Durham University
Programme and Module Handbook

Postgraduate Programme and Module Handbook 2021-2022 (archived)

Module BUSI42Z15: Globalising Strategic Management (ONLINE)

Department: Management and Marketing

BUSI42Z15: Globalising Strategic Management (ONLINE)

Type Tied Level 4 Credits 15 Availability Not available in 2021/22
Tied to N1KS17
Tied to N1KR17
Tied to N1N317
Tied to N1N417

Prerequisites

  • None.

Corequisites

  • None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

  • BUSI43M15: Globalising Strategic Management (Taught)

Aims

  • To provide a comprehensive overview of the concepts and practices related to managing in a globally volatile, complex, dynamic environment within which organisations, national and international institutions and individuals interact
  • To build on the core modules and provide an advanced strategic management course presenting material that is highly contemporary

Content

  • Globalisation forces, drivers, challenges to organisational forms and processes
  • The evolution of new organisational forms and the changing management landscape affecting all sizes of firms from SMEs to TNCs
  • Administrative heritage, change management and strategic inertia
  • Internationalisation theories of the firm revisited - challenges for strategic management
  • Networked, globally linked, adaptable international organisations: beyond strategy, structure, systems - Intra-firm collaboration
  • Typologies of MNCs - traditional strategies for international firms contested
  • Tensions in managing integration and responsiveness
  • Review of Strategy - Strategic Innovation
  • Inter-firm collaboration: strategic alliances
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Cross-cultural strategic management
  • Leadership and global management

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:
  • By the end of the module students should:
  • have developed a more critical understanding of the dynamics of globalisation on strategic management;
  • understand the issues involved in managing change and strategic inertia;
  • have explored the challenges of strategically managing innately more complex, diverse and uncertain organisations within a global context;
  • have developed reflexivity to comprehend theoretical underpinning and intellectual standing in the evaluation of the material being analysed;
  • have an awareness of the range of problems involved in the interpretation of complex, ambiguous, conflicting and often incomplete material and the paradoxical nature of managing such contradictions and tension.
Subject-specific Skills:
  • By the end of the module students should:
  • be able to conceptualise about strategy from different perspectives;
  • have improved their critical thinking and analytical skills to question 'taken for granted' assumptions about strategy and management.
Key Skills:
  • Effective written communication skills
  • Planning, organising and time management skills
  • Problem solving and analytical skills
  • The ability to use initiative
  • Advanced skills in the interpretation of data
  • Advanced computer literacy skills

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

  • The module is delivered via online learning, divided up into study weeks with specially produced resources within each week. Resources vary according to the learning outcomes but normally include: video content, directed reading, reflection through activities, opportunities for self-assessment and peer-to-peer learning within a tutor-facilitated discussion board. Tutors provide feedback on formative work and facilitate discussion board communication as well as being available for individual consultation as necessary (usually by email and Skype).
  • The summative assessment of the module is designed to test the acquisition and articulation of knowledge and critical understanding, and skills of application and interpretation within the business context.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity Number Frequency Duration Total/Hours
Video content, directed reading, self-assessed assignments and guidance for further reading 150
Total 150

Summative Assessment

Component: Written Assignment Component Weighting: 100%
Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
Individual written report, based on the analysis of a case study 4,000 words maximum 100% Same

Formative Assessment:

A written assignment of 1,500 words, or its multimedia equivalent, which may involve some group work.


Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University