HYPERCOMPETITION IN GLOBAL CONTEXT

June 8-12, 2020

Graduate School of Business

Seoul National University, Korea

 

1.   Course Description

Competitive advantage is no longer sustainable for an extended period of time. This course gives an overview of hypercompetition, an apt description of new era of competition characterized by constant, disruptive strategies and tactics used at rapid pace for gaining competitiveness. With the primary focus on the Korean business environment, the courses consist of a number of lectures, presentations and discussions led by SNU faculty members conducting cutting-edge research in strategy, organizational theory, and human resource management in the relevant fields.

2.   Venue

The entire set of lectures will be held online through Zoom; links will be emailed to the registered students prior to the first day of the class. All assignments will be done on individual-basis in consideration of the current COVID-19 situation.

3.   Course Outline

DAY 1 (JUNE 8^TH)

    Class 1:  Welcome and Program Orientation

Seung Ah Theresa Cho, Associate Dean of Student Affairs & Professor of Strategy & International Business

      Class 2:  Hypercompetition: An Overview

This class offers a novel framework on hypercompetition, an apt description of the new era of competition with rapid pace for gaining competitiveness. The model will be the basis on which the rest of the course with the primary focus on Korean context will build upon.

Seung Ah Theresa Cho, Associate Dean of Student Affairs & Professor of Strategy & International Business

  Class 3: Human Resource Management in Korea 

In this class, we study how human resource management has changed over the years in Korean organizations (especially Korean chaebols) and how such transformations contributed to the competitive advantage of Korean companies in the global market place.

Sungsoo Kim, Professor of Human Resource Management

DAY 2 (JUNE 9^TH)

Class 4: Putting People First: The Strategic Implications

What do industries say about putting people first to achieve organizational success? Does investing in people pay off for companies’ financial success? Based on evidence from multiple industries, this class discusses the financial implications of putting people first.

Prof. Jeong-yeon Lee, Professor of HRM & Organizational Behavior 

Class 5: Corporate Communication Strategies: The Case of Korean Firms

In this class, we will discuss various corporate communication strategies, i.e., messages sent by CEOs to shareholders after the first quarter’s earnings report in 2020. Some CEOs seem to put shareholders first while the others put them aside. Which approach is right? The class surveys different preferences among students and discusses what might be the best way to balance various needs from multiple stakeholders.

Prof. Jeong-yeon Lee, Professor of HRM & Organizational Behavior 

DAY 3 (JUNE 10^TH)

Class 6: The Samsung Way I

Class 7: The Samsung Way II 

 How did Samsung become a world-class corporation?

Prof. Jaeyong Song, Professor of Strategy and International Management

DAY 4 (JUNE 11^TH)

Class 8: Korean Corporate Structure 

This course provides a contrast between U.S. type corporate structure known as ‘stand-alone’ style and ‘business group structure’ widely observed outside U.S. Special attention will be given to the different types of agency problem that arises in each types of ownership structures.

Prof. Woojin Kim, Professor of Finance

Class 9: Capital Market Implications 

This course discusses various capital market implications that arises in economies dominated by business groups. A special form of agency problem, namely private benefits of control and tunneling, will be introduced. Real world cases, including the highly controversial Samsung merger will be covered in detail.

Prof. Woojin Kim, Professor of Finance

4.   Assignments

Each of the class will have a short, open-ended essay question at the end of the session to give students an opportunity to reflect on the materials covered. Each of the individual instructors will announce the question by the end of the class, at the latest. Students are expected to provide the response in about 250-350 words for each of the questions, and then submit it as a portfolio (in a single word file) to michelle28@snu.ac.kr by 11:59 pm KST, June 12^th

5.   Grading (pass/fail)

Grading Criteria	% of grade
Class Participation and Attendance	20%
Individual Assignment: Day 1	20%
Individual Assignment: Day 2	20%
Individual Assignment: Day 3	20%
Individual Assignment: Day 4	20%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attendance is mandatory at all classroom sessions. Participants are expected to arrive at the classroom sessions on time every day. Those who more than 10 minutes late to class will be marked as tardy, along with appropriate deduction in the final grade. Any absence without prior approval or supporting documentation will affect the final grade as well.

6.   Pre-readings

Required readings, if any, will be distributed prior to the program.