INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT BANGALORE

Competition & Strategy

PGP 2013-2015 Batch
Second Term Core Course
(Three Credits - 20 sessions of 90 minutes each)
Faculty
Section
A&C
B
D&F
E

Faculty
Professor R. Srinivasan (CSP)
Professor Rishikesha Krishnan
Professor Sai Yayavaram
Professor Pranav Garg

Office
C206
B004
E107
D107

Phone
3143
3160
3751
3350

Email
srini
rishi
sai.yayavaram
gargp

Secretary, Phone
Subrina Raj, 3209
KM Ramamani, 3202
Shantha Kumari, 3278
Ahmed Khan, 3028

Course Overview
The basic objectives of the Competition and Strategy course are as follows:

Integrate the skills and knowledge you have acquired in your previous courses, and
Develop a strong understanding of how firms compete by engaging with the important analytical
approaches that underlie the domain of strategic management.

Our perspective in this course will be that of a general manager or a chief executive officer. We believe
this would embed in you a general management perspective i.e., the capacity to view the firm in its
totality and in the context of its environment.
Course Structure and Pedagogy
The course has been structured into six modules. These are:
Module I:
Module II:
Module III:
Module IV:
Module V:
Module VI:

Introduction
Industry Analysis
Competitive Positioning
Resource Based View of the Firm
Competitive Dynamics
Strategic Transformation

We opted to structure the course along the above seemingly discrete dimensions for pedagogical
convenience. However you should be aware that reality is far less ordered. Whats more you may find us
on occasion simulating real life chaos in the classroom!
The objectives of the course dictate the pedagogy. The case method has been found to be the most
suitable pedagogical device in this regard. It enables one to simulate, as closely as is possible, the real
world in the classroom. The simulation is complete and effective only when you come fully prepared to
the class. Thus the onus for deriving maximum value from this course lies as much with you as with the
instructor!
Course Materials
The course packet contains all the cases and the reading material. The text Contemporary Strategy Analysis
(7th edition) by Robert M. Grant, Blackwell Publishing is issued to you. Additionally, several excellent
textbooks on strategy are available in the IIMB library.

Evaluation Scheme

Group project report and presentation

Mid-term examination
End-term examination
Announced Quizzes

30 marks
30 marks
30 marks
10 marks

Careful prior preparation of cases scheduled for discussion, as well as thoughtful participation and
listening during the case discussions, will help develop your ability to analyse cases and their contexts. It
will enable you to synthesise case data for taking strategic decisions and for planning their
implementationan ability that will be tested in the mid-term and end-term examinations, which will
both be open-book case-based examinations. Please note that there will be no makeup quiz or exam
except on medical grounds, subject to PGP norms.
Attendance policy
We require 75% attendance for this course. The penalty for going below this threshold is a single grade
point drop.
Project Presentations and Report
As part of the C&S course, you are expected to work in groups of five students, and analyse the
competitive strategy of an Indian firm. The purpose of this project is to understand the industry and
external context of the firm, analyse the firms competitive strategy, and identify the firms resources
and capabilities that help it compete in the industry. Choose an Indian company, preferably a firm listed
in any of the Indian stock exchanges, to help you source sufficient data. Also, since much of this course
deals with business level strategy, ideally, you should select single business firms for analysis. If that is not
possible, you should analyse that business of a multi-business firm, which accounts for the largest part of
its revenue. Otherwise, financial analysis will either be difficult or require assumptions that may be
difficult to justify. Please seek the approval of your faculty before deciding on an industry/company for
the project.
Each section will be organised into groups of up to five students each within the first week. Each group
should designate a group co-ordinator who should submit three options (in decreasing order of
preference) to their faculty by email latest by 5 p.m. on September 23, 2013. Each option should state
the industry choice and company choices as shown below. Project will be allocated on a first-come firstserved basis.
1. Industry A Company A1/Company A2
2. Industry B Company B1/Company B2
3. Industry C Company C1/Company C2
You are required to submit the report in two parts an analysis of the industry and an analysis of the firm
on the dates indicated in the next section of this outline.
All the groups must email their presentations to the respective faculty, and submit a hard copy of their
presentation slides to their respective faculty in class on November 22, 2013. Each group will have
maximum of 10 minutes to present and to defend their report. Email (to the respective faculty) and hard
copies of both the reports (Industry Analysis and Firm Analysis) should be submitted to the respective
secretaries of the instructors. The word limit for both the reports is 3000 words each excluding non-text
exhibits. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Your report should include an analysis of the companys strategies and link them to the performance of
the company. You should point out why the company has been a leader/challenger and whether its

current strategies will be adequate to sustain/improve its position. Your recommendations should focus
on how the company can retain its leadership position or improve its competitive situation (as
appropriate for your choice of company).
You may find it useful to assume that you are a consulting firm and that you have been hired by the
company to make recommendations for their strategy in the future. Elements of a typical report include,
but are not limited to, the following:

Introduction: A clear and concise statement of the problem(s) facing the firm you have selected.

Key recommendations: Your intended audience, senior managers, have only a limited time for perusing
the report. The report, therefore, must be short, attractive, and to-the-point.

Elaboration: State the major assumptions and the important reasons underlying the recommendations.
Also state the criteria for evaluating a strategy and show how your recommendations meet them.
How will the company benefit if it accepts your recommendations? Use appendices to provide
supporting material if elaborate analysis or models back your recommendations.

Alternatives considered: Possible objections to your recommendations and your responses to them.
Thus, after making your recommendations, you must list all the important possible alternatives that
you do not recommend. Provide brief reasons for not recommending the alternatives. Much of your
analysis and most of the models will probably go here. Use appendices to provide the support for
your arguments.

Plan for implementation: State the key action steps required for implementing the recommendations.
State, for each functional area, the functional level strategies, plans, and goals that will help in
implementation. These functional level strategies must be consistent with each other as well as with
the overall (business level) strategy of the firm, as well as with the strengths. (If the firm does not
have the required strengths, point out how it will acquire them).

Structure and systems: If necessary, suggest changes in organisation structure, reward and compensation
schemes, and information and control systems. Identify the key performance indicators that the
managers may use to assess the success of implementation.

Budget and financial projections: List the resources required (funds, personnel, equipment, and the like).
Show clearly how the firm will benefit from your suggestions. Does the company have the money to
implement your recommendations? (Simple financial projections will do, we will not insist on
proforma balance sheets, profit and loss accounts, cash flow projections, or IRR calculations).

Timeline: Provide a timeline with important milestones.

Contingency: Earlier you had stated some assumptions (relating to the environmental conditions in the
future). What if they prove to be incorrect? Contingency plans may help a firm achieve some or
most of its objectives irrespective of changes in the environment

Please acknowledge sources of all data/information used and provide a complete list of references. If you
refer to any other material (article, website, blog, egroup, etc.) in writing your project reports, this must be
explicitly acknowledged with full citations. Failure to acknowledge material sourced from elsewhere will
be considered as plagiarism and subject to PGP disciplinary rules. Grading will be based on the quality of
analysis, rather than simple collection, collation, and presentation of data. Each group is also required to
make a brief presentation on the project. Faculty will be available for consultation on the project for the
duration of the term.

Important Dates
The timeline for the course is given below:

1
2
3
4
5
6

Submission
Choice of industry/firm for Group Project
Project Submission (Part 1-Industry Analysis)
Mid-term Examination
Project Presentations
Project Submission (Part 2- Firm Analysis)
End-term Examination

Due on
September 23, 2013, by 5 pm
October 14, 2013 by 5 pm
October 19 to 23, 2013
November 22 and 23, 2013
December 5, 2013 by 5 pm
December 5 to 9, 2013

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT BANGALORE

Competition & Strategy
PGP 2013-2015
Second Term Core Course
(Three Credits - 20 sessions of 90 minutes each)

Module Readings:

Module One: Introduction

Chapters 1 and 2 of Grant

Note on defining a business, Sinha, 2003
What is strategy? Porter, HBR, 1996
Session 01
Case:
Questions:

September 19, 2013

Thursday
Pratham
Has Pratham been successful in Mumbai? What has Pratham done differently
from the government? From other NGOs? What else can Pratham do to make
sure that all children are in school, happy, and learning? Is Prathams approach
replicable at the national level? If so, in your view, how should this be done?
Module Two: Industry Analysis

Module Readings:

Chapters 3, 4, and 11 of Grant

The five competitive forces that shape strategy, Porter, HBR, 2008
Industry analysis template
Sessions 02 and 03
Case:
Questions:

September 20 and 21, 2013

Friday and Saturday
Cola Wars Continue: Coke and Pepsi in 2006
Why, historically, has the soft drink industry been so profitable? Compare the
economics of the profitability of the concentrate business to that of the bottling
business. Why are they so different? Why do concentrate producers want to
vertically integrate into bottling? How has the competition between Coke and
Pepsi affected the industrys profits? Can Coke and Pepsi sustain their profits in
the wake of flattening demand and the growing popularity of non-CSDs?

Session 04
Case:
Reading:
Questions:

September 26, 2013

Thursday
BMG Entertainment
Strategy and the Internet, Porter, HBR, 2001
Why have a handful of major record companies dominated the music industry
through most of the last century? How does the advent of the Internet change
the structure and economics of the music industry? Does BMGs approach to
the Internet make sense? What should Zelnick and Conroy do?

Module Three: Competitive Positioning

Module Readings:

Chapters 8, 9, and 10 of Grant

Note on business level strategy, Sinha, 2003
Session 05
Case:
Questions:

October 03, 2013

Thursday
Matching Dell
Assess the attractiveness of the PC industry in 1998. How do you explain Dells
superior performance in the industry? How big was Dells advantage? How
should Dells competitors respond to Dell? What are the future threats that Dell
faces? And what should Dell do to maintain its superior performance?

Session 06
Case:
Questions:

October 04, 2013

Friday
Apple Inc. in 2012
What were Apples historical competitive advantages? Why did Apple struggle in
the PC industry? What did it do differently when it entered the music player and
smartphone industries? How sustainable is its positions in these industries?
What challenges does Tim Cook face? What is your advice to him?

Session 07
Case:
Questions:

October 10, 2013

Thursday
The Indian Airline Industry in 2008
Identify the strategies of different players in the Indian airline industry and relate
these strategies to the firms performance. What are the strategic challenges
faced by airlines in India as of 2008, and today? What should be the strategies
adopted by these airlines to meet these challenges?

Session 08
Case:
Reading
Questions:

October 11, 2013

Friday
Samsung Electronics
The ambidextrous organization, OReilly & Tushman, HBR, 2004
What kind of advantage are the Chinese entrants seeking? How close are they to
achieving that advantage? How much of Samsungs performance is based on its
reputed low-cost advantage? Can Samsungs low-cost advantage withstand the
Chinese threat on costs? Does anyone think that the numbers mask the fact that
Samsungs differentiation advantage is more important or easier to grow and
sustain or both?

Session 09
Guest lecture

October 17, 2013 (Tentative)

Thursday

Module Four: Resource Based View of the Firm

Module Readings:

Chapter 5, 6, and 13 of Grant

Competing on resources, Collis and Montgomery, HBR, 2008
Session 10
Case:
Questions:

October 18, 2013

Friday
Maruti
Twenty years after liberalization, and with all major global players present in the
Indian market, as of October 2011, Maruti Suzuki continued to have a dominant
market share in volume terms. How do you explain this? What are the most
serious challenges Maruti faces in its continuing dominance of the Indian car
industry? What are the options Maruti should consider to respond to these
challenges? What new resources and capabilities does Maruti need to build?
Mid-term Examination: October 19 to 23, 2013

Session 11
Case:
Questions:

October 24, 2013

Thursday
Wal-Mart, 2007 and Wal-Mart Update, 2011
What are Wal-Marts competitive advantages? How sustainable are those
advantages? How transferable are those advantages as Wal-Mart moves into new
formats and especially into new international locations? How should Wal-Mart
respond to Targets superior performance in recent years? How should WalMart respond to dollar stores and Amazon.coms superior performance in
recent years?

Session 12
Case:
Questions:

October 25, 2013

Friday
McKinsey & Company
How has this obscure little firm of accounting and engineering advisors been
able to grow into a globally prestigious consulting firm fifty years later? What
have been the contributions of the various CEOs over the years? What is/are
the main source(s) of competitive advantage for the firm?

Session 13
Case:

October 31, 2013

Thursday
Innovation, Technology and Competitive Strategy: Bajaj Auto and the
Motor Cycle Market (A)
What are the drivers of competitiveness in the Indian motorcycle industry? How
have these changed over time? Identify the strategies followed by the leading
players and the resources/capabilities developed by them to support these
strategies. What role have Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) played in the
strategies of Bajaj and TVS? What is the dispute between them about? Who is
right? Why? What should be the strategy of Bajaj in the future? And of TVS?

Questions:

Module Five: Competitive Dynamics

Module Readings

Chapters 4, 11, and 12 of Grant

Session 14
Case:
Questions:

November 1, 2013
Friday
Bitter Competition: Holland Sweetener Company versus NutraSweet (A)
How should Vermijs expect Nutrasweet to respond to Holland Sweetener
Companys entry into the European and Canadian aspartames markets? What
are the chances of normal competition or price wars?

Session 15
Case:
Questions:

November 14, 2013

Thursday
Iridium
When Iridium was initially conceived, what was the strategic vision? What
assumptions were made about the future? Who was making the assumptions?
What went wrong with Iridium? Who should be held responsible for Iridiums
failure? What lessons does Iridium have for other firms and industries?

Session 16
Case:
Readings:
Questions:

November 21, 2013

Thursday
Google Inc.
Strategies for two-sided markets; Eisenmann, Parker, & Van Alstyne, HBR 2006
What are the key factors behind Googles early success? Do you expect the
search business to become more concentrated? Is search a winner-take-all
business? How did Microsofts maximum affordable bid for AOLs search
traffic compare to Googles? In addition to enhancing its search business,
should Google also branch out into new areas? What would you recommend?

Sessions 17 and 18
Presentations

November 22 and 23, 2013

Group project

Friday and Saturday

Module Six: Strategic Transformation

Module Readings

Chapters 7, 16, and 17 of Grant

Sessions 19 and 20
Cases:
Questions:

November 28 and 29, 2013

Thursday and Friday
General Electric: Strategic Position-1981
GEs Two-Decade Transformation: Jack Welchs Leadership
GEs Growth Strategy: The Immelt Initiative
Why did GE experience profitless growth in the 1960s? Evaluate the companys
response in 1972. Evaluate the appropriateness of changes instituted by Reg
Jones in 1977. What can we learn about the management of a large diversified
business based on this case?
What challenges did Jack Welch face as GEs new CEO? What kind of
challenges did Jack Welch face when he took charge of GE? How did he
address these challenges? What is your assessment of Jack Welchs tenure as
CEO? What are the implications for his successor Jeffery Immelt?
What have been the significant changes brought about by Jeff Immelt as CEO
of GE? Have they been appropriate?
Compare the performance of Welch and Immelt as CEOs of GE in terms of
different parameters such as strategy, priorities, organizational changes, changes
in systems and processes, and outcomes. Who, in your opinion was the better
leader? Why? What can we learn from these leaders?
End-term Examination (4 hours): December 5 to 9, 2013