Teaching

MBA Courses

Note: These courses are administered via the MBA program at the Carlson School; students with questions about registration, eligibility, etc. should contact the CSOM MBA office directly.

MBA 6300: Strategic Management

This is an MBA core course, designed to serve as an introduction to the area of strategic management. Through a combination of readings, lectures, case discussions and assignments, the course helps to familiarize students with the role of business strategy in creating and sustaining competitive advantage, and the various issues and decisions involved. By the end of the course, the students should be able to: (i) analyze why some firms outperform others, (ii) develop and evaluate strategies to deal with complex business situations and (iii) identify issues that may arise in implementing these strategies. The course explores issues of industry analysis, opportunities and threats in the external environment, firm’s internal resources and capabilities, competition and competitive dynamics. In addition it covers topics related to technology strategy, corporate diversification, multinational business and corporate social responsibility

Sample Syllabus: Kaul_MBA6300_Fall2018

MGMT 6085: Corporate Strategy

This is an MBA-level elective that examines issues of corporate strategy, i.e. issues associated with creating and managing a firm that operates in multiple businesses. The objective of the course is to enable students to

· Critically evaluate a firm’s business portfolio

· Manage a multi-business organization

· Identify the appropriate means of entering a new market or business

· Execute changes in the firm’s corporate scope

The first half of the course explores the sources of value from operating in multiple businesses, including the advantages and disadvantages of vertical integration, the costs and benefits of horizontal diversification and the challenges of managing a diversified firm. The second half of the course focuses on the means that firms use to grow or renew their business portfolio, studying the advantages and disadvantages of various entry modes (alliances, acquisitions, and internal growth), and the challenges that firms face when acquiring or divesting businesses.

Sample Syllabus: Kaul6085SyllabusFall17.pdf

PhD Courses

MGMT 8401: Strategy - I

This is a Ph.D. seminar in the field of strategy, i.e., the study of how firms achieve and sustain economic profits and performance. The course is intended to provide strategy researchers with an introduction to the fundamentals of strategy as an area of study: discussing the origins of the field and reviewing several of the theories that are central to it. To that end, we shall read and discuss foundational works, notable empirical applications, and important recent advances under each theory. My objective in this course is two-fold: a) to familiarize you with the important streams of research that make up the field of strategy, broadly defined;  and b) to help you develop the ability to critically assess and appreciate high quality strategy research. 

Note: This is the first part of a two part sequence. 

Sample Syllabus: Kaul8401_Strat20.pdf

MGMT 8404: Nonmarket Strategy

This is a Ph.D. seminar in the field of nonmarket strategy, i.e., the strategies by which firms alter, influence, or adapt to their existing institutional environment in order to gain competitive advantage. Drawing on foundations in both institutional economics and institutional theory, the seminar examines a body of recent research in the field of strategic management that studies how and to what effect firms engage with political, legal, and social stakeholders. While the primary focus of the course is on the antecedents and consequences of such nonmarket strategies for firms, we shall also consider the impact of these strategies on social welfare, and the resulting implications for public policy. The objective of the seminar is to provide a survey of the various streams of research within this important and growing literature. To that end, each week of the seminar discusses a key topic within this broader literature, covering both foundational pieces and current research, and examining both central theoretical arguments and the most advanced empirical findings.

Sample Syllabus: Kaul8404_NonmarketStrat19.pdf

MGMT 8101: Theory Building

MGMT 8101 is a two 2-credit PhD course focused on helping PhD students to formulate research problems and develop theory. In essence, this is a ‘methods’ course for how to write the front-end of a research paper or proposal.  The course is geared for doctoral students in the social and behavioral sciences--especially those wanting to become proficient in conducting research on managerial and organizational topics. While housed within the Strategic Management & Entrepreneurship department at the Carlson School, the course is designed to be discipline agnostic and to apply across a wide range of research areas. As such, students from other departments within Carlson, as well as PhD students in other social science disciplines across the University are welcome. 

[This course was originally developed, and taught for many years, by my late colleague Andy Van de Ven, whose version of the course, complete with open access readings, lectures, etc. may be be found on his website.]

The latest syllabus for the course may be found here.