STRATEGIC PLANNING AND INNOVATION

The aim of the course is to provide the student with a toolkit to develop a strategic planning process and, before of that, to formulate an incremental (strategic positioning) as well as radical (strategic innovation) business strategy. The conceptual foundations and toolkits gained during the course will be systematically used to interactively analyze real case studies and to practice formulating well-thought strategic analyses and recommendations.

The goal of the course is to provide the student with a toolkit to understand and analyze strategic issues and to fully appreciate the complexities related to strategic management in terms of strategy formulation . Through the course students will learn how to rigorously analyze a firm's competitive environment, its internal resources and its business-level as well as corporate-level strategies. The conceptual foundations and toolkits gained during the course will be systematically used to interactively analyze real case studies and to practice formulating well-thought analyses and recommendations. The course is designed so that participation and discussion enable the learning process.

A bachelor-level course in strategy - or an equivalent knowledge of main strategy topics - is strongly advised. In particular, students would benefit from reading a basic strategy handbook such as:
1. R. Grant,(2010), “Contemporary strategy analysis”, Wiley;
2. G. Johnson, K. Scholes, R. Whittington (2008), "Exploring corporate strategy", Prentice Hall.

The course focuses on the frameworks that are useful in analyzing the strategic problems and issues that firms face in their competitive contexts, on the processes of strategy formulation and on the subsequent process of strategic planning.
Structure of the course:
1. The business strategy evolution
2. Strategic planning
3. Strategic positioning
4. Strategic innovation
5. The business model
6. Strategic Fit

- C. Bagnoli, A. Brugnoli, Il paradosso dell'impresa: innovazione vs coerenza strategica. Dispensa di pianificazione e innovazione strategica. A.A. 2019-2010
- Slides by the teacher.
Suggested readings:
- H. Mintzberg, B. Ahlstrand, J. Lampel (2009), Strategy Safari: The complete guide through the wilds of strategic management. Pearson Education
- B. De Wit, R. Meyer (2010), Strategy synthesis: resolving strategy paradoxes to create competitive advantage, International Thomson Business Press
- W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne (2005), Blue Ocean Strategy. How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant. Boston: Harvard Business School Press
- R. Verganti (2009), Design Driven Innovation: Changing the Rules of Competition by Radically Innovating What Things Mean. Harvard Business Press
- L. Keeley, R. Pikkel, B. Quinn, H. Walters (2013), Ten Types of Innovation, Wiley & Sons
- A. Osterwalder, Y. Pigneur (2010), Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers. Wiley & Sons
- A. Osterwalder, Y. Pigneur, G. Bernarda, A. Smith (2014), Value proposition design. Wiley & Sons

Attending students will be assessed on the basis of an individual paper (0-15 points) which will be discussed in an interview with the teacher and on the basis of group work (0-15 points) which will be presented collectively.
Non-attending students will be assessed on the basis of an individual paper (0-15 points) which will be discussed in an interview with the teacher and on the basis of an oral exam that will focus on the topics covered in the reference text and in the suggested readings.

Much of the course will be based on thorough discussions of readings and case-related materials that students will review in advance. In addition, during the five weeks, students will work in groups to research and analyze the strategic decisions of company. The instructor will provide students with a list of companies to choose from and to analyze within the quarter-long team project.

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion
Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments
Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support
services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with
mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

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