Tepper School of Business

 

 

45-870 Strategic Corporate Management

 

                                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                                                     Professor Robert A. Miller  ramiller@cmu.edu  

 

                                                                                                                                     Teaching Assistant

Pei Xue  pxue@andrew.cmu.edu

 

SYLLABUS

 

0.1            Instructions for Installing/Uninstalling ComLabGames for Windows

0.2             Instructions for Installing ComLabGames for macOS

0.3             Instructions for running ComLabGames outside of CMU campus/ from home

 

A.    FRAMING STRATEGIC ISSUES

 

 

WEEK 1

 

Monday October 20 lecture:

1. The Strategic Form

·       Relaxing the team premise of six sigma

·       The prisoner’s dilemma

·       Best replies and Nash equilibrium

·       The empirical distribution

·       Product innovation

 

Monday October 20 through Sunday October 26 video clips

1.1               Defining Nash equilibrium

1.2               Upstream versus downstream rivalry (video)

1.3               Playing games in strategic form (video)

1.4               Designing games in strategic form (video)

1.5               Saving and testing games (video)

1.6               Conducting an experiment (video)

 

Games used in this portion of the course

 

Sunday October 26

Assignment 1 is due at 11:00PM Pacific (9 points). Solutions to Assignment 1

·       Different payoffs in the prisoner’s dilemma (right click to save)

·       Superjumbo (right click to save)

·       Cola wars

 

WEEK 2

 

Monday October 27 lecture:

2. The Extensive Form

·       Elements of games

·       Cola wars

·       Perfect information games

·       Simultaneous move games

·       Changing the information set

 

Monday October 27 through Sunday November 2 video clips

2.1       The follower’s advantage

2.2       Just in time

2.3       The empirical distribution in extensive form games (video)

2.4       Best replies to empirical distributions in extensive form games (video)

2.5       Playing games in extensive form

2.6       Designing games in extensive form

 

Games used in this portion of the course

 

Sunday November 2

Assignment 2 is due at 11:00PM Pacific (9 points). Solutions to Assignment 2

·       Regional competition (right click to save)

·       First mover advantage (right click to save)

·       Simultaneous decision making by rivals

 

WEEK 3

 

Monday November 3 lecture:

3. Deriving the Strategic from the Extensive Form

·       Strategies versus moves

·       Bottling wine

·       Defining strategies

·       Rivals as a source of information

·       The strategic form of perfect information games

 

Monday November 3 through Sunday November 9 video clips

3.1       Formal partnership or informal alliance (video)

3.2       Predators: The enemy of my enemy is my friend  (video)

3.3       Stage games

3.4       Maintaining a reputation

 

Games used in this portion of the course      

 

Sunday November 9

Assignment 3 is due at 11:00PM Pacific (9 points). Solutions to Assignment 3

 

·       Differential versus generic promotion (right click to save)

·       The value of independent research (right click to save)

·       Industrial dispute (right click to save)

 

B.  DISSECTING STRATEGIC INTERACTIONS

 

WEEK 4

 

Monday November 10 lecture:

4. The Logic of Rational Thought

·       Dominant strategies: Acquiring Federated Stores

·       Iterative dominance: Walmart and Kmart

 

Monday November 10 through Sunday November 16 video clips

4.1       Solving predators with the strategic form

4.2       Dominant strategies (video)

4.3       Dominated strategies (video)

4.4       Iterative dominance defined (video) 

 

Games used in this portion of the course      

 

Sunday November 16

Assignment 4 is due at 11:00PM Pacific (9 points). Solutions to Assignment 4

 

·       The Ware case

·       Overseeing asset management (right click to save)

·       Acquisition (right click to save)

 

WEEK 5

 

Monday November 17 lecture:

5. Strategic Uncertainty

·       A simple illustration

·       Barriers to entry

·       Mixed versus pure strategies

 

Monday November 17 through Sunday November 23 video clips

5.1       Mixtures revealing dominance (video)

5.2       The existence of NE (video)

 

 

Games used in the portion of the course       

 

Sunday November 23

Assignment 5 is due at 11:00PM Pacific (9 points). Solutions to Assignment 5

 

·       Rust belt management (right click to save)

·       Taxing small businesses

·       Solving the taxation game


 

C. THE PROJECT

 

WEEK 6

 

Monday December 1 lecture:

6. Designing and Solving Games

 

Games used in the portion of the course

 

Friday December 5

Part A of the Project is due at 11:00PM Pacific (15 points).

 

Monday December 1 through Sunday December 7 video clips

6.1       Retrieving and exporting output from experiments

 

Sunday December 7

Slides and game for Part B of the Project are due at 11:00PM Pacific (10 points).

 

WEEK 7

 

Monday December 8 session:

7. Project Presentations . . .  a longer session . . . approximately 2 hours

 

Monday December 15

Part C of the Project is due at 11:00PM Pacific (15 points).

 

 

 

 

The remaining 15 points come from:

Class participation throughout course (5 points)

Participation in experimental portions of the assignments (5 points)

Performance as experimental subjects in projects (5 points)