School of Management, Unit Catalogue 2007/08 |
MN30405 Firm strategy and the competitive advantage of places |
| Credits: 6 |
| Level: Honours |
| Semester: 2 |
| Assessment: EX60ES40 |
| Requisites: |
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Aims: To understand from a firm-level strategy perspective what makes a location advantageous for business success, be that location a city, a subnational region, nation state, or supranational region.
Learning Outcomes: On completion of the unit, candidates should be able to understand the direct interrelationships between firm-level strategy and the competitiveness of places, including: (i) How different firm-level competitive and corporate strategies require different locational characteristics; (ii) What are the micro-level determinants of locational competitiveness; (iii) Which macro-level factors are needed to support such micro-level determinants; (iv) How the creation and maintenance of institutional systems either help develop or destroy locational competitiveness for firms both by strategic type and in aggregate; (v) How firm strategy influences institutional systems. Skills: Intellectual ability to synthesise theories and empirical evidence across the fields of strategic management and international business will be required and enhanced. Practical ability to analyse, identify and relate firm-level strategy to micro- and macro-level firm operating environments will be necessary and developed. Content: The unit will cover the following broad areas: (i) The rationale of firms, how firms make buyers buy their products, what buyers want, how buyer demands constantly escalate, how firms meet higher buyer expectations, and the result of this in terms of firm-level competitive and corporate strategy. (ii) The immediate locational prerequisites of differing firm-level competitive and corporate strategies. (iii) How firms choose where to locate, vertical internationalization, horizontal internationalization. (iv) The micro- and macro-anatomy of locational competitiveness, the effect of institutions on locational competitiveness, the effect of firms on locational competitiveness. |