MG4A6      Half Unit
Strategic Competitive Analysis

This information is for the 2023/24 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr Jorn Rothe MAR 6.13

Availability

This course is compulsory on the MSc in Management and Strategy. This course is not available as an outside option.

Pre-requisites

Students must have completed Behavioural Strategy (MG4A5).

Course content

The aim of this course is to build on and integrate industrial economics, game theory and management strategy to develop a framework for thinking about competition within markets and industries. Game theory provides the abstract theory of strategic interaction, and microeconomics (specifically industrial economics) provides the background on demand, production, and market structures. In this course we discuss the integration and application of these approaches in thinking about competitive strategy for firms in markets.

This course focuses on the strategic aspects of competing against other firms within the same industry

The course focuses on the strategic aspects of competing against other firms within the same industry. It starts with an introductory industry case study, and then investigates why a purely empirical approach to strategy cannot work. It then covers market definition, market structure and the estimation of demand. It then analyses price competition in its relationship with market structure, first from a static perspective, which is then extended to a two-stage and then a fully dynamic perspective, which allows analysing collusion and price wars. The course then focuses on the strategic dimension of innovation and competition in R&D, discusses market entry and exit, and brings the topics together in an example of an intra-industry study of strategic competition. In this way the course provides a theoretical framework and relates theory to examples and case studies.

Teaching

20 hours of lectures and 8 hours of seminars in the WT. 2 hours of lectures and 1 hour of seminars in the ST.

Students on this course will have a reading week in Week 6, in line with Departmental policy.

Indicative reading

There is no fully adequate textbook for this course.

Indicative texts for background reading are David M. Kreps, Microeconomics for Managers, 2nd edition, Princeton University Press, 2019 (selected chapters) and D Besanko, D Dranove, M Shanley and S Schaefer, Economics of Strategy, 7th edition, Wiley, 2017.

A detailed reading list will be provided at the beginning of the course.

Assessment

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the spring exam period.

Key facts

Department: Management

Total students 2022/23: 68

Average class size 2022/23: 17

Controlled access 2022/23: Yes

Lecture capture used 2022/23: Yes (LT)

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Course selection videos

Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.

Personal development skills

  • Team working
  • Communication
  • Application of numeracy skills
  • Commercial awareness
  • Specialist skills