Strategy and Management

The study of strategy is fundamentally about understanding why some businesses succeed while others do not.

Just tell me how resources are allocated and how you spend your time, and I can pretty much tell what your company's real strategy is. (Gary P. Pisano, 2019)

A strategy is a commitment to coherent, mutually reinforcing policies or behaviors aimed at achieving a specific goal. In the strategy and management major students learn what motivates people to follow strategic goals, whether they stem from profit-maximizing motives, the desire to contribute to make the world a better place, or simply fulfilling an assignment on behalf of citizens.

We want to stimulate the students to think carefully about why some firms perform better than others and explore in-depth how the performance differences can be understood and acted upon by mangers, advisors, entrepreneurs, investors or anyone else that needs this insight. Performance differences are not simply about making decisions, nor is it entirely about managing processes and people. It is about both - and the interaction between them.

Many corporations face major challenges due to fundamental shifts in the environment.  This includes technological shifts such as digitalization, artificial intelligence and big data; shifting political regimes and new regulations, changing consumer preferences and not the least an increased attention to climate change.  Recently, we have also faced a new major environmental challenge stemming from the worldwide pandemic covid 19. Although day to day survival is important, businesses also need to think about how to survive tomorrow. In the strategy major, we stimulate the students to think about how the businesses can balance exploitation and exploration, and develop dynamic capabilities for the future.

Strategic decision-making and implementation involves interacting with other people. Our aim is to engage the students to figure out how to motivate the employees for common goals and steer the organization through major change, find new solutions, solve conflicts, and reflect on ethical dilemmas.

  • Subject areas

    Subject areas

    In the strategy major, we have developed four tracks to stimulate the students´ thinking around strategy and management. The first track, leadership and change, aims to engage the students in tackling real life management challenges by combining theory and practical cases and exercises. To understand how technological changes impact strategy and business models, we have a separate track for digitalization for growth. New data have given us unique opportunity to make in-depth advanced strategic analysis and we have developed a separate track where the students have the opportunity to conduct sophisticated strategic analysis. Finally, entrepreneurship involves challenges and opportunities that differ in important ways from those of established organizations. For students interested in the understanding why some entrepreneurs and some entrepreneurial ventures are more successful than others, we provide a track on entrepreneurship.

    LEADERSHIP AND CHANGE

    This track focuses on the challenges business leaders meet when they plan to implement or deploy strategies, how one should lead and develop the business's human resources, how one can carry out complex organizational changes and build relations and facilitate co-operations.

    The track includes subjects such as negotiations, teams and team management, management and psychology, process management, human resource management, international management as well as management of change and innovation.

    In this track we aim to develop the students' skills through innovative practice-based learning and the students are asked to take an active part in the courses through case discussions, role play, presentations and other exercises.

    DIGITALIZATION FOR GROWTH

    Digitalization is when managers use digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities. Digitalizing a company can give you a competitive advantage by doing things better, faster, and cheaper than your competition.

    The purpose of this track is to better understand the role of digitalization in spurring new and different business models in creating, delivering, communicating, and capturing value.

    Firms that do this well deliver superior values to owners as evidenced by the 2019-list of the world's 10 most valuable firms who is dominated by platform companies with end-consumers as customers (b2c). In 2010 the same list was dominated by manufacturing firms with businesses as customers (b2b). Reflecting this trend, we will address issues pertaining to digital innovations for sustainable growth. This track consists of two MAIN themes: business models and value creation both in a digital context. To elaborate on the topics, literature from strategy, innovation, and marketing will be employed.

    STRATEGIC ANALYSIS AND ANALYTICS

    This track is about the information and understanding required to make strategic decisions, or to provide advice or input to decision-makers. To do so, it is important to understand the firm’s environment and the competitive- and collaborative interactions in that environment, as well as firm-specific sources of competitive advantage and disadvantage. Understanding the key mechanisms relevant to competition, collaboration, co-opetition and competitive advantage is the subject of strategic analysis. However, strategic decision-making is also about extracting decision relevant information from data that leverages the understanding provided by strategic analysis. This is the subject of business analytics. Analytics is about how data can be analyzed and used - in practice.

    In combination analysis and analytics provide students with the necessary tools for strategic decision making and/or decision support.

    ENTREPRENEURSHIP

    Technological advancements, globalization, and the quest to build a more sustainable society challenge organizations, industries and national economies needs to be on constant alert to explore, develop and exploit new business opportunities. So, if you are eager to start and grow your own business, or have the ambition to renew and scale up existing organizations, this track in Strategic Entrepreneurship should be your first choice.

    This track provides you with a strong theoretical foundation in understanding processes of innovation and entrepreneurship as well as with an entrepreneurial skillset, which emphasizes interpersonal skills, the ability to think critically and creatively, as well as improve your decision-making skills in the context of uncertainty. This skillset is relevant whether you have the ambition to become an entrepreneur, join a startup and scale up, or even seek a job in a well-established organization. These skills are in high demand in the current job market where recruiters seek individuals that are self-driven with an entrepreneurial drive.

    This track provides you with the relevant knowledge, skills and competences through an active student-centered learning approach. You will combine theories on strategic entrepreneurship and innovation with case- and practice-based learning where you have the opportunity to collaborate with real organizations, both startups and established firms, on real organizational challenges. We also encourage our students to establish their own firms.

  • Structure and recommended tracks

    Structure and recommended tracks

    The strategy major consists of four building blocks; Mandatory courses, specialization, exchange/electives, and the master thesis.

    There are two mandatory courses in the major, STR 404 Strategic Analysis and STR 402A Business Research Methods. We recommend that students use the tracks as guidance for their specialization, but students are also free to choose other course combinations.

    N means that the course is taught in Norwegian,

    * means that there is a cap on number of students

    Italics means that the course in recommended in more than one track

    LEADERSHIP AND CHANGE

    STR 425 Negotiations (N*)

    STR 437 Team and team management (N)

    STR 460 Managing change and innovation (*)

    STR 456 Leadership and psychology (N)

    STR 447 Strategic HR (N)

    STR 435 Personnel Economics

    STR 445 Human capital, mobility and diversity

    STR 461 Strategic and political communication

    DIGITALIZATION FOR GROWTH

    STR 463 Strategy and Technology

    STR 453 Digitalization (N)

    STR 462 Applied digitalization

    STR 459 Artificial Intelligence and robotization (N*)

    STR 446 Business process management

    BUS 446 Sustainable Business Models

    BUS 473 Platform-based business models

    NBD 413 Technology adoption and consumer psychology

    MBM 431 Commercialization of Innovation

    ETI 450 Corporate social responsibility

    STRATEGIC ANALYSIS AND ANALYTICS

    STR 404 Strategic analysis

    STR 421 Competitive strategy

    BUS 475 Competition strategy

    STR 452 Strategy with finance

    BUS474 Innovation and Intellectual Property

    BUS 473 Platform-based business models

    BAN 401 Applied programming and data analytics for business

    BAN 404 Predictive analysis with R

    BAN440 Data-driven business analysis

    ENTREPRENEURSHIP

    NBD 405 Entrepreneurship and business model design

    NBD 406 Strategic Entrepreneurship

    NBD 413 Technology adaption and consumer psychology

    FIE 457 Entrepreneurial Finance

    MBM431 Commercialization of Innovation

    BUS 473 Platform-based business models

    STR 425 Negotiations (N*)

  • Learning outcomes

    Learning outcomes

    KNOWLEDGE

    K1: Have updated knowledge about and an overview of theory and research on strategy, and management

    K2: Have in-depth knowledge of theory and research in the chosen specialization

    K3: Have sound knowledge of empirical methods and ethics, responsibility, and sustainability

    SKILLS

    S1: Be capable of keeping up to date with and making use of new knowledge in the field throughout their professional career

    S2: Have acquired good analytical and methodological skills

    S3: Have learned how to work independently on advanced problems in the field of either strategy, organisation or management

    GENERAL COMPETENCE

    G1: Be capable of communicating and cooperating with both specialists and others on questions relating to strategy and management

    G2: Have acquired knowledge about and the ability to reflect on and take account of sustainability, responsibility, and ethical issues in connection with strategy, organisation and management

    G3: Be capable of using knowledge about strategy, organisation and management to contribute to original thinking and innovation

  • Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability (ERS)

    Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability (ERS)

    You are required to take at least 7.5 ECTS in Ethics, Social Responsibility and Sustainability (ERS). You can choose any course at NHH’s list of ERS courses. You can choose whether to fulfill the ERS requirement within your major, or as part of your minor, or as one of your elective courses.     

    The following courses are approved as ERS courses within this major:

    • ETI450 Corporate Social Responsibility 
    • BUS446 Sustainable Business Models

    See list of all ERS courses

  • Sustainability

    Sustainability

    Sustainability is a central theme in all our courses. We typically discuss how companies can be more sustainable, which may also lead to a competitive advantage. Sustainability is important in leadership, strategy formulation, organizational design, governance, business models, innovation, technology, etc., which are all central themes in the strategy and management profile.

  • International opportunities

    International opportunities

    As an NHH student you have excellent opportunities to gain valuable international experience during your studies through semester exchange, the Double Degree program, CEMS, Engage.EU, Intern Abroad, and summer courses.

    With the Strategy and Management profile, many of our students work abroad and are internationally recruited.

    Read more about international opportunities

  • Career

    Career

    With the Strategy and Management profile graduate, you have numerous career possibilities. We find that our students work as Consultants, managers, advisors, entrepreneurs, HR managers, or leaders.

    Read more 

  • Minor

    Minor

    COURSES IN STRATEGY AND MANAGEMENT MINOR

    To take Strategy and Management as a minor, you need 22.5 ECTS from the profile’s portfolio of courses.

    MINOR IN STRATEGY AND MANAGEMENT 

    MINIMUM ONE  

    NBD405 Entrepreneurship and business model design

    STR404 Strategic Analysis

    STR452 Strategy with Finance

    STR460 Managing Change and Innovation

    ELECTIVES  

    BAN401 Applied Programming and Data Analysis for Business 

    BAN404 Predictive Analytics with R

    BUS446 Sustainable Business Models

    BUS473 Platform-based Business Models

    BUS475 Competition Strategy (N)

    BAN440 Data Driven Business Analysis

    ETI450 Corporate Social Responsibility

    FIE457 Entrepreneurial Finance

    MBM431 Commercialization of Innovations

    NBD413 Technology Adoption and Consumer Psychology 

    STR402A Methodology for Master Thesis

    STR421 Competitive Strategy

    STR425 Negotiations

    STR435 Personnel Economics

    STR436 Leadership and Organizational Decision Making 

    STR437 Team and Team Management (N)

    STR445 Human Capital, Mobility and Diversity in Firms

    STR446 Business Process Management (N)

    STR447 Strategic HR

    STR453 Digitalization 

    STR455 Developing Competitive Advantage in Knowledge Intensive Firms (N) 

    STR456 Leadership and Leader Psychology (N) 

    STR459 Artificial Intelligence and Robotics

    STR461 Strategic and Political Communication

    STR462 Applied Digitalization