Advanced Strategy, Course, Syllabus

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This course pays particular attention to relational contracts; here,

several examples of relational contracts for a mature, high-

performing organization are show n. (Image by Prof. RebeccaHenderson.)

Instructor(s)Prof. Rebecca Henderson

MIT Course Number15.963

As Taught InSpring 2008

LevelGraduate

CITE T HIS COURSE

Course Features

Course Description

This course draws on a wide range of perspectives to explore the roots of long term

competitive advantage in unus ually successful firms. Us ing a combination of cases,

simulations, readings and, most importantly, lively discussion, the course will explore the

ways in which long term advantage is built from first m over advantage, increasing returns, and

unique organizational competencies. We will focus particularly on the ways in which the

actions of senior managem ent build competitive advantage over time, and on the strategic

implications of understanding the roots of a firm's success.

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Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / sess ion

Course Ove rview

This course draws on a wide range of perspectives to explore the roots of long term competitive advantage in unus ually successful firms. Us i

a combination of cases , simulations, readings and, most importantly, lively discussion, the course will explore the ways in which long term

advantage is built from first mover advantage, increasing returns, and unique organizational competencies. We will focus particularly on the

ways in which the actions of s enior management build competitive advantage over time, and on the s trategic implications of unders tanding th

roots of a firm's success .

A central hypothesis of the class i s that the ability to build and maintain relational contracts relationships deeply rooted in mutual trust and

shared understanding is central to long term advantage since it enables firms to grapple successfully with the challenges of worse before

better the unfortunate fact that many important investments do not pay off immediately indeed that in the short term they often appear to

reduce performance. We will thus be grappling with many of the "soft" issues of management leadership, culture, competence, trust but

from a relatively "hard" perspective.

A central activity for the semester will be the detailed study of a single high performing firm and a plausib le rival/laggard to it. Working in teams

2-3 people, during the first half of the semester I will ask you to write a sequence of "two pagers" short papers that apply the concepts we wi

be exploring in class to the firm that you find interesting. During the second half of the semester I will ask you to write a final paper that both

analyzes the historical performance of your chosen firm and its rival and that recommends a strategy for both going forward. Grades will be

determined by class participation, by the short papers and by the final paper, with roughly equal weight given to all three activities.

On Reading

There are two books that are required reading for the class :

Roberts, John. The Modern Firm: Organizational Design for Performance and Growth. New York, NY: Oxford Universi ty Press,

2007. ISBN: 9780198293750.

Collins, James. Good to Great: Why Some Com panies Make the Leap and Others Don't. New York, NY: Collins Business,

2001. ISBN: 9780066620992.

The Modern Firm is available in the campus bookstore. My assumption is that most people will have a copy ofGood To Great, but if you don't

have one please buy yourself a copy.

There is also required reading for (almos t every) class. This is often a case, but it is som etimes an article or two. Doing this reading is a "non

negotiable requirement" for participation in the class, and I've highlighted it clearly in the syllabus below. If for some reason you come to class

without having had a chance to do the reading, please let me know that way we'll both avoid embarrassment should I call on you.

Beyond these two books , there are two kinds of additional reading I s hall ask you to consider doing for the class. The first is related to the

company that you choose to focus on. You should choose a company that you can explore in depth either because you have worked there fo

many years, or because there is considerable literature about the firm.

My hope is that you may also become quite intrigued by the ideas that we will explore in class and will want to explore them further. I've given

"recommended readings" for nearly every session these are there for you if you're intrigued by a particular topic and want to dive a little dee

into it. I'd also recommend again, only if you're curious that you consider learning a little more about Toyota, Southwest and Wal-Mart, thre

companies that we will explore in s ome depth, by reading more about them. Good sources include:

Liker, Jeffrey. The Toyota Way. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2003. ISBN: 9780071392310.

Gittell, Jody. The Southwest Airlines Way: Using the Power of Rela tionships to Achieve High Performance. New York, NY: McGraHill, 2005. ISBN: 9780071458276.

Fishman, Charles. The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works and How It's Transforming th

American Economy. New York, NY: Penguin, 2006. ISBN: 9780143038788.

Over lap with Other Classes

There are several other classes which are complementary to this one. Professor Wernerfelt's course on strategy (15.834 Marketing Strategy),

example, also focuses on the s ources of long run competitive advantage. Professor Diane Burton's course on entrepreneurial organizations

(15.394 Designing and Leading the Entrepreneurial Organization) and Emilio Castilla's course (15.660 Strategic Human Res ource

Management) both explore ideas that we'll also be exploring, albeit from a different perspective. If you're interested in long term advantage and

the role of organizational competence in sus taining it, I strongly recommend that you take as m any of these complementary courses as you ca

You'll find that we use a few of the same cases where that is the case I've provided alternative readings for those who may be already famili

with the case. I think that you will find the overlap fruitful. It's very difficult to understand the Toyota production system in any depth, for example,

during a single class s ess ion, so that taking a little more time to think through its origins and its strength and weaknesses will prove to be, I

believe, extremely useful.

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4/14

Missing Class

I have designed this class as an integrated whole. My hope is to invite you to join me in an extended conversation about what makes a firm

successful, and about the s trategic implications of the ans wer to that question. If you mis s class it makes it very difficult to maintain a coheren

conversation. You'll miss ideas and concepts many of them raised by your colleagues that are not in the reading and you'll have a more

difficult time contributing to the discussion. So if for some reason you are forced to miss class and I hope that this will be a very rare

occurrence please let me know in advance. I'll ask you to write up a "two pager" a brief response to the discuss ion questions for the day

that you will miss and we'll also talk about how to keep you current with the conversation.

Written Assignments

There will be two kinds of assignm ents: a final paper and a sequence of "two pagers". Both should be written in a team of 2-3 people, and bo

should be focused upon a company that you believe to have demonstrated sustained competitive advantage and about which you would like to

know more. You should pick a company that you know very well or about which you can become deeply informed. Be aware that for much of the

course we will be focusing upon a company's "culture" and "leadership" its incentive systems, organizational structure, norms, values, myth

and tacit understandings so that you need to pick a company for which it's pos sible to learn something about what it's been like "inside".

A one paragraph description of your chosen company, explaining why you think it will make a good focus for your semes ter's work and includi

the name of everyone on your team, is due in class in Ses #3.

More detailed information is available in theassignmentssection.

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SES # TOPICS

I. Introduction

1 Does sustained performance exist?

II. What drives sustained performance?

2 Reviewing 15.900: Strategy fundamentals: position vs. competencies

3 Case: Wal-Mart

4 Case: Southwest

5 Pause for reflection

III. Organizational Competence and Relational Contracts

6 Rev isiting 15.311: Lincoln Electric in China

7 Case: The HP-Cisco Alliance

8 Case: Toyota

9 Case: BP

10 C ase: BP and the Baker report


IV. Changing Relational Contracts

12 C ase: Best Buy and C ircuit C ity

13 Case: Delta and Song

14 Pause for re flection: Toyota 's expansion

V. Doing Strategy when Competence Matters

15 Case: Good to Great

16 Case: Lilly (A)

17 Case: Lilly (B)

18 Case: Corning

19 Case: Paul Levy

20 Case: Paul Levy (B)

21 Case: Simmons

22 Case: Simmons (B)

VI. Wrap Up

23 Student presentations of highlights from term projects

24 Conclusions

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HBS = Harvard Business School Case. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing

SES # TOPICS READINGS

I. Introduction

1Does sustainedperformance exist?

Gawande, Atul. "The Checklist." The New Yorker, December 10, 2007.

Liker, Jeffrey. "The Toyota Way." Chapter 1 in The Toyota Way. New York, NY:

McGraw-Hill, 2003. ISBN: 9780071392310.

Suggested further reading:

Gawande, Atul. Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Per formance. Iowa City, IA:Picador, 2008. ISBN: 9780312427658.


2Reviewing 15.900:Strategy fundamentals

3 Wal-Mart stores in 2002

Yoffie, David, and Yusi Wang. "Wal-Mart in 2002." HBS Case: 9-702-466, October 20, 2005.

Recommended (required for those who have read a Wal-Mart case in another class):

Fishman, Charles. "Sam Walton's Ten-Pound Bass." Chapter 2 in The Wal-Mart

Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works and How It's Transforming theAmerican Economy. New York, NY: Penguin, 2006. ISBN: 9780143038788.

4Southwest Airlines 2002:an industry under siege

Heskett, James. "Southwest Airlines-2002: An Industry Under Siege." HBS Case: 9-803-133,

March 11, 2003.

Recommended (required for those who have read a Southwest case in another class):

Gittell, Jody. "Southwest versus American Airlines: The Power of Relational

Coordination." Chapter 3 in The Southwest Airlines Way: Using the Power of Relationships toAchieve High Performance. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2005. ISBN: 9780071458276.


Siggelkow, Nicolaj. "Evolution Toward Fit."Administrative Science Quar terly47 (2002): 125-159.

Roberts, John. "Strategy and Organizations," and "Key Concepts for

Organization Design." Chapters 1 and 2 in The Modern Firm. New York, NY: Oxford UniversityPress, 2007. ISBN: 9780198293750.

You may also find it useful to review:

Saloner, Garth, Andrea Shepard, and Joel Podolny. "Internal Context:

Organization Design." Chapter 4 in Strategic Management. New York, NY: Wiley, 2005. ISBN:9780470009475.

Teece, David. "Explicating Dynamic Capabilities: The Nature and Microfoundations of(sustainable) Enterprise Performance." Strategic Management Journal28, no. 13 (2007): 13191350.


6Revisiting 15.311: LincolnElectric in China

Siegel, Jordan. "Lincoln Electric." HBS Case: 9-707-445, August 25, 2008.

Recommended (required for those that have read the Lincoln case before):

Johnson, H. Thomas, and Anders Broms. "Relationships (MBM) versus Quantity

(MBR)." Chapter 2 in Profit Beyond Measure: Extraordinary Results Through Attention to Workand People. New York, NY: Free Press, 2000. ISBN: 9780684836676.

You may also find helpful:

"Agency Theory." Lecture Note 1, Professor Robert Gibbons, Sloan School of Management, MIT

http://ocw.mit.edu/helphttp://ocw.mit.edu/jsp/feedback.jsp?Referer=http://ocw.mit.edu/search/AdvancedSearch.htmhttp://ocw.mit.edu/search/AdvancedSearch.htmhttp://ocw.mit.edu/http://ocw.mit.edu/courseshttp://ocw.mit.edu/courseshttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-managementhttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-managementhttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/index.htmhttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/syllabushttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/calendarhttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/readingshttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/lecture-noteshttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/assignmentshttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/download-course-materialshttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/download-course-materialshttp://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/12/10/071210fa_fact_gawandehttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/readings/http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/readings/http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/readings/http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/readings/http://ocw.mit.edu/http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/068483667X/ref=nosim/mitopencourse-20http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0470009470/ref=nosim/mitopencourse-20http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0198293755/ref=nosim/mitopencourse-20http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0071458271/ref=nosim/mitopencourse-20http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0143038788/ref=nosim/mitopencourse-20http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312427654/ref=nosim/mitopencourse-20http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0071392319/ref=nosim/mitopencourse-20http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/12/10/071210fa_fact_gawandehttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/download-course-materialshttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/assignmentshttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/lecture-noteshttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/readingshttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/calendarhttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/syllabushttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/index.htmhttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-managementhttp://ocw.mit.edu/courseshttp://ocw.mit.edu/http://ocw.mit.edu/search/AdvancedSearch.htmhttp://ocw.mit.edu/http://ocw.mit.edu/jsp/feedback.jsp?Referer=http://ocw.mit.edu/helphttp://twitter.com/mitocwhttp://facebook.com/mitocw


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"Relational C ontracts." Lecture Note 2, Professor Robert Gibbons, Sloan School of ManagemenMIT

7Case: The HP-CiscoAlliance (A)

Casciaro, Tiziana, and C hristina Darwall. "The HP-Cisco Alliance (A)." HBS Case: 9-403-120,April 16, 2003.

You may also find helpful:

"Control Rights." Lecture Note 3. Courtesy of Professor Robert Gibbons, Sloan School ofManagement, MIT. Used with permission. (PDF)

"Make, Buy or C ooperate." Lecture Note 4. Courtesy of Professor Robert Gibbons, Sloan Schoof Management, MIT. Used with permission. (PDF)

8Toyota MotorManufacturing USA Inc.

Mishina, Kazuhiro. "Toyota Motor Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc." HBS Case: 9-693-019,September 5, 1995.

Recommended (required if you are familiar with the Toyota case):

Spear, Steven, and H. Kent Bowen. Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production

System. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Rev iew, 2008.

Womack, James, Daniel Jones, and Daniel Roos. "What We Have Learned Abou

Lean Production Since 1990." Afterword from The Machine That Changed the World. New York,NY: Free Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780743299794.

9BP: Organizing forperformance at BPX

Podolny, Joel, and John Roberts. "British Petroleum (A1): Organizing for Performance at BPX."Stanford Business School Case. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Publishing. Case: IB16A1,July 4, 1999.

10Case: BP and the Bakerreport

Baker, James, et. al. "The Report of the BP U.S. Refineries Independent Safety ReviewPanel." January 2007.

"Executive Summary" and "Findings," pages viii-xv and 59-94 from The Report of the BP U.S.Refineries Independent Safety Rev iew Panel, January 2007.


Repenning, Nelson, and John Sterman. "Nobody Ever Gets C redit for Fixing Problems thatNever Happened." California Management Review43, no. 4 (2001): 44-63.

Repenning, Nelson, Paulo Gonalves, and Laura Black. "Past the Tipping Point: The Persistenceof Firefighting in Product Development." California Management Review43, no. 4 (2001): 64-68.


12 Case: Best Buy andCircuit City

Wells, John, and Travis Haglock. "Best Buy C o., Inc.: Competing on the Edge." HBS Case: 9-706-417, October 25, 2007.

Wells, John. "Circuit City Stores, Inc.: Strategic Dilemmas." HBS Case: 9-706-419,September 16, 2005.

13

Delta Air Lines (A): thelow cost carrier threat,and Delta Air Lines (B):Song

Rivkin, Jan, and Laurent Therivel. "Delta Air Lines (A): The Low-Coast Carrier Threat." HBSCase: 9-704-403, January 25, 2005.

. "Delta Air Lines (B): The Launch of Song." HBS Case: 9-704-439, January 24, 2005.

14Pause for reflection:Toyota's expansion

"Briefing Toyota: A Wobble on the Road to the Top." The Economist, November 10, 2007, pp.85-87.

Welch, David, and Ian Rowley. "What's Next: Toyota's All-Out Drive to Stay Toyota." BusinessWeek, December 3, 2007, pp. 54-56.

"At Toyota, A Global G iant Reaches for Agility." New York Times, February 22, 2008.


15Deconstructing JimCollins's Good to Great

Collins, James. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and

Others Don't. New York, NY: Collins Business, 2001. ISBN: 9780066620992.

Read:- Chapter 1: "Good is the Enemy of Great"- Chapter 2: "Level 5 Leadership"- Chapter 9: "From Good to Great to Built to Last"

Also (highly) recommended:

"Work of a Modern Leader: An Interview with Ron Heifetz." Boston, MA: Harvard BusinessReview, 1997.

Eli Lilly's Project

Henderson, Rebecca. "Eli Lilly's Project Resilience (A): Anticipating the Future of thePharmaceutical Industry." MIT Sloan School C ase 07-041, April 30, 2007.
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/readings/gibbons3.pdfhttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/readings/gibbons4.pdfhttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/readings/gibbons4.pdfhttp://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/SP/STAGING/local_assets/assets/pdfs/Baker_panel_report.pdfhttp://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/SP/STAGING/local_assets/assets/pdfs/Baker_panel_report.pdfhttp://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/SP/STAGING/local_assets/assets/pdfs/Baker_panel_report.pdfhttp://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/SP/STAGING/local_assets/assets/pdfs/Baker_panel_report.pdfhttps://mitsloan.mit.edu/LearningEdge/strategy/Resilience/Pages/default.aspxhttps://mitsloan.mit.edu/LearningEdge/strategy/Resilience/Pages/default.aspxhttps://mitsloan.mit.edu/LearningEdge/strategy/Resilience/Pages/default.aspxhttps://mitsloan.mit.edu/LearningEdge/strategy/Resilience/Pages/default.aspxhttps://mitsloan.mit.edu/LearningEdge/strategy/Resilience/Pages/default.aspxhttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0066620996/ref=nosim/mitopencourse-20http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/SP/STAGING/local_assets/assets/pdfs/Baker_panel_report.pdfhttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743299795/ref=nosim/mitopencourse-20http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005RZ8H/ref=nosim/mitopencourse-20http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/readings/gibbons4.pdfhttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-963-advanced-strategy-spring-2008/readings/gibbons3.pdf


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es ence au orecase)

Cornelius, Peters, Alexander van de Putte, and Mattia Romani. "Three Decades of ScenarioPlanning in Shell." California Management Review48, no. 1 (2005): 92-109.

17Lilly (B) (MIT authoredcase)

Henderson, Rebecca, and Cate Reavis. "Eli Lilly: Recreating Drug Discovery for the 21stCentury (B)." MIT Sloan School Case 07-043, March 21, 2008.

18The Leadership Council atCorning (MIT authoredcase)

Henderson, Rebecca, and Cate Reavis. "Corning Incorporated: The Growth and StrategyCouncil." MIT Sloan School C ase 08-056, April 15, 2009.

Recommended:

Rock, David, and Jeffrey Schwartz. "The Neuroscience of Leadership." Strategy and Business,Summer 2006.

19Paul Levy and theDeaconess Hospital

Garvin, David, and Michael Roberto. "Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel DeaconessMedical Center (A)." HBS Case: 9-303-008, January 14, 2003 (revision).

20 Case: Paul Levy (B)Boston Globe. "Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B)."HBS Case: 9-303-080, December 10, 2002.

21 Case: SimmonsCasciaro, Tiziana, et al. "Leading Change at Simmons (A)." HBS Case: 9-406-046, May 3,2007.

22 Case: Simmons (B)Casciaro, Tiziana, et al. "Leading Change at Simmons (B)." HBS Case: 9-406-047, May 3,2007.

VI. Wrap Up

23Student presentations ofhighlights from termprojects

24 Conclusions

Pounds, William. "The Process of Problem Finding." Industrial Management Review11 (Fall1969): 1-19.

Scharmer, Otto. "Addressing the Blind Spot of Our Time: An Executive Summary of Theory U.(PDF - 4.4 MB)

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This section includes both discussion ques tions for cases and occasional slide pres entations. For the (B) cases in s essions 17, 20, and 22

discuss ion questions are intentionally omitted so that the class room discussions of the (A) cases are not influenced.

SES # TOPICS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

I. Introduction

1Does sustained performanceexist? (PDF)

If hospitals were all "for profit", would the kinds of checklists described in AtulGawande's article be more widely adopted?

Have you ever seen a managerial or organizational process that could be improvedthrough the use of something like a checklist?

Why do you think Toyota is arguably still the most successful competitor in theautomobile industry?

Can things like "checklists" or "the Toyota way" be a sustained source of competitive

advantage? Why or why not?


2Reviewing 15.900: Strategyfundamentals (PDF)

(Each student was asked to read one of the following cases: Rockwell International,Coke, Dell, Airborne Express, Husky, Mark Twain, Sun Power, C oors, and Nintendo.)

As you review your case, think about the following questions:- What are the sources of competitive advantage for your firm?- Are they largely structural or organizational?- If they exist, identify the structural sources of advantage in detail. Do they stemfrom first mover advantage? From economies of scale or scope? From networkeffects?- If they exist, identify the organizational sources of competitive advantage in detail.Can they be imitated? Why or why not?

3 Wal-Mart stores in 2002

4Southwest Airlines 2002: anindustry under siege



6Revisiting 15.311: Lincoln Electricin China

7 Case: The HP-Cisco Alliance (A)

8Toyota Motor Manufacturing USAInc.

9BP: Organizing for performance atBPX

10 Case: BP and the Baker report



12 Case: Best Buy and C ircuit C ity

Why was Circuit City initially so successful? How much of its success was driven bystructural advantage and how much by organizational competencies? By otherfactors?

Why has Best Buy been so successful? How much of its success was driven bystructural advantage and how much by organizational competencies? By otherfactors?

Why was Best Buy able to surpass Circuit City? Why did C ircuit City not "simply copyBest Buy's strategy?

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13Delta Air Lines (A): the low costcarrier threat, and Delta Air Lines(B): Song (PDF)

W y as it istorica y een i icut or t e esta is e a ir ines to respon e ectiveyto the challenges presented by low cost carriers?

Is Song well positioned, in your view, to challenge Southwest and other low costcompetitors?

If you were running Song, what would you be worried about? What would be your topthree priorities for action for the coming year?

14Pause for reflection: Toyota'sexpansion

How much of Toyota's success is now dependent on structural dynamics, and howmuch on organizational competence?

Why is Toyota experiencing difficulties as it expands?

What would you do if you were running Toyota?


15Deconstructing Jim Collins's Goodto Great

How does Collins's analysis of the roots of strategic success differ from the analysiswe have been deve loping in class?

What is the role of a leader in an organization in building competitive advantage?

16Eli Lilly's Project Resilience (MITauthored case)

Which of the scenarios outlined in the case seem to you the most likely? Why?

What should Lilly do in response to Peter's analysis? Where should they invest? Howwould you implement your recommendation?

17 Lilly (B) (MIT authored case) Case and questions will be handed out in sess ion 16

18The Leadership Council at Corning(MIT authored case)

What problem is the Leadership Council designed to solve?

What are its major strengths? What are its potential weaknesses?

If you were Peter Volunakis, would you change the way in which the Council operateor the way in which resources are allocated at Corning? Why or why not?

19Paul Levy and the DeaconessHospital

How would you describe the situation Levy inherited at the Beth Israel DeaconessMedical Center? What challenges did he face? Why did previous turnaround effortsfail?

How did Levy get started in his new job? In particular, what were his objectives andwhat did he accomplish:- prior to his first day at work?- on his first day?- during his first week?

What (if anything) was distinctive about the way Levy went about formulating,announcing, and implementing the recovery plan? What is your evaluation of hisapproach to staffing the task forces?

What is your prognosis going forward? What has Levy accomplished in his first twomonths, and what challenges remain? What is your evaluation of his managementstyle? How should he proceed?

20 Case: Paul Levy (B) Case and questions will be handed out in session 19

21 Case: Simmons

What are the challenges faced by Simmons in December 2001? How has CharlieEitel's leadership affected the company in his first six months as CEO?

What should be the management team's top priorities heading into 2002?

What is Eitel attempting to accomplish with the Great Game of Life program? What isthe premise of the GGOL program? How is it supposed to help Simmons or othercompanies?

Should Simmons roll out the GGOL program? If so, how, and how would you justifythe $7.2 million investment to the New York investors? If not, why not, and whatwould you do instead? Be specific.

22 Case: Simmons (B) Case and questions will be handed out in session 21

VI. Wrap Up

23Student presentations of highlightsfrom term projects

24 Conclusions (PDF)

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The Two Pagers

There are three "two pagers."

For Ses #5, please answer the following questions:

What evidence do you have that your chosen company has been outstandingly successful?

What lies at the root of their competitive advantage? Has it changed over time?

Who is their m ost important rival? Why has their rival been unable to duplicate their success?

For Ses #8, please answer the following question:

What are the organizational competencies of your firm?

For Ses #11, please answer the following questions:

Does your chosen firm show any signs of having built "relational contracts" within the firm or with key suppliers/partners/buyers? If so, whdo they look like? How were they built? Why are they important?

Does your chosen firm show any signs of being able to deal with the "worse before better" problem? If so, why is it important and how do

they appear to deal with it?

In all three cases, you have only two to three pages to explore these ques tions, so your answers will be necess arily brief. Nevertheless, pleas

make them as thoughtful as you can!

Instructor Comments

Reflections on Relational Contracts (PDF)

The Final Paper

The final paper is due in class in Ses #24. A brief slide deck no more than 6-7 s lides outlining your core conclusions is due in class in S

#23.

The final paper should draw on the "two pagers" you have written in the first half of the class to analyze the strategic position of your chosen firYou should imagine that you have been asked by the CEO and his/her senior team to brief them as to the strategic and competitive threats tha

the firm faces and the actions that you recommend they should take to combat them and to position the firm for future success .

A wide variety of formats are appropriate for this paper, but if I were you I'd focus on the following questions:

What are the roots of the firm's competitive advantage? Why has it been as successful as it has been? What are the key factors that susta

that advantage today?

What are the important forces for change in the firm's strategic and competitive environment? What are the major opportunities? The majo

threats?

Who are the firm's most important competitors? Are new competitors likely to emerge? Who are they likely to be?

Are there other major players in the environment complementors, channels, suppliers whose role m ay change or shift?

What would you recommend that the firm do to maintain and/or improve its pos ition? (Be as s pecific as you can here the equivalent of

"buy low and sell high" or "watch key competitors and take action as appropriate" are not useful.) If you were running "your" firm, what wou

you do? It's fine to make contingent recommendations if x happens then do y but please be specific as to the nature of both "x" and "y

Your paper should be no more than about twenty pages in length, plus exhibits and figures. I would be delighted to review early drafts, and will

be positively ecstatic if you can get me the finished paper by one day after Ses #22 any such "early bird" papers will be graded with particulainterest and appreciation, and will be back in your hands by Ses #23.

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