This course equips students with tools and concepts to analyze strategic interactions in dynamic environments and to select competitive strategies while anticipating competitors’ responses. It examines how strategic choices shape industry structure and how industry structure, in turn, influences firm strategy and profitability. The first part focuses on dynamic competition, including price wars, market entry, and entry deterrence. The second part addresses high-tech and network industries, covering innovation, strategic patenting, compatibility decisions, and platform dynamics. The third part explores vertical integration and alternative governance forms such as alliances, joint ventures, and strategic contracting. The aim is to highlight the interdependence of these areas and how decisions in one domain affect outcomes in others. The second weekend of lectures will take place in Tallinn, Estonia, in conjunction with the Goethe MBA study trip.
- Explain how industry structure determines the profit potential of firms
- Identify how particular instruments and decisions influence the strategic position
- Analyze firm interaction in environments of uncertainty and asymmetric information
- Examine strategic behaviour in a dynamic setting and the credibility of strategic commitments
This course is only available as part of the Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Entrepreneurship when combined with other courses from our Goethe MBA Digital Transformation | Data Science | Sustainability program. For more information, please visit the certificate program page.
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Prof. Dr. Uwe Walz
Prof. Dr. Uwe Walz holds the Chair of Industrial Organization and is Co-Director of the PhD Program in Economics at Goethe University Frankfurt. He received his PhD in Economics from the University of Tübingen and completed his habilitation at the University of Mannheim. Prior to joining Goethe University in 2002, he held professorships at the University of Bochum and the University of Tübingen. He is one of the founding directors of the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE and a research professor at ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research. His research focuses on private equity, entrepreneurial finance, and contract theory.
Next course offering: Summer Semester 2027. New dates will be announced soon.