategy as a continuum.
• External Environmental Analysis: The general environment (PESTEL); the industry environment (Porter's Five Forces — buyers, suppliers, substitutes, new entrants, rivalry); strategic group analysis; competitor analysis; industry life cycle.
• Internal Analysis: The resource-based view (RBV); VRIO framework; tangible vs. intangible resources; capabilities and core competencies; value chain analysis (primary and support activities); SWOT integration.
• Business-Level Strategy: Porter's generic strategies (cost leadership, differentiation, focused cost leadership, focused differentiation, integrated/best-cost); risks of each generic strategy; competitive positioning; building competitive advantage.
• Competitive Dynamics: Competitor analysis; competitive actions and responses; first-mover advantages and disadvantages; multi-market competition.
• Corporate-Level Strategy: Levels of diversification (single business, dominant business, related diversification, unrelated diversification); reasons for diversification; corporate parenting; portfolio analysis (BCG matrix, GE matrix); restructuring.
• Mergers, Acquisitions, and Strategic Alliances: M&A motivations; due diligence; integration challenges; alliance types (joint venture, equity alliance, non-equity alliance); managing alliances; alliance failure modes.
• International Strategy: Motivations for international expansion; entry modes (export, license, franchise, joint venture, wholly owned subsidiary, greenfield, acquisition); integration-responsiveness framework (multidomestic, global, transnational, international); managing political and economic risk.
• Cooperative Strategy: Strategic alliances; joint ventures; cooperative strategies in vertical and horizontal contexts; managing networks.
• Corporate Governance: Owners and managers; the agency problem; boards of directors; executive compensation; shareholder activism; international governance; Sarbanes-Oxley; ESG reporting.
• Organizational Structure for Strategy: Functional, divisional, matrix, and network structures; structure-strategy fit; designing for execution; managing across organizational forms.
• Strategic Leadership: Top management teams; the role of the CEO; managing organizational culture; succession planning; ethical leadership.
• Strategic Implementation and Control: Resource allocation; budgets; balanced scorecard; strategic controls; managing strategic change.
• Strategic Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Innovation as a strategic resource; corporate venturing; disruptive innovation (Christensen); managing for innovation; ambidextrous organizations.
• Ethics, Sustainability, and Stakeholder Management: Stakeholder analysis; CSR; ESG considerations; sustainability strategies; ethical decision-making at the strategic level.
• Strategic Case Analysis: Case-method approach; strategic issue identification; analysis using course frameworks; recommendation development; written and oral communication of strategic analysis.

Optional Topics

• Competitive Simulation: Team-based competitive simulation (Capsim, Marketplace) running through the semester.
• Scenario Planning: Addressing deep strategic uncertainty through scenario development.
• Non-Profit and Public-Sector Strategy: Adaptations of strategic frameworks for mission-driven organizations.
• Entrepreneurship and Small Business Strategy: Strategic considerations for new ventures and growth-stage companies.
• Digital and Platform Strategy: Network effects; platform business models; strategy in the digital era.

Resources & Tools

• Common Textbooks: Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases (Hitt/Ireland/Hoskisson), Strategic Management: Theory and Cases (David), Strategic Management: Creating Competitive Advantages (Dess/Lumpkin/Eisner/McNamara), Crafting and Executing Strategy (Thompson/Peteraf/Gamble/Strickland), Contemporary Strategy Analysis (Grant)
• Cases: Harvard Business School cases (most common); Ivey cases; cases included in the textbook; current real-time cases drawn from the business press
• Simulations: Capsim Capstone Business Simulation, Marketplace Simulations, MikesBikes — frequently used as the team-project capstone
• Online Platforms: McGraw-Hill Connect, Pearson MyLab, Cengage MindTap; case-platform tools (Harvard Business Publishing for Educators)
• Reference Resources: Harvard Business Review (HBR); MIT Sloan Management Review; Strategy+Business; Wall Street Journal; Bloomberg; The Economist
• Professional Standards: Strategic Management Society (SMS); Academy of Management (Business Policy and Strategy division)

Career Pathways

MAN4720 develops competencies central to senior management and leadership roles. Career paths supported include:

• General and Operations Manager (SOC 11-1021) — Senior operational leadership roles requiring integrated business judgment.
• Management Analyst / Strategy Consultant (SOC 13-1111) — Internal corporate strategy roles; external consulting at firms like McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Deloitte, Accenture, KPMG.
• Business Development Manager — Strategic partnerships, M&A, growth-strategy roles.
• Product Management — Product strategy and roadmap responsibilities; particularly active in technology and software.
• Corporate Strategy Analyst — Internal corporate strategy at large firms (Fortune 1000 corporate development, strategy, or business intelligence functions).
• Project / Program Manager — Strategic initiatives and complex cross-functional programs.
• Entrepreneur / Founder — Strategic management is foundational for founders making competitive-positioning and business-model decisions.
• C-Suite Pathway — Strategic management is a foundational competency for VP, SVP, and ultimately C-suite (CEO, COO, CSO) leadership.

Florida's diverse economy — encompassing tourism and hospitality (Disney, Universal, the cruise lines), healthcare (HCA Florida, AdventHealth, BayCare, Memorial Healthcare), financial services, technology, aerospace (Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Harris, Boeing), and trade — creates broad opportunity for graduates with strategic management capability. Tampa, Miami, Orlando, and Jacksonville are major Florida metros for corporate strategy, consulting, and senior management careers.

Special Information

Course Position

MAN4720 is the integrative capstone of Florida bachelor's-level business administration programs. It is typically taken in the senior year, after completion of the core business curriculum in accounting, finance, marketing, operations, organizational behavior, and information systems. The course explicitly integrates these functional disciplines through the lens of strategic decision-making.

General Education and Transfer

MAN4720 is a Florida common course number that transfers as the equivalent course at all Florida public postsecondary institutions per SCNS articulation policy. It is required as the senior-year capstone for the bachelor of business administration (BBA) and similar baccalaureate business programs at most Florida universities and FCS institutions offering business bachelor's degrees.

Prerequisite Considerations

MAN4720 typically requires senior standing and completion of the business core, including:

• Principles of Management (MAN2021 or MAN3025)
• Principles of Marketing (MAR3023)
• Business Finance (FIN3403)
• Operations Management (MAN3504 or equivalent)
• Organizational Behavior (MAN3240) — at some institutions
• Business Statistics (QMB3200 or equivalent)
• Junior or senior standing

Students should consult their academic advisor regarding specific prerequisites at their institution.

Course Format and Workload

MAN4720 is intellectually demanding and time-intensive, typically requiring substantial reading (cases, textbook chapters, current business press), team-based work (often a comprehensive strategic analysis project or competitive simulation), and analytical writing. Online and hybrid versions are available at most Florida institutions, though many programs prefer in-person delivery for the team-based capstone elements.

Related Credentials and Continuing Education

While not directly preparing students for a specific credential, MAN4720 lays foundations for graduate study (MBA, MS in Management, MS in Strategy) and for credentials such as the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) at the strategic-thinking level. Many graduates of strategic management capstones pursue MBA programs at Florida universities (UF Warrington, FSU, USF Muma, UCF, FIU, Stetson, Rollins).