MLM– Strategy | 2022

MANAGING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

MASTER IN LAW AND MANAGEMENT

2022
JOÃO SILVEIRA LOBO

SESSION 1

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João Silveira Lobo holds a degree in economics from Universidade

Técnica de Lisboa and a MBA from INSEAD. In 2002 he has finished the
first year of the DBA in the Cranfield School of Management, UK.
He held several Senior Management and Board positions in diverse
industries: Banking, Urban Transportation, FMCG, Modern Retail,
Telecommunications, Executive Education, Portuguese Innovation
Agency, Portuguese Investment Agency, Wood-based Panels, Media,
Tourism&Leisure and Private Equity. He has also developed an
entrepreneurial project in Home Décor through his own venture.
During his professional life he developed a large experience in consulting
and executive education working for different companies in several
industries, in Portugal and abroad, and contributed regularly to COTEC (a
Portuguese private innovation agency).
Currently, he is an independent management consultant, and teaches for
more than two decades at NOVA School of Business and Economics and
NOVA Executives. He is, also, a founding member and Director, of The
Natural Step Portugal-Association for Sustainable Development and he
mentors in WomenWinWin-Connecting Women and Business. He focuses
on Strategy, Strategic Planning/Foresight and Strategy Execution, Systems
for Managerial Decision, and Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

EMAIL: OFFICE HOURS:

JSLOBO@NOVASBE.PT BY PREVIOUS APPOINTMENT

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COURSE FOCUS:
The strategy field from a process perspective aiming at building the conditions to create and sustain competitive advantage.
從過程的⾓度來看，戰略領域旨在為創造和維持競爭優勢創造條件。

TOPICS COVERED:
1. The concepts of business strategy and of strategic decision.
2. How companies assess industry attractiveness and the drivers that impact industry profitability.
3. How companies exploit and explore, accumulate and develop resources in their search for uniqueness.
4. How companies create and protect competitive advantage in their search for sustainability.
5. Organizational design for ambidexterity and how to design organizational structures for value exploitation and exploration.
6. The Balanced Scorecard of KPIs management system as a tool to program and monitor strategy implementation.
1. 經營戰略和戰略決策的概念。
2. 公司如何評估⾏業吸引⼒和影響⾏業盈利能⼒的驅動因素。
3. 企業如何在尋求獨特性的過程中開拓、探索、積累和發展資源。
4. 公司如何在尋求可持續發展的過程中創造和保護競爭優勢。
5. 雙元性的組織設計以及如何設計組織結構以進⾏價值開發和探索。
6. KPI 管理系統的平衡計分卡作為規劃和監控戰略實施的⼯具。

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ASSESSMENT:

1. Individual Grade: 100% - 1 individual case write-up (*) – due on Moodle: Monday, 14th November, until 23h59, pdf
format

(*) After the individual write-up grades’ delivery, students that wish to receive feedback on their work must ask, by mail in the following 48h, a special office hour
slot to the Instructor. The students’ work is subject to the Code of Conduct of the school and the degree of plagiarism in the Individual assignement will be
assessed through the TurnitIn software. The individual assignment must be submitted once in .pdf format and the students must accept the “User License
Agreement”

GROUND RULES:

1. Be creative and challenging!

2. Read, carefully, the selected bibliography!
3. Prepare, carefully, for in-class discussion!
4. The course will have 4 sessions of 2h each. Sessions will be a mix of concepts and real life examples and will count
heavily on the students’ active participation, both in class and in its preparation.

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SESSION PLAN

SESSION 1- 22 nd Sept SESSION 2 - 6 th Octob SESSION 3 - 13 th Octob

• RULES OF THE GAME • INDUSTRY AND • ORGANIZATIONS’

• WHAT IS STRATEGY? RIVALRY RESOURCE PLATFORM

SESSION 4 - 24th Octob SESSION 5 - 3rd Nov SESSION 6 - 7th Nov

• COMPETITIVE • ORGANIZATIONAL • STRATEGY EXECUTION
ADVANTAGE DESIGN

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SESSION PLAN – DETAIL

0. Rules of the Game

1. FOUNDATIONS OF 1. “What is strategy? by Michael Porter, HBR 1996

STRATEGIC THINKING

1. “Contemporary Strategy Analysis” by Robert M. Grant, Wiley, 2010, 7th ed. – ch. 3 & 4
2. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS and 2. “The five competitive forces forces that shape strategy” by Michael Porter, HBR 2008
RIVALRY

3. ORGANIZATIONAL 1. “The Resource-based theory of Competitive Advantage: implications for strategy

formulation” by Robert M. Grant, California Management Review, Vol.33, Ner 3, Spring91
RESOURCES’ PLATFORM

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SESSION PLAN – DETAIL

1. “Creating Competitive Advantage” by Pankaj Ghemawat and Jan Rivkin, HBS 9-798-062,Rv

SESSION 4
Feb, 25th 2006
4. COMPETITIVE
2. “Contemporary Strategy Analysis” by Robert M. Grant, Wiley, 2010, 7th ed. – ch. 8, 9, 10
ADVANTAGE
3. “Strategic Management” by Garth Saloner et al., Wiley, 2001, chapter 3
SESSION 5

5. ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN 1. “Note on Organizational Structure-HBS 9-491-083 Rev May23, 2016 – link in Moodle
SESSION 6

1. “Having Trouble with Your Strategy-Then Map It-HBR Kaplan and Norton - HBR SetOut
2000 – link in Moodle
6. STRATEGY EXECUTION 2. The Balanced Scorecard-Measures that drive performance - Kaplan and Norton - HBR
JulAug 2005 – link in Moodle

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REFERENCE BOOKS
• “Contemporary Strategy Analysis”, Robert M. Grant, Wiley, 2010 – 7th edition, chapters 3, 4, 8, 9 and 10. – in Moodle
• “Strategic Management”, Saloner Garth, Shepard A., Podolny, J., Wiley, 2001, chapter 3. - in Moodle

SESSION CONSOLIDATION READINGS

SESSION 1
• “What is Strategy” by Michael Porter, HBR Nov/Dec 1996 – Link in Moodle

SESSION 2
• “The five competitive forces that shape strategy” by Michael Porter, HBR Jan 2008 – Link in Moodle

SESSION 3
• “The Resource-based theory of Competitive Advantage: implications for strategy formulation” by Robert M. Grant, California Management
Review, Vol.33, Ner 3, Spring 1991 – in Moodle

SESSION 4
• “Creating Competitive Advantage” by Pankaj Ghemawat and Jan Rivkin, HBS 9-798-062, Rv Feb, 25th 2006 – Link in Moodle

SESSION 5
• Note on Organizational Structure-HBS 9-491-083 Rev May23, 2016 – link in Moodle

SESSION 6
• “Having Trouble with Your Strategy-Then Map It”-HBR Kaplan and Norton - HBR SetOut 2000 – link in Moodle
• “The Balanced Scorecard-Measures that drive performance” - Kaplan and Norton - HBR JulAug 2005 – link in Moodle

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INDIVIDUAL WRITE-UP
Submission Deadline: Monday, 14th Nov, until 23h59, on Moodle Format: Powerpoint (max. 7 slides).
Upload in pdf format
Case analysis: “Addleshaw Goddard LLP (Abridged)”, HBS – 9-413-064, Rev Dec 14, 2012 – Link in Moodle

Role: You are a “rookie” consultant in a boutique consultancy company. Your boss will meet the Addleshaw Goddard LLP’s
management next week. She asked you to prepare a short report that she will use in preparation for the meeting. The report should
answer the following questions:

1. What is Addleshaw Goddard Growth and Differentiation strategy? What is your assessment of such strategy?
2. What role play the Client Development Center (CDC) and the Key Account Management Program in the company strategy?
Justify your answer.
3. In your perspective does the “Me-to-You Mindset” and the Strategic Management of Clients (SMC) programs are a robust
foundation for Sustainable Competitive Advantage? Justify your answer.

Notes:
1) For your analysis, leverage on the concepts that were developed in our classes.
2) Format rules: Letter – calibri 14 /Space - single

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MLM– Strategy | 2022 TIPS FOR WRITTEN ANSWERS
PLEASE, READ!
1. Answer the question
This is the most basic rule. The objective. Never lose sight of it! Read the question over and over again
if you have to and make sure all you write has a purpose and is contributing to create value for your
assignment.

2. I've read the case

Of course it is necessary to include case information, but apart from a short introduction I don't really
need any description of the case. Use citations or key information of the case to support your
argumentation.

3. Use theory to your advantage

I don't want long essays about theory which could be applied to any situation (you'd be surprised how
many times this happens!), I want correct terminology and correct application of the conceptual models to
support your argumentation.

4. Critical thinking
We are looking for solid argumentation and defence of your point of view. The more original your ideas
the more thorough you need to be in creating a robust argument and making sure you've covered all
the angles.

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- FOUNDATIONS OF STRATEGIC THINKING

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https://www.nbcnews.com/video/idoctor-could-a-smartphone-be-the-future-of-medicine-15774787530

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“LUCK IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PREPARATION

MEETS OPPORTUNITY”
Demetrius, the Cynical

TO BE RIGHT
OR
TO BE READY?

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What is Strategy?
Why is Strategy?

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Alfred Chandler: Bruce Michael Porter: Henry Mintzberg: Nag, Hambrick &
Henderson, BCG: Chen:
The determination of Strategy is not Strategy is
the basic long-term Strategy is a deliberate operational “emergent” it is Strategic Management
goals and objectives of search for a plan of effectiveness. It is not basically a process is the field that deals
an enterprise, and the action that will develop business process and a pattern of with the major
adoption of courses of a business’s reengineering, actions rather than one intended and
action and the competitive benchmarking or any which is fully emergent initiatives
allocation of resources advantage and other such thing. formulated in the taken by general
necessary for carrying compound it. Strategy has the ability beginning. managers on behalf of
戰略是有意識地尋找⾏動計劃，以發展企業的 戰略是“緊急的”，它基本上是⼀個過程和⼀種⾏
out these goals 競爭優勢並將其複合。
to create unique and 動模式，⽽不是⼀開始就完全制定出來的。
owners, involving
企業基本長期⽬標的確定，以及為實現這些⽬標 valuable position that utilization of resources
所必需的⾏動⽅案的採⽤和資源的分配
is not easily to enhance
imitated by others and the performance of the
therefore Strategy is firm in their external
what allows a firm to environments.
戰略管理是處理總經理代表所有者採取的主要預期和
create and protect its 緊急舉措的領域，涉及利⽤資源來提⾼公司在外部環

competitive 戰略不是運營效率。 它不是業務流程再造、基準測

試或任何其他類似的事情。 戰略有能⼒創造獨特⽽
境中的績效。

advantage. 有價值的地位，不易被他⼈模仿，因此戰略使公司
能夠創造和保護其競爭優勢。

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STRATEGY is fundamentally about FOCUS and FIT:

“Strategic Management is the field that deals with the major

intended and emergent initiatives taken by general managers on
behalf of owners, involving utilization of resources to enhance
the performance of the firm in their external environments.”
“戰略管理是處理總經理代表所有者採取的主要預期和緊急舉措的領域，涉及利⽤資源來提⾼公司在外部環境中的績效。”

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STRATEGY is fundamentally about FOCUS and FIT:

? ? ?
ENVIRONMENT STRATEGY COMPANY
•Competitors •Goals & Values
•Complementors •Organizational Resources
•Customers •Structure & Systems
•Suppliers •Products & Services
•Trends

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STRATEGY is about the PRESENT and the FUTURE:

ORGANIZATIONS NEED ROBUST SYSTEMS TO MANAGE THE 3 HORIZONS THAT THEY FACE WHEN LOOKING AHEAD
組織需要強⼤的系統來管理他們在展望未來時⾯臨的 3 個視野

EXPLORATION

PROFITABILITY
HORIZON 1 HORIZON 2 HORIZON 3
EXPLOITATION EMERGENT BUSINESS VIABLE OPTIONS
開發 緊急業務 可⾏的選擇

“POCKETS
OF THE FUTURE”
EXISTING IN THE
CURRENT
ENVIRONMENT 3 TO 4 YEARS 4 TO8 YEARS > 8 YEARS TIME

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1. Has a significant impact in the medium/long run.

2. (Re) Shapes structurally the organization.

3. Has an impact on the structural rivalry of the industry.

4. Is difficult to reverse and likewise embodies a substantial degree of risk.

難以逆轉，同樣具有相當⼤的風險。

5. Involves a significant commitment of resources.

涉及⼤量資源承諾。

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Strategic or Tactical?

Pepsi Co. changing the price of Pepsi?

P&G Introducing a new product category?

Unilever introducing a new flavor of margarine?

Toyota setting up a new factory?

Nespresso acquiring a competitor?

Twix changing its packaging?

Emirates procuring a new fleet of Boeing 737s?

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Successful Strategy
Superior Performance

EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION

Profound understanding
Long-term, simple and Objective appraisal of
of customers and the
agreed objectives organizational resources
competitive environment 客觀評價組織資源

STRATEGIC CHOICE

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CONTEXT
Intensity of Rivalry Industry Structure

Industry Profitability
Market Dimension and
Performance Growth
Dimensions Organizational
性能維度 Resources (RBV)
Firm Value Creation / Competitive
Capture (Dis)advantage
Position acquired in the
market (Positioning)

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INDUSTRY
ATTRACTIVENESS
RATE OF PROFIT Which
ABOVE THE COST
businesses
OF CAPITAL
should we be
in?
How do we
make
money? COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGE

How should we
compete?

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FOR NEXT CLASS The Fourth Industrial Revolution

View and prepare for discussion: The Fourth Industrial Revolution

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpW9JcWxKq0
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