Educational objectives

This course aims to give students a mastery of all aspects of competitive advantage to make them more effective at diagnosing and developing superior strategy. The course will examine the role and structure of competitive advantage, how it interacts with and influences competition, the different sources of competitive advantage and their properties, the creation of competitive advantage, and the different drivers that determine whether competitive advantage is sustainable or not. In the process, the course will also pay attention to the role of organization and leadership in the creation of competitive advantage and how that affects the general manager's role in formulating and executing strategy.

Course Content

The course will start by exploring the structure of competitive advantage and how the key drivers of advantage combine to determine a company's ability to deliver superior returns over the long term. We will address questions such as: What levers can a manager use to improve competitive advantage? How do you measure competitive advantage? How do competitive advantage and competition interact? When does being a first mover give you a competitive advantage or disadvantage? Why exactly does it matter to ‘be different’ and what does that imply? How sustainable is competitive advantage that is rooted in economies of scale or in the learning curve? While the focus will be mostly on value creation, we will not overlook the strategic aspects of value capture – esp. pricing and bargaining.

As the course progresses, attention will shift from the structure of advantage to the process of creating and sustaining advantage. Here, we will also consider how effective competitive advantage may depend on organization and leadership. We will ask questions such as: When is it advantageous for a company to give up flexibility and commit to a strategy? When and how can a company credibly commit to a competitive position and to a strategy? When should you change your strategy? What limits a manager's degrees of freedom when developing strategy or changing strategy? Should a new leader come up with a new strategy? What is the role of personal convictions versus analysis in developing a strategy? How do all these considerations affect a company's choice of competitive advantage?

Course Format

Most class sessions will be 2 hours – a few will be regular length (80 min). There will also be a simulation of which the timing remains to be determined. The number of sessions will be adjusted to reflect the longer class time and the simulation.

Grading will be based on class participation and a project (in small groups) that analyzes the competitive advantage and position of a company of your choice.

Due to overlap, you should not take both this course and Ben Esty’s (Spring) Strategies for Value Creation (SVC) course.

Career Focus

The frameworks and concepts of the course are valuable for students who expect to be actively involved in developing, advising on, or assessing a company's strategy, and should be of interest to leaders of both established firms and new ventures.

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