Corporate Strategy and Responsibility

Aims of this Unit

The creation, development and execution of corporate strategy forces executive leaders to think and act in different ways as they embrace the responsibility for setting an organisation’s future direction. Whilst looking to the future, executive leaders also need to negotiate the challenges associated with ongoing strategy implementation whilst concurrently addressing the added responsibility their organisation has to the wider community.

The aim of this unit is to extend and synthesise learning from previous units in the MBA and enhance the student’s ability to think and act as an executive leader. This unit requires students to think about their role as executive leaders in leading an organisation through the analysis, strategic positioning, concept application and decision-making phases of corporate strategy at the requisite competency necessary to facilitate the successful planning and achievement of organisational goals.

The topic areas of corporate social responsibility, governance, risk and ethics will be explored as well as the principles of appropriate leadership behaviour, decision making and risk management in strategy formulation, development and execution. To that end, students will undertake a series of self-insight tools to increase their self-awareness about their own personality and predispositions and how it may affect their executive leadership effectiveness.

Knowledge and Understanding

This unit is designed to provide students with an understanding of:
• The nature of corporate strategy and responsibility and how it differs from strategy and strategic management
• The leadership skills, behaviours, thinking, awareness and mindset required to operate effectively as an executive leader
• The importance of strategic positioning where the impact of the external environment and the influence of internal factors such as culture, strategic purpose and strategic capability are addressed during the construction of the organisational strategic plan
• The breadth and depth of strategic choices available to executive leaders as they evaluate the options, directions and methods for strategy design and execution
• How strategies are formulated, implemented, monitored and evaluated at the corporate level – strategy in action
• The importance of corporate social responsibility, governance, risk and ethics as guiding principles for leadership behaviours, decision making and risk management in strategy formulation, development and execution

Learning Outcomes

Following completion of this course, participants should be able to:
1. Formulate, implement, monitor and evaluate corporate strategy and distinguish corporate strategy from business strategy utilising recent academic research and contemporary events
2. Display the necessary leadership behaviours, decision making and risk management knowledge to be effective as an executive leader responsible for corporate strategy
3. Influence the construction of their organisation’s strategic plan from a strategic positioning point of view so that it takes account of both the external environment and internal factors
4. Articulate and evaluate a range of strategic choices to their organisation with respect to strategy design and execution
5. Communicate the importance of corporate social responsbility, governance, risk and ethics in strategy formulation, development and execution
6. Demonstrate a high order of skill in analysis, critical reflection and evaluation and professional application
7. Demonstrate creativity and flexibility in the application of knowledge and skills to new situations, to resolve problems and to think rigorously and independently