Strategic Management Major (B.Com.) (72 credits)
Offered by: Management (Desautels Faculty of Management)
Degree: Bachelor of Commerce
Program credit weight: 72
Program Description
The Strategic Management Major combines traditional topics in strategic management, such as competition and globalization, with attention to pressing social, and environmental challenges. Since the activities of contemporary businesses can no longer be considered separately from these challenges, the Major is intended to foster a holistic view of management practice. Students will be encouraged to consider strategy formation and change for large corporations, small businesses, and social enterprises within their economic, social and environmental contexts. Because Strategic Management is a broad subject area, students are given flexibility to tailor this Major to their interests. Anticipated career trajectories are diverse, and include positions in management consulting, business development in new start-ups and small businesses; and strategic planning and analysis in large multinationals, NGOs, international organizations, and government agencies.
All BCom students take a Core curriculum in addition to this Major.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Required Courses (42 credits)
Management Core
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MGCR 211 | Introduction to Financial Accounting. | 3 |
Introduction to Financial Accounting. Terms offered: Summer 2025 The role of financial accounting in the reporting of the financial performance of a business. The principles, components and uses of financial accounting and reporting from a user's perspective, including the recording of accounting transactions and events, the examination of the elements of financial statements, the preparation of financial statements and the analysis of financial results. | ||
| MGCR 222 | Introduction to Organizational Behaviour. | 3 |
Introduction to Organizational Behaviour. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Individual motivation and communication style; group dynamics as related to problem solving and decision making, leadership style, work structuring and the larger environment. Interdependence of individual, group and organization task and structure. | ||
| MGCR 233 | Data Programming for Business. | 3 |
Data Programming for Business. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Introduction to data programming for management students. | ||
| MGCR 250 | Expressive Analysis for Management. | 3 |
Expressive Analysis for Management. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Focusing on skills with respect to analysis, writing and presentation in management. | ||
| MGCR 271 | Business Statistics. | 3 |
Business Statistics. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Statistical concepts and methodology, their application to managerial decision-making, real-life data, problem-solving and spreadsheet modeling. Topics include: descriptive statistics; normal distributions, sampling distributions and estimation, hypothesis testing for one and two populations, goodness of fit, analysis of variance, simple and multiple regression. | ||
| MGCR 293 | Managerial Economics. | 3 |
Managerial Economics. Terms offered: Summer 2025 The course focuses on the application of economic theory to management problems and the economic foundations of marketing, finance, and production. Attention is given to the following topics: price and cost analysis; demand and supply analysis, conditions of competition. | ||
| MGCR 294 | The Firm in the Macroeconomy. | 3 |
The Firm in the Macroeconomy. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Topics and tools of macroeconomics such as national accounting, the IS-LM model, the drivers of output and business cycles, and the basics of monetary policy and inflation. Emphasis on financial markets, the role of expectations, and the reasons for possible deviations from full information market efficiency. | ||
| MGCR 331 | Information Technology Management . | 3 |
Information Technology Management . Terms offered: Summer 2025 Introduction to principles and concepts of information systems in organizations. Topics include information technology, transaction processing systems, decision support systems, database and systems development. Students are required to have background preparation on basic micro computer skills including spreadsheet and word-processing. | ||
| MGCR 341 | Introduction to Finance. | 3 |
Introduction to Finance. Terms offered: Summer 2025 An introduction to the principles, issues, and institutions of Finance. Topics include valuation, risk, capital investment, financial structure, cost of capital, working capital management, financial markets, and securities. | ||
| MGCR 352 | Principles of Marketing. | 3 |
Principles of Marketing. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Introduction to marketing principles, focusing on problem solving and decision making. Topics include: the marketing concept; marketing strategies; buyer behaviour; Canadian demographics; internal and external constraints; product; promotion; distribution; price. Lectures, text material and case studies. | ||
| MGCR 372 | Operations Management. | 3 |
Operations Management. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Design, planning, establishment, control, and improvement of the activities/processes that create a firm's final products and/or services. The interaction of operations with other business areas will also be discussed. Topics include forecasting, product and process design, waiting lines, capacity planning, inventory management and total quality management. | ||
| MGCR 382 | International Business. | 3 |
International Business. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introduction to the world of international business. Economic foundations of international trade and investment. The international trade, finance, and regulatory frameworks. Relations between international companies and nation-states, including costs and benefits of foreign investment and alternative controls and responses. Effects of local environmental characteristics on the operations of multi-national enterprises. | ||
| MGCR 423 | Strategic Management. | 3 |
Strategic Management. Terms offered: Summer 2025 An integrative and interdisciplinary introduction to strategy formation and execution. Concepts, tools, and practical application to understand how firms leverage resources and capabilities to gain competitive advantage in dynamic, contemporary industries. Strategic positioning, organizational design, and managerial action for the long-term success of businesses and positive social and ecological outcomes. | ||
| MGCR 460 | Social Context of Business. | 3 |
Social Context of Business. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Examination of how business interacts with the larger society. Exploration of the development of modern capitalist society, and the dilemmas that organizations face in acting in a socially responsible manner. Examination of these issues with reference to sustainable development, business ethics, globalization and developing countries, and political activity. | ||
Complementary Courses (30 credits)
9-15 credits from the following:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MGPO 383 | International Business Policy. | 3 |
International Business Policy. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Development and application of conceptual approaches to general management policy and strategy formulation in multinational business involvement (exporting, licensing, contractual arrangements, turnkey projects, joint ventures, consortia); technology transfer, location and ownership strategies: competitive multinational relationships. Emphasis on pragmatic analysis, using case studies. | ||
| MGPO 445 | Industry Analysis and Competitive Strategy. | 3 |
Industry Analysis and Competitive Strategy. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Analysis of industry structure, macro-environment, and evolution. Evaluation of strategic position, behaviour, and intent of organizations within industry context. Development of strategic recommendations for these firms. | ||
| MGPO 460 | Managing Innovation. | 3 |
Managing Innovation. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Firms face difficulties in developing new products. This course examines the new product development process to understand why problems occur and what managers can do. Topics include the creative synthesis of market and technology; the coordination of functions; and the strategic connection between the project and the strategy. | ||
| MGPO 469 | Managing Globalization. | 3 |
Managing Globalization. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course explores economic and social consequences of globalization, focusing on the most pertinent issues at the time. Topics include the existing global imbalances; the opportunities and risks presented by large cross border capital flows; and the role of institutions, and organizational and policy responses in crisis hit countries. | ||
| MGPO 470 | Strategy and Organization. | 3 |
Strategy and Organization. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course explores how strategic change affects the organization and how the organization can be designed to realize its strategy more effectively. It will examine how strategic choices affect organizational structures, processes, culture, human resource policies, leadership styles, etc. and how the organization can be aligned with the organizational mission. | ||
9-15 credits from the following:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MGPO 365 | Business-Government Relations. | 3 |
Business-Government Relations. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The political environment in which business organizations operate: how governments control, regulate, promote, and compete with the private sector and how corporate policy responds to, and seeks to influence, these activities. | ||
| MGPO 438 | Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation. | 3 |
Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Explores key concepts associated with social entrepreneurship and social innovation – the application of principles of entrepreneurship and innovation to solve social problems through social ventures, enterprises and not-for-profit organizations. Focuses on the social economy, including how the market system can be leveraged to create social value. | ||
| MGPO 440 | Strategies for Sustainability. | 3 |
Strategies for Sustainability. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course explores the relationship between economic activity, management, and the natural environment. Using readings, discussions and cases, the course will explore the challenges that the goal of sustainable development poses for our existing notions of economic goals, production and consumption practices and the management of organizations. | ||
| MGPO 450 | Ethics in Management. | 3 |
Ethics in Management. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An examination of the economic, legal and ethical responsibilities of managers in both private and public organizations. Through readings, case studies, discussions and projects the class evaluates alternative ethical systems and norms of behaviour and draws conclusions as to the right, proper and just decisions and actions in the face of moral dilemmas. The focus of this course is on the decision process, values and consistency of values of the individual and on the impact of systems control and incentives on managerial morality. | ||
| MGPO 475 | Strategies for Developing Countries. | 3 |
Strategies for Developing Countries. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Strategic management challenges in developing and emerging economies. Focus on strategies that foster both firm competitiveness and economic development, including: technological capabilities, new forms of organization, small and large firms, global production, social impact, global standards and governance. | ||
| MGPO 485 | Emerging Technologies: Organizing and Societal Stakes. | 3 |
Emerging Technologies: Organizing and Societal Stakes. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An examination of emerging technologies and their impacton decision-making, coordination, control, and innovationin management. Broader societal implications of thesetechnologies and how to develop strategic responses. Focus on an experiential consulting project. | ||
0-12 credits from the following:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| AGRI 411 | Global Issues on Development, Food and Agriculture. | 3 |
Global Issues on Development, Food and Agriculture. Terms offered: Winter 2026 International development and world food security and challenges in developing countries. Soil and water management, climate change, demographic issues, plant and animal resources conservation, bio-products and biofuels, economic and environmental issues specially in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Globalization, sustainable development, technology transfer and human resources needs for rural development. | ||
| ANTH 212 | Anthropology of Development. | 3 |
Anthropology of Development. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Processes of developmental change, as they affect small communities in the Third World and in unindustrialized parts of developed countries. Problems of technological change, political integration, population growth, industrialization, urban growth, social services, infrastructure and economic dependency. | ||
| BUSA 300 | Case Analysis and Presentation. | 3 |
Case Analysis and Presentation. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Integration of core knowledge and practice for preparing and presenting case studies, including professor coaching, preparation and presentation feedback, presentation skills, leadership skills, team building skills, analytical skills, logical thinking, debating, persuasive communications and cross discipline work. | ||
| BUSA 391 | International Business Law. | 3 |
International Business Law. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to the legal aspects of foreign trade and investment transactions. Forms and documentation of types of foreign trade contracts. Conflict avoidance, arbitration, and litigation arising from international transactions. Government regulation of foreign trade. Legal aspects of the international transfer of investments and technology. Conventions and institutions of international economic cooperation (e.g. GATT, ICC, IMF, etc.). | ||
| ECON 305 | Industrial Organization. | 3 |
Industrial Organization. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The course analyzes the structure, conduct, and performance of industries, particularly but not exclusively in Canada. Topics include effects of mergers, barriers to entry, product line and promotion policies, vertical integration, and R D policies of firms. | ||
| ECON 313 | Economic Development 1. | 3 |
Economic Development 1. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Microeconomic theories of economic development and empirical evidence on population, labour, firms, poverty. Inequality and environment. | ||
| ECON 314 | Economic Development 2. | 3 |
Economic Development 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Macroeconomic development issues, including theories of growth, public finance, debt, currency crises, corruption, structural adjustment, democracy and global economic organization. | ||
| INTD 200 | Introduction to International Development. | 3 |
Introduction to International Development. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An interdisciplinary introduction to the field of International Development Studies focusing on the theory and practice of development. It examines various approaches to international development, including past and present relationships between developed and underdeveloped societies, and pays particular attention to power and resource distribution globally and within nations. | ||
| MGPO 362 | Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship. | 3 |
Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Study of the key aspects involved in starting and managing a new venture: identifying opportunities and analyzing new venture ideas, identifying common causes of failure and strategies for success, understanding intellectual property systems, comparison of multiple modes of funding. Applies to for-profit and not-for-profit start-ups. | ||
| MGPO 402 | Dynamic Cities. | 3 |
Dynamic Cities. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A course which focuses on three key theories of National Competitiveness and includes a visit to a country(ies). The country(ies) visit(s) has a more integrated approach, drawing on material taught in marketing, finance, strategy, OB, etc.., as we apply ideas from all our classes in a foreign context in the organized visits. | ||
| MGPO 430 | Practicum in Not for Profit Consulting. | 3 |
Practicum in Not for Profit Consulting. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course is designed around a pro bono consulting experience. It is meant to connect students to both the NGO community as well as the consulting world. The students go through the entire process of researching potential NGOs, writing and getting a Letter of Proposal Signed off, undertaking the first hand research and analysis, presenting the project results to the Board of the NGO, and finally presenting it to both the professor and the office of the partnering consulting firm. Students are put into teams whose structure is meant to mimic that of a real consulting team. | ||
| MGPO 433 | Topics in Social Business and Enterprise. | 3 |
Topics in Social Business and Enterprise. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Specialized advanced topic in social business and enterprise. | ||
| MGPO 434 | Topics in Policy 1. | 3 |
Topics in Policy 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This is a specialized course covering an advanced topic in strategy and organization. | ||
| MGPO 435 | The Origins of Capitalism. | 3 |
The Origins of Capitalism. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course covers the evolution of modern business institutions from their roots in the early middle ages to the modern era. Covering economic issues in the context of arts and culture, it offers a "distant mirror on globalization." | ||
| ORGB 380 | Cross Cultural Management. | 3 |
Cross Cultural Management. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Addresses dilemmas and opportunities that managers experience in international, multicultural environments. Development of conceptual knowledge and behavioural skills (e.g. bridging skills, communication, tolerance of ambiguity, cognitive complexity) relevant to the interaction of different cultures in business and organizational settings, using several methods including research, case studies and experiential learning. | ||