Strategic Decision Making

man discussing with team

This course leads you through a journey on key economics and strategy principles that enable you to assess the costs and benefits associated with strategic choices and make decisions to gain and sustain competitive advantage.

This course incorporates quantitative analysis as well as case studies to help you develop analytical frameworks like a CEO or a business owner would. To be successful in highly competitive, uncertain, and complex business environments, managers must be able to identify competitive threats, assess the economic costs and benefits associated with strategic options, and evaluate the impact of various options on the firm’s short-term and long-term profits. Managers can then rely on these assessments to select a course of action that will yield valuable competitive advantage for the firm. This Strategic Decision Making course leads you through a comprehensive journey to establish key economics and strategy principles that will assist you in translating managerial economic analyses into competitive strategic tools.

You will understand how to understand competition, and manage the value creation and appropriation processes within your industry and along your value chain. By the end of the course, you will have developed a toolkit to make and understand key strategic decisions at a firm.

Outcomes include:

  • Make decisions using marginal analysis.
  • Analyze competitive markets.
  • Explore reasons for government intervention in markets.
  • Analyze monopoly and oligopoly markets.
  • Identify strategic positions and sources of competitive advantages.
  • Evaluate industry structure and corporate scope.
  • Design internalization strategy.

Strategic decision making is a “must-have” course for MBA students.

What sets this program apart?

  • Live sessions with the professor
  • Assessments throughout  at the end of the course provide assurance of learning
  • Opportunities for group work as well as learning on your own
  • Expand your perspective and network by interacting with cross-functional faculty and participants with diverse backgrounds
  • Learn from a Financial Times Top 10 global executive education provider
Who Should Attend
  • Director, Senior-Manager, Entrepreneur, and persons recognized as High Potentials in the organization
  • Managers and supervisors moving into positions with greater responsibility in business development and strategic planning 
  • Next-level leaders who are on the path to gaining additional responsibilities in business development and strategic planning 
  • Individuals seeking professional or entrepreneurial growth
  • Professionals without prior formal economics or strategy expertise and/or who lack a formal business education background in economics or strategy 

The Program Structure

This online course consists of eight asynchronous modules with two live synchronous sessions. The combination of the online platform, discussion groups and interactive live sessions fosters a dynamic learning environment.

Understanding markets through an economic lens

  • Module 1: Understanding customer demand
  • Module 2: Gain deeper awareness into supplier and costs
  • Module 3: Insights into markets and the role of price
  • Module 4: Understanding competition and differentiation

Building competitive advantage through strategy execution

  • Module 5: Linking competitive strategy to value creation
  • Module 6: Evaluating your competitive advantage
  • Module 7: Executing strategic initiatives
  • Module 8: Competing in a dynamic environment

 

TIME COMMITMENT
Duration: 6 weeks
Weekly Coursework: 5-7 hours/week
Format: Asynchronous & Synchronous sessions
Badge: Earn a digital social media-friendly badge upon successful completion of the Strategic Decision Making program


PROGRAM CERTIFICATION
This course is part of the Accelerated Management Development Certificate Program. This six-month program helps you strengthen your business acumen, broaden your management capabilities, and gain actionable tools to advance your career. This fully online and customizable program will help you achieve a managerial mindset through an integrated exploration of business functions and strategy. Earn a digital certificate upon completion of the full online Accelerated Management Development Certificate Program. For more information on this new online program click here.


credential
After successful program completion, you will earn 1 credit toward the Distinguished Leader Certificate from Michigan Ross Executive Education.

  • Learn to practically apply economics to make informed decisions
  • Develop an executive mindset and identify strategic opportunities in the market
  • Upskill or refresh knowledge in market dynamics and making strategic decisions 
  • Immediate Application - Learn on Monday, Apply on Tuesday
  • Earn a digital badge to share on social media with colleagues and friends after successful course completion

Faculty
Buzz and Judy Newton Professor of Business Administration
Area Chair, Business Economics and Public Policy
Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy
Professor of Accounting
Michael and Joan Sakkinen Faculty Fellow
Accounting Faculty Doctoral Coordinator
Associate Professor of Strategy
Strategy Faculty Doctoral Coordinator

Faculty Thought Leadership
Access Program Info

Tuition & Fees

Fee includes program materials, assessments and simulations.

Fee must be paid in full in US dollars (net of any tax) before access to the course platform can be granted.

Program discounts may be available for selected programs; contact us for specific details.

See our Cancellation, Transfer and Substitution Policy.

Contact us for special team pricing. 

For more information, please contact: [email protected] | +1.734.763.1000.