Fundamentals of strategic management, 5 ECTS cr

Learning outcomes:
Strategic management is the ongoing planning, monitoring, analysis and assessment of all that is necessary for a company or an organization to meet its goals and objectives. Changes in the business environment require companies or organizations to constantly assess their strategies for success and successfull competitiveness.

• Student knows basic information about mission, vision, values and strategy.
• Student knows basic elements about strategic thinking.
• Student can analyze companies' and organisations' strategy.

Contents and methods:

• The basic concepts of strategic management.
• Mission statement, values and vision.
• Defining strategic objectives, policies and action plans.
• Processes and measurement of process efficiency.
• Strategic thinking.

Written assignment, peer review and 3 multiple choice tests.

Compliance with course schedules is mandatory.

The course completion is automated. Exams on duty freely within the deadline. The written assignment will be returned and the peer reviews included in the course will be completed within the exact deadline. Deadlines cannot be flexible. More detailed instructions on the Learn page of the course.

The peer review section may involve international cooperation in the sense that the course assignment returner and its peer reviewers can be from different countries and cultures.

Please note that the final assessment of the course will only be given after the completion period for all areas (submission of the written assignment, peer review and three exams) has ended (in practice at the turn of April and May 2024).

The completion of the course is based on the student's own active work; familiarisation with materials, answering exams, carrying out written work and peer reviews in an electronic workshop. Course schedules must be followed. More detailed instructions on the course's Learn website.

The level of the course is bachelor / university level.

The course covers5 ECTS credits, totalling 135 hoursof student work. The number of hours is theoretical and varies according to student effort.

Study material:

• Course book and other materials are available on e-learning platform: Exploring strategy – Gerry Johnson & al.
• Other material gathered by the lecturer.

Assessment: 
The assessment is based on the total score collected by the student from the exams, written assignment and peer review he/she has completed.

Note: The grade given for written assignmets is given automatically through the course's Learn pages. It is based on peer review by other students and the evaluation criteria may therefore vary slightly between separate individual assignments. The teacher of the course does not evaluate written assignments or check their peer reviews done by other students.

Please also note that the final assessment of the course will only be given after the completion period for all areas (submission of the written assignment, peer review and three exams) has ended (in practice at the turn of April and May 2024).

Grades: 1-5

The Transcript of records will be delivered automatically by email in PDF form. You can read more about the The Transcript of records on: Information on Open UAS, Xamk Pulse studies.

This course is based on the curricula of Xamk's degree programmes and the Finnish credits are fully compatible with the ECTS.

Additional information on enrolment:
Xamk Pulse, email: openstudies@xamk.fi.

Terms of cancellation: 
If you are not able to participate in the course, please let us know as soon as possible by email openstudies@xamk.fi.

Before the course starts, you'll receive an invitation by email to this course.

Please note that there can be changes in the course details in terms of the timetable and teachers, for example.

South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences is audited by the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC).