Dr Ricardo Alonso NAB 5.31

This course is compulsory on the BSc in Management. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course is available with permission to General Course students.

Students should have completed Economics B (EC102) or equivalent, Quantitative Methods (Mathematics) (MA107) or equivalent and Quantitative Methods (Statistics) (ST107) or equivalent, and Economics for Management (MG207) or Microeconomic Principles I (EC201) or equivalent.

The first half of the course studies strategic situations (competition and rivalry, entry deterrence, standard setting, etc.) and formulates decision models of these situations. While the modelling is based on game theory, students will be taught how players play in real life games according to growing empirical evidence.

The second half of the course studies the way managers interact with the different constituencies inside the firm- workers, board members, and other managers. It presents, again with a heavy emphasis on the evidence, different managerial styles and their impact on firm process, entrepreneurial management styles, organisational change and technology, managerial compensation and governance, and corporate culture.

Beyond the emphasis on the content of the course, the course also aims to be a course where students learn to think critically and analytically. Students will learn to read the primary literature, discuss papers in class, interpret the evidence etc. Students will learn to ask questions such as: What is the evidence? What evidence would convince me of the opposite hypothesis?

20 hours of lectures and 9 hours of classes in the MT. 20 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT. 2 hours of lectures in the ST.

Extra reviews may be held during reading week in Week 6.

Formative work such as problem sets and mock exam questions will be set.

Thinking Strategically: Competitive Edge in Business, Politics and Everyday Life, WW Norton, 1993, by Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff

The Art of Strategy, WW Norton, 2008, by Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff.

Games of Strategy (WW Norton, 3rd edition, 2009) by Avinash Dixit, Susan Skeath and David Reiley.

Economics of Strategy (5th Edition) David Besanko, David Dranove, Mark Shanley, Scott Schaefer. (2009)

An Introduction to Game Theory(Oxford, 2003) by Martin J. Osborne

Strategic Management, Garth Saloner, Andrea Shepard and Joel Podoldny, Wiley, 2000

The Modern Firm: Organizational Design for Performance and Growth, John Roberts 2007.

Exam (100%, duration: 3 hours) in the main exam period.