Best Free MOOCs In Business For June

Corporate Strategy

School: University of Illinois

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: June, 2016

Workload: Not Specified

Instructor: Joe Mahoney

Credentials: Mahoney is a professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the University, along with serving as the Caterpillar Chair of Business at the school. He teaches students ranging from undergrads to Ph.D.s in classes that include Strategic Management and Economics of the Organization. Illinois students have given Mahoney an overall “Excellent” score for his teaching for 24 consecutive years beginning in 1992. He holds a Ph.D. in Business Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Graded: Students can choose to explore course videos, discussions, and ungraded assignments for free, but they won’t be able to submit graded assignments, earn a certificate, or complete a specialization without paying a $79 fee.

Description: Michael Porter points out that “Strategy is about making choices [and] trade-offs; it’s about deliberately choosing to be different.” And ‘choices’ are the key. Strategy inherently involves focus and limits, with variables like market expectations, channel distribution, costs, revenue and margins, and customer acquisition and retention all vying for emphasis. A good strategy balances such factors, while providing clarity on what organizational objectives are – and how to achieve them. This course helps students understand how to not only create value, but present it to the marketplace. In particular, students will “understand how corporations create, capture, and sustain competitive advantage; analyze business situations and create a coherent corporate strategy; and understand the fit between corporate strategy and organization structure to improve economic performance.”

Review: No reviews.

Additional Background: This is the sixth of a seven course specialization from the University of Illinois called “Strategic Leadership and Management.” It includes courses on organizational design, business and corporate strategy, and applying leadership techniques. To learn more about this specialization and register for it, CLICK HERE.