Mastering Strategy
This online course requires a minimum commitment of 36 learning hours over twelve weeks, including time spent working in groups with classmates and a number of 45 minute facilitated discussions lead by your instructor. It is a broad and deep, intensive course which provides you with a robust foundation of strategic knowledge by exploring strategy in several domains. It has been designed to have you learn both about strategy and how to be strategic, providing learners with the knowledge needed to understand strategy as well as the opportunity to build the skills and competencies required to leverage this understanding.
Course Details
Topics and concepts you will study in the course include:
- Military strategy, national strategy, diplomatic strategy, political strategy, public sector strategy and competitive strategy
- Strategic management in the public sector and commercial organizations
- Mintzberg and colleagues’ 10 schools of strategy
- Approaches to and challenges with crafting strategy
- Strategy tools (including SWOT analysis, the BCG Matrix, Porter’s 5 Forces, PEST analysis)
- Game theory
- Blue Ocean Strategy
- Functional strategies (including marketing strategy, HR strategy, and manufacturing strategy)
- Approaches to and challenges with strategy execution
- Strategic learning
- Cultural and cognitive considerations for decision-making
In addition, you will learn how to be strategic and make decisions in the face of uncertainty in a strategy simulation and work on real strategic challenges faced by you and others in your group, so that you can rapidly bring learning to life, making a positive impact on your organization and enhancing your opportunities for career growth.
What you will learn
Following successful completion of this course, participants will:
- Have developed a deep understanding of strategy and understand what strategy involves in different contexts
- Be able to explain the difference between strategy and tactics
- Be familiar with the origin of modern strategic thinking and have become acquainted with some of the world’s most prominent strategic thinkers
- Understand the strengths and limitations of the various schools of strategy and appreciate the importance of strategic learning
- Be familiar with a range of strategy formation and implementation tools
- Have practiced making decisions in the face of uncertainty
- Be aware of the importance of strategy execution, the challenges associated with it, and approaches to drive effective implementation
- Understand the importance of strategic learning
- Have applied your learning to real strategic challenges faced by your organization and those of others in your course working group
Course duration
12 weeks @ 3+ Hours per week
Class size
Minimum of 8
Target Audience
- Seasoned, experienced leaders who wish to update or revitalize their thinking on strategy
- Aspiring or newly appointed managers in public or private sector organizations of all sizes
- Anyone who is tasked with developing or implementing strategy in an organization
- Consultants, advisors, coaches, project managers, HR professionals and others who can benefit from a robust understanding of strategy
