Introduction
Organizations seek to provide value in different dimension to their stakeholders. Understanding different dimensions of, and perspectives on, value creation is therefore essential. This course develops abilities in structuring and analyzing problems and opportunities related to sustainable value creation and highlights the differences and complementarities of competitive strategy and cooperative strategy. Appropriate tools and frameworks for solving strategic dilemmas in a sustainable manner are highlighted.
Course content
The course is structured around three main areas relevant to strategy and value creation: (1) The foundations of strategy analysis (2) Value (co-) creation and sustainability (3) Similarities and differences between competitive strategy and cooperative strategy.
The foundations of strategy analysis
Some organizations are more successful than others; they create and appropriate value in a sustainable manner.
To understand the strategic nature of such organizations we need to apprehend both the organizations and their environments. Internal strategy analyses illustrate how resources and activities contribute to organizational performance. The purpose of external analysis is to analyze how external factors influence organizational strategies. The information obtained from external and internal analyses are synthesized in a SWOT framework, which, if correctly developed and employed, is a fruitful tool when generating strategic alternatives and making decisions.
Dimensions of value (co-) creation and sustainability
Here the main focus is on value co-creation and sustainability. We will introduce the relational view of strategy and discuss the complex interdependencies between strategy, value creation, and sustainability.
Main themes covered in this section:
- Relationships and value co-creation
- Sustainability from a triple bottom line perspective
- Business model design
Similarities and differences between competitive strategy and cooperative strategy
Competitive pressures, bargaining power and cooperative mindsets all influence the creation and appropriation of value. Conventional strategy analysis is competitively oriented; it seeks to develop internal rents and a competitive advantage for a focal organization. The transition from competitive strategy to cooperative strategy involve a shift from trying to be ‘better than others’, towards and ambition of ‘being better together’. Themes in focus here center on cooperative strategy, how organizations can generate relational rents, and how resources can be analyzed in a more cooperative manner in search for improved value creation rather than a competitive advantage.
Main themes covered in this section:
- The nature of competitive strategy
- The nature of cooperative strategy
- Ecosystems and networks
- Resource bundling