UCL - Business Strategy

[ECGE1315]

[20h + 10h] 4 credits

This course is taught in the 1st semester.

Teacher(s): Alain Vas

Language: French

Level: First

Aims
Main themes

Aims

After a general overview of the core areas of business management, finance, marketing, human resource management, production and logistics, students will have the challenge of acquiring new skills focused on integrating these core functions within a general framework of strategic management.
This will involve adopting a global approach to business development issues, both at a whole company level and within each of its spheres of activity.
The study of business strategy is based on a syncretic approach where no element, known or unknown, that might have an impact on the business's future, can be overlooked.
As a result, students will be expected to adopt a bird's eye view approach to the issues. The general direction of the business needs to inspire the global vision, thus ensuring coherent strategic planning, the major focus of this course.
In order to achieve this, the course has the following aims:
" to develop students ability to carry out a strategic diagnostic analysis, to define where the company sits in competitive terms, to establish its development potential and to lay down the conditions for maintaining or increasing its competitive advantage.
" to help students to develop their ability to analyse the business environment, understand the dynamics of the industrial sector(s) involved, identify specific globalisation issues and systematically frame their thinking within an international perspective.
" to teach students to develop their critical thinking and strategic decision-making skills both on an individual and collective level, through gathering and analysing relevant information, laying down and evaluating strategic options and selecting the must suitable or satisfactory options.
" to enable students to improve their communication skills, by giving them the opportunity to give an objective presentation of information relating to a particular company or business sector and teaching them how to present an effective argument, both orally and in writing.
The course also aims to make students aware of ethical issues, of the importance of personal, social and political values, of business culture, of considering the preoccupations of all the parties involved and not just the share-holders, in short, of the importance of asking themselves in a critical and constructive fashion, what the 'raison d'être' of business is.

Main themes

The course will examine three main themes:
Competition analysis
Corporate analysis
Management analysis