Office Location: Room 36, 10 Pulteney Street
Telephone: 8313 4653
Email: georges.baume@adelaide.edu.au

Dr Georges Baume joined the Adelaide Graduate School of Business in 2000. He has a wealth of international experience in graduate management education. An Oxford and Adelaide graduate, Georges has extensive consulting and executive education experience with which he enriches his MBA teachings. He travels extensively and lectures internationally (Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Finland, France, and Canada). He is highly sought after as an accomplished and successful strategy lecturer, and his courses are among the most popular in the Adelaide MBA program.

Georges' passion is teaching. His enthusiasm, interest, and energies are focused on creating a wonderfully rich and stimulating learning environment. Georges' primary concern is to address his students' needs and to challenge them to reach beyond their own expectations. Dr Baume has been nominated for and won the Adelaide University Postgraduate Students Association Lecturer of the Year Award on three separate occasions. In 2009, he was awarded an Australian Award for University Teaching - the ALTC Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Post Graduate Teaching and Student Learning - “For sustained commitment to excellence in the delivery of MBA courses to transnational postgraduate students, resulting in students’ growth as confident, critical thinkers and decision makers”. In 2009 he was also the recipient of the prestigious Stephen Cole the Elder prize for excellence in teaching at the University of Adelaide and was nominated for the Pearson Education ANZAM Management Educator of the Year Award. In both 2010 and 2011, he was nominated for an all Australian Learning and Teaching Contribution award. Dr Baume is widely recognised by both his students and his peers as an outstanding and successful educator with an unquestionable dedication to the profession.

Dr Baume has a wide range of business experience, with skills in managing, consulting, teaching and research. He has an excellent practical knowledge of corporate and strategic management. His main area of management and research interests lies with the service sector, with a focus on the development and application of strategic principles and key success factors that can enable firms to perform, compete, and succeed in the new economy.

Georges’ qualifications include a Ph.D, and an MBA from Adelaide University, an M.Sc. from Oxford University, a Dip. Ed., and a Bachelor of Arts from Flinders University. Georges is a Chartered Member of the Australian Human Resource Institute and a Fellow of the Australian Management Institute

Knowledge and Understanding

This course is designed to give students the skills to

· analyse strategic macro environmental issues;

· analyse industry factors, and identify their impact on profitability and strategic positioning;

· assess organisational performance;

· identify strategic capabilities and gaps;

· assess and evaluate SBU strategies; and

· analyse and implement strategy at the single business unit level.

The text book for this course is:

Thompson, A., Strickland, A., Peteraf. M., and Gamble, J.E. (2014) Crafting and Executing Strategy:The Quest for Competitive Advantage, Concepts and Cases, (19th edition) McGraw Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-802950-9

There are many business strategy texts that students can use as references. Useful references include:

Angwin D., Cummings S., & Smith C. (2011), The Strategy Pathfinder, Core Concepts and Micro-Cases, 2nd Ed, Blackwell Pub.
Colls, D., and Montgomery, C. (2005), Corporate Strategy: A Resource-Based Approach. (2nd edition) McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Johnson, G., Scholes, K., and Whittington, R. (2005), Exploring Corporate Strategy. (7th edition) FT Prentice Hall.
McGee J., Thomas H., Wilson D. (2005), Strategy Analysis and Practice, McGraw Hill Pub.
Pearce J.A., and Robinson R.B. Jr (2003), Strategic Management, Formulation, Implementation, and Control, (8th Ed), McGraw Hill Pub

Other useful (Australian) references on business strategy include:

Davis, J., and Devinney, T. (1997) The Essence of Corporate Strategy. Allen & Unwin.
Hubbard, G., Rice J. and Beamish P (2007), Strategic Management: Thinking, Analysis and Action. (3rd ed) Pearson Education Australia.
Twite, G. and O’Keeffe, M. (eds) (2000) New Directions in Corporate Strategy. Allen & Unwin.
Viljoen, J. and Dann, S. (2003), Strategic Management. (4th ed) Prentice Hall.

 Important messages, topic notes, power point slides, case studies and other materials relating to the course will be placed on MyUni throughout the course. MyUni can be found at (www.myuni.adelaide.edu.au)

Timetable of Lecture Sessions and Case Discussions

Friday January 30
Session 1:

Introduction: A Framework for Strategic Analysis and what is ‘Business Strategy’?

Readings: Thompson, Strickland, & Gamble, Chapters 1 & 2

“Fundamental issues in strategies” Rumelt R, Schendel D, & Teece D (eds), 1994, Chpt 1, Fundamental Issues in Strategies, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, pp.9-47

Case: Costco wholesale in 2012: mission, business model, and strategy
 

Friday January 30
Sessions 2:

Business Strategy Analysis and External Industry Analysis.

Readings: Thompson, Strickland, & Gamble, Chapter 3

“Commitment: The persistence of strategies”, Ghemawat P.,1991, Commitment: the dynamic of strategy, The Free Press, New York, pp.13-31

Case: Panera bread company in 2012 – pursuing growth in a weak economy

 
Saturday January 31
Session 3:

External Industry Analysis and Measuring Organisational Performance

Readings Thompson, Strickland, & Gamble, Chapter 4

“The Five Competitive Forces that shape Strategy”, Porter M., HBR, January, 2008

“Industry segmentation & competitive advantage” Porter M., 1985, Competitive Advantage: creating and sustaining superior performance, The Free Press, New York, pp.231-272

Case Tiffany’s little blue box: does it have any strategic significance?
 

Saturday January 31
Session 4:

Measuring Organisational Performance and Capability Analysis.

Readings: Thompson, Strickland, & Gamble, Chapter 5

“Capitalising on Capabilities”, Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood, HBR, June 2004, Jun2004, Vol. 82 Issue 6, p119-127

“Strategy and the Internet”, Porter M., HBR, March 2001

Case: Nucor corporation in 2012: using economic downturns as an opportunity to grow stronger

 
Friday February 27
Sessions 5:

Strategic Options and Decision making 1

Readings: Thompson, Strickland, & Gamble, Chapters 6

“The nature and sources of competitive advantage”, in Grant R, 1995, Contemporary Strategy Analysis, 2nd ed, Chpt 6, pp 149-172, Blackwell Business Pub. Cambridge, Massachussets

Case 7-Eleven in Taiwan: adaptation of convenience stores to new market environments.

 
Friday February 27
Session 6:

Strategic Options and Decision making 2

Readings: Thompson, Strickland, & Gamble, Chapter 7

“The right game: use game theory to shape strategy” Brandenburger A & Nalebuff B, 1995, HBR, July –August, pp 57-71

“Speed & strategic choice: how managers accelerate decision making”, Einsenhardt K., 1990, California Management Review, Spring, pp.39-54

Case: Tata motors: can it become a global contender in the automotive industry?
 

Saturday February 28
Session 7:

Strategy and Ethics

Readings: Thompson, Strickland, & Gamble, Chapter 9

“The business of ethics and the ethics of business”, Pattan J.E, Journal of Business Ethics 3, 1984, Pp.1-19

Case : Rhino sales, hunting, and poaching in South Africa, 2012 


Saturday February 28
Session 8: 

Mid Term in Class Mini- Case Study Test


Friday March 27
Session 9:

Strategy Execution 1

Readings: Thompson, Strickland, & Gamble, Chapter 10

“Cost advantage”, 1985, Porter M., Competitive advantage: creating and sustaining superior performance, New York, The Free Press, pp. 97-118

“Competitive cost dynamics: the experience curve”, 1982, Hax A., & Maljuf N., Interfaces, 12/5, Pp.50-61

Case : Starbucks in 2012: evolving into a dynamic global organisation

 
Friday March 27
Session 10:

Strategy Execution 2

Readings: Thompson, Strickland, & Gamble, Chapters 11 & 12

“Innovation & competitive advantage: what we know & what we kneed to learn”, 1992, Lengnich-Hall C., Journal of Management, 18/2, pp.399-429

“Differentiation strategy”, 1985, Porter M., Competitive Advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance, The Free Press, New York, pp.150-163
 

Saturday March 28
Session 11:

Group Presentations

 
Session 12:

Final in-class test 

Attendance

The MBA program is largely undertaken through face-to-face class sessions to facilitate interactions between the lecturing staff and fellow students. Accordingly there is an expectation that you will attend all of the scheduled classes. If work commitments, illness or other circumstances require you to be absent from some lectures, please inform your lecturer in advance by either phone or email so that you may discuss the topic(s) to be covered in the class session and the tasks you need to complete before the next session. It is your responsibility to make arrangements with the lecturer or other students to catch up on information discussed in class, however, it is unlikely that lecturers will be able to repeat a class to cover your absence.

Please note that if you have not attended at least 80% of the class sessions for a course you will forgo your right, on academic grounds, to any supplementary assessment opportunities.

Email Address

When you enrol in the MBA program you are automatically assigned a student email address. It is important that you check this account regularly as email is the primary form of communication between the School and its students. Alternatively you can forward your student email to a nominated account e.g. work or home. Please refer to the IT site for further details on how to do this.

http://www.adelaide.edu.au/its/webmail/userguide/vacation_fwd.html#forward

Important Note: if you have your email forwarded to another account and the address changes, you need to ensure that you update your forwarding details, otherwise you will miss out on important information.

Ind Class Participation	Constructive participation in class discussion	10%
Mid Term In Class Test	Mini Case Analysis – Saturday February 28	20%
Group Presentation	Group Presentation	15%
Group Assignment	Group Report	15%
End of Term Exam	Case Base – Saturday March 28	40%

Thorough case preparation and willingness to participate in class discussion is essential to the educational process as well as the achievement of a satisfactory grade.

The 10% class participation component will be based on individual contributions to lecture and case discussions.
 
Individual Class Participation (10%)

Thorough case preparation and willingness to participate in class discussion is essential to the educational process as well as the achievement of a satisfactory grade in strategic decisions and implementation. Participants will be required to prepare two or three readings plus a case study for discussion for every session. Participants will be regularly quizzed on both cases and readings, so please come prepared.

Mid Term in Class Test (20%)

The mid term in-class test will take the form of a short case analysis. Participants will be required to:

Read and familiarise themselves with a short case study;
Answer specific questions relating to the case and its industry;
Demonstrate their ability to integrate relevant knowledge and skills covered in the first half of the course and, where applicable, in other relevant management areas.

Group Presentation (15%)

Details of the presentation will be discussed at the first class. You will have a total of 30-40 minutes to make your presentation and answer questions. Presentations will be held on the last day of the course.

Group Assignment (15%)

Please see details of the questions to be addressed on the following page. Please note that all groups and organisational choices must be approved by the lecturer. The nature and focus of group reports will be discussed in Session 1

Examination (40%)

The examination will be Case based and will be “open book”. Specific details and expectations will be discussed in the course.

Group Presentation & Assignment : Industry and Organisational Analysis Report

· worth 30% (15+15) of the total assessment in this subject

· to be completed in a group of no more than 5 people

· Due Date: Saturday March 28, 2015

· Report to be emailed to Dr Georges Baume: georges.baume@adelaide.edu.au
 
Select and analyse a strategic problem confronting a local organisation of your choice. (The real identity of the company can be disguised to protect confidential information if absolutely necessary).

Describe the organisation, its strategies, its industry, and position within the industry.
What is the industry like?
What is competition like?
Discuss the relevance of strategic groups in this industry.
What is your assessment of the organisation’s competencies and organisational capabilities?
What resource and organisational deficiencies do you see? What is the strategic problem?
Identify and discuss the strategic opportunities which management should pursue.
What major threats should top management be worried about?
If you were asked by the Board to recommend a specific strategy or strategies for the organisation for the next five years, what strategic option(s) would you consider and what option(s) would you recommend?
What will the organisation need to do to ensure that your recommendation(s) can be successfully implemented and executed?
 
Prepare a comprehensive business report outlining your findings and recommendations. Your report should not exceed TEN pages. It should be word-processed with a font size of 12 points and line spacing of at least 1.5.
 
Prepare a presentation of your findings to be delivered to the class on. Time allowed 30 mins.

In addition to achieving a course mark of at least 50%, students need to attain an average of fifty percent (50%) across all the individually assessed items, considered as a whole, in order to pass the course.

For information on the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy refer to:

www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/700/
 
Presentation of Assignments

1. Please must retain a copy of all assignments submitted.

2. Please attach an ‘Assignment Cover Sheet’, which is signed and dated by you before submission.

3. All group assignments must be attached to a ‘Group Assignment Cover Sheet’, which must be signed and dated by all group members before submission. All team members are expected to contribute approximately equally to a group assignment.
 
Lecturers can refuse to accept assignments, which do not have a signed acknowledgement of the University’s policy on plagiarism.
 

Assignment Guidelines including Referencing Details

A copy of the Postgraduate Programs: Communication Skills Guide will have been given to you at the beginning of your program. This guide will assist you structure your assignments. A copy of the guide can also be downloaded from http://www.business.adelaide.edu.au/current/mba/download/2009MBACommSkillsGuide.pdf

This publication also provides guidelines on a range of other important communication skills including writing essays and management reports, making oral presentations etc.

In preparing any written piece of assessment for your postgraduate studies it is important to draw on the relevant ‘literature’ to support critical analysis. Also essential is to reference the literature used. Correct referencing is important because it identifies the source of the ideas and arguments that you present, and sometimes the source of the actual words you use, and helps to avoid the problem of plagiarism. (Further information on plagiarism is provided later in this course outline.)

The Harvard system is widely used in the Business School. Guidelines for the use of this style of referencing can be found in the Communication Skills Guide.
 
Further assistance with referencing is available from the Faculty’s Learning Support Advisors. The contact details are provided on page 6 of the Communication Skills Guide.

Return of Assignments and Feedback

Lecturer’s aim to mark and return assignments to students within two (2) weeks of the due date with written feedback. Assignments will generally be returned in lectures, however please ensure that you have your current mailing address recorded on Access Adelaide, as some assignments may be returned by mail. Assignments may also be returned via MyUni.

Late Assignment Submission

Students are expected to submit their work by the due date to maintain a fair and equitable system. Extensions will generally only be given for medical or other serious reasons. All requests for extensions must be emailed to the lecturer in charge of the course before the due date. Each request will be assessed on its merits. A late assignment (without prior arrangement) will be penalised by a 5% mark reduction for each day that it is late.