Module ECON4A110: Strategic Decision Making (FT)

Department: Economics

ECON4A110: Strategic Decision Making (FT)

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• This module aims to equip future leaders with the strategic and behavioural tools used by top executives to navigate competition, negotiations, and organisational incentives in complex, uncertain environments.

Content

• Strategic Interaction/Negotiation and Competitive Advantage: How smart leaders think and negotiate strategically when outcomes depend on others
• Behavioural Economics in Strategic Decisions: Why real people don’t play theoretical games — and how smart leaders adapt
• Incentives, Organisations, and Strategic Design
• Designing systems, incentives, and organisations that work with – not against – human behaviour

Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge of strategic interaction and competitive decision-making
• An advanced understanding of how firms and leaders interact strategically in competitive and cooperative settings, including the use of game-theoretic concepts such as equilibrium, commitment, signalling, and reputation.
• Knowledge of behavioural foundations of strategic decision-making
• A critical understanding of how behavioural factors—such as cognitive biases, social preferences, and bounded rationality—systematically influence strategic choices, negotiations, and market outcomes.
• Knowledge of incentives, organisational design, and behavioural strategy
• An informed understanding of how incentives, contracts, and choice architectures can be designed to align individual behaviour with organisational and strategic objectives, including awareness of ethical considerations.

• Analyse and model strategic business problems
• Apply game-theoretic reasoning to structure and analyse complex competitive and cooperative situations, identify strategic interdependencies, and anticipate the behaviour of other market participants.
• Diagnose behavioural risks and opportunities in strategy
• Use behavioural economic principles to identify where biases, heuristics, and social dynamics are likely to distort decision-making, and assess their implications for strategic outcomes.
• Design and communicate behaviourally informed strategic solutions
• Develop and clearly communicate incentive schemes, commitment mechanisms, and organisational interventions that are robust to strategic responses and behavioural constraints.

• Strategic reasoning and judgement under interdependence
• Exercise sound strategic judgement in situations of uncertainty and interdependence, evaluating trade-offs, anticipating the actions of others, and making decisions where outcomes depend on multiple stakeholders.
• Critical reflection on decision-making and bias
• Critically reflect on their own decision-making processes and those of others, recognising the impact of cognitive biases, social influences, and organisational context on judgement and performance.
• Leadership communication and collaborative problem-solving
• Work effectively in diverse teams to address complex strategic challenges, and communicate clear, persuasive recommendations to executive audiences using structured analysis and professional judgement.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module is delivered via a blended approach combining interactive lectures, facilitated class discussions, case-based analysis, live decision-making experiments, simulations, and structured group work. These teaching and learning activities are designed to develop students’ subject-specific knowledge of strategic interaction, behavioural decision-making, and incentive design, while also strengthening analytical, reflective, and collaborative skills through applied problem-solving.
• The formative assessment serves to support learning through three structured in-class assignments aligned with each session of the module. These activities require students to apply strategic and behavioural concepts to practical problems, reflect on decision-making processes, and receive formative feedback from peers and the instructor.
• The summative assessment is an applied executive strategy assignment in which students integrate game-theoretic and behavioural economic frameworks to analyse a complex managerial decision and develop behaviourally informed strategic recommendations.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Group-based in-class presentations

■ Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.