Strategy in a ‘VUCA World’ and a new viewpoint on micro and macro markets

For the Executive MBA (EMBA) students the new year started with the Strategic Orientation module. An intense 8-day online module that covered the courses Economics for Managers and Global Corporate Strategy.

42 Executive MBA students coming from many different cultures and professional backgrounds participated in the online January module that started with Economics for Managers. Aad van Mourik, Professor of Managerial Economics shared his wealth of knowledge on the functioning of markets on both micro and macro levels. On the former, the executives learned to understand the behavior of consumers, producers and firms, the process of price formation and output determination in various market structures. On a macroeconomic level, the causes and consequences of economic fluctuations and economic growth were discussed. As well as how the government can influence the economy and stimulate economic growth to stabilize inflation and unemployment at acceptable levels.

Prof. van Mourik provided the group with video materials to watch before the start of class, to give the participants the needed pre-knowledge which then could be taken to a higher-level during class. This adjustment from preparatory reading material to videos was a welcomed change by many of the participants. Also, his teaching style was much appreciated. “Prof. van Mourik was able to engage the group by using history and recent events to explain how the economy may influence corporations, governments and consequently lives” says Savio Freitas, Executive MBA student. He further shared that the way Prof. van Mourik teaches through examples makes it easier to grasp the subject and provide a meaning to the importance economy has in the society.

The theory was accompanied by case studies on topics such as the European Green Deal, digital services and markets and the European Commission’s proposal to digital platforms.

Global Corporate Strategy
Dr. Andy Zynga, CEO of EIT Food, a European Union funded non-profit that deploys an innovation ecosystem of partners in order to transform the Agri-Food Sector, taught the 4-day course on Global Corporate Strategy. Dr. Zynga has 30+ years of strategy experience and as an experienced and knowledgeable lecturer he was able to project his years of experience in leading and building businesses to the Executive MBA students.

The strategy course provided the students with tools and capabilities to create a competitive advantage in a fast-changing global business environment.

The course discussed strategic management processes on different levels, emphasizing strategic analysis and choice to develop a thorough understanding of generic strategies. Within the four days, strategies on different businesses such as start-ups, for profit and non-profits organizations were discussed. The first two days were focused on strategic management processes and traditional strategy tools. The last two days of the module were focused on current times with volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) business environments. In this context, new approaches to strategy have emerged, such as new business paradigm strategies, strategies building on foresight, adaptive strategy, new sources of competitive advantage, and design thinking and strategy.

In additional to the extensive theory, the global corporate strategy program welcomed four guest speakers from a family business, a multinational, a start-up and non-profit organization who shared key strategy insights each day. This extra element on top of theory, business cases, debates and group work gave students the opportunity to see how professionals have put theory into practice.

Equipped with a bag full of new knowledge the Executive MBA students are now in charge of putting the learned theory into practice in the course assignments. In April the Changing World module is awaiting them, with courses on Change Management and Leadership and Organizational Behavior.

Would you like to join this module? Then start your Executive MBA journey at MSM in April 2021!