Business Strategy and Decision Making Skills
Gain a sound working knowledge of business strategy, decision-making, business models and the pros and cons of strategic choices.
- DurationApprox 10 weeks
5 hrs per week
An introduction to creating business models and successful business strategy
What is strategic planning, and how do business models help companies to succeed? This ExpertTrack offers you the opportunity to widen your perspective of business strategy and discover how to use some powerful strategic models.
You’ll have a chance to explore the nature and complexity of the business environment and analyse internal resources and strategic capability. You’ll then address the key theoretical aspects of strategy and apply them to practical activities.
Understand how to use SWOT and PESTLE analysis
Learn to evaluate and select the best strategic options in relation to internal (SWOT analysis) and external (PESTLE analysis) auditing. The PESTLE framework examines the key factors (Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal and Environmental) that influence a business from the outside.
Business strategy basics: from value chain to macroeconomics
This ExpertTrack offers a wide-ranging insight into improving how business works. How can an effective value chain deliver more value for less cost? And how can macroeconomic models be used to understand the past, present and potential future of a business?
Learn to master powerful competitor analysis tools
Find out how businesses outperform their rivals by learning how to conduct competitive analysis. With the right tools, you’ll learn to view competitors as ‘stakeholders’ and use their own strategies to see how your own business can grow.
A variety of teaching methods and assessments are used to support your study in this ExpertTrack, including group discussions, case studies, quizzes and individual assignments.
Key skills you will learn
- Competitor analysis
- Strategic capabilities
- Tangible and intangible organisational skills
- PESTLE framework
- Macroeconomic and macroenvironmental analysis
- Decision making
- Corporate strategy
- SWOT analysis
- Business strategy
- Strategy
- Business development
Learning outcomes
By the end of the ExpertTrack, you’ll be able to...
- Explore how corporate strategies are determined demonstrating good understanding of the complex skills and knowledge necessary to evaluate one or more strategic decision-making models
- Differentiate between and determine appropriate strategic choices, using advanced skills in conducting research
- Identify the barriers to the implementation of the choices, considering the consequences of strategy implementation
- Review and apply a range of approaches to the formulation of strategy of an organisation
Experience required
It’s recommended that you have at least two years of relevant experience, as a business manager or business student, to benefit from this ExpertTrack.
Getting started
This ExpertTrack is designed for intermediate-level business managers and students to gain more knowledge about strategy and globalisation. This course will equip you with the concepts, framework and techniques needed for better environmental scanning.
ExpertTrack course overview
Course 1
An Introduction to Macro Environmental Analysis and Business Strategy
Explore the fundamentals of business strategy and learn how the macro environment and macroeconomics affect strategy formulation.
1 peer-graded assignment
2 weeks
5 hours per week
Week 1
Contexts of strategy and decision making
- Welcome to the course
- Origin of strategy
- Globalisation and its impact on strategy
- Summary of the week
Week 2
Macro Analysis
- Welcome to Week 2
- Introduction to the PEST model
- Understanding institutions
- Summary activities
Course 2
Internal Analysis of a Company: From Value Chain to SWOT Analysis
Determine your strategic capabilities and learn successful strategies for conducting internal environment analysis.
1 test
1 peer-graded assignment
2 weeks
5 hours per week
Week 1
Micro Analysis
- Welcome back to the course
- Introduction to the frameworks
- Industry life cycle
- Strategic group analysis
- Summary activities
Week 2
Organisational Goals and Value
- Welcome back to Week 2
- Strategic capabilities
- Value chain
- Summary activities
Course 3
Competitor Analysis
Find out how to implement successful corporate level strategy and robust organisational structures through competitive analysis.
1 peer-graded assignment
2 weeks
5 hours per week
Week 1
Organisation Goals and Values
- Welcome to the course
- Organisational value and stakeholders
- Organisational vision and mission
- Summary activities
Week 2
Strategic Actions – Business-level Strategy
- Welcome to the course
- Lean organisational pyramid
- Generic strategy
- Bowman's Clock
- Summary activities
Course 4
Strategic Actions, Strategic Goals
Learn the best methods for foreign market entry strategies, corporate diversification and corporate international strategy.
1 peer-graded assignment
2 weeks
5 hours per week
Week 1
Strategic actions - international strategy
- Welcome to the course
- Identifying international opportunity
- Foreign market entry modes
- Summary activities
Week 2
Strategic actions - corporate-level strategy
- Welcome to Week 2
- Diversification as a corporate-level strategy
- Strategic actions – Diversification
Course 5
Strategic Choice and Planning
Learn how to make the right strategic choices for business and the role of planning in building successful strategies.
1 peer-graded assignment
2 weeks
5 hours per week
Week 1
Corporate-level Strategy - diversification
- Welcome to the course
- BCG matrix
- Assessing the dynamic environment
- Does diversification create value?
Week 2
Strategic direction and leadership
- Welcome to Week 2
- Strategic action: Which way to go?
- Strategic leadership and competitive dynamics
- Summary activities
Prove you're job ready
Highlight the new, job-relevant skills you’ve gained and supplement existing qualifications with a hard-earned, industry-specific digital certificate – plus one for every course within your ExpertTrack.
- Learn the latest in your chosen industry or subject.
- Complete each course and pass assessments.
- Receive certificates validated by the educating organisation.
- Create a shareable certificate link for your CV and LinkedIn.
- Impress employers with learning outcomes you can add to your CV.
- Make your career dreams a reality.
Download a PDF
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How ExpertTracks work
Join an ExpertTrack to master new skills in your chosen specialist area. Work through a series of topic-focused courses at your own pace, and pass the final assessment to earn a digital certificate award which proves your expertise.
Decide if the ExpertTrack is right for you with free access to the full suite of courses and assessments for a week.
Pay a monthly subscription fee of $39 for as long as it takes you to complete the ExpertTrack. You can learn at your own pace and cancel at any time.
Receive a certificate for every completed course and pass the final assessment to earn a digital certificate that you can share with your professional network.
Use your specialist training to progress further in your career or build expertise in areas you’re passionate about.
World-class learning with Coventry University
Coventry secured gold in the UK Government’s 2017 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) and is University of the Year for Student Experience in The Times & The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019.
- Established1992
- LocationCoventry
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ExpertTracks are a series of online courses designed to help you master new skills in specialist areas. You pay a monthly subscription fee which includes access to all courses within the ExpertTrack, as well as assessments and the final digital certificate.
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