The central concern of strategic management is understanding what drives firm performance. Why do some firms outperform others? Why do some prosper and grow, while others in the same industry die? In short, how-and why-do firms create value? The firm’s strategy is its approach to gaining a competitive advantage and its business model is way it executes on that strategy to create, deliver, and capture value .

This course begins with an in-depth exploration of ideas around business-level competitive advantage, value creation, and industry-level competitive dynamics. We build on these foundations to explore how business models address these competitive realities. In this way, the course provides a "deep-dive" into the relationship between an organization's strategy and its business model. Students will learn about both traditional and emergent business models and explore their connection with theories of business-level strategy.