Take My Liberty BUSI 690 Class

The course has two halves. In the first three weeks, Rothaermel's Strategic Management is read at speed: five chapters in week one, five in week two and the last two in week three, followed by the Connect final exam in that same third week.

Week one covers what strategy is, strategic leadership, external analysis with tools such as PESTEL and the five forces, internal analysis with the resource-based view and the value chain, and how competitive advantage is measured.

In week two the reading widens from how a single business competes to innovation, diversification, partnerships and buyouts, and competing across borders. Week three covers organizational design and corporate governance and ethics.

The second half turns to Osterwalder and Pigneur's Business Model Generation in weeks four and five, with the nine-block canvas first and then strategy and design processes for new models.

Weeks six and seven return to Rothaermel for review while the group cases are completed, and week eight closes with Bible readings and the faith essay.

Graded items follow that shape: a Rothaermel exercise in each of weeks one to three, the forum in week two, a business model exercise in weeks four and five, group cases in weeks four, six and seven with peer evaluations, and the faith essay in week eight.

BUSI 690 is carried in its two halves, because the first three weeks demand fast reading and short applied exercises, while the last five are dominated by the group cases.

Every one of the three strategy exercises puts that week's reading to work on an actual firm. A first exercise on a company such as Chipotle might run its industry through the five forces, test its resources with VRIO and judge whether its advantage is sustainable, answering the exercise's questions in order.

The business model exercises map a real company onto the canvas, then propose how its model could change, staying within the 600 to 800 words each one allows.

For the group cases, your share is planned with your group's division of work. The narrative sections follow the strategic management process, from external and internal analysis and current performance to alternatives and a recommendation. When the numbers fall to you, the spreadsheet shows the firm's recent three-year record with the change from each year to the next, projects at least three years ahead and ends with a present-value test of whether the chosen strategy lifts cash flow.

The forum and faith essay are written last in their weeks, with peer-reviewed sources and Scripture woven through the argument. You submit and post every piece, and the final exam is yours.

BUSI 690 work goes to someone who does strategy for a living: a corporate strategy manager, a management consultant or a corporate development analyst, usually with an MBA and often a CFA or CPA as well.

That background matters most in the group cases, where the recommendation has to be backed by numbers. Pro formas are built from stated assumptions about growth, margins and capital spending, and the NPV uses a discount rate that is explained rather than picked at random.

It also shows in the exercises, where frameworks are applied with judgment. A VRIO table is only the start; the answer explains which resources really sustain the advantage and what a rival would need to copy them.

The faith essay is written with care, drawing on the whole program and on how faith shapes decisions about stakeholders, governance and competition.

Before anything is released, a second strategist checks it, spreadsheet formulas included, and the same consultant carries your capstone from the first exercise to the last essay.

Case companies are chosen with the group, and public firms with full filings make the financial work far easier.

The opening pace is the first difficulty. Twelve chapters and three exercises in three weeks, with the final exam at the end of week three, leave little room to absorb the material.

The group cases are the second. Fifteen pages of narrative per company, three times in four weeks, is a heavy load even when shared.

The financial workbook is the third. Many groups struggle to pull clean historical statements, compute year-over-year changes and build pro formas that connect to the recommendation.

Peer evaluation is the fourth. Because each case grade is scaled by your peers' ratings, a late or thin contribution costs points even when the group's paper is strong.

The faith essay is the fifth, arriving at the very end of the program and asking for a thoughtful synthesis of faith, strategy and policy.

Exercise 1 is due in week one, so the capstone is best handed over before it opens.

The three strategy exercises land ahead of their deadlines in the opening weeks, and the discussion post arrives at the start of week two, followed by the replies.

The business model exercises arrive before the deadlines in weeks four and five.

Your share of each group case arrives before your group's internal date, so the group has time to assemble the narrative and workbook before the deadline.

The faith essay arrives early in week eight.

The quote shows the exercises, your case shares, the forum and the essay on separate lines, with the case shares the largest. A student joining after week three is priced from the business model exercises on.

Payment follows each delivered item.