MGT5205 Strategic Management
The Complete Exam Bible · Sem A 2026/27MGT5205 Overview
- City University of Hong Kong
- Semester A, 2026/27
- Postgraduate management course
- Two-hour closed-book final
What this course is asking you to do
Strategic Management is a postgraduate business course about why some firms outperform rivals and how they can sustain that performance. The course does not treat frameworks as labels to attach after reading a case.
- Assessment Participation and case contribution, a group project, and a closed-book final combining multiple-choice and essay questions.
- Core method Move from external and internal evidence to a strategic gap, compare alternatives and specify implementation.
- Project focus Research, critical evaluation, application, argument and recommendations grounded in the selected company.
- Exam preparation Retrieve the framework relationship, select the right decision level and explain why the closest alternative fails.
How MGT5205 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance, in-class discussion and leading case study discussion | 25% | Case contribution and participation across the teaching period, including individual attendance |
| Group project, written report and oral presentation | 35% | Oral presentation 15%; written report 20%, 2,500 words plus or minus 250 |
| Final exam | 40% | Two hours, closed book, on campus; multiple-choice and essay questions across course material |
The official course outline publishes these three components and the numeric weights total 100%. The group project contains a 15% oral presentation and a 20% written report. Use Canvas for the current submission settings, examination timetable and any pass-condition notice.
Assessment structure
Segment widths reproduce the published weights and total 100%.
Current MGT5205 dates
| Date | Item | Control |
|---|---|---|
| 1 December 2026 | Group written report | Submission date stated in the official course outline; confirm the live Canvas setting. |
Dates are as published in the official course outline for Semester A, 2026/27. Confirm exact deadlines and submission settings in the live LMS.
What MGT5205 covers
Seven chapters follow the captured lecture sequence from strategic direction through external and internal analysis to stakeholder performance, competitive positioning, corporate scope and international entry.
Strategic Direction and the Management Process
goal hierarchy, intended and realized strategy, decision levels and implementation logicDirection becomes strategic when it controls choices
Strategic management links analysis, decisions and actions.
- Strategic management attributes
- Vision and mission
- Strategic objectives
- Intended and realized strategy
- Business and corporate levels
- Implementation and evaluation
External Environment and Industry Structure
environmental signals, industry forces, profitability mechanisms and strategic groupsSignals need a mechanism
Scanning detects broad changes, monitoring follows selected trends, competitive intelligence interprets rivals and forecasting builds plausible projections.
- Scanning and monitoring
- Scenario analysis
- General environment
- Five forces
- Value net
- Strategic groups
Internal Resources and Strategic Fit
value-chain links, resources, capabilities, VRIO and the boundary between competence and rigidityTrace the customer outcome through activities
Value-chain analysis connects primary activities with administration, people, technology and procurement.
- Primary activities
- Support activities
- Activity links
- Resources and capabilities
- VRIO
- Core rigidity
Stakeholders, Governance and Performance
stakeholder claims, governance accountability, performance lenses and business-model evidenceSpecific claims require accountable choices
Stakeholder management begins by identifying what employees, customers, investors, suppliers, communities or governments actually claim.
- Corporate governance
- Stakeholder claims
- Zero-sum view
- Stakeholder symbiosis
- Balanced scorecard
- Triple bottom line
Business-Level Competitive Strategy
cost leadership, differentiation, focus, integrated positions and life-cycle fitPositioning requires scope and a source of advantage
Cost leadership and differentiation address a broad market through different mechanisms, while focused strategies narrow the segment.
- Cost leadership
- Differentiation
- Focused strategy
- Integrated position
- Strategic trade-offs
- Industry life cycle
Corporate Scope and Diversification
growth direction, synergy, parenting advantage, ownership tests and alliance designGrowth direction precedes ownership mode
Market penetration, product development, market development and diversification describe where growth occurs. Acquisition, alliance and internal development describe how it is pursued.
- Growth directions
- Related diversification
- Unrelated diversification
- Synergy
- Parenting advantage
- Acquisition and alliances
International Strategy and Market Entry
national advantage, cross-border risk, cost and adaptation pressures, entry control and learningExpansion must survive distance and risk
International growth can increase markets, scale, arbitrage and learning, while introducing political, economic, currency and managerial exposure.
- National advantage
- Expansion motives
- International risks
- Cost pressure
- Local adaptation
- Entry modes
It uses them to move from evidence to a diagnosis, compare strategic alternatives and recommend an action that a company could implement.
The captured lecture sequence begins with mission, vision and objectives, then separates external opportunity from internal capacity before turning to stakeholder performance, competitive positioning, corporate scope and international entry.
The analytical chain
A strong answer identifies the decision level first.
External analysis asks what the firm might do by reading trends, industry forces and strategic groups. Internal analysis asks what it can do by tracing value-chain activities and testing resources and capabilities. Business strategy chooses how to compete. Corporate strategy decides which businesses should be owned together and what the parent adds. International strategy configures activities and control across borders.
Stakeholder and performance tools show who is affected and whether the proposed mechanism is working.
How assessment shapes revision
The published assessment comprises participation and case contribution, a group project, and a final exam. The group project asks for a company-specific issue, external and internal analysis, evaluation of current strategy, alternatives, recommendations and actions.
Its marking criteria reward research, critical evaluation, application and argument, and conclusions that meet the company's needs while recognizing limitations. The final is a two-hour closed-book examination on campus, worth forty per cent, combining multiple-choice and essay questions across course material.
The outline does not publish a question count or section split, so revision should rehearse distinctions and integrated analysis without assuming a paper structure.
Worked example · free
Separate a substitute from a direct rival
- 2Classify the supermarket option by the function it performs.
- 2Classify competing subscriptions within the focal industry.
- 2Name the evidence required for each force.
Key terms
- Realized Strategy
- The strategy that emerges from intended choices, environmental developments, resource constraints and managerial decisions.
- Strategic Group
- A cluster of firms in an industry that share similar scope, price, quality, integration or distribution choices.
- Value Chain
- The linked primary and support activities through which a firm creates value for buyers and incurs cost.
- VRIO
- A sequence testing whether a resource or capability is valuable, rare, difficult to imitate and supported by the organization.
- Stakeholder Claim
- The specific interest a group holds in a firm's decisions, performance or survival.
- Balanced Scorecard
- A performance system linking financial, customer, internal-process and learning indicators through a strategic cause chain.
- Cost Leadership
- A broad-market position built on a structurally lower delivered cost while maintaining acceptable buyer value.
- Differentiation
- A competitive position based on uniqueness that target buyers value enough to support price, loyalty or volume.
- Corporate Parenting
- Value added by a corporate parent through relevant management expertise, central functions or intervention.
- Economies Of Scope
- Cost or value benefits created when businesses share activities, capabilities or resources.
- Multidomestic Strategy
- An international approach emphasizing local adaptation through decentralized decisions and tailored offerings.
- Entry Mode
- The governance arrangement used to enter a foreign market, such as exporting, licensing, partnering or ownership.
MGT5205 FAQ
What is the final exam format?
The official outline states that the final lasts two hours, is closed book, takes place on campus and combines multiple-choice with essay questions. It covers course material and expects relevant theory plus analysis. The source does not provide a question count or section split, so follow the live paper instructions.
How much is the final exam worth?
The final exam carries 40% of the overall mark. Attendance, discussion and case contribution carry 25%, while the group project carries 35%. The three published components total 100%, and the project itself divides into an oral presentation and written report.
Which frameworks should I use in a case answer?
Start with the decision rather than the framework. Use external tools for industry pressure, internal tools for capability, business strategy for competitive position, corporate strategy for ownership and diversification, and international strategy for cross-border configuration. Include only frameworks that change the diagnosis or recommendation.
What does the group project require?
The project asks a team to select a company, identify and analyze a strategic challenge, apply external and internal tools, evaluate current strategy, compare feasible alternatives and recommend actions. The published criteria reward evidence, critical evaluation, application, argument and conclusions that meet the company's needs.
How do I move from SWOT to a recommendation?
Build the external and internal analysis first, then retain only the SWOT items that change a strategic choice. Link a strength or weakness to a relevant opportunity or threat, identify the strategic gap and compare alternatives. A four-box list without those relationships is a summary, not analysis.
What makes a strategic recommendation convincing?
A convincing recommendation names the decision level, uses evidence to explain the mechanism, rejects a credible alternative and states implementation conditions. It also identifies a limitation or review signal that would cause the choice to be revised, which demonstrates critical evaluation instead of unsupported certainty.
Are there past papers in the captured materials?
The captured course materials do not include a past exam, sample paper, practice final or solution set. The practice in this guide is independently authored around the published question families and the analytical tasks used in the course cases, without reproducing University assessment prompts.
Questions students ask in each MGT5205 chapter
- What is the difference between vision and mission?
- Vision states an inspiring future destination, while mission is more specific about purpose and the basis of competition. Objectives then turn the mission into measures and time-bound priorities, allowing the organization to test whether action matches direction. Chapter 01 · Strategic Direction and the Management Process
- What is the difference between a rival and a substitute?
- A rival competes inside the focal industry, while a substitute performs the same customer function through another industry structure. Rivalry evidence concerns competitor balance, growth and capacity; substitute evidence concerns function and price-performance. Chapter 02 · External Environment and Industry Structure
- What is the difference between a resource and a capability?
- A resource is an input the firm controls, while a capability is the capacity to deploy inputs through routines. Sustainable advantage often rests on the connected routine because rivals can purchase similar assets more easily than they can reproduce coordination. Chapter 03 · Internal Resources and Strategic Fit
- Does stakeholder management mean satisfying every group equally?
- No. It recognizes specific claims and then assesses dependence, influence, urgency, obligation and the possibility of mutual benefit. A group may have legitimate standing without controlling the decision, so prioritization and governance remain necessary. Chapter 04 · Stakeholders, Governance and Performance
- Is a low price the same as cost leadership?
- No. Low price is an observable offer, while cost leadership depends on an activity system that delivers at structurally lower cost. A firm can price low temporarily without an advantage, or hold a cost advantage while choosing not to be cheapest. Chapter 05 · Business-Level Competitive Strategy
- Why is risk reduction not enough to justify diversification?
- Shareholders can diversify their own portfolios more cheaply and without integrating businesses. Corporate diversification therefore needs a mechanism available through ownership or coordinated control, such as shared activities, market power, parenting expertise or restructuring. Chapter 06 · Corporate Scope and Diversification
- What determines the international strategy type?
- The central comparison is pressure for cost reduction against pressure for local adaptation. Low pressures support transfer of parent expertise, high cost pressure supports global standardization, high adaptation supports multidomestic design, and both high pressures create a transnational challenge. Chapter 07 · International Strategy and Market Entry
How to study for the exam
Revise the course as one strategic-audit chain. First retrieve the goal hierarchy and decision levels. Next practise moving from environmental signals into industry forces, then from activities into VRIO conclusions. Compare competitive positions using scope, source of advantage and failure mode.
Test diversification by naming the parenting mechanism before the transaction mode, and test international choices through cost pressure, local adaptation and control. For each chapter, answer one multiple-choice distinction and one short essay from memory. In the essay, state the decision, use two or three evidence points, address the strongest alternative and finish with implementation plus a review signal.
Keep project revision connected to the published criteria by checking research, critical evaluation, application, argument and recommendation quality. Since the final is closed book, redraw the relationship figures without notes and explain each arrow aloud. Use Canvas for live dates and administrative instructions rather than memorizing details from a static guide.
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