This course deals with the fundamental problems facing every manager: a) how to analyse the external environment of the company (structural analysis of industries, strategic groups, trends), b) how to exploit and build resources and capabilities needed to achieve, maintain and improve the firm's market positioning, c) how to direct the company into the future (mission/ vision/ strategic intent), d) how to make a strategic choice, given a number of alternative strategic options, and e) how to build and sustain competitive advantage. The course provides frameworks for identifying the challenges of different competitive environments and gives some analytical approaches that are useful to widely different strategic problems. The final aim is to help students understand how to build a strategically responsive organization by tuning systems, structures and people to strategy, and how to effectively manage the process of strategizing.