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Markets, Strategy and Performance

Code: 41986 ECTS Credits: 10
2024/2025
Degree Type Year
4311312 Management, Organization and Business Economics OB 0

Contact

Name:
Emili Grifell Tatjé
Email:
emili.grifell@uab.cat

Teachers

Emili Grifell Tatjé
(External) Emilio Huerta Arribas
(External) Ignacio Contín Pilart
(External) Javier Cebollada Calvo
(External) Lucía Garcés Galdeano
(External) Marta Arce Urriza
(External) Pablo Arocena Garro
(External) Teresa García Marco

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

Previous admission in the Master in Management, Organization and Business Economics (MMOBE)


Objectives and Contextualisation

Once the course is over, a number of goals are expected to have been achieved by the students, which include acquaintance with advanced concepts and instruments which can be applied to business competitive analysis along with an understanding of their usefulness in the formulation of business competitive advantage.

These goals include the measurement of business financial performance and its decomposition, the formulation of business competitive strategy, the quantification of value creation associated with strategy, and the understanding of value sharing and appropriation mechanisms. The subject does not forget key issues related with entrepreneurship. In this case, the goal is to provide students with an overall picture of what does entrepreneurship mean and of the key factors that influence the entrepreneurial process. Finally, hot topics in marketing are also considered.

Develop students’ abilities to link theory with applied work. Given a problem of business performance analysis, students will be able to identify an appropriate theoretical framework, a suitable analytical method, and undertake an informed empirical analysis.


Competences

  • Analyse business cases from a theoretical perspective with the aim of better understanding organisational behaviours.
  • Analyse the structure and evolution of output and input markets and the optimal firm behaviour.
  • Develop a critical and a constructive attitude to one's work and that of others.
  • Develop an ethical, social and environmental commitment.
  • Display knowledge of the economic and institutional environment in which the economic agents interact within, or through, economic organisations.
  • Distinguish the characteristics and relations of the different variables that condition corporate strategy.
  • Draw up proposals to foster a sustainable business activity , based on organisational performance.
  • Draw valid conclusions for business from case studies.
  • Explain and motivate the analyses, interpret the results and present all these clearly and concisely in English.
  • Identify the relevant sources of information and their content for subsequent analysis.
  • Leadership and decision-taking capability.
  • Master the technical and IT tools needed to carry out applied studies.
  • Present research results to various audiences using the different media available.
  • Understand, analyse and solve complex problems related to the efficiency of organisations on the basis of broad knowledge of advanced tools for business economic analysis.
  • Work in multidisciplinary international teams.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Assess the company's adaptation and optimal behaviour in these markets.
  2. Compare the structure and evolution of output and input markets.
  3. Derive business policies aimed at improving organisational performance.
  4. Design business policies aimed at improving competitive advantage.
  5. Develop a critical and a constructive attitude to one's work and that of others.
  6. Develop an ethical, social and environmental commitment.
  7. Distinguish the different business strategies in real business operation.
  8. Explain and motivate the analyses, interpret the results and present all these clearly and concisely in English.
  9. Identify the different strategies driving organisational performance.
  10. Identify the relevant sources of information and their content for subsequent analysis.
  11. Investigate the variables that characterise the corporate strategy of the firm.
  12. Leadership and decision-taking capability.
  13. Master the technical and IT tools needed to carry out applied studies.
  14. Present research results to various audiences using the different media available.
  15. Show mastery of the theory of production, the theory of index numbers and the different competitive strategies.
  16. Study the competitive behaviour of companies in various contexts.
  17. Understand the inner workings of markets.
  18. Work in multidisciplinary international teams.

Content

This subject provides a theoretical and empirical overview of the economics of business competitive analysis, with special focus on the most recent advances and the main areas of research in the field. Based on the fundamentals of economic theory, the lectures introduce and apply alternative approaches to the analysis of business strategy, marketing and its translation to firm performance. The subject also links performance measurement with profitability, profit, cost and rate of return on assets. No assumption is made about the unit under evaluation which makes the methodology suitable for the analysis of the behaviour of organizations which do not seek to maximize profits. The subject also pays attention to the role of the entrepreneur and develops some key issues related with it.

The subject has been divided in four parts: business strategy, performance measurement, entrepreneurship and marketing.

The followign topics will be covered

Economics of Strategy

1.- Business strategy

2.- Corporate level strategy

3.- International strategy

4.- Strategic porpuse

The Economics of Performance Measurement

1.- Review of production economics

2.- Efficiency measurement

3.- Productivity and profitability

4.- Productivity and profit

5.- Productivity and cost

6.- Productivity and returns on assets

 Entrepreneurship and Innovation

1.-Entrepreneurship and individual level determinants of entrepreneurial action

2.- Firm growth

3.- Environmental factors determining entrepreneurship

4.- Corporate entrepreneurship

 Marketing

1.- Introduction to marketing

2.- Choice Based segmentation and targeting

3.- Cases of study

4.- Academic research in marketing

 

 

 


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Conferences and case discussions 100 4 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18
Type: Supervised      
Training and monitoring of work in progress and cases 25 1 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16
Type: Autonomous      
Reading related cases and practical preparation, study preparation of schemes. 85 3.4 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18

The course combines theoretical lectures and practical sessions that require the dynamic participation of students. Learning activities include: following lectures on main topics, making of problems and computer exercises, reading and critical reviewing of papers. This is an interactive subject. Case preparations and in-class discussions will form the important benchmarks of progress. In-class discussions give students an opportunity to apply material from the class to real-world problems. Other class sessions will be primarily dedicated to lecture material and shorter discussions.

The lecturer will spend approximately 15 minutes in one class to allow students to respond questions on the teaching and the course.

The proposed teaching methodology may undergo some modifications according to the restrictions imposed by the health authorities on on-campus courses.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Assignments 55 22 0.88 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18
Class participation 5 2 0.08 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16
Test 40 16 0.64 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 13, 15, 17

The course assessment will consist of:

- Assignments (presentation of critical reviewing of papers, resolution of problems, final paper, etc)

- Participation in class

- Test (midterm test and final exam)

The course is passed when the final mark is equal or higher than five.

This module does not include a unique evaluation system.

 


Bibliography

Anokhin, S. and J. Wincent (2012). “Start-up rates and innovation: A cross-country examination.” Journal of International Business Studies 43(1), 41-60.

Arocena P. and C. Waddams (2002), “Generating Efficiency: Economic and Environmental Regulation of Public and Private Generators in Spain.” International Journal of Industrial Organization 20, 41-69.

Arocena, P., L. Blázquez and E. Grifell-Tatjé (2011), “Assessing the Consequences of Industry Restructuring on Firms’ Performance,” Journal of Economic Policy Reform 14:1 (March), 21-39.

Arocena P., D. Saal and T. Coelli (2012), “Vertical and horizontal scope economies in the regulated US electric power industry.” Journal of Industrial Economics 60, 434-67.

Audrestch, D.B. and M. Keilbach (2008), “Resolving the knowledge paradox: Knoweldge-spillover entrepreneurship and economic growth.” Research Policy 37, 1697-1705.

Autio, E. and Z. Acs (2010), “Intellectual property protection and the formation of entrepreneurial growth aspirations.” Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal 4, 234-251.

Baum, J.R., E.A. Locke and K.G. Smith (2001), “A multidimensional model of venture growth”,. Academy of Management Journal 44, 292-303.

Besley, T., and M. Ghatak (2007), “Retailing public goods: the economics of corporate social responsibility”, Journal of Public Economics 91(9), 1645-1663

Blázquez, L. and E. Grifell-Tatjé (2011), (2011), “Evaluating the Regulator: Winners and Losers in the Regulation of Spanish Electricity Distribution,” Energy Economics 33(5), 807-815.

Bogetoft, P. (2012), Performance Benchmarking. Measuring and Managing Performance. New York. Springer.

Brea-Solís, H., Grifell-Tatjé, E., 2019, “A Business Model Analysis of Kmart’s Downfall”, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management 47 (2), 111-128. 

Brea-Solís, H., Grifell-Tatjé, E., 2023, “Winners and Losers of the Productivity Gains of the American Agricultural Sector,” Applied Economic 55 (33), 3915-3930.

Brea-Solís, H., R. Casadesus-Masanell & E. Grifell-Tatjé (2015), ”BusinessModel Evaluation: Quantifying Walmart’s Sources of Advantage,” Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal 9(1), 12-33.

Calleja Blanco, J., Grifell-Tatjé, E., 2016, “Potential Coopetition and Productivity among European Automobile Plants.” in Aparicio, J., Lovell, C.A.K., and Pastor, J.T. (ed.), Advances in Efficiency and Productivity. Berlin: Springer, pp. 249-274.

Capelleras J.L., K.M. Mole, F.J. Greene, and D.J. Storey (2008), “Do more heavily regulated economies have poorer performing new ventures? Evidence from Britain and Spain.” Journal of International Business Studies 39, 688-704.

Capelleras, J.L., I. Contin-Pilart and M. Larraza-Kintana (2011), “Publicly funded prestart support for new firms: who demands it and how it affects their employment growth”. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 29, 821-847.

Casadesus-Masanell, R., & J. E. Ricart (2010),”From Strategy to Business Models and onto tactics,” Long range Planning 43: 195-215.

Casadesus-Masanell, R., & J. E.Ricart (2011). “How to Design a Winning Business Model.” Harvard Business Review 89(1-2), 100-107.

Chen, X., Grifell-Tatjé, E., Fu, Tt., 2023, “A profit difference decomposition model for measuring group performance: an application to Chinese and Taiwanese commercial banks,” fOMEGA. The International Journal of Management Science [Available online 20 May 2023].

Contín I. and M. Larraza (2015), “Do entrepreneurial role models influence the nascent entrepreneurial activity of immigrants?” Journal of Small Business Management (Article first published online: 7 JAN 2015) [DOI:10.1111/jsbm.12153]

Chintagunta, P.K., Chu, J. y Cebollada, J. (2012), “Quantifying Transaction Costs in Online / Offline Grocery Channel Choice”, Marketing Science, January/February, 31 (1), 96-114.

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Estache, A. & E. Grifell-Tatjé (2013), “How (un) even was the distribution of the impacts of Mali’s water privatizationacross stakeholders?” Journal of Development Studies 49(4), 483 – 499.

Fernández-Kranz, D. and J. Santalo (2010), “When Necessity Becomes a Virtue: The Effect of Product Market Competition on Corporate Social Responsibility”, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy 19(2), 453-487.

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Grifell-Tatjé, E., Lovell, C.A.K. (1997). "The Sources of Productivity Change in Spanish Banking". European Journal of Operational Research 98(2), 364 - 380.

Grifell-Tatjé, E. & C.A.K. Lovell (1999), "Profits and Productivity”. Management Science. 45(9), September: 1177 – 1193.

Grifell-Tatjé, E. and C.A.K. Lovell (2015), Productivity Accounting. The Economics of Business Performance. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Grifell-Tatjé, E., C.A.K. Lovell and R. Sickles (2018), "Chapter 1. Overview of Productivity Analysis: History, Issues and Perspectives," in E. Grifell-Tatjé, C.A.K. Lovell and R. Sickles, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Productivity Analysis, Oxford University Press: New York.

Grifell-Tatjé, E., C.A.K. Lovell and P. Turon, (2018), “The Business Foundations of Social Economic Progress,” BRQ-Business Research Quarterly 21 (4), 278 - 292. 

Grifell-Tatjé, E., C.A.K Lovell, (2021), ”Dual Productivity Analysis: A Konüs/Shephard Approach,” European Journal of Operational Research 289 (1), 328-337. 

Guadagni, P.M. and J.D. Little, (1983) "A Logit Model of Brand Choice Calibrated on Scanner Data," Marketing Science, 2 (Summer), 203-238.

Gupta, S., and D. Lehmann and S. Ames Stuart (2004), “Valuing customers,” Journal of Marketing Research 41(1), 7-18.

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Holt, D.B., Quelch, J.A., Taylor, E.L.  (2004): “How global brands compete”. Harvard Business Review 82 (9), 68-75.

Howell, C., Grifell-Tatjé, E., (2022), “Market Heterogeneity and the Relationship between Competition and Price Dispersion: Evidence from the U.S. Airline Market,” Transport Policy 125, 218-230.

Howell, C., Grifell-Tatjé, E., 2023, “An Index Approach to Measuring Product Differentiation: A Hedonic Analysis of Airfares,” Review of Income and Wealth, 69 (4), December, 952-974.

Kumbhakar,S.C. and C.A.K. Lovell (2012), Stochastic Frontier Analysis, New York: Cambridge University Press.

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Storian, M.C.; A. Rialp and J. Rialp (2012), “International Marketing Strategy and Export Performance in Spanish SMEs: a Contingency Approach”. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 15, 213 – 236.

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Software

In this module the use of specific software is not foreseen.


Language list

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(PLABm) Practical laboratories (master) 30 English second semester morning-mixed
(TEm) Theory (master) 30 English second semester morning-mixed