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Strategy Making in Professional Football

In this course, we are focusing on the importance of strategy in the global sports industry. Our focus will be on strategy making in professional football and how sustainable growth can be fostered through consciousstrategic choices. Together with students, we will explore whether professional football clubs still need long-term strategies in the light of a vastly more complex environment subject to a rapid rate of change. Students will learn about the importance of speed and scalability and derive implications for strategy making in a digitalized world.
Course code
MGMT608
Course type
MSc Course
Weekly Hours
2,5
ECTS
5
Term
HS 2021
Language
Englisch
Lecturers
Prof. Dr. Sascha Schmidt
Please note that exchange students obtain a higher number of credits in the BSc-program at WHU than listed here. For further information please contact directly the International Relations Office.

Harvard Business School case studies from the sports industry, co-authored by Prof. Sascha L. Schmidt, will be used to discuss strategy making within professional football:

• FC Bayern Munich to understand why and how the club entered a new mar-ket and nurtured growth in China

• TSG 1899 Hoffenheim to understand why and how the club applies an early adopter innovation strategy to its football business

• German National Football Team to understand why and how balancing ex-ploitation and exploration is crucial to escape the success trap after winning the FIFA World Cup

The course is divided into four sessions that consecutively build upon each other.

Guest speakers from football clubs represented in the respective case studies will be invited to discuss major challenges of successful strategy making in professional football and interchange ideas on future developments with students.

With the help of case study method, students will apply strategy making tools and frameworks to real-life situations that business executives have faced. They will analyze the situation, decide on the best possible solution and defend their conclusions. We will advance their problem-solving skills as well as their ability to think and reason rigorously.

In the first session, student teams will get a work assignment to solve a specific issue on e.g. how to develop growth in adjacent businesses of a professional football club. While in the first three sessions, students will mainly participate in inclass discussions and group work, the forth session is dedicated to present an overall recommendation to a football club executive. The professor and research assistants will coach dedicated groups of students in class as well as in between lectures to support them on their individual learning journey and to help them prepare their final presentation. This will include, amongst others, specific growth measures to be taken by the club, estimates and approximations of expected business impact, and concrete action plans.

Since the format of the course is highly interactive, the number of students will be limited.

Students will have the opportunity to assign themselves into groups for the final presentations.

Date Time
Monday, 25.10.2021 15:30 - 20:30
Monday, 08.11.2021 13:45 - 18:45
Monday, 15.11.2021 09:45 - 15:15
Monday, 15.11.2021 09:45 - 15:15
Monday, 15.11.2021 09:45 - 15:15
Monday, 15.11.2021 09:45 - 15:15
Monday, 15.11.2021 09:45 - 15:15
Monday, 15.11.2021 09:45 - 15:15
Monday, 15.11.2021 09:45 - 15:15
Monday, 15.11.2021 09:45 - 15:15
Monday, 15.11.2021 09:45 - 15:15
Monday, 15.11.2021 09:45 - 15:15
Monday, 15.11.2021 09:45 - 15:15
Monday, 15.11.2021 09:45 - 15:15
Monday, 15.11.2021 09:45 - 15:15
Monday, 15.11.2021 09:45 - 15:15
Tuesday, 16.11.2021 08:00 - 18:45
With the help ofthecase study method, students will apply strategy making tools and frameworks to real-life situations that business executives have faced. They will analyze the situation, decide on the best possible solution and defend their conclusions. We will advance their problem-solving skills as well as their ability to think and reason rigorously.
21st Century Sports:www.whu.edu/CSM/21st-century-sports(voluntary) Course package of obligatory readings will be announced (case studies, papers and additional readings)
Interactive Lecture, Case Studies, Discussions with Industry Experts, Group Work, Team Coaching, Presentation
66% Final team presentation plus hand-in of presented slides (incl.notes), 33% Case write-up
Wegen der hohen Nachfrage an diesem Kurs, den wir aus organisatorischen Gründen auf 30 Studierende begrenzen müssen, wird das CSM ein kurzes Auswahlverfahren durchführen.
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