ECONOMICS OF STRATEGY

At the end of the course, students are expected to have a solid understanding of the fundamental economic principles underlying firms' strategies aimed at creating and maintaining a competitive advantage.

Written exam, unless otherwise decided due to the pandemic situation

no prerequisite

Business strategy Competitive advantage Internal and external context Market forms and strategy Value chain and strategy Strategy in a changing environment Critical mass and strategy Blue ocean strategy Digitalization and strategy

1. G. Saloner, A. Shepard and J. Podolny, Strategic Management, J. Wiley & S., New York, 2001, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. 2. W.C. Kim and R. Mauborgne, Blue Ocean Strategy. How to Create Uncontested Markets Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant, Harvard Business Review Press, Cambridge, 2015, Chapters 1,2. 3. P. Weill and S.L. Woerner “Thriving in an increasingly digital economy”, MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer 2015, vol. 54, N. 4 (available at: https://hbsp.harvard.edu/home/). 4. J. Beatty, "How small businesses can increase their digital capabilities", Harvard Business Review, July 25, 2017 (available at: https://hbsp.harvard.edu/home/).

Six open questions. Time available: two hours.

The two main routes to competitive advantage. Differentiation softens competition Action and oligopoly Industry life cycle and firm's strategy Strategy in markets with demand-side increasing returns