BUS4050W - Business Strategy

Welcome

BUS4050W Business Strategy - is a whole-year course which is broken up into a number of modules.

The first semester will address:

• An exposure to strategic management, its rationale, the various models which are used and an understanding of the process of strategic management.
• Entrepreneurship - This is focused on entrepreneurship at a professional level, recognising that many students will, in all probability, at some stage in their careers, wish to start their own businesses.
• Project - The class will begin to work on a real-life project in which, in groups, they investigate the performance of a company and then make strategic recommendations to management.

The second semester will

• introduce students to strategic issues, some of which are uniquely South African, which generally aren't covered in the text books, but which are crucial to the realistic design and implementation of Strategy. They include labour issues, the impact of AIDS on management, the effects of crime on management, the problems facing local management of a multi national corporation etc. This will be presented by selected guest speakers who are acknowledged experts in their field (both UCT staff and outside guest speakers).
• return to Strategic Management and, taking all that has preceded the course to date, will focus on Strategy implementation.
• The scoping, submission and presentation of the Project which will be completed by the end of the third quarter.

Note: There will be detailed course handouts for each module of the course. These will indicate what is expected of students, the text book/s to be used and any readings which are required etc.

Rationale for the Course and Its Structure

The Strategy course is regarded as a capstone of the Business Science degree. It brings together into a meaningful and consistent whole, much of which has been studied over the previous three years. This serves as a base for effective total management in a dynamic local and global environment. To this end, we address strategic issues which will impact on a company's present and future strategies.

The first semester gives students an introduction to the theories and concepts which underlie good strategic management. The move into entrepreneurship is considered appropriate at this point and serves to give students an understanding of the importance of small businesses as well as the entrepreneurial flair which frequently makes large companies more competitive. It recognises, too, that many students doing the Business Science degree, will contemplate starting their own businesses at some stage of their careers. The importance of a hands-on project cannot be underestimated. It brings realism into the course and for many, it is a foretaste of what they themselves may be doing in the future. The project also allows students to interface with a wide range of practicing management.

The next stage, i.e. exposure to macro and strategic issues, is designed to put strategic management into realistic context.