The Strategist’s Tool­box

Course content

This course combines strategic management content with professional development of the individual student as a strategist. Strategists are people who are involved in designing and implementing strategies. The strategic management content is approached through a distinct way of looking at organizational strategy, through the lens of strategic mechanisms. Mechanisms are the means through which strategy is designed and implemented. The strategic mechanisms will be approached through academic literature and in-class discussion of cases. Uniquely, the course contains a significant development component that is experiential in nature and put into place through gamification elements. Students will apply, reflect on, and improve the emotional, social and cognitive competencies they have in strategic roles. These competencies are primarily approached through a variety of games, including one large exercise where students participate in a strategic board game. This hands-on experience with strategic mechanisms is used in an assignment that students receive individual feedback on. The final exam combines these theoretical, case, and experiential elements.