Reconceptualising corporate strategy in business and management education

Abstract

Corporate Strategy (CS) has traditionally played a pivotal role in the undergraduate business curriculum and is normally a required final year course. While the managerial experience of students at postgraduate level provides a clear justification for requiring students to study CS, the decline of work experience and the massification of UK higher education raises question marks regarding the relevance of CS in undergraduate business education. CS may also be criticised as being overly concerned with simplified and abstract theories inappropriate in a rapidly changing post-Fordist economy. In response to these challenges there needs to be a re-conceptualisation of CS as a preparation for empowered and informed employees rather than as a preparation for potential senior managers. The teaching of CS also needs to take greater account of changes in the economic environment such as the growth of smaller businesses and the importance of ethics.