Teaching and Learning Approaches

Professor Rothschild integrates class discussions, illustrations, insights and his extensive corporate strategy, consulting and executive development experiences to enhance the learning process and the student’s ability to use the concepts and approaches taught in the course.
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Creating a viable and creative NEW VENTURE strategy.

• Each student is required to select a new venture that they believe is viable, innovative and of interest to them.
• Do a comprehensive evaluation of the market, competition, and other key factors that will determine the overall attractiveness of their proposed venture.
• Identify what it takes to be successful
• Evaluate the overall attractiveness of the venture
• Identify how they can create a sustainable competitive advantage
• Identify the key implementation and execution strategies
• Provide a financial “pro-forma” that reflects the financial results of the venture over a five year period.
• Make an “effective presentation” that will convince potential investors to invest in the new venture.

Course Plan and Assignments

Please note that this is a proposed plan for the entire course. It is designed to enable the student to understand what will be covered and the type of assignments they will have. However, like any plan, it may be adjusted to meet the unique requirements of the students and the time constraints.
Changes will be communicated if and when they are required- Via email – Students must be sure that Prof Rothschild has the correct email address.

Session 1- Overview and what is expected.

• Review of the syllabus
• What is expected from both the students and the professor
• Grading
• Selecting a venture

Sessions 2 & 3 –Strategic Thinking and Decision Making Overview
Preparation:  Students will be required to:

• Read “Putting It All Together”-Every Leader Has a Strategy, So Why All The Fuss? - Chapter 1 pages 8-18. 

• What must be included in a business strategy?
• The key steps required to develop and effective and profitable business strategy

Session 4- Defining the Business
Describe their proposed venture..  All students must provide an outline of the venture that they will work on during the course. This must include a description of the products or services their venture will offer, the type of targeted customers, the geographic focus and how they plan to make money. In addition, they must describe how they plan to get the information required.

• How to define a business strategically
• Why it is important.

Session 5- Customer First
Preparation: Read “Putting It All Together”-Customers Determine the Successful Strategy Chapter 3- pages 31-46

• Defining the customer
• Knowing why the customer purchases
• Identifying reasons customers may change
• Segmenting the market…and reasons it is important.

Session 6- What make a customer attractive?

• What is meant by attractiveness and why it is important
• The key criteria used to determine how attractive customers are

Session 7- Market Segment Evaluation
Topics covered:

• How to determine the attractiveness of market segments
• How to use these evaluations to make strategic decisions.

Session 8- Value & Supply Chain Assessments

• What is a value chain and why is it important

• Evaluating the value chain and its impact on being profitable.

• How value chains change and their strategic implications. 

Session 9- The Impact of Technological Change on Markets, Industries and Strategies.   
Preparation: Read pages 117-119.

• Examples of how technology impacts all aspects of the business
• Assessment of current and potential technological changes and ability to succeed.

Session 10- Looking Outside the Market and Industry…
Preparation: Read pages 110-117.

• How government, society and other groups can both positively and negatively impact a business and the ability to make money.

• Discussion of how these factors vary from country to country. 

Session 11- Competitive Demographics
Preparation: Read pages 48-67

Competitive demographics

• How different types of competitors behave and influence the ability to succeed
• Anticipating competitive changes and new entries.
• Assessing overall competitive attractiveness.

Session 12- Understanding the Key Competitors.
Preparation Read Pages 69-89

• How to assess specific competitors and their strategies.

• How to evaluate competitor’s assets and liabilities and use this intelligence to create an effective competitive based strategy.

Mid Term Exam-(20%) -This will cover all of the material covered in Chapters 1-7 in Putting It All Together- a guide to strategic thinking and decision making.

Session 13-   Investing in winners, not losers.
Preparation Read Pages 126-142

• How to integrate the previous market, customer, competitive, technological and socio/political evaluations to determine the overall attractiveness of the business.
• How to Use various types of matrices to make investment decisions and set priorities.
• Discussion of the financial implications of each investment strategy alternatives.

Session 14-How good is your company and you?

Assignment #1- Strategic Analysis Overview (25%) –

• How to determine the “success factors” for the business. It will focus on how to determine what type of skills, talents, resources that will be required to be successful.
• An evaluation of five key ability areas: ability to conceive and design, ability to sell and market, ability to produce or get the products or services, ability to finance and ability to manage.   

Sessions 15, 16 & 17- Creating and Maintaining a Competitive Advantage.

• Winners are different….
• Ways of creating a sustainable competitive difference.
• Illustrations of successful strategies by key industries.

Sessions 18, 19, 20 - Making sure the Implementation Strategies Fit.

• Key functional strategies
• Alternative available
• How implementation strategies relate to investment strategies and competitive differentiators.
• Illustrations

Sessions 21 & 22 Creating realistic financial and other stakeholder expectations

Assignment #2- Strategic Venture Summary (25%of the total grade) must be submitted on
Preparation Read Pages 175-188 

• The concept of stakeholders and how each stakeholder group has its own unique expectations and needs.
• The need to identify key stakeholders and determine which of these groups are the most important to satisfy and which can be highly adversarial.  

Sessions 23, 24- Developing Clear, Concise and Effective Plans and Presentations

Preparation Read Pages 218-231

• How to create presentations and documents to sell your venture
• How to create presentations and documents to lead your organization

Sessions 25 –Strategy Review.
Preparation Read- Pages 189-206
Learning how to evaluate the viability of strategies
Sessions 26, 27, 28-   Selling Your Venture
Assignment #3- Strategic Oral and Written Presentations (20%of the total grade)

• Each student must give a 10 minute Power Point Presentation on their venture and sell it to the other class members.
• They must provide a written summary of the presentation PRIOR to their presentation.

You can also use our unique software package and tutor in these sessions. Take a look at the software and get a trial copy if you wish to determine how it can be effectively used to teach and also to provide your students with a package they can use back on the job.

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