Learning Outcomes:

Using a variety of tools to critically analyse external business environment

• PESTEL  and five forces analysis; threats and opportunities analysis, etc. 

Using a variety of tools to critically analyse internal business environment

• Resources  and capability/competency analysis, Value  chain analysis, VRIO analysis and the determination of core competencies and sources of sustainable competitive advantage. 

Identify and analyse mandatory competency and competitive advances of an organisation

• Competitive advantage identification; economies of scope and scale; product or service life measurement; internal statistics and surveys; measures for monitoring and evaluating; emergent and unrealised strategy; globalisation effects; resources analysis; mandatory skills and competences; experience curves; comparative analysis.

To review the position of an organisation in its current market:

• Market situation analysis; organisational position measurement; strategic business planning tools; e.g. SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity and threats) analysis; Porter’s Five Forces Analysis; value chain analysis; Boston growth-share (BCG) matrix; market equilibrium; market share; sustainable competitive advantage. 

Discussing relationship between, corporate, business and operational strategies

• Strategic relationships e.g. concepts, application and changing trends; corporate strategies; business strategies; operational strategies
• Effective communication; strategy formulation; strategic drift; strategic options review; benchmarking; competitor analysis; benefit-cost analysis; information review; organisational value consistency; position in markets; market share; globalisation effect; impacts of technological advancements. 

Use various models and tools to develop strategic options for an organisation strategic models,

• Identification, uses and effectiveness; Mintzberg’s strategies e.g.  emergent and deliberate; Ansoff matrix strategies; balanced mandatory card analysis; sensitivity analysis; organisational integration; merger and acquisition; gap analysis; product portfolio. SAFe

Assess internationalisation drivers and  potential for different markets

• Yip’s globalisation framework, Porter’s Diamond, CAGE framework, global strategy, global  integration vs local responsiveness, entry  modes, etc.  

Introduce the concept of ‘Business and  Society’

• Analyse and decide strategic and business strategic options: Business ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR),  stakeholder analysis, triple bottom line, creating shared value etc. 

 Leadership Styles and Strategic Change

• Analysing change context, types of change,  levers of strategic change and the challenges  of implementing strategic change.

Indicative Reading list 

Core texts: 

• Whittington, R., Regner, P., Angwin, D., Johnson, G., & Scholes, K. (2020) Exploring Strategy: Texts and Cases. (12th ed.)
• Harlow, Pearson. Gill R (2011). Theory and Practice of Leadership, 2nd ed. Sage Publications 

Additional reading: 

• Balogun J and Hope-Hailey V (2008). Exploring Strategic Change, 3rd ed. FT Prentice Hall  
• Crane, A., Matten, D., Glozer, S., & Spence, L. (2019). Business Ethics: Managing Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability in the Age of  Globalization (5 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Publishing.  
• De Wit B and Meyer, R (2010). Strategy: Process, Content, Context: an international perspective, 4th ed. Andover : South-Western Cengage  Learning  
• Mintzberg H, Lampel J and Ahlstrand B (2009). Strategy Safari: the complete guide through the wilds of strategic management, 2nd ed. FT  Prentice Hall 
• Barney, J. (2010) Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage. New York: Pearson Education. 
• Grant, R. (2010) Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Hampshire: John Wiley and Sons. 
• Hill, C., Jones, G. and Schilling, M. (2013) Strategic Management: Theory: An Integrated Approach. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
• Chandler, D. (2016) Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation. London, Sage. 
• Mintzberg, H. (2000) The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning. Harlow: Financial Times/Prentice Hall. 
• Pettigrew, A. M., Thomas, H. and Whittington, R. (eds.) (2006) The Handbook of Strategy and Management. London: Sage.
• Stacey, R. D. (2010) Strategic Management and Organisational Dynamics. Harlow: Financial Times/Prentice Hall. 

Recommended Journal Articles 

• Carroll, A & Shabana, K (2010) The Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility: A Review of Concepts, Research and Practice, International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), 85-105 
• Porter, M.E. & Kramer, M.R. (2011) Creating shared value: How to reinvent capitalism and unleash a wave of innovation and growth. Harvard  Business Review 89(1–2), 62–77.
• Porter, M. (1996) What is Strategy? Harvard Business Review. Nov-Dec pp. 61–78. 
• Rugman, A. & Verbeke, A. (2004) A perspective on regional and global strategies of multinational enterprises. Journal of International Business  Studies 35(1), 3–18 
• Cohen, B. & Munoz, P. (2017) Entering conscious consumer markets: Toward a new generation of sustainability strategies. California  Management Review 59(4), 23–48. 
• Fassin, Y. (2008) The stakeholder model refined. Journal of Business Ethics 84(1), 113–135. 
• Ghemawat, P. (2001) Distance still matters: The hard reality of global expansion. Harvard Business Review 79(8), 137–47.
• Goold, M. & Alexander, M. (1998) Corporate strategy and parenting theory. Long Range Planning 31(2), 308–314.
• Porter, M.E. (1990) The competitive advantage of nations. Harvard Business Review 68(2), 73–93. 
• Porter, M.E. & Kramer, M.R. (2006) Strategy and society: The link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility. Harvard  Business Review 84(12), 78–92. 

Journals/newspapers: 

• Strategic Management Journal 
• Academy of Management Journal 
• Journal of International Business Studies 
• Journal of World Business 
• British Journal of Management; 
• California Management Review; 
• European Management Journal; 
• Harvard Business Review; 
• Journal of Business Strategy; 
• Journal of Management Studies;
• Long Range Planning; 
• MIT Sloan Management Review; 

Websites: 

• www.sps.org.uk Strategic Planning Society
• www.ft.com Financial Times
• www.managers.org.uk Chartered Management Institute

Entry requirements

To enroll The Doctoral Award, the learner must possess:

• Graduated with a Master’s degree from an accredited university or achieved a Level 7 Diploma according to the European Qualifications
• For a degree from non-global accredited universities; The learner should have followed Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning for Qualifications (APELQ) policy of SIMI and/or University Partners.
• Learners must be over 24 years old.

The SIMI Swiss reserves the highest decision-making power for admission whether to accept or not accept after a specific review of each candidate’s profile to ensure that they can comprehend and gain benefits when participating. For the fake university or diploma mills, University Partners shall not be accepted.

English requirements

If a learner is not from a predominantly English-speaking country, proof of English language proficiency must be provided.

• Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) level B2 or equivalent
• Or A minimum TOEFL score of 101 or IELTS 6.5; Reading and Writing must be at 6.5 or equivalent

After graduating with Doctoral Award, students receive all certified documents from the SIMI Swiss.

Certified Documents:

• e-Certificate from the Swiss Information and Management Institute (SIMI Swiss).
• Hard copy certificate from the Swiss Information and Management Institute (SIMI Swiss) – Optional.
•  Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning for Qualifications (APEL.Q) certified from University Partners for credit and tuition fee transfer.

Because the program is accredited and recognized, students can easily use certified in the working environment and have many opportunities for career advancement. In addition, in case if you want to study for a SIMI degree or university partner degree, students can convert all credits and the full paid tuition fee when participating in the program University Partners.

The SIMI Swiss’ Doctoral Award means:

SIMI Swiss Doctoral Award is the award at the doctoral level and is equivalent to:

• Level 8 certificate of Regulated Qualification Framework (RQF) of UK
• Level 11 certificate of Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF)
• Level 8 certificate of Credit and Qualifications Framework (CQFW)
• Level 8 certificate of European Qualifications Framework (EQF)
• Level 10 certificates of the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF)
• Level 8 certificate of ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework (AQRF)
• Level 10 certificate of the African Continental Qualifications Framework (ACQF)

Students can convert all credits and the full tuition fee when participating in the SIMI Swiss and/or University Partners academic programs if they want to study for an academic degree.

Credits transfer:

Learners can accumulate 20 credits from the Doctoral Award program when participating in the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) or PhD. Please see the credit transfer policy HERE

Tuition fee transfer:

When participating in the DBA/PhD program, students who have graduated 1 Doctoral Award will receive a discount of full tuition fee which you paid. Please see the tuition fee transfer HERE

The SIMI Swiss micro-credential program allows for the transfer of credits and tuition fees into full degree programs from SIMI Swiss and/or its university partners. SIMI Swiss reserves the right to limit admissions once the number of students exceeds the quotas.

Apply Policy:

• To participate in the SIMI Swiss micro-credential program, students need to meet the entry criteria corresponding to each level. Please see the “Entry” tab for more details.
• SIMI Swiss will not accept applicants if their entry qualifications are from diploma mill universities or schools/universities that are not accredited.
• For Doctoral Award programs, if an entry master is unavailable, students must demonstrate a minimum of 5 years of work experience in the relevant field. Please note that a master’s degree is required for the Doctoral program at SIMI Swiss and University Partners so that you could study Doctoral Award but could not move to the Doctoral program of SIMI and University Partners.
• English is not a mandatory entry requirement for short course programs, but candidates need to ensure that English is used in reading documents, listening to lectures, and doing assignments. Candidates should note that English is a mandatory requirement when switching to an academic program at SIMI Swiss and University Partners.

Apply Process:

1. Choose the program that suits your requirements. Note that applicants without a university degree will not be able to participate in the program at Master’s level, and applicants without a Master’s degree will not be able to participate in the program at the Doctoral level.
2. Email your application to support@simiswiss.ch with all the required documents. You could download the application form here.
3. Our admission department will contact you and guide you through further processes if the registration documents need to be supplemented.
4. SIMI Swiss will issue the Letter of Acceptant (LOA). You will proceed to the next steps according to the instructions and pay tuition fee.
5. SIMI Swiss will issue a student confirmation letter, login account to the e-learning system and related documents.
6. You have become an official SIMI Swiss student and enjoy your study journey.

The SIMI Swiss micro-credential program is fully online, allowing you to study anytime, anywhere. You have the option to attend live classes with SIMI Swiss. The final exam will be uploaded to the system and evaluated by the academic panel of SIMI Swiss. Students must submit assignments on time; failure to do so will result in the student being considered to have discontinued the program.