In this course you will learn how organizations create, capture, and maintain value. In doing so, you’ll develop an understanding of how and why this process is fundamental for sustainable competitive advantage. You will be able to better understand value creation, and capture and learn the tools to analyze both competition and cooperation from a variety of perspectives, including the industry-level (e.g., five forces analysis) and the firm-level (e.g., business models and strategic positioning).
Business Strategy
Business Strategy
This course is part of Strategic Leadership and Management Specialization
Instructor: Deepak Somaya
89,942 already enrolled
Included with 
Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
4.8
(2,022 reviews)
Intermediate level
Some related experience required
Flexible schedule
Approx. 18 hours
Learn at your own pace
97%
Most learners liked this course
What you'll learn
Explain how different functions and activities fit together in a firm and how they align with the environment to create overall business performance.
Describe and employ important strategic management tools and frameworks for business models.
Apply strategic management tools and frameworks to business contexts in an appropriate manner to arrive at insights for strategic decision making.
Develop a coherent and actionable strategic plan by critically analyzing and processing abundant and diverse business and industry information.
Skills you'll gain
Details to know
Shareable certificate
Add to your LinkedIn profile
Assessments
5 assignments
Taught in English
See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills
Build your subject-matter expertise
This course is part of the Strategic Leadership and Management Specialization
When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.
- Learn new concepts from industry experts
- Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
- Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
- Earn a shareable career certificate
There are 5 modules in this course
You will become familiar with the course, your classmates, and our learning environment. The orientation will also help you obtain the technical skills required for the course.
What's included
3 videos6 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt
The Leading Strategically module will lay the foundation of business strategy course. You will learn about mission, vision and values and their role in overall strategy landscape. You will learn about the VARS framework for analyzing business models and SWOT framework for understanding the fit and coherence of business strategy.
What's included
10 videos4 readings1 assignment1 peer review
The Environmental Analysis module will focus on a key aspect of business strategy – analyzing and understanding the external environment of a firm. You will learn about the macro-environment of firms and the PESTEL framework for macro-environmental analysis. You will also learn about firms’ industry environment and understand how to predict industry profitability by using the 5-forces framework.
What's included
9 videos4 readings1 assignment1 peer review
The module on Internal Analysis and Competitive Advantage will provide an in-depth understanding of the origins of unique company strengths and how they can produce a competitive advantage. You will learn about the origins and consequences of fundamental internal differences among firms using the analytical viewpoints of activities, resources, and capabilities. You will be introduced to the strategic tools of value chains, value networks, and the V-R-I framework to help you analyze the implications of these within-firm differences for (sustained) competitive advantage.
What's included
8 videos4 readings1 assignment1 peer review
The Strategic Positioning and Strategic Renewal module brings together the internal and external aspects of strategic analysis to formulate an overall strategy for the firm. You will learn about the two main “generic strategies” that businesses can pursue, which can be complemented by broad or narrow scope to yield four key types of strategic positioning. You will also learn about “dual” strategies and why and how a firm's strategy must be adapted to strategically renew its positioning.
What's included
10 videos6 readings1 assignment1 peer review1 plugin
Earn a career certificate
Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV. Share it on social media and in your performance review.
Build toward a degree
This course is part of the following degree program(s) offered by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. If you are admitted and enroll, your completed coursework may count toward your degree learning and your progress can transfer with you.¹
Instructor
Instructor ratings
4.8 (401 ratings)Offered by
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Showing 3 of 2022
HL
5
Reviewed on Aug 25, 2018
I am really honored to review this course. The course and the Professor was really having a high practical approach. 4th Module was little bit confusion although it was a great time doing the course.
TW
5
Reviewed on Aug 10, 2016
I really enjoyed the case studies in this course and the education on various frameworks felt like I could immediately use the material in real world scenarios. Highly recommended course materials.
EK
5
Reviewed on Apr 23, 2017
Excellent class! Highly recommended to anyone who wants to learn the basics of business strategy. Professor Somay is a subject matter expert and his lectures are wonderful. Many thanks!
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