Wordcount: 2600
IMPORTANT:
FURTHER RESEARCH IS IMPORTANT
REFERENCES SHOULD BE WRITTEN IN HARVARD STYLE
IT IS IMPORTANT TO INFORM THE ANALYSYS BY REFERRING TO RELEVANT (SECONDARY DATA). THE USE OF PEE-REVIEWED ACADEMIC JOURNALS IS ESSENTIAL.
SEVERAL FILES HAVE BEEN UPLOADED FOR YOUR REFERENCE BUT FURTHER RESEARCH IS IMPORTANT
A major topic in the recent strategy literature relates to the emergence of star (superstar) firms – firms that operate in multiple markets, enjoy large market shares across the globe, experience persistent growth, exercise enormous market power, and hold a large amount of cash. Understanding the origins, drivers and strategies of star firms sheds light on the secrets of corporate success and offers lessons on how to build a star firm. You will study the academic literature to explain the origins, drivers, and strategies of star firms and outline managerial lessons for developing successful firms.
MAJOR TOPICS OF THE ASSIGNMENT
1.- Describe star firms, explore the evidence on the effect of a firm’s quality in its early years on its chance of achieving star status, and explain why a firm’s quality at birth critically affects its future performance.
2.- Draw on historical cases to explore strategies that star firms employ to build on their initial success and grow their market. How do these strategies drive firm performance? Examples include R\&D investment and technology adoption.
3.- Explain scale economies. And discuss how various static and dynamic scale economies can amplify the effects of a firm’s initial success and growth strategies and thereby enable the firm to rise as a star and dominate the market.
4.- Suggest managerial lessons that would enable a firm of your choice (which is not super star firm yet)to achieve star status.
GENERAL GUIDELINES OF THE ASSIGNMENT (STRUCTURE OF CONTENT)
1.- INTRODUCTION
– Introduce star firms,
– Position the topic and explain its importance and relevance, –
– Outline the structure of the essay structure.
2.- BACKGROUND
-A systematic introduction to star firms,
– Review the academic literature on star firms and their characteristics,
– Review the evidence on the role of star firms in the industry / economy
– Reviewing first and secondary data.
3.- THE FOUNDATION EFFECTS
– Explore the academic literature to provide evidence on the effect of a firm’s quality in its
early years on its future performance,
– Explain why a firm’s quality in its early days matters for its future performance. You may
refer to the role of learning by doing, increasing returns to scale and entry barriers.
– Discuss possible reasons for initial firm heterogeneity – why are firms born differently,
– Clear exposition of key concepts.
4.- STRATEGIC DECISIONS & GROWTH STRATEGIES
– Explore strategies that star firms employ to grow by referring to historical cases. You may
focus on a single case to offer an adequately deep historical analysis.
– Explain how the strategies contribute to firm growth. If you refer to R&D investment, for,
example, refer to product innovation, market diversification, process innovation, and link
these with the economies of scope, firm productivity and scale, average costs, and growth.
– Explain how a firm’s quality at birth (e.g., larger size or higher productivity) may affect the
success of the firm’s growth strategies.
5.- SCALE ECONOMIES AND INCREASING RETURNS TO SCALE
-Explain economies of scale using a simple economic graph, like the graphs in the lecture
slides.
– Distinguish between static and dynamic scale economies – an example of dynamic scale
economies is learning-by-doing, which lowers the firm’s average cost over time.
– Explain how scale economies amplify a firm’s initial successes, enabling it to grow, dominate
and rise as a star.
– Systematic use of data to inform the analysis.
6.- APPLICATION
Identify managerial lessons that could help a firm of your choice (which is not super star firm yet)to achieve star status.
Requirements: 2600 words