
Corporate strategy is all about how successful companies work to create value across various businesses. It looks at competitive strategy and how a corporation can succeed above and beyond what the business creates on its own. Learning about corporate strategy is essential for any CEO or executive at a major company, but finding the time to do so can be rough. That’s why we decided to compile a list of the best online courses for corporate strategy.
Corporate strategy is all about how successful companies work to create value across various businesses. It looks at competitive strategy and how a corporation can succeed above and beyond what the business creates on its own. Learning about corporate strategy is essential for any CEO or executive at a major company, but finding the time to do so can be rough. That’s why we decided to compile a list of the best online courses for corporate strategy.
How We Chose Our Ratings
Our ratings are carefully chosen based on many factors related to each course we analyze. We consider the organization or university that is offering the course, what the learning experience includes, who is leading the learning and what goals should be met by the end of the course. We also search through hundreds of expert and learner reviews to determine which classes work and which aren’t quite there yet. By taking our role in rating these courses seriously, we can provide you with insight to trust while making a decision about the right journey for you as a professional.
Top 7 Best Online Courses for Corporate Strategy
Located on Coursera, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign offers a high-quality course on corporate strategy. It is part of an accredited online MBA program, but it can be a stand-alone class as well. By purchasing the course, you receive access to graded materials, course materials and receive a final grade. You will also walk away with a course certificate.
The University also allows students to audit some portions of the course content, including video lectures, for free. Financial aid is available through Coursera itself. The cost of the course is about $40 to $50 per month. There is a two-week refund policy after payment unless you have completed the course certificate already.
The course focuses on how corporations build and sustain a competitive advantage, as well as the best ways to analyze business situations to create the ideal corporate strategy. Some of the module topics in this course include vertical integration and diversification, global strategy, strategy and structure, and corporate governance.
Reviews from learners rate this course extraordinarily high, and the course content is excellent. Based on everything we learned about this course, we rate it 5.0 out of 5.0 stars.
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This course is offered at the University of North Carolina website, and there are two options for completion. The first option is an independent course taught by faculty of the university. Learners will have access to Fortune interviews and can watch course content at any time. There is a discussion board to work with peers, and you can earn a certificate.
The other option is the premium option, which includes weekly live classes and real-time interaction with peers and faculty. You also receive access to the Fortune/UNC alumni network and an invitation to the annual conference. The first option costs about $950, while the second is around $3,250. This university and the faculty involved in the course are high-quality and bring a lot to the table for anyone looking to learn more about corporate strategy methods.
Some of the course content revolves around corporate vision, designing business strategy, strategy exercises and strategic innovation. The course offers the tools and framework students need to understand the managerial and organizational systems that should be in place in a corporation, as well as what conditions are best for what sorts of strategy.
Based on our understanding of the course material, faculty and extra perks of this course, we rate it 5.0 out of 5.0 stars.
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Foundations of Business Strategy is part one of a five-part series in business strategy specialization. It can be taken as a stand-alone course or taken along with advanced business strategy, business growth strategy, strategic planning and execution, and business strategy in practice. The instructors of the course are Professor Michael Lenox and Professor Jared Harris from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.
This course has four modules with many videos and text readings, along with graded assignments. During the first week, the focus is on an introduction to strategic analysis. As the weeks pass, the course looks at industry structure analysis, analyzing firm capabilities and determining competitive position. There is not a free trial for this class, but you can audit it to gain access to selected course content. Finishing the paid course will provide you with a course certificate.
Learners in this course rave about how helpful it is, and the amount of information seems to be substantial compared to other options. After completing the course, you’ll understand the foundations of business strategy and be able to use tools like Five Forces, SWOT and Strategy Maps to apply the approach in real life. There are many case studies included in the content related to companies like Apple, Google, and Piaggio.
Based on the broad base of knowledge provided, the quality level of the instructors, and reviews on the course, we rate it 5.0 out of 5.0 stars.
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This course provided by Harvard University focuses on a specific area of corporate strategy known as disruptive strategy. The course was designed for individuals working in businesses that require more innovation and who want to lead efforts toward that. Some of the topics covered during the course include organizing for change, aligning with innovation and disruption, maintaining a disruptive scope and discovering customer jobs.
Professor Clayton Christensen is the faculty member associated with this course, which offers around 30 hours of material over six weeks. The work in the class includes written reflections, short videos, multimedia cases, group exercises, interactive learning exercises and a final paper. There is a certificate provided at the end of the course for learners who complete it.
The course itself has a cost of $1,500 and is scheduled to run again starting in September 2018 and then in November 2018. There is an application requirement, so getting that in early is a good idea. The requirements include an undergraduate degree or CORe and proficiency in both spoken and written English.
This course is a stellar option for those who are interested in disruptive strategy. Since this isn’t applicable to everyone, we dropped our rating by a small amount. However, for those whom it applies to, the course is well worth your time. We rank it at 4.5 out of 5.0 stars.
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This course is unique compared to others on the list but is still worth considering. Rather than focusing on corporate strategy as a whole, the curriculum looks at what strategies are available to create a positive social impact around the world. It is a course hosted on Coursera and costs $49 per month to attend. The course's instructors are Professor Katherine Klein and Professor Christopher Geczy.
This course contains four separate modules beginning with an introduction to purpose-driven leadership. It delves into how business drives social impact, how to measure social impact and the nuances of impact investing. There are dozens of videos and reading modules, along with quizzes at the end of each module. Upon completion, the student walks away with a course certificate in the material.
Previous students of the course speak highly of the content for anyone who has an interest in social entrepreneurship. The course is structured well, and the professors are both very clear with communication. There is an option to audit the course for a period of one week to get an idea of what content is available.
This may not be the corporate strategy course for everyone, but for those who are interested in positive social impact, it seems like a great place to start. We rate it 4.0 out of 5.0 stars.
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Unlike other courses that offer a limited free option for a week or so, this course provides the entire curriculum for free. Anyone can take the course, which is taught by Professor Torsten-Oliver Salge. Most of the attendees will likely be interested in a verified certificate, which does have a cost of $149. While there are no prerequisites for taking this course, it is best that learners complete Strategic Management: From Intuition to Insight before taking the course.
As you may have guessed, this is an advanced course. It offers the ability to understand how to help your organization thrive by translating strategic insights into favorable decisions related to partnering, positioning and being socially responsible. The entire course uses a case study on Tesla and its role in transforming the automotive industry on a global level. The course is one of six in a program that relates to managing innovation and technology.
The course opens with an explanation of corporate strategy tools, as well as information about various differentiation and cost leadership strategies. It moves on to how to orchestrate the best strategic alliances and ends the course by learning about business ethics and corporate social responsibility.
This course is a more advanced course than some of the others and offers additional insight into corporate strategy. We rate it 4.0 out of 5.0 stars.
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The final course ranked on our list is Executive Strategy, which is taught by Professor Pierre Dussauge and Professor Laurence Lehmann-Ortega. The course is taught in both English and French, and the next iteration of the course will take place in September 2018. This course has a fee of approximately $2,900 or 2,400 Euros. There are various options for financial aid, both company and employee-initiated.
This is an intensive course that runs for five months online, and it is intended for executives and managers who need to understand, implement, share or formulate company strategy. There are three modules to the course including business strategy, corporate strategy and strategy implementation. There is a final exam that is required and can be taken on-site, or through Pearson Vue.
The course has been rated highly by past students and includes practical case studies and the ability to connect with other participants to gain the most insight possible on the subject. Obtaining a certificate requires participation in each module, a minimum grade of 50% in every case study, and a 60% or higher on the final exam.
For the learner who wants to get as much as possible out of their education, this course is hard to beat. We rate it 4.0 out of 5.0 stars.
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Choosing the Right Course
There are dozens of things that you may want to consider before deciding on the right corporate strategy course for your business needs. The first thing is, of course, how the selected class will benefit you, your business and your career. You’ve likely made that decision already, or you wouldn’t be here, but it is essential to think about.
You will also want to consider how you learn best. Some people are excellent at learning alone with videos and course content. Other learners do best in an environment where there is continuous communication with their peers and faculty members. A MOOC might be right for the first person but not for the second. Something that runs through a university, not a learning website, might appeal to the second learner.
Another consideration is whether the content of the course is truly beneficial to you. While many of these courses have similar names or are available on the same websites, each has its own syllabus and learning environment. Take time to poke around and see if the things necessary to you are included.
Wrapping Up
Each of the corporate strategy courses listed above offers high-quality education by established experts. Choosing one is a personal decision that needs to be determined by looking at your own needs and wants. We believe that most people will find an answer in the seven courses above and if you are the outlier who does not, we hope this article provides you with a starting point for determining where you might best fit in.
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