Strategic Business Development explores strategic management issues and the challenges of turning strategic objectives into winning operational objectives. By the end of this four-week course, you will be familiar with common strategic pitfalls and know how to model many common strategic issues, along with their underlying tactical assumptions, to develop a solid strategy that meets the business’s goals.

Join Dr. Karim Chichakly as he guides you, step by step, through some of the key components in the process of effective model creation. During each 55-minute class, you'll learn the ins and outs of model creation as he shares his personal workflow and additional tips and tricks that he’s learned in more than 20 years of experience in the field.

Each class is followed with a question and answer session with Dr. Chichakly. Online access to these class recordings, sample models, handouts, and homework assignments are included to cement your learning.

Course Overview

Class 1: Intro to Strategic Modeling

Business performance is manipulated through that business’s resources, including customers, staff, capital, etc. How those resources are managed and developed determine whether the business succeeds in its objectives. This class explores important resources in typical companies and explores what impacts different strategic objectives can have on those resources.

Class 2: Staff Dynamics

One important business resource is staff. Improving business performance often means increasing staff, which can lead to some unintended results. Looking at the interesting surprises that are inherent in the dynamics of staffing can help develop plans that have a greater chance for success.

Class 3: Customer Acquisition and Retention

Another important business resource is your customer base and the method of acquiring customers. The diffusion of your new product into a marketplace is also important to understand as different tactical choices can have far-reaching consequences.

Class 4: Competition

Competition will take customers from you, impacting your expected results (without competition). The timing of when the competition enters the market can be critical. In addition, you can win customers from the competition (and vice-versa!). This class explores the impacts of competition on your plans.