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Module 4

Business Strategy

In Module 4, you will acquire a senior manager competence: how to use digital technologies to enable, and in some cases drive, business strategies.

You will progress far beyond a casual understanding of words like "strategy" and "competitive advantage," learning rigorous techniques to analyze industries and firms from a business and financial standpoint, understanding their sources of differentiation, and assessing their sustainability. You will use these tools to propose and evaluate digital innovations that make true strategic sense. Mastering this knowledge creates an excellent foundation to propel you towards higher-level management roles.

Rooted in the strategic factors affecting information technologies, the module explores the financial, leadership, marketing, and innovation issues that emerge when organizations develop technologies that offer the potential to improve a firm’s competitive position.

Upon completion of Module 4, you’ll be prepared to assume the role of an internal IT entrepreneur—a visionary specialist capable of conceptualizing IT developments that can offer new strategic possibilities to your organization, determining the best methods for competing, and for finding the right people for packaging those ideas in compelling ways.

Topics Covered:
  • Strategy formulation
  • Industry analysis
  • Competitive advantage
  • Strategy execution
  • IT/business alignment
  • Value creation
  • IT governance
  • Financial analysis
  • Financial forecasting
  • Marketing for IT
  • Leadership
  • Metaverse

GCOM 7810: Strategic Management of IT (4 credits)

GCOM 7810 develops an understanding of how to manage IT to create business value through a focus on strategy and finance. IT professionals must understand the specific kinds of value created by IT for their firm’s end consumers, and how it in turn produces financial returns. By analyzing a firm’s industry and its competitive position within that industry, students learn how to produce technologies that can impact the firm’s competitive position.

GCOM 7840: Innovation and Technology Management (4 credits)

GCOM 7840 focuses on the necessary technological, financial, and organizational issues to consider when developing a business case around a transformational, IT-based strategic initiative. Projects of this sort can impact how an organization pursues its strategic goals, and in some cases may also suggest shifts in strategy to pursue new opportunities that are compatible with the firm’s resources and capabilities.

The information contained on this website is for informational purposes only. The Undergraduate Record and Graduate Record represent the official repository for academic program requirements.

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Capstone Strategic Project

The Capstone Strategic Project will challenge you to practice what you have learned in class by asking you to apply it to a real-world company of your choosing. We will challenge you and your team to analyze the strategy of the company within the context of its industry, and to investigate the role that digital technologies play in defining, enhancing, and implementing that strategy. Each team will develop, deliver, and defend a proposal to increase the company's value through digital innovation.

Connect With Us

We look forward to connecting with you about your interest in our Graduate Programs and encourage you to be in touch with any questions you may have.

Contact Information
msmit@virginia.edu
+1 434-982-6800