Are strategic alliances a way to enhance a firm’s technological capacity or are they used more commonly to maintain pace with technological developments in a company’s industry?

Discussion 1: “Strategic Leadership” Students will respond to the following:

o Explain why the strategic control exercised by a firm’s strategic leaders is important for long-term competitiveness.

o Explain how strategic controls differ from financial controls.

o As a strategic leader, would you feel ethically responsible for developing your firm’s human capital? Why or why not?

– Do you believe that your position is consistent with the majority or minority of today’s strategic leaders?

Discussion 2: “Strategic Entrepreneurship. Students will respond to the following:

o Is the term “corporate entrepreneurship an oxymoron? In other words, can corporations especially large ones be innovative? Explain your answer.

o The economies of countries such as Russia and China have historically been operated through centralized bureaucracies. Recommend what can be done to infuse such economies with a commitment to corporate entrepreneurship and the innovation resulting from it.

o Are strategic alliances a way to enhance a firm’s technological capacity or are they used more commonly to maintain pace with technological developments in a company’s industry? In other words, are strategic alliances a tool of firms that have a technological advantage, or are they a tool of technologically disadvantaged companies? Explain your answer.