Introduction to Business Strategy

What drives sustainable competitive advantage in business? This specialization introduces a distinctive approach to business strategy centered on value creation and competitive advantage. Using Harvard Business School Professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee’s Value Stick framework, learners examine how organizations create value, shape customer willingness to pay, and build advantages that competitors find difficult to replicate. Across two courses, learners explore how firms create and capture value, make strategic pricing decisions, and leverage complements and ecosystems to strengthen competitive performance. Through examples from companies across technology, retail, entertainment, and financial services, learners develop practical tools to analyze business opportunities, evaluate strategic tradeoffs, and assess the sources of long-term competitive advantage.