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Unit Information Form (UIF)

(The UIF provides the definitive record of the designated Unit)

SECTION A

General Unit Information

Unit Name Strategic Management for Business

Unit Code SHR016-3

Level 6

Credit Value 30
Location(s) of
On campus; Off-campus
Delivery
Period(s) of delivery 15 weeks
Pre-requisites or
None
Restrictions
The aims of the unit are to promote understanding of the importance
of the role of strategy in organisational success. It aims to develop
your understanding of the importance of choice in the design of
effective strategy through which it is possible to create a unique value
proposition and to enable firms to avoid direct win-lose competition.
To achieve this, you will be enabled to develop your ability to work
through complex issues to identify both current and future trends and
to assess their potential impacts on both the industry and the
business. You will also be enabled to make a careful selection of the
appropriate tools, frameworks, and concepts of strategy to assess the
appropriateness of strategies and by doing so develop a range of
Aims and Relevance realistic and practical strategies for businesses.
The unit focuses primarily on competitive strategy and therefore you
will concentrate on these key themes:
• Strategy as choice
• Identifying trends and their potential impact on the business
• Understanding the importance of resources and capabilities
in the implementation of strategy
• Strategy design
• Evaluating strategy
Syllabus Content
What is Strategy?

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• The importance of choice

• The difference between Strategy and operations
• The cascade of choices
• Re-thinking the idea of competition
External analysis and trends
• Identifying underlying industry forces and understanding their
importance
• The drivers of change
• Developing potential future scenarios
• Linking external developments to choice
Resources and Capabilities
• Identifying and classifying resources and capabilities
• Assessing resources and capabilities against competitors
• The relevance of resources and capabilities to external
context
• Resources and capabilities as a limiting factor in strategy
Strategy Design
• Strategic positioning
• Crafting a value proposition
• Linking strategy to external and internal developments
Evaluating Strategy
• Evaluating Strategic options
• Justifying Strategic choice

Learning outcomes
On completion of this unit you should be able to:
1 Demonstrate the following knowledge and understanding
• Demonstrate knowledge of strategy tools, concepts and frameworks and their role
in making strategic level choices
2 Demonstrate the following skills and abilities
• Analysis of an organisation and its context in order to generate coherent, innovative
strategic options and choice.

PSRB outcomes
None

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Summary learning hours

Scheduled Guided Independent Autonomous Placement Total

Hours 48 82 82 88 0 300

Percentage 16% 27% 27% 30% 0% 100%

Approach to learning
The approach to learning adopted in this unit is collaborative and inquiry-based where
activities such as collaborative writing, group projects, joint problem solving, debates and
study teams are delivered through a series of 4-hour interactive workshop, once a week over
12 teaching weeks. Collaborative learning, in-class discussion, student debate and critical
analysis are fully implemented in the classroom to ensure student’s deep understanding and
technical ability.
The weekly sessions will enable you to understand the material through a combination of
lecture input and collaborative, interactive sessions during which you will explore and apply
the concepts. Through guided learning you will be advised which areas to study and be
presented with some activities that will guide you through the concepts and their application.
You must also undertake independent learning involving pre-reading for sessions and deeper
reading to gain a more detailed understanding. You will collaborate with other students in the
unit to conduct analysis and develop innovative solutions to real business problems.
The content of this unit is informed by latest research and trend in field of strategic
management and case studies used during workshops are updated regularly to reflect the
ever-changing nature of this topic.
The slides used in each session will be found on BREO, the University’s virtual learning
system (http://breo.beds.ac.uk). It is a requirement that you download these slides and copy
them in some efficient format, so that these copies are in front of you throughout the lecture.
Notes can then be made on each slide as required. This unit will also require you to study the
core and recommended textbooks, materials. In these cases, you will be actively encouraged
to integrate your studies through e-learning and support systems.

Learner development
This Unit particularly focuses on the development of your abilities in the following areas:

Businesses operate in dynamic environments and offer problems that are

often unstructured and poorly defined. In order to successfully develop
strategies, you must develop your ability in effective inquiry through which
Enquiry
you can make realistic judgments about likely scenarios for future industry
and developments making use of a range of sources and evidence and from
this develop a range of potential strategic options.

The Strategic Management unit will enable you to develop an ability to

analyse complex situations, evaluate the success of company’s strategies
Contextual and to make recommendations about the strategic options available to
understanding businesses and to recommend and choose the strategic direction for
businesses. Of importance in this unit is the understanding of the impact of
the firm’s operating environment, the drivers of change that may impact upon
this environment and how firms develop and manipulate their resources to

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gain an advantage over their competitors. Above all, you will be encouraged
to develop the ability to think strategically. The strategy is a fascinating and
complex area of business and it is one that requires an intelligent and
appropriate use of the theories and frameworks to which you will be
introduced within this unit.

Throughout the unit, you will have the opportunity to collaborate in workshops
in the solving of problem-based questions and questions related to strategic
issues. Often you will be required to work in small groups in the seminars to
discuss and resolve problems many of which will require pre-reading. In
Collaboration seminars and workshops, you will also develop your communication skills, in
presenting your analyses and arguments. Your learning will be enhanced by
the interaction you have with your peers as well as with your tutor and the
knowledge, skills, experiences, and perspectives that they can bring to the
learning environment.

Enterprise in this context is taken to mean developing the ability to analyse

complex and often unstructured issues and through this analysis develop the
Enterprise
ability to evaluate current strategies and generate and evaluate potential
future strategies appropriate for the needs of the firm.

Assessment summary
No Assessment Learning Weight % Submission Length Word count
Method Code1 outcome(s) week (of
exam)
1 WR-I 1, 2 20 6 N/A 1,800

2 Ex 1, 2 80 15 2 N/A
Hours

All written submissions for assessment 1 will be screened via a plagiarism checker.

Assessment details
Assessment 1:
In this assessment, you will be required to carry out a strategic analysis of a business of your
choice in a designated industry sector.
Assessment 2:
The final assessment is a two-hour exam to validate your knowledge, understanding, and skills
in applying strategic concepts. You are expected to demonstrate knowledge of strategy tools,
concepts and frameworks and their role in making strategic choices.

Threshold expectations
In order to pass Assessment 1, you will need to:
• Deliver a report to produce an analysis that identifies a range of strategic issues
facing a company.
• Provide a discussion of company’s strategies and make recommendations about the
strategic options available to the business.

1
See the UIF Guide for permissible codes
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In order to pass assessment 2, you will need to:

• Demonstrate knowledge of strategy tools, concepts, and frameworks.
• Apply and discuss these in their role in making strategic level choices

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SECTION B

Recommended Reading
Core text - This unit is supported by the following core text:

• Rumelt, R. (2017). Good strategy bad strategy: The difference and why it matters.,
London, Palgrave.

Guided reading - The following is expected reading for this unit. Details of what to read and
when will be provided on the BREO site.

• Margretta, J. (2012). Understanding Michael Porter: Essential guide to competition

and strategy, Boston, Harvard Business School Press.
• Grant, R. M., and Jordan, J. (2015). Hoboken NJ, Foundations of strategy. Wiley.
• Proctor, T, (2010); (Electronic resource) Creative problem solving for managers,
developing skills for decision making. Routledge; London
• Johnson, G, Whittington, R., and Scholes, K (2014). Fundamentals of Strategy. 3rd
Ed, Harlow, FT Prentice Hall

Independent study - To receive high grades, you will need to demonstrate your wider
reading. The following resources provide useful background reading for the material in this
unit.
• Harvard Business Review
• Strategic Management Journal

Equality Impact Assessment

Question Y/N/NA Additional anticipatory

adjustments/actions if necessary

Will learning materials be made available

in advance of sessions for students to Y
adapt as appropriate?

The approach to teaching and learning is

sufficiently flexible to enable all students to Y
succeed?

The approach to group work takes account

of the needs of students with disabilities Y
and from diverse backgrounds?

The approach to practical work takes

account of the needs of students with N/A
disabilities?

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Students with a protected characteristic2

have an equal opportunity to achieve the Y
learning outcomes?

The assessment tasks provide all students

Y
with an equal opportunity to succeed?

Any other aspects of the unit that might

pose potential challenges from an equality
N
or diversity perspective have been
considered?

2
Age, Gender reassignment, Marriage and civil partnership, Pregnancy and maternity, Race, Religion
and belief, Sex, Sexual orientation
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SECTION C

Administrative Information

Faculty UBBS

Portfolio UG Business

Department Strategy and Management

Unit Co-ordinator Mary Finnegan

Version Number 2/18

Body approving this

University approval Event
version
Date of University
26th of March 2018
approval of this version

Shared Units – Indicate below all courses which include this Unit in their diet
BA Business Administration (Top-up)

Name Date
Form completed by Dr Jasmine Tehrani 01/02/2018
Signature of Chair of
Faculty TQSC

Unit Updates
Date Nature of Update FTQSC Minute Ref:
March 2018 Delivery pattern revised Periodic review
Revised assessment brief
Revised assessment 1 method to WR-I with 1800 word
count
UIF transferred into new template
Delivery pattern and assessment map revised to reflect
the semesterised delivery of the unit
Revised core text book
Weightings amended to 20/80
January New unit code and title approved – semesterised
2019 version of SHR004-3

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Administrative Information – Academic Registry completion

JACS / HECoS code (KIS)

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UIF annex: Summary learning hours

Revision Assessme
Code Activity Hours Total
period nt Activity
UoB-based activities
SL Lecture 30 30
SR Directed reading and research 100 14 114
SA Assessment preparation 40 40 80
Unguided reading from defined
IR 72 72
reading lists
SAS Scheduled Assessments 4 4
Total 130 126 44 300
Guided learning
Employer based learning
WBL
activities

Total
Independent learning
Total

Key:

SR Scheduled Reading and Research

SA Scheduled Assessment Preparation (normally designed as IA – Independent Assessment)
WBL Worked based Learning
SAS Scheduled Assessment

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