Handbook

The capstone year of the MBA (Executive) Program focuses on themes of growth, innovation, disruption and transformation. As part of the capstone year, this course will help you develop strategic thinking and analysis skills that you will apply in formulating effective growth strategies for your organisation. You will do this by applying tools and frameworks from the field of strategic management and using aspects of human-centred design, including empathy, ideation and prototyping to identify, evaluate and plan the implementation of value-creating growth options.

Primary paths for organisational growth include expansion into new products/services, and expansion into new markets (i.e. geographic locations and customer segments). For each of these two expansion paths there are several alternative vehicles for growth, including organic growth, mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships or alliances. Many organisations employ all of these vehicles in their growth strategies. In the course, we will discuss each of these paths and vehicles for growing organisations and identify and evaluate growth options in a variety of sectors and contexts. We will also apply a resource and capability perspective as the platform for identifying growth and innovation options ranging from close adjacencies, further adjacencies, and (currently) unrelated businesses.

However, identifying attractive growth options does not automatically translate into success. Managers also need to be able to successfully implement their growth strategy. An integrated growth strategy therefore includes a plan for obtaining the capabilities needed to succeed in each growth and innovation option, and the timing and phasing of each step of expanding the organisation. An integrated growth strategy also requires identifying and analysing the risks that may prevent the capture of expected economic benefits. We will discuss how to limit risk by identifying growth and innovation options that leverage the existing strengths of the organisation, evaluating whether an organisation is the natural or best owner of a given business, and avoiding paying too much for an acquisition.