MgtS 4483
– Cooperative Strategies
Course
Syllabus
Spring
2006
|
Instructor: |
Geoffrey
G. Bell, Ph.D., CA |
Office
hours: |
|
Office: |
SBE
121 |
W |
|
Phone: |
726-7640 |
Or by appointment |
|
email: |
ggbell@d.umn.edu |
fax: 218-726-7578 |
|
Website |
www.d.umn.edu/~ggbell |
|
Meeting time:
Meeting location: H314
Texts (required): Lorange,
Peter and Johan Roos (1993). Strategic
alliances: Formation, implementation, and evolution, Blackwell Business
Publishing.[1]
Cases (required): I find that students had
a difficult time grasping the somewhat theoretical concepts related to
strategic alliances, as few students have been involved in such corporate
entities. Therefore, to help you develop
a better “real-world” understanding of the course material, I have added a
course packet of cases that we will be discussing in class. The case pack is available from the
bookstore.
Questions to help you
examine the case are now available here.
Articles (required): In
addition to the above-noted text and cases, I will also assign additional
articles that I expect you to read.
These articles will be available either in the UMD library or on-line,
through library-accessed databases. They
will also be posted to my web-site, in a protected section of the web-site,
which you can access using your UMD account.
I expect students will access and read the articles prior to class. This semester, the articles are:
Arino, Africa and Jose de la Torre (1998). “Learning from failure:
Towards an evolutionary model of collaborative ventures,” Organization
Science, 9(3):306-325.
Arino, Africa and Jeffrey J.
Reuer
(2004). “Designing and renegotiating strategic alliance contracts,”
Campbell,
Elise and Jeffrey J. Reuer (2001). “International alliance negotiations:
Legal issues for general managers,” Business Horizons, January/February
2001:19-26.
Cullen,
John B., Jean L. Johnson, and Tomoaki Sakano (2000). “Success through
commitment and trust: The soft side of strategic alliance management,” Journal
of World Business, 35(3):223-240.
Dyer,
Jeffrey H., Prashant Kale, and Harbir Singh (2001). “How to make strategic
alliances work,” MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer 2001:37-43.
Gomes-Casseres,
Benjamin (1994). “Group versus group: How alliance networks compete,” Harvard
Business Review, July-August 1994: 62-74.
Spekman, Robert E., Theodore M. Forbes III, Lynn A.
Isabella, and Thomas C. MacAvoy (1998). “
Teng, Bing-Sheng (2003). “Collaborate
advantage of strategic alliances: Value creation in the value net,” Journal
of General Management, 29(2):1-22.
Course
Overview:
In your strategic management course
(which you have either taken already or will take before you graduate), you
learn a lot about competition between
organizations, especially between business firms. However, you will not learn much about cooperation between organizations, which
is becoming an increasingly important part of today’s business landscape. In this course, you will begin to learn about
aspects of interorganizational cooperation, specifically strategic alliances. We will examine the theoretical disciplinary
underpinnings of cooperative business relationships, conditions necessary for
cooperation to emerge and develop, and the “nuts and bolts” of structuring
formal interorganizational cooperative ventures.
Objectives:
Prerequisites: Mandatory: MgtS 3401; Recommended MgtS4481
If
you do not meet the prerequisite, you are not eligible to enroll in the
course. Additionally, I expect you to
come to class with a questioning mind – I want you to ask “why?” often during
the course.
My
Philosophy of Teaching:
Learning should be an enjoyable
experience for both the students and the instructor. The learning process is greatly facilitated
by active involvement of both the students and the instructor. I expect you to help me create a positive
learning atmosphere by coming to class ready to participate in the discussion.
Additionally, for a positive
learning environment to exist, an atmosphere of acceptance is vital. We should all try to keep an open, but
questioning, mind about ideas which our peers present in the class. Before we criticize what appears to be a “silly”
idea, we must remember that the person who “invented” the pet rock got rich! However, before we accept others’ ideas
uncritically, we need to remember that Thomas Watson, Senior, founder of IBM,
expected that the total worldwide market
for computers would never exceed five
(that’s right, five – not five billion, but five), machines!
Course Format:
The course will consist of a series
of discussions, both of text and case material.
I do not plan to lecture for this course (except for summaries of the
material), so it will be up to you students to keep the discussion going. Therefore, it is imperative that students
have read the material before class. To
help you prepare for the discussions, I will give you a set of “thought”
questions for both the text material and the cases.
Preparation:
I expect all students will come to class
prepared to participate in the day’s activities. I expect you to read the assigned readings
(text material, articles, and cases) before coming to class. If you have been unable to prepare adequately
for the discussion, please tell me before the discussion session begins. However, regardless of your level of
preparation, I urge you attend all class sessions.
Attendance:
Since constructive contribution to
class discussion is an integral part of this course, attendance at classes is
necessary. A student who misses 25% of
the classes will have great difficulty developing the knowledge and skills
required to pass the class. I plan to
take attendance daily to assist me in determining class participation.
Course
Requirements and Evaluation:
You will have a variety of
opportunities to show me your knowledge and learning. Class participation and group presentations
allow you contribute to the learning of your colleagues, and shows that you
have read and thought about the material.
The hand-in case analyses allow you to show that you have thought about
some of the course material in greater depth than merely reading the assigned
readings. The group project will allow
you to develop and display an in-depth understanding of part of the material of
the course.
The
grading for the course is as follows:
|
Element |
Percent
of class grade |
|
Trust
exercise – individual component |
|
|
Individual component |
5% |
|
Group component |
5% |
|
Class
participation[2] |
15% |
|
Hand-in
case analysis: 2 @ 15% each |
30% |
|
Group
paper: |
|
|
Proposal |
5% |
|
Final paper |
15% |
|
Final
exam: |
25% |
|
Student
survey |
0 or -5% |
|
Total |
100% maximum |
A. Trust exercise
Trust is a crucial underpinning of
interorganizational cooperative ventures (and many aspects of modern business,
for that matter). Therefore, it is
imperative that students understand the term in some detail. I have developed a short exercise that will
hopefully help you do so. I will outline
in detail the trust exercise shortly after the class begins. Essentially, you will have to discuss the
meaning of “trust” with some “wise people” and then develop a group definition
of the term, and consider why / how it matters in business. The exercise is
available here.
B. Class participation
Why do I evaluate class
participation? Some students are under
the misperception that class participation consists primarily of “showing
up.” However, class is like work in that
few organizations will pay you merely to “show up.” To receive the rewards you want (pay, in the
case of a work organization; grades in the case of class), you are expected to
add value to your organization.
Increasingly, organizations are demanding pay for performance. Similarly, I do not reward students for
merely showing up. Much of the value-add
in the class comes (believe it or not!) from the perspectives that you as
students bring to the discussion. When
we discuss a concept, you may bring a work perspective (having worked in a
similar organization), or a unique cultural perspective (especially for you
non-Minnesotans!), or some detailed analysis.
Thus, class participation really includes active contribution to your
and your colleagues’ learning.
Sometimes, students also want
permission to do extra work to “make up” a lack of active participation. With the exception of the bonus marks
discussed below, I do not allow this.
Why not? Seeking to do extra work
really presumes that the primary reason I want you to participate in class
discussion is so I can evaluate whether or not you’ve read the assigned
material. However, ascertaining whether
you’ve done so is really only a minor part of the exercise, though admittedly,
it is a by-product. My primary
goal of asking you to participate actively in class discussion is my
recognition that we all must
contribute to the learning process.
Learning is a joint product of teacher and student wrestling with
material, such that we all (including me) learn something valuable. As mentioned above, we all bring our unique
backgrounds and perspectives, and thus we all have something valuable to
contribute to the class learning experience.
Having you share your thoughts with me one-on-one would allow me to
estimate your comprehension of course material, but would rob your colleagues
of the opportunity to learn from your experience and perspective, so does not
meet the objectives of class participation.
I will assign participation grades
based on the quality of your participation, not just the quantity. Indeed, simply monopolizing “air time”
without adding to the learning of the group will not garner credit and may even
detract from it. Some of the criteria I
will use to evaluate participation quality include:
·
Are
your points relevant to the discussion?
·
Do
you go beyond a mere recitation of case facts?
·
Are
your implications clearly drawn?
·
Do
you enhance the class’s understanding of the issues?
To help me evaluate class
participation fairly, please choose and stay in the same seat throughout the
semester. That way, the probability of
erroneous participation credit will be minimized.
I will expect each student to prepare
and hand in for grading two of the cases we discuss during the semester. On the first day of class, I will hand around
a sign-up sheet, where you will indicate which case you want to prepare. Given that there are 35 students and 12
cases, I will want approximately 5-6 students to sign up for each case. I will provide you with questions to help you
understand the issues associated with each case, and I expect your write up
will be about 3-5 pages, typed, double-spaced, plus any exhibits you choose to
attach.
The
sign-up sheet for hand-in cases is available here.
Case
questions are available here.
Given that the course discusses
interorganizational cooperation, it should not be surprising that there is a
cooperative (group) element to the course.
I would like students to work in small groups (3-6 persons / group) on a
project that will extend your learning regarding cooperative strategies. Basically, you can choose one of two options
for your group paper. First, you can
choose to extend your knowledge of one of the components we cover in the
course. That is, you can pick one of the
topics we’ve studied in class, and examine it in greater detail. Second, you can choose to examine a strategic
alliance in great detail other than
the ones we examine in our case studies.
(For example, last year, I had a group of students do a wonderful job studying the Pixar-Disney
joint venture.) Regardless of the option
you choose, there are three components to this assignment.
First, I want you to prepare a short (3-5 page,
double-spaced, including bibliography) proposal discussing what you’d like to
examine. If you choose the first option
(extending classroom knowledge), your proposal should include a brief summary
of what you already know about the topic from the class discussion, where and
how you would like to extend your knowledge and a short bibliography (5-10
articles) of relevant articles that will help you. If you choose the second option, I want you
to outline what you know of the alliance (when it started up, who are the
partners, whether and how well it’s working, etc) and your sources of that
knowledge. In both cases, I expect that
your proposal will include a summary of information that you’ve already
uncovered about the project. That is, I
expect that your proposal will include some new knowledge.
Second, I want each group to prepare a major
(15-25 pages double-spaced) paper examining the topic covered in your
proposal. For those of you choosing
option 1, I would like you to conduct an exhaustive literature review (I
consider “exhaustive” to mean you will review at least 20-25 journal articles from leading journals[3]),
and an assessment of the gaps in the literature. For those of you choosing option 2, I want
you to examine in detail the alliance.
Your report should look a lot like the cases we’re studying in class.
Third, I would like each group to give a brief
(10 minute, plus Q&A) presentation of their findings. Presentations will occur April 25 and April
27. This is week 14 of class. I will get comments on your presentation back
to you no later than
E. Final Exam
There will be a written take-home
case final exam in this class. On the
last Tuesday of the semester (
F. Student
survey
The student survey is very
important. I use it to “meet” you as an
individual, to help tailor my lectures to the needs of the class, and to help
me “put a face and a name together,” which is very important for grading class
participation. Therefore, I request that
all students complete and return the survey (along with a recent photo) no
later than Tuesday, January 24. Students
who fail to do so will be docked 5 percentage points.
G. Incomplete grades
Incomplete grades will be given only
in cases of extreme hardship (such as the death of an immediate family member),
and only after you have discussed the matter with me. I will require that you document the hardship.
The case analyses are due at the
start of the class period in which we discuss the case. The major paper is due at the start of the
last class. I will consider any paper
not in my hands at the start of class on that date to be late. I do not accept papers by email. I will not accept late papers.
Your ability to write cogently and
coherently influences your career success.
Few managers can succeed in business today without strong writing
skills. Therefore, I expect that your
written assignments will, at a minimum, be grammatically correct and free of
spelling errors. I reserve the right to
evaluate your spelling and grammar when grading your work, and to dock papers
up to one full letter grade for poor grammar.
If you are concerned that your
written work is “not up to par,” I recommend that you contact the
Students may be excused from handing
in an assignment on the date specified only because of severe personal
circumstances (e.g. death of an immediate family member, hospitalization). If you are unable to hand in your assignment,
please let me know in advance, or immediately upon your return. Students who do not have an adequate reason
for missing a quiz or an assignment will be awarded a grade of zero. If you have any questions, please see me.
Students
with disabilities:
“It is University policy to provide,
on a flexible and individualized basis, reasonable accommodations to students
who have disabilities that may affect their ability to participate in course
activities or to meet course requirements.
Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact their instructors
early in the semester to discuss their individual needs for
accommodations.” What this means –
please let me know if you’ve got special needs.
My goal is to foster an environment in which all students can maximize their
learning experience. Please let me know
if there’s anything special I need to do to help you maximize your
experience. Together with the
I expect that students will act with
the highest levels of academic integrity at all times. Generally, that means that I expect that you
will not cheat on assignments, either by copying other students’ work or by
plagiarizing from other sources. Please
remember that plagiarism is a serious academic violation. An academic’s stock (much like an author’s)
is in ideas, so you should not use other people’s work without properly citing
it. This extends to your fellow
class-mates as well. If (as will
inevitably happen) one of your peers says something brilliant you wish you had
thought of, you can use their ideas, but only
if you cite them as the original source.
Additionally, for all your written
work, I expect you to cite and reference your work correctly. The only exception to this is that, in
preparation of your major case assignment, you need not reference material you
sourced from the case (although you may choose to do so for practice). The Management Studies Department has
recently adopted a plagiarism policy, now available on the departmental website
(http://www.d.umn.edu/sbe/departments/mgmtstudies/Plagiarism.php). I highly recommend that you read it to ensure
you don’t accidentally run afoul of the rules.
The
above syllabus and accompanying course schedule are subject to change in the
event of extenuating circumstances.
Tentative
Class Schedule
|
Date |
Activity |
|
Week
1: |
Introduction;
review of syllabus |
|
|
What are strategic
alliances and how do they work? Text: None Article: Spekman et
al, “ |
|
Week
2: |
How do strategic
alliances create value? Text: None Article: Teng,
“Collaborative advantage of strategic alliances: Value creation in the value
net” |
|
|
Case: “ING Bank of |
|
Week
3: |
The underpinnings of strategic
alliances Text: None Article: Cullen et
al., “Success through commitment and trust: The soft side of strategic
alliance management” Trust exercise due |
|
|
Case: “USCO Logistics” |
|
Week
4: |
A conceptual model of
strategic alliances Text: Chapter 1 |
|
|
Case: “Ben & Jerry’s –
Japan |
|
Week
5: Valentine’s Day |
Text: Chapter 2 |
|
|
Case:
“Labatt – FEMSA” |
|
Week
6: |
Negotiating a
strategic alliance Text: None Articles: Arino &
Reuer, “Designing and renegotiating strategic alliance contracts” and Campbell & Reuer, “International alliance
negotiations: Legal issues for general managers.’ |
|
|
Case:
“Autoliv QB” By now, I will give
you an interim class participation grade |
|
Week
7 |
Evolution of strategic
alliances Text: Chapter 3 |
|
|
Case:
Healthy Connections By now, all students must have turned in one case
assignment. Group proposal due
today |
|
Week
8: |
|
|
|
Case:
“Canadian Closures (A)” |
|
Tuesday,
March 14 & |
Break week – no
classes |
|
Week
9 |
|
|
|
Case:
“Iceverks (A): Ben & Jerry’s in |
|
Week
10 |
Planning and control
in strategic alliances Text, Chapter 4 |
|
|
Case:
“Eli Lilly in |
|
Week
11 |
Human resource
management issues in strategic alliances Text: Chapter 5 |
|
|
Case:
“Larson in |
|
Week
12 |
Text: None Article: Dyer et al,
“How to make strategic alliances work” |
|
|
Case:
“Japanese – American Seating” |
|
Week
13 |
Cultural issues in
strategic alliances Text: Chapter 6 |
|
|
Case:
“Cameco in |
|
Week
14 |
Group
presentations |
|
|
Group
presentations |
|
Week
15 |
Obstacles in strategic
alliances Text: Chapter 7 Final exam given out –
I will give you questions for answering the final exam which will be available
starting today at the Bookstore. |
|
|
Text: None Article: Gomes-Casseres, “Group versus group:
How alliance networks compete” Emerging challenges in
strategic alliances Text: Chapter 8 |
|
|
Final exam due |
Have
a GREAT semester!
[1] The text is available from the UMD
bookstore or from Amazon.com. Please
note that there are used copies available from Amazon for significantly less than you will pay at the bookstore.
[2] I will breakdown your class
participation grade into a portion for the first 5 weeks of class (worth 5% of
the class grade) and a portion for the final 10 weeks of class (worth 10% of
the class grade). I will give you your
class participation grade for the first half during our sixth week of class.
[3]
The following is a partial listing
of leading journals in the field:
Administrative Science Quarterly
Advances in Strategic Management*
Journal of International Business Studies
Journal of Management
Management Science
Research in Organizational Behavior*
Strategic Management Journal
Organization Science
* An edited volume rather than a journal, but excellent
nonetheless.