Posted: February 28th, 2023

Welcome to the course! Developing and Executing Strategy is the capstone course on the MBA
programme. In the course we will look at the key areas of strategic management, which is concerned with
the long term direction and performance of the organisation. The course is designed to give you an
intellectual framework you can use to make more robust business decisions.
Developing and Executing Strategy
0.0 Introduction to
Developing and Executing
Strategy
This course is grounded in the academic discipline of Strategic Management. Strategy and strategic
decisions are often thought of as being reserved for those in senior management positions. That is not
necessarily the case. A sound and critical knowledge of strategy is useful to anyone in a management
position. With that in mind, this course is designed to be practical, applicable and useful to people in
senior management positions, or those who aspire to such positions.
Throughout the course we examine and use tools, techniques and ideas that will help you to explain real
world situations, make decisions and deal with the dynamic and uncertain business environment that
many organisations face today. Some tools and techniques may be familiar to you; others will not be.
Strategy is an integrative academic discipline, using ideas across the intellectual spectrum for practical
benefit.
In this introductory podcast, Craig talks about the course and looks at why a critical view of strategic
management might be useful to you, no matter what role or position you are in at work.
KNOWLEDGE BUILDING
0.0.1 Introduction to this course 
Size S
1
© Edinburgh Business School | Version 24-February-2021-09:24


Transcript
Our position in this course is that a critical view of strategy will help you develop your strategic
leadership capacity. A large part of that is the ability to integrate diverse functional perspectives into a
holistic view of organisations and how they operate. This is a key leadership skill for senior managers
and the terminal outcome of doing your MBA with Edinburgh Business School.
By the end of this course you will be able to:
Demonstrate the ability to identify and critically evaluate complex business situations and make
informed judgements using a multidisciplinary strategic framework.
Identify and use a range of verbal, numerical and graphical sources to formulate strategic decisions.
Show critical awareness of contemporary theory in the strategic management field and be able to
relate to current organisational practice
You can find the full syllabus here.
KNOWLEDGE BUILDING
0.0.2 Learning outcomes and syllabus 
Size S
2
© Edinburgh Business School | Version 24-February-2021-09:24
Craig V Robinson BA(Hons) MBA PhD SFHEA CMBE
Dr Craig Robinson is the course leader for Developing and Executing Strategy. He is
Associate Professor of Strategy, Director of Digital Education and Senior Director of MBA
Programmes at Edinburgh Business School. He oversees the delivery and development
of all the School’s online programmes around the world.
Craig has been running strategy and executive development courses on postgraduate programmes and
for external clients since joining Edinburgh Business School in 2007. He has taught executive students in
private and public sector organisations in the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. He presently
leads a number of MBA Strategy courses and an MSc course on strategic change management. Craig is a
Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a member of the Chartered Association of Business
Schools International Committee and has been a Visiting Lecturer at MODUL University in Vienna since
2018. Craig is external examiner for MBA programmes at Robert Gordon University and UCLAN. Prior to
becoming an academic, Craig spent a number of years in various operations management roles for
McDonald’s UK after joining their graduate scheme.
Craig’s research is centred round environmental scanning, interpretation and response behaviours in
individuals and organisations. He has published findings on environmental scanning in complex
organisations and is currently developing further research that relates environmental scanning to
organisational dynamic and foresight capabilities. Craig supervises DBA and PhD students in the area of
Strategic Management, with recent completions in areas such as international joint ventures, SME
planning processes and the adoption of agile management practices in large organisations. He has
presented a variety of conference papers, most recently related to environmental uncertainty
international joint ventures and online pedagogy. Craig also consults for and provides advice and
management support to a number organisations, including a mental health charity in Edinburgh.
Robert Hartnett CMBE MBA MSc FRSA FRAS FISM
Robert Hartnett is an Associate Professor of Management at Edinburgh Business
School, Heriot-Watt University. He is also a Visiting Professor in Management at
Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway. A Licenced Negotiate Limited Trainer and
a Certified Management and Business Educator, Robert is a prize-winning MBA graduate of Henley
Business School, and holds an MSc in Strategic Focus from Edinburgh Business School. He has fellowships
in the Royal Society of Arts, Royal Asiatic Society, the Institute of Sales Management, and is an Affiliate
Member of the Chartered Governance Institute. He is also Treasurer of the University and College Union
at Heriot-Watt.
KNOWLEDGE BUILDING
0.0.3 Introduction to the course team 
Size S
3
© Edinburgh Business School | Version 24-February-2021-09:24
The first half of Robert’s career was within finance and accountancy, and he held senior positions at The
Savoy Hotel Plc and Sony (UK) Plc involving both financial analysis and strategic planning for these
organisations. Upon a move to Denmark, Robert established and ran the Approved Learning Partner for
Edinburgh Business School there, was instrumental in appointing partners in Norway and Sweden and in
developing the market for the MBA and DBA in Scandinavia. He has also developed and taught executive
training courses in negotiation and strategic negotiation in Denmark and Norway. Robert and has
consulted with a number of Scandinavian organisations, including the Norwegian Post Office and the
recent Kon-Tiki 2 expedition. Robert also provides negotiation training and consultancy services for the
charities supported by Inspire Scotland. He has been a faculty member of Edinburgh Business School
since 2012 and has taught Making Strategies Work and other strategy courses in Edinburgh, the Middle
East and the Far East. In addition to strategic planning and implementation, Robert’s interests include
business ethics, and corporate governance.
4
© Edinburgh Business School | Version 24-February-2021-09:24
Given the breadth of Strategic management as an academic and practitioner discipline, it is not possible
to cover every aspect of the subject that might be of interest to you in a single course. We have,
therefore, designed the course around those key concepts and theories that we believe are most
relevant and applicable to senior managers in contemporary organisations.
The two sections that follow provide guidance on how to access and use the eBook in this course.
Developing and Executing Strategy
0.1 Your eBook
Your eBook access is provided via Kortext, which is integrated into the EBS online learning site.
Please follow the steps below to set up your free Kortext account and access your eBook.
Important note: Please do not try to set up your Kortext account via their website or apps. Instead, you
must follow the steps below.
Step 1
Click the button below to set up your free Kortext account and access the eBook:
 Please go to your student portal to interact with your eBook account
If this is your first course, you will be prompted to create a password for your new Kortext account. Once
you have set this up, eBook access should be seamless.
Step 2
If you require offline access to the eBook, please download the free Kortext app.
Important note: You must have carried out Step 1 (above) before downloading the app. You must log
into the app using the same email address registered to your Edinburgh Business School student
account, and the password you created in Step 1.
Kortext apps are available for Apple, Android and Microsoft devices. Please visit your app store of choice
KNOWLEDGE BUILDING
0.1.1 Accessing your eBook 
Size S
5
© Edinburgh Business School | Version 24-February-2021-09:24
to download the app to your device.
If your preferred device is not included, please visit Kortext’s support pages  where you should find
what you need.
Printed textbooks
If you prefer a hard-copy textbook, you can purchase one via retailers such as The Book Depository. 
For this course, the textbook is: Macintosh, R. & Maclean, D. 2014. Strategic Management: Strategists
at Work, Palgrave Macmillan.
Although the front covers of the printed textbook and eBook are different, the content of the two is the
same.
We have selected the textbook for this course for its focus on providing a practical framework in which to
consider organisational strategy and for its accessibility to practitioners and academic audiences alike. At
the start of each module we will refer you to relevant chapters in the text. The chapters are relatively
short, but they cover a lot of ground. We will also point to relevant sections of the eBook at various stages
in each module.
It is important that you read the relevant chapters of the eBook at the appropriate point in the
course. The online content we have designed explores the issues raised in the relevant chapter(s) in
more depth and presents alternative perspectives. Don’t be tempted to skip this reading, or leave it all
until later. If you do, you will lose the logic and flow of the module and get lost very quickly.
Please also note that you will be assessed on the course content. The course content includes those
sections of the eBook that you are directed to read.
You should also ensure that, for each module, you complete all the sections before attempting the
end of module activities. You should complete all reading and all modules before looking at the
‘Exam Preparation’ section in Module 9.
Within each chapter of the eBook, there are two important items to draw your attention to:
The Running Cases
The running cases are introduced in Chapter 3 of the Strategists at Work text.
KNOWLEDGE BUILDING
0.1.2 How to use your eBook 
Size S
6
© Edinburgh Business School | Version 24-February-2021-09:24
 Please go to your student portal to interact with your eBook account
These comprise interviews with senior managers in three organisations and provide an interesting
flavour of how different aspects of strategy work in practice. These are used at the end of every chapter
in the text to illustrate various points.
Do’s and Don’ts
At the end of most chapters there is a short list of things to do and things to avoid when using the
relevant tools and ideas in practice. These are worth considering, not least because you will be expected
to use these frameworks in your exam, but moreover because they will provide you with useful tips on
how to introduce these ideas into your own practice and work.
Troubleshooting
Occasionally, some students get an error message saying “Your account has not been enabled to access
Kortext”. Usually this can be avoided or fixed by:
1. Setting up your eBook access by clicking on the purple ‘Read online’ link in the EBS platform (above)
− please don’t go direct to the Kortext website or app first;
2. Setting up your Kortext account using the same email address as the one registered to your EBS
student account;
3. Hitting ‘Back’, refreshing the page, then clicking ‘Read online’ again.
If you’re still experiencing difficulties, please visit Kortext’s support pages  or email
[email protected]  (ccing [email protected] ).
7
© Edinburgh Business School | Version 24-February-2021-09:24
This section provides a brief look at the assessment process and how it works.
You’ll find further guidance on how to prepare for the exam at the end of this course in Module 9
Preparing for your Exam. We suggest you look at that once you have worked through the rest of the
course.
Developing and Executing Strategy
0.2 Assessment
This course is assessed by a three-hour written exam .You can register for your exam via the Studies
link in the horizontal menu at the top of this page. Please refer to the Student Handbook for further
details on exam regulations.
The exam will assess your achievement of the learning outcomes and concentrates on analysis, critical
thinking and application rather than recall of knowledge.
Exam format
The exam will be based on a pre-announced company case study, which will be released online two
weeks prior to the exam date. You will be provided with a brief history of a company and some links to
external resources with further information and will be expected to conduct your own independent
research on the company and its activities prior to the exam itself.
You will be permitted to bring one piece of A4 paper into the exam with your own notes.
In the exam, you will be presented with a scenario facing the company and asked three questions, each
marked out of 100, covering different aspects of strategic management as follows:
1. Strategy Past and Present: you will be asked to analyse the company’s existing strategy using
appropriate tools and techniques.
2. Strategy Future: you will be required to develop a coherent and justified strategy for the future in
light of the scenario presented in the question paper.
3. Strategy Theory and Practice: you will be asked a question about some aspect of strategy theory
and will be required to relate this to the situation facing the case study company.
KNOWLEDGE BUILDING
0.2.1 How you will be assessed 
Size S
8
© Edinburgh Business School | Version 24-February-2021-09:24
Exam guidelines
Exam details
Exam is 100% of course assessment? yes
Prior research required? yes
Pass mark? 50%
Open book? yes
Pre-released material? yes
Choice of questions? no
Detailed guidelines on the operation of material pre-release and open book exams are provided here.
How do I prepare for my exam effectively?
In Developing and Executing Strategy, you get the most out of the course if you participate. Many
business problems can be related back to strategy issues – the course is immediately applicable and very
much centred on how real organisations work. The whole course is designed to help you acquire
knowledge, develop the ability to apply theory and critically evaluate different situations, all of which
you are required to do in the exam. Therefore, the most effective exam preparation comes from working
through the course in a methodical manner, engaging with the activities and discussions, tracking your
progress as you go.
You will find further guidance on assessment format and preparation in Module 9 at the end of the
course. You will also find a sample exam to allow you to familiarise yourself with the format and to
practise timings. You will also find useful guidance on how to conduct company research in Module 8.
What standard of answer is expected in the exam?
We use an analytical rubric to grade each exam question, which has detailed descriptors for each level of
performance. You will find the detailed rubric here. You may wish to have a quick look at this now; we
suggest you wait to review it more detail once you have finished working through the course.
9
© Edinburgh Business School | Version 24-February-2021-09:24
Here we briefly highlight a few of the key features of this course, some that are common to every module
and others that concerned with how we have structured the course overall.
Developing and Executing Strategy
0.3 Key Features of this
Course
Key concepts
At the end of each module you will find a list of Key Concepts, all of which have been covered in the
module, either in the Strategists at Work text or in the course content. Use these to ensure you have
covered and understood everything before doing the end of module questions.
Further reading and reference list
For each module we have provided two resources to help you explore particular issues in strategic
management in more depth, should you wish to do so.
The Recommended Further Reading section provides a pointer to some books and articles that we think
you might find interesting and/or useful if you want to pursue a particular idea further.
The Reference List is a list of all the citations we have referred to in the module. Some of these lists are
quite long, but do not be put off. You can use items on this list again to pursue ideas further if you are
interested and motivated to do so.
It’s not compulsory to use either of these resources, but our long experience of working with MBA
students suggests that you might find specific aspects of strategy very useful in your working life and
might want to pursue some ideas further.
KNOWLEDGE BUILDING
0.3.1 Key concepts and further
reading

Size S
10
© Edinburgh Business School | Version 24-February-2021-09:24
We have aimed in the course for a variety of activities for you to engage in. These include click to reveal
questions and areas where you can record your reflections on a given area of strategy or a situation you
might have faced in your working life. There are three aspects worth highlighting in particular.
Topic discussions
These are scattered though the course. Strategy lends itself very well to being discussed in real
organisational contexts. This course is being studied now by a very large and diverse cohort of students
from all over the world. We therefore encourage you to participate and share your thoughts on the topic
discussions as you work through. There is real value to be had in engaging with your fellow students on
these forums. The course team will also be joining in from time to time.
Short questions
These are used any time you see the question mark image above. These questions don’t have a right or
wrong answer, but they are designed to help you think about the content you have studied in your own
context. Whenever you see this image, take a moment to consider how the aspect of strategy being
discussed might apply to you.
End of module questions
There is a set of questions provided at the end of each module to help you consolidate your learning
across all the topics that have been covered. You should work through these before proceeding to the
next module.
The course forum
This is a space where you can ask the course team questions directly. We will also post announcements
here for issues such as updates we make to the course and if there is anything of interest and relevance
in the news that we think would help your learning as you study the course. We will also announce here
when the pre-released case study is posted (two weeks before the exam date).
KNOWLEDGE BUILDING
0.3.2 Homework help – Discussion topics and questions 
Size S
11
© Edinburgh Business School | Version 24-February-2021-09:24
Module 8 of this course is not a topic module – you will find no new concepts, tools, frameworks, theories
or ideas covered there. Instead, we have provided some case studies for you to look at and work
through, which will help you integrate ideas from across the course.
You will also find guidance in section 8.5 on how to research a company to build your own case
and strategic analysis. This will be useful in preparing for the exam and also in your wider work
if you are ever thinking about moving role or you need to critically appraise a competitor.
KNOWLEDGE BUILDING
0.3.3 Case studies in Module 8 
Size S
12
© Edinburgh Business School | Version 24-February-2021-09:24
This section contains a short introductory activity, which we invite you to participate in. Once you have
answered the questions for yourself, participate in the discussion on the forum.
The course forum is a space where you can ask the course team questions directly. We will also post
announcements here for issues such as updates we make to the course and if there is anything of
interest and relevance in the news that we think would help your learning as you study the course.
We will also announce here when the pre-released case study is posted (two weeks before the exam
date).
Developing and Executing Strategy
0.4 Introductory Activity and
Homework help – Discussion
We want this course to be interactive and engaging. A big part of that comes from the experience and
perspectives that you bring to the subject.
The first thing you should do then, before going forward into Module 1, is reflect on what strategy
means to you and what your experience of strategy has been so far in your career. In doing so you
should also consider what you hope to get out of this course.
Perhaps you have had the opportunity to craft and deliver strategy for an organisation or a business
unit. Maybe you have been part of a team that has had a strategy imposed from the top and significant
changes have resulted. Alternatively, perhaps you have struggled to see the link between your own work
and the organisation’s strategy.
Once you have considered these issues and made notes in the boxes provided below, post your
answers in the Introductory Homework help – Discussion (0.4.2).
You might want to re-visit your answers to these questions after you have finished studying the course
and see how your answers have changed or evolved.
ACTIVITY
0.4.1 Introductory activity Size M

13
© Edinburgh Business School | Version 24-February-2021-09:24
Notes:
Notes:
Notes:
Question 1
What does strategy mean to you?
Question 2
What has your experience of strategy been in organisations so far?
Question 3
What do you hope to be able to do better after studying this course?
14
© Edinburgh Business School | Version 24-February-2021-09:24
Now that you have made notes on what strategy means to you and your experience of strategy in your
career, share your thoughts with your fellow students. Is there anyone who has similar experience?
 Please go to your student portal to participate in this discussion
DISCUSSION
0.4.2 Introductory discussion 
Size S
15
© Edinburgh Business School | Version 24-February-2021-09:24

Order | Check Discount

Tags: Best Ideas for Research Paper Topics in, dissertation assignment help UAE, Dissertation Topics for Students in, Dissertation Writing App, I need help writing a doctoral thesis online