Introduction to Strategy & Corporate Governance
1A Management – ENS Paris-Saclay
2024-2025
Instructor: Léo Denis
Contact info: leo.denis@polytechnique.edu
Course overview and objectives:
What is performance and value creation? Why do some firms outperform others? How do managers craft their decisions and what influences them?
These questions are essential for businesses and organizations and have been studied by organization theorists and, more recently, strategy & governance scholars. Strategy is the theory and practice of making decisions that shape the future of organizations. However, strategic decision-making cannot be discussed without analyzing the purpose of organizations and their related governance models. Corporate governance lies in the system of rules, processes, and practices by which companies are controlled. It involves the balancing of a lot of stakeholders’ interests (managers, shareholders, employees, customers, civil society, etc.), driving their value creation framework. It ultimately affects managers’ behavior and decisions. This class will explore the basic theoretical backgrounds of strategic management and present some tools to analyze how companies develop and sustain competitive advantages.
We will discuss the key theories of strategic management & corporate governance through research papers and real-world case discussions. This is a “big picture” class designed to provide students with fundamental frameworks that will be useful to build their thinking and analysis in both professional and academic contexts. By completing this class, students should be able to:
• Gain a fundamental knowledge of classical Strategic Management & Corporate Governance theories,
• Develop a basic analysis of strategic problems based on tools presented in class,
• Develop a basic analysis of governance structures and their implication for an organization’s stakeholders,
• Enhance their reading and presentation skills in a research context (theoretical, empirical, reviews, etc.).
Requirements: Students will be required to do readings before class. This will be reminded during class and by e-mail.
Evaluation:
• 50% Group presentation: research paper or case study,
• 50% Final exam: format TBD – probably 2h or 3h case study,
• 10% bonus or penalty on final grade based on attendance and participation.
Preliminary course outline & readings:
Session Theme Readings
1 Course introduction
What is Strategy? What is Strategy? M.E. Porter, Harvard Business Review (1996)
2 Business Strategy [TBD]
3 Corporate Strategy - 1 [TBD]
4 Corporate Strategy - 2 [TBD]
5 Strategic Diagnostic - 1 Porter, M. E. 2008. “The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy.” HBR
6 Strategic Diagnostic - 2 Barney, J.B., 1991. “Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage”, Journal of Management
7 What is corporate governance and why does it matter? Charreaux, G. (2017). XIV. Michael C. Jensen – La théorie positive de l’agence appliquée à la finance et à la gouvernance. Dans : Michel Albouy éd., Les Grands Auteurs en Finance (pp. 400-429).
Jensen, Michael, (2001), Value Maximisation, Stakeholder Theory, and the Corporate Objective Function, European Financial Management
8 Shareholders, Stakeholders, Corporate Social Responsibility… and Purpose Martinet, A. (2008). Gouvernance et management stratégique : Une nouvelle science morale et politique. Revue française de gestion, 183, 95-110.
Battilana, J., Obloj, T., Pache, A.-C., & Sengul, M. (2022). Beyond Shareholder Value Maximization: Accounting for Financial/Social Trade-Offs in Dual-Purpose Companies. Academy of Management Review, 47(2), 237‑258.
[Some sessions will include discussions with strategy professionals and experts/academics - TBD]
Bibliography:
• Strategor (8th edition)
• Stratégie (12nd edition – Vuibert)
• Contemporary Strategy Analysis (10th edition)
• Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach (12th edition)
Filmography to develop your managerial culture:
• The Big Short (2015)
• Wall Street (1989)
• The Social Network (2010)
• 12 Angry Men (1957)
• The Playlist (2022)
• Margin Call (2011)
• GameStop (2022)
• Moneyball (2011)
1A Management – ENS Paris-Saclay
2024-2025
Instructor: Léo Denis
Contact info: leo.denis@polytechnique.edu
Course overview and objectives:
What is performance and value creation? Why do some firms outperform others? How do managers craft their decisions and what influences them?
These questions are essential for businesses and organizations and have been studied by organization theorists and, more recently, strategy & governance scholars. Strategy is the theory and practice of making decisions that shape the future of organizations. However, strategic decision-making cannot be discussed without analyzing the purpose of organizations and their related governance models. Corporate governance lies in the system of rules, processes, and practices by which companies are controlled. It involves the balancing of a lot of stakeholders’ interests (managers, shareholders, employees, customers, civil society, etc.), driving their value creation framework. It ultimately affects managers’ behavior and decisions. This class will explore the basic theoretical backgrounds of strategic management and present some tools to analyze how companies develop and sustain competitive advantages.
We will discuss the key theories of strategic management & corporate governance through research papers and real-world case discussions. This is a “big picture” class designed to provide students with fundamental frameworks that will be useful to build their thinking and analysis in both professional and academic contexts. By completing this class, students should be able to:
• Gain a fundamental knowledge of classical Strategic Management & Corporate Governance theories,
• Develop a basic analysis of strategic problems based on tools presented in class,
• Develop a basic analysis of governance structures and their implication for an organization’s stakeholders,
• Enhance their reading and presentation skills in a research context (theoretical, empirical, reviews, etc.).
Requirements: Students will be required to do readings before class. This will be reminded during class and by e-mail.
Evaluation:
• 50% Group presentation: research paper or case study,
• 50% Final exam: format TBD – probably 2h or 3h case study,
• 10% bonus or penalty on final grade based on attendance and participation.
Preliminary course outline & readings:
Session Theme Readings
1 Course introduction
What is Strategy? What is Strategy? M.E. Porter, Harvard Business Review (1996)
2 Business Strategy [TBD]
3 Corporate Strategy - 1 [TBD]
4 Corporate Strategy - 2 [TBD]
5 Strategic Diagnostic - 1 Porter, M. E. 2008. “The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy.” HBR
6 Strategic Diagnostic - 2 Barney, J.B., 1991. “Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage”, Journal of Management
7 What is corporate governance and why does it matter? Charreaux, G. (2017). XIV. Michael C. Jensen – La théorie positive de l’agence appliquée à la finance et à la gouvernance. Dans : Michel Albouy éd., Les Grands Auteurs en Finance (pp. 400-429).
Jensen, Michael, (2001), Value Maximisation, Stakeholder Theory, and the Corporate Objective Function, European Financial Management
8 Shareholders, Stakeholders, Corporate Social Responsibility… and Purpose Martinet, A. (2008). Gouvernance et management stratégique : Une nouvelle science morale et politique. Revue française de gestion, 183, 95-110.
Battilana, J., Obloj, T., Pache, A.-C., & Sengul, M. (2022). Beyond Shareholder Value Maximization: Accounting for Financial/Social Trade-Offs in Dual-Purpose Companies. Academy of Management Review, 47(2), 237‑258.
[Some sessions will include discussions with strategy professionals and experts/academics - TBD]
Bibliography:
• Strategor (8th edition)
• Stratégie (12nd edition – Vuibert)
• Contemporary Strategy Analysis (10th edition)
• Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach (12th edition)
Filmography to develop your managerial culture:
• The Big Short (2015)
• Wall Street (1989)
• The Social Network (2010)
• 12 Angry Men (1957)
• The Playlist (2022)
• Margin Call (2011)
• GameStop (2022)
• Moneyball (2011)