Strategy

Overview

As organizational processes, structures, and planning become increasingly dynamic there is growing demand for talented and creative problem solvers who can deliver expert knowledge across firms and industries. The University of Alabama - Manderson School MBA Strategy Concentration provides an unmatched opportunity for students to gain knowledge in areas of both management and marketing simultaneously, thus preparing them for a career in top management and/or consulting.

Today's information powered business environment requires organizations to constantly reinvent themselves, developing new structures, work processes, and decision-making techniques that can provide a clear advantage in the marketplace.

The perspective of this concentration is therefore primarily long-term and broad, moving from the organization's internal operations to include consideration of business partners, competitors, markets, and the overall environment. Emphasis is on planning and control, evaluation of capabilities and core competencies, appraisal of present and future partners and competition, and implementation of chosen strategies.

We develop students who are agile problem solvers -- able to apply a variety of analytical techniques to work through unstructured problems.  In our curriculum we use case based instruction, experiential exercises, project management experiences, and live consulting engagements to prepare our students to solve clients’ problems by clearly define client needs -- then identifying and applying the appropriate analytical techniques to help clients find solutions to the challenges they are facing.

Concentration Checksheet

The Strategy Concentration is the largest and best known concentration in the Manderson MBA program. It forces on competitive analysis techniques and project implementation and management skills that need to be considered in the decision making process across all areas of an organization in an effort to achieve sustained competitive advantage for firms. Strategy is is the only Manderson MBA concentration that is total designed to educate the top corporate officers of tomorrow (and consultants of today) through a cross disciplinary curriculum that incorporates continually updated logic and skills from Management, Marketing, Supply Chain Management, and Entrepreneurship. Obviously, students graduating for the strategy concentration are extremely well rounded and ready to take the world by storm.

Students may select a concentration emphasis within the Strategy Concentration, to view specific area curriculum review the Strategy Checksheet.

Graduate Testimonials

"Strategy provides academic preparation, professional training, and hands-on experience enabling one to begin in a key management position immediately. The concentration provides the skills needed to succeed no matter what the business situation. It provides practical experience through case analyses and presentations, interactions with corporations, and team projects. The strategy concentration provided me with the educational experience needed to promote certain skills, which created value both for myself and my employer. I began in a management position at Procter & Gamble and was promoted within two years. I recently transferred to work on our largest account and still use my strategy skills daily whether dealing with my team, management, or customer...Be a sponge. Use your strategy professors to gain every ounce of their knowledge and do not let up.This motto is definitely one to follow within the Program."

Dawn Haviland, Class of 1998
Procter & Gamble, Marketing Consultant

"I chose the strategy concentration because strategy is my favorite part of the business world. I am a 'big picture' kind of person, so it has always appealed to me."

Amy Henry, Class of 2001

"Dixie Pulp & Paper Warehouse, LLC found the marketing research project done by the UA grad students to be thorough and informative. Having students with different areas of expertise made this a very knowledgeable team."

Careers and Placement

Students graduating from the Strategy Concentration have the following charteristics:

Students graduating from the Strategy Concentration are highly marketable as:

Students enrolled in the Strategy Concentration have interned with:

Students enrolled in the Strategy Concentration have earned positions with:

Required Coursework

Lock Step Coursework
Strategy Concentration Coursework

Semester 1 - Fall of First Year

• AC 521 Managerial Accounting (3 Hrs.)
• OM 506 Business Intelligence and Decision Modeling (3 Hrs.)
• MGT 517 Leadership and Ethics (3 Hrs. )
• MKT 518 Marketing Management & Decision Making (3 Hrs.)
• ST 509 Stats for Business Applications (3 Hrs.)

Semester 2 - Spring of First Year

• EC 500 Managerial Economics (3 Hrs.)
• FI 504 Foundations of Financial Management (4 Hrs.)
• MIS 511 Project Management (2 Hrs. )
• OM 516 Production and Operations Management (3 Hrs.)
• GBA 591 Strategy Practicum (1 - 3 Hrs.)

Semester 3 - Fall of Second Year

• GBA 525 Business Policy
• MGT 542 Management Communication
• MKT 530 Advanced Marketing Analysis (3 Hrs.)
• GBA/MGT/MKT Elective (3 Hrs.)
• GBA/MGT/MKT Elective (3 Hrs.)

Semester 4 - Spring of Second Year

• LGS 522 Business Law (3 Hrs.)
• MKT 581 Marketing Project(3 Hrs.)
• GBA 527 Managing Strategic Implementation (3 Hrs.)
• MKT 597 Leadership and Mentoring (3 Hrs.)
• GBA/MGT/MKT Elective (3 Hrs.)

Electives (Pick 3 to customize your degree)

• HCM 573 Advanced Issues in Health Care Management (3 Hrs.)
• HCM 575 Advanced Managed Care (3 Hrs.)
• HCM 576 Advanced Long Term Care (3 Hrs.)
• HCM 577 Advanced Ambulatory Care (3 Hrs.)
• MGT 510 Computer Applications in Human Resource Management (3 Hrs.)
• MGT 511 Human Resources Selection and Placement (3 Hrs.)
• MGT 520 Change Management (3 Hrs.)
• MGT 582 Starting New Ventures (3 Hrs.)
• MGT 586 Small Business Consulting (3 Hrs)
• MGT 532 Employee Relations (3 Hrs.)
• MGT 597 Contemporary Issues in Performance Measurement (3 Hrs.)
• MKT 510 Product Design Strategy (3 Hrs.)
• MKT 511 Supply Chain Management (3 Hrs.)
• MKT 522 Supply Chain Strategy (3 Hrs.)
• MKT 531 Services Marketing (3 Hrs.)
• MKT 591 Independent Study (1-3 Hrs.)

Focus Areas Within Strategy

Business to Business Marketing Strategy

The primary objective of the Business to Business Marketing Strategy focus area is to create an understanding of the basic components of sales and customer service and the dynamics of what is considered best practice today. Firm to firm collaboration has become a hot topic in recent years.  However, the cross-functional systems approach and other fundamentals underlying developing managing relationships are not new.  They have been standard elements in the marketing logistics curriculum for more than 30 years. What is different today are the technologies that make it possible to implement those fundamentals effectively and efficiently, and the business philosophy that allows cooperative and collaborative inter-firm and intra-firm relationships. This focus area examines the complexities associated with the integrated sales and support of the flow of inventory and information from source through the production process and channel of distribution to the end consumer. In particular, the concentration will help you appreciate how the marketing efforts of firms can be improved by integrated B2B capabilities that provide superior levels of customer service to facilitate customer retention and long-term competitive advantage. Corporate Recruiters Students more interested in quantitative and operations oriented Supply Chain Management Positions should consider the Supply Chain & Operations Management concentration.

Entrepreneurship and New Venture Strategy

Health Care Strategy

Marketing Strategy

Marketing is concerned with (1) the identification and assessment of consumer and industrial market needs and (2) the development of marketing programs to satisfy those needs. Marketing personnel in profit and nonprofit organizations analyze markets and industries to define new and refine existing opportunities. Marketers are also responsible for developing and managing products, promotional programs, distribution systems, and prices that are appropriate to the targeted market opportunities. The Marketing focus area is designed to provide students with advanced analytical skills and hands-on experience to prepare them for fast-track marketing careers in such high growth fields as: product or brand management; professional selling; e-commerce; marketing research; services marketing; and retail management. Related team projects and marketing internships provide opportunities for students to apply their newly developed skills in actual real world situations.

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