Inhalt

Abstract:

Advanced Strategic Management is a 12-week, English-taught online course (5 ECTS) delivered on the Moodle platform for advanced Bachelor's and Master's students with prior foundations in strategic management or business administration. The course develops an advanced understanding of strategy as both an analytical discipline and a social practice through which organizations create direction, justify choices, mobilize resources, and coordinate action under uncertainty, competing interests, and institutional pressures.

Across 12 lectures, students progress from the context and emergence of strategic thinking to contemporary challenges that shape strategic decision-making in real organizations. Key topics include strategy and competitive performance; the creation of uniqueness through resources and knowledge; strategy as process and practice; marketing and branding as strategic forces; innovation and renewal; the role of strategists, top management teams and governance; decision-making under complexity and bias; organizational politics and power; international and collaborative strategies; financialization, risk and accountability; and the strategic implications of globalization.

Learning is practice-oriented and designed for clear exam readiness. Lectures are delivered through short H5P video units, supported by written summaries and downloadable PDF lecture slides. Students advance sequentially by passing a 20-question MCQ at the end of each lecture (minimum 15/20), ensuring verified understanding before unlocking the next lecture. In addition, each lecture provides 10 sample final-exam questions with model answers (120 in total), which serve as the primary preparation set for the final written exam.

Assessment consists of a single final written exam (100% of the grade; minimum passing score 50/100). The exam includes 12 questions, with one question randomly selected from each lecture's question bank. By completing the lectures, mastering the MCQs, and practicing the provided question sets, students build the analytical, critical, and decision-oriented capabilities required to evaluate strategic options and defend well-reasoned strategic choices in complex, global environments.

Gliederung:

Course plan (12 weeks | 12 lectures)

• Week 1 – The Context and Emergence of Strategic Thinking: Origins of strategy; key assumptions and schools of thought; why strategy matters as a managerial and societal practice.
• Week 2 – Strategy and Competitive Performance: How strategy links to performance; competitive advantage; core logics of positioning and performance differentials.
• Week 3 – Strategy Discovers Uniqueness: The Role of Resources and Knowledge: Resource and knowledge perspectives; capabilities and uniqueness; how internal strengths and constraints shape advantage.
• Week 4 – Strategy as Process and Practice: Strategy formation vs. execution; emergent vs. deliberate strategy; strategy work as everyday practice.
• Week 5 – Marketing and Branding as Strategic Forces: Brand as strategic asset; market shaping and positioning through branding; customer value, reputation, and legitimacy.
• Week 6 – Strategy and Innovation: Innovation as renewal; exploration vs. exploitation; open innovation and ecosystem dynamics.
• Week 7 – Strategists, Top Management Teams and Governance: Who makes strategy; top management teams; governance structures, accountability, and strategic oversight.
• Week 8 – Decision-Making: Strategic decision processes; bounded rationality; biases, framing, and tools for improving strategic judgment.
• Week 9 – Organizational Politics and Strategy: Power and influence; coalitions, conflict, and agendas; feasibility of strategy in contested organizations.
• Week 10 – International and Collaborative Strategies: Cross-border strategy; alliances and networks; collaboration logic, governance, coordination, and value creation.
• Week 11 – Financialization, Risk and Accountability: Finance logics shaping strategy; risk management and accountability; metrics, incentives, and unintended consequences.
• Week 12 – Globalization and Strategy: Global competitive dynamics; institutional and stakeholder pressures; strategic choices in an interconnected world; integration and exam preparation.
  
  

Detaillierter Inhalt:

1. Chapter 1 – The Context and Emergence of Strategic Thinking. This chapter introduces the origins of strategic thinking and explains how “strategy” became central to modern organizations. Students compare foundational perspectives and clarify the course's view of strategy as both analysis and practice.
2. Chapter 2 – Strategy and Competitive Performance. Students examine how strategies translate into performance differences across firms and industries. The chapter focuses on competitive advantage, strategic fit, and the logic of positioning and performance trade-offs.
3. Chapter 3 – Strategy Discovers Uniqueness: The Role of Resources and Knowledge. This chapter shifts attention to internal sources of advantage, emphasizing resources, knowledge, and capabilities. Students learn how uniqueness is built, protected, and renewed—and where internal advantage approaches have limitations.
4. Chapter 4 – Strategy as Process and Practice. Students explore how strategy is formed and implemented over time, and why execution frequently diverges from plans. The chapter develops a practice lens by examining the people, routines, tools, and narratives through which strategy gets done.
5. Chapter 5 – Marketing and Branding as Strategic Forces. This chapter treats marketing and branding as strategic capabilities that shape markets and stakeholder perceptions. Students analyze brand equity, reputation, legitimacy, and how branding choices reinforce (or undermine) strategic positioning.
6. Chapter 6 – Strategy and Innovation. Students study innovation as a driver of strategic renewal, including tensions between exploration and exploitation. The chapter connects innovation choices to competitive dynamics, learning, and collaboration across ecosystems.
7. Chapter 7 – Strategists, Top Management Teams and Governance. This chapter focuses on who strategizes and how governance affects strategic direction and control. Students examine the roles of top management teams, oversight mechanisms, and accountability in shaping strategic outcomes.
8. Chapter 8 – Decision Making. Students analyze how strategic decisions are actually made under uncertainty, complexity, and time pressure.
9. Chapter 9 – Organizational Politics and Strategy. This chapter highlights power, interests, and influence as central shaping forces strategic choices and implementation. 
10. Chapter 10 – International and Collaborative Strategies. Students examine strategic challenges across borders and in collaborative settings such as alliances and networks. 
11. Chapter 11 – Financialization, Risk and Accountability. This chapter explores how financial metrics, investor expectations, and incentive systems shape strategic behavior. 
12. Chapter 12 – Globalization and Strategy. Students integrate course topics to analyze strategy in an interconnected world shaped by global competition, institutions, and stakeholder pressures.
    
    

Lern-/Qualifikationsziele:

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

1. Explain the emergence of strategic thinking and critically compare major perspectives on strategy (eg, competitive positioning, resource/knowledge-based views, and process/practice approaches).
2. Analyze how strategies create (or destroy) competitive performance and articulate key trade-offs involved in strategic choice.
3. Diagnose internal resources, knowledge, and capabilities, and evaluate how organizational “uniqueness” can be built, protected, and renewed.
4. Assess strategy as a process over time, distinguishing deliberate and emergent strategy and identifying typical implementation gaps.
5. Apply a strategy-as-practice lens to recognize how strategizing is enacted through routines, tools, meetings, and managerial discourse.
6. Evaluate marketing and branding as strategic forces and connect brand, reputation, and legitimacy to value creation and competitive positioning.
7. Assess innovation-related strategic options (exploration vs. exploitation, open innovation, ecosystem roles) and justify innovation strategies under uncertainty.
8. Analyze the roles of strategists, top management teams, and governance in shaping strategic direction, oversight, incentives, and accountability.
9. Improve strategic judgment by identifying decision biases and applying structured approaches to decision-making in complex, uncertain settings.
10. Diagnose organizational politics and power dynamics and propose implementation approaches that are socially and politically feasible.
11. Design and evaluate international and collaborative strategies, including alliances and networks, and assess coordination, governance, and dependency risks.
12. Critically assess the impact of financialization, risk management, and accountability systems on strategic behavior and long-term value creation.
    
    

Overall, students strengthen professional competence (advanced strategic analysis and decision-making), methodological competence (structured evaluation and evidence-based argumentation), and personal/social competence (reflection, responsibility, and stakeholder-sensitive communication).

Lehrveranstaltungstyp:

Virtuelle Vorlesung

Interaktionsformen mit Betreuer/in:

Chat, E-Mail

Interaktionsformen mit Mitlernenden:

E-Mail, Forum

Kursdemo:

zur Kursdemo

Nutzung

Kurs ist konzipiert für:

OTH Amberg-Weiden:

• International Business (Bachelor)
• Digital Business (Master)
• International Management & Sutainability (Master)
  
  

FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg:

• ​Social Economics/Social Economics (Bachelor)
• International Economic Studies (Bachelor)
  
  

Formale Voraussetzungen:

Course enrollment via the Virtual University of Bavaria (vhb)

Erforderliche Vorkenntnisse:

Students are expected to have successfully completed an introductory course in Strategic Management, Business Administration, or a closely related field. They should be familiar with fundamental concepts such as firm objectives and performance, the basic idea of competitive advantage, and the difference between strategy formulation and implementation. Prior exposure to core analytical tools is required at a basic level (e.g., SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, generic competitive strategies, value chain thinking, and elementary resource/capability analysis).

Students should be able to read and discuss academic and managerial texts in English, summarize arguments, and apply concepts to short cases. Basic quantitative literacy is expected (interpreting simple charts, ratios, and descriptive data used in cases), but no advanced mathematics is required. In addition, students should be prepared to work independently in an online learning environment, manage weekly study tasks, and participate actively in assessments such as quizzes and the final written exam.

Hinweise zur Nutzung:

1. Start with Lecture 1:  Only Lecture 1 is available at the beginning of the course. All other lectures are locked.
2. Study the lecture materials in Moodle:  For each lecture, watch the H5P video units (several short videos of about 15–20 minutes each). At the end of each video, read the written summary provided and use it to review and memorize the key points. Download the lecture PDF (slides and full content) for systematic revision.
3. Complete the lecture MCQ to unlock the next lecture:  At the end of each lecture, complete the 20-question multiple-choice quiz (MCQ). To pass, you must score at least 15/20. After passing, the next lecture is automatically unlocked. If you do not pass, you may repeat the MCQ until you reach the required score.
4. Use the exam practice questions:  Each lecture includes 10 sample final-exam questions with model answers. Across 12 lectures, this provides 120 practice questions in total. The final exam questions are drawn from these lecture-based question banks, so these 120 questions are the main preparation resource.
5. Final exam and passing requirement:  This course has only one assessment component: a final written exam, which counts for 100% of the final grade. The minimum passing grade is 50/100. The final exam consists of 12 questions, with one question randomly selected from each lecture's question bank.
6. Exam locations:  The main exam locations are OTH Amberg-Weiden (Weiden Business School) and TH Deggendorf. Depending on demand and organizational feasibility, additional exam locations in other cities may be offered and will be announced later.
   
   

Kursumsetzung (verwendete Medien):

The course is delivered fully online on the Moodle platform and consists of 12 lectures. Each lecture includes several 15–20 minute video units created in H5P. To support consolidation, a short written summary is provided at the end of each video, highlighting the key concepts students should review and memorize. In addition, all lecture slides and the full content of each lecture are provided as downloadable PDF files.

Learning progress follows a mastery-based sequence: only Lecture 1 is open at the beginning. At the end of each lecture, students complete a 20-question MCQ in Moodle. A minimum score of 15/20 is required to pass and unlock the next lecture. Each lecture also contains 10 sample final-exam questions with model answers (12 lectures = 120 practice questions) for targeted exam preparation.

Both the MCQs and the sample final-exam questions are based directly on the lecture slides (PDF) and the written summaries provided at the end of each H5P video. This ensures clear alignment between the teaching materials, the formative quizzes, and the final assessment.

Erforderliche Technik:

Students need a computer or laptop with a stable internet connection to access the Moodle course, stream H5P videos, download PDF lecture slides, and complete online MCQs. A current web browser (eg, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari) with JavaScript and cookies enabled is required. Students should have a PDF reader and audio output (speakers/headphones). For the final written exam announced, students must be able to attend an in-person exam location and present a valid photo ID (plus any additional requirements later).

Nutzungsentgelte:

für andere Personen als (reguläre) Studenten der vhb Trägerhochschulen nach Maßgabe der Benutzungs- und Entgeltordnung der vhb

Rechte hinsichtlich des Kursmaterials:

-

Verantwortlich

Anbieterhochschule:

OTH Amberg-Weiden

Anbieter:

Prof. Dr. Dr. Qeis Kamran

Autoren:

Qeis Kamran

Betreuer:

Mohammad Saeid Matinfar

Prüfung

Written examination (90 min)

Art der Prüfung:

schriftlicher Leistungsnachweis (Klausur)

Bemerkung:

Written examination (90 min)

Prüfer:

Prof. Dr. Dr. Qeis Kamran

Prüfungsanmeldung erforderlich:

ja

Anmeldeverfahren:

Die Anmeldung zur Prüfung erfolgt über das vhb-Portal.

Prüfungsanmeldefrist:

01.06.2026 00:00 Uhr bis 01.07.2026 23:59 Uhr

Prüfungsabmeldefrist:

01.06.2026 00:00 Uhr bis 01.07.2026 23:59 Uhr

Kapazität:

–

Prüfungsdatum:

10.07.2026

Prüfungszeitraum:

14:00 bis 16:00

Prüfungsdauer:

90 Minuten

Prüfungsort:

OTH Amberg-Weiden in Weiden and possibly others upon request

Zuständiges Prüfungsamt:

Examination office of the students' home university

Zugelassene Hilfsmittel:

None

Formale Voraussetzungen für die Prüfungsteilnahme:

Registration for the exam via the vhb portal

Inhaltliche Voraussetzungen für die Prüfungsteilnahme:

Course content

Zertifikat:

Ja (graded certificate)

Anerkennung:

–