This version of the course guide is provisional until the period for editing the new course guides ends.

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Markets, Strategy and Performance

Code: 41986 ECTS Credits: 10
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Management, Organization and Business Economics OB 0

Contact

Name:
Joan Lluis Capelleras Segura
Email:
joanlluis.capelleras@uab.cat

Teachers

Maria Teresa Bolivar Ramos
(External) Ignacio Contín Pilart
(External) Javier Cebollada Calvo
(External) Lucía Garcés Galdeano
(External) Pablo Arocena Garro

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

By the end of the module, students are expected to have acquired a solid understanding of advanced concepts and analytical tools applicable to the evaluation of business competitive performance. Specifically, the course aims to:

  • Provide students with the conceptual foundations and economic logic needed to understand and formulate business, corporate, and international strategies. Emphasis is placed on value creation, strategic positioning, and the articulation of strategic purpose within competitive environments.

  • Develop students’ ability to assess business financial performance through the measurement and decomposition of productivity, efficiency, profitability, costs, and returns on assets, with a focus on identifying the sources of performance variation across firms.

  • Provide students with a solid conceptual and empirical understanding of research on entrepreneurship and innovation, helping them critically engage with key frameworks, methodologies, and current research questions that shape the entrepreneurial and innovation processes.

  • Offer a rigorous overview of current research in marketing, enabling students to understand and critically evaluate emerging topics in the field, and to analyze their implications for firm strategy and competitive positioning.

  • Strengthen students’ ability to link theory with applied work. Given a business performance analysis problem, students will be able to identify an appropriate theoretical framework, select suitable analytical methods, and carry out a well-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 module 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 module 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 module also emphasizes the critical role of the entrepreneur in driving business dynamics and thoroughly examines key factors influencing entrepreneurial behaviour and innovation processes.

The module is divided into four parts: business strategy, performance measurement, entrepreneurship and innovation, and marketing. The following topics will be covered:

Economics of Strategy

  1. Business strategy

  2. Corporate level strategy

  3. International strategy

  4. Strategic purpose

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 determinants

  2. Environmental factors in entrepreneurship

  3. Venture growth and scaling

  4. Innovation strategies

Marketing

  1. Individual targeting

  2. Personalization

  3. Customer value

  4. Response based models


Activities and Methodology

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

The module combines theoretical lectures with practical sessions that encourage the active participation of students. Learning activities include: lectures on main topics, making of problems and computer exercises, reading and critical reviewing of academic papers. This is an interactive moduel. 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 sessions will be primarily dedicated to lecture material and shorter discussions.

In addition, the module incorporates the Value Creation Wheel (VCW) methodology as a tool to support strategic decision-making. This methodology enables the structured tackling of complex or ambiguous problems, the generation of innovative solutions, and the facilitation of value-centered decisions.

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 50 22 0.88 11, 12, 18, 2, 3, 4, 6, 5, 7, 13, 15, 16, 8, 9, 10, 1
Class participation 10 2 0.08 12, 14, 3, 4, 6, 5, 7, 15, 16, 8, 9, 1
Test 40 16 0.64 2, 17, 3, 7, 13, 15, 8, 9, 1

The module 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).

This module can not be evaluated by the means of a single assessment.

A student who does not complete any assessable activity is considered 'non-assessable'. Therefore, once a student participates in any component of the continuous assessment, they can no longer be classified as 'non-assessable'.

Attending the sessions is a requirement.

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

For this module, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively for support tasks—such as bibliographic or information searches, text correction, idea clarification, brainstorming, and receiving feedback—unless specific instructions are provided by the instructor. Students should not use AI tools to generate complete answers, write full sections of assignments or solve exam questions. Any AI generated content must be clearly identified. Students should specify the AI tools used and include a critical reflection on how these tools influenced both the process and the final result of the activity. Lack of transparency regarding the use of AI in this assessable activity will be considered academic dishonesty and may result in a partial or total penalty on the grade for the activity, or more serious sanctions in severe cases.

 


Bibliography

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

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Software

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


Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.

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