Strategic Management deals with the organization, management, and strategic positioning of the firm to gain long-term competitive advantage. Why are some firms more successful than others? The fundamental question of strategy is how firms can attain and sustain competitive advantage. The management of corporations, large or small, creates a range of multi-faceted challenges for the CEO/founder/general manager. A manager needs to understand the internal workings of a firm, how to assess and create a strategy, and how to take into account the competition in the domestic and international market. While these issues may be distinct, they are intertwined with the inherent uncertainty of business decisions. As a result, this course will provide you with an integrated view of these challenges and emphasize the perspective that successful management requires a combination of insights drawn from economics, sociology, and psychology. In taking the point of view of an enterprise, we will consider a mix of companies in life sciences/ technology, as well as new ventures. In addition, we will draw upon your work experiences in such settings to understand these issues.