Course Details
Cost
FREE
Upcoming Schedule
- TBA
Course Provider
Coursera online courses
Coursera's online classes are designed to help students achieve mastery over
course material. Some of the best professors in the world - like neurobiology
professor and author Peggy Mason from the University of Chicago, and computer
science professor and Folding@Home director Vijay Pande - will supplement your
knowledge through video lectures. They will also provide challenging
assessments, interactive exercises during each lesson, and the opportunity to
use a mobile app to keep up with yo...
Coursera's online classes are designed to help students achieve mastery over
course material. Some of the best professors in the world - like neurobiology
professor and author Peggy Mason from the University of Chicago, and computer
science professor and Folding@Home director Vijay Pande - will supplement your
knowledge through video lectures. They will also provide challenging
assessments, interactive exercises during each lesson, and the opportunity to
use a mobile app to keep up with your coursework. Coursera also partners with
the US State Department to create “learning hubs” around the world. Students
can get internet access, take courses, and participate in weekly in-person
study groups to make learning even more collaborative. Begin your journey into
the mysteries of the human brain by taking courses in neuroscience. Learn how
to navigate the data infrastructures that multinational corporations use when
you discover the world of data analysis. Follow one of Coursera’s “Skill
Tracks”. Or try any one of its more than 560 available courses to help you
achieve your academic and professional goals.
Provider Subject Specialization
Humanities
Sciences & Technology
Course Description
This course is about the behavior of companies in competitive markets. Facing
competition forces firms to look ahead and anticipate developments: If my
rivals are likely to react to a price cut, I will have to take the expected
reaction into account. We focus on such instances of “strategic
interdependencies” in real business situations.
We will first study the basic concepts of game theory as a toolbox with which
we will then analyze strategic “games” in real-life settings. Rather than a
set of checklists of “how-to-behave” in a number of prespecified situations,
this course will teach you to think about business strategy in a systematic
and exciting - and ultimately more successful - way!
We will use our toolbox to address and analyze different decisions firms take:
How do price wars happen and when do they end? When should I enter a market in
which firms currently make high profits? What makes strategic partnerships
work? Thes...
This course is about the behavior of companies in competitive markets. Facing
competition forces firms to look ahead and anticipate developments: If my
rivals are likely to react to a price cut, I will have to take the expected
reaction into account. We focus on such instances of “strategic
interdependencies” in real business situations.
We will first study the basic concepts of game theory as a toolbox with which
we will then analyze strategic “games” in real-life settings. Rather than a
set of checklists of “how-to-behave” in a number of prespecified situations,
this course will teach you to think about business strategy in a systematic
and exciting - and ultimately more successful - way!
We will use our toolbox to address and analyze different decisions firms take:
How do price wars happen and when do they end? When should I enter a market in
which firms currently make high profits? What makes strategic partnerships
work? These are just some examples of the questions we will discuss during the
course. By the end of the course, you should be able to apply the concepts to
pretty much any business situation.
This course is complemented by [Advanced Competitive
Strategy](https://www.coursera.org/course/advcompstrategy).
Sort By
Student
10/10 starsTaking Now
5 years, 7 months ago
Excellent Topic. Professor teaches in a structured manner which makes it easier to follow. The examples given are great. Length of the lectures is good, would not mind if they were longer. Quizzes were very relevant and neither too hard or too simple.
- 8 reviews
- 8 completed
6 years, 4 months ago
- 1 review
- 0 completed
6 years, 6 months ago
- 9 reviews
- 5 completed
6 years, 6 months ago
- 11 reviews
- 10 completed
6 years, 9 months ago
This is an excellent introduction to competitive strategies. It covers all the
fundamental economic concepts without going through the algebra: a very
practical approach to the domain. I strongly recommend this course to anyone
dealing with competition and product placement. The lecturer is highly
knowledgeable and make this complex topic easy to understand! And, as an added
bonus, you can get a view of some nice buildings in Munich :) I took this
class with zero knowledge in the domain and I was able to follow without any
difficulty (disclaimer: I studied Engineering in University).
- 7 reviews
- 7 completed
6 years, 10 months ago
Very interesting course. It's a broad approach about business strategy. Why
firms do such things and what it brings in consequence. Use the matrix to
predict actions and understand the game.
- 11 reviews
- 10 completed
6 years, 9 months ago
This was an interesting, enlightening course. The lectures were engaging, the
problem sets and final were fairly easy. I'm glad I took this course and I'm
signing up for the follow-up Advanced Competitive Strategy course.
- 6 reviews
- 6 completed
6 years, 9 months ago
Great introductory course on competitive strategy. Easy to follow without
prior knowledge. Most definitions/ideas were explained clearly in the
lectures, however in some cases a longer, more in depth explanation would have
been preferable for me. Low weekly workload, however still very instructive.
- 4 reviews
- 4 completed
6 years, 9 months ago
It was my first course in game theory, and it was maybe to easy.
Instructor was fantastic. length of lectures appropriate, study material
sufficient, but quizzes were far to easy.
I was expecting a bit more challenge, hence a 4 star grade.
- 4 reviews
- 4 completed
6 years, 10 months ago
The best MOOC course I have taken so far. The content was delivered clearly,
concisely, and in an entertaining manner that gave the course a personality
and let the professor show his. Really great! I especially like how the course
itself was structured. The video lectures were made available on Fridays as
opposed to Mondays, which I felt gave me extra time to squeeze the lectures
during the weekend.
The case study was a great exercise and maybe they can incorporate it into the
grading via a peer assessed writing assignment.
Can't wait for Advanced Competitive Strategy!
- 39 reviews
- 37 completed
6 years, 10 months ago
Excellent production value, content, clear examples and breadth and depth of
coverage. First of a 2 course sequence. Engaging lecturer with a sense of
humor.
- 16 reviews
- 13 completed
6 years, 11 months ago
Nice course. Good pacing, and great explanations of quite sophisticated
concepts in applied game theory. The stunning production of the videos helped
Tobias drive his points home. Quizzes were challenging in the exact measure.
- 1 review
- 1 completed
7 years, 6 months ago
In a nutshell – this course was both educational and entertaining. During the
course when Tobias was talking about certain topics, he would subtly (or not
so subtly) change the background to the theme he was talking about. Keeping
you entertained but more importantly keeping you listening! It was a 6 week
course – with an end of the week quiz, followed by a final exam quiz. Some key
things that popped out of the course: \- We learned about the business ‘games’
played in competitive situations. \- Learned to understand the basis to why
some companies end up co-operating and reasons to commit to certain practices.
\- Understanding Complements – the economic consequences and why companies
choose to have complements. \- Introduction to Market Entry, monopolies and
strategies against and for entry. \- Understanding R & D, innovation and
competition influences. \- Reasoning behind product design, differentiation
and pricing. Overall it hel...
In a nutshell – this course was both educational and entertaining. During the
course when Tobias was talking about certain topics, he would subtly (or not
so subtly) change the background to the theme he was talking about. Keeping
you entertained but more importantly keeping you listening! It was a 6 week
course – with an end of the week quiz, followed by a final exam quiz. Some key
things that popped out of the course: \- We learned about the business ‘games’
played in competitive situations. \- Learned to understand the basis to why
some companies end up co-operating and reasons to commit to certain practices.
\- Understanding Complements – the economic consequences and why companies
choose to have complements. \- Introduction to Market Entry, monopolies and
strategies against and for entry. \- Understanding R & D, innovation and
competition influences. \- Reasoning behind product design, differentiation
and pricing. Overall it helped me get a simple grasp on ‘game’ theory applied
to businesses and the decisions they have to go through. It was an interesting
insight and the time invested is so small for something so big! I would
greatly recommend this for anyone interested in understanding how businesses
think and learning the process to certain decisions. Plus, Tobias has a great
humour when presenting the lectures.
- 2 reviews
- 2 completed
7 years, 6 months ago
What was your prior experience with the subject? \- None How does this course
compare to others? \- it s a well balanced course with a very interesting
subject What did you like/dislike about the course? \- loved the humor of Pof.
Tobias : ))
- 1 review
- 1 completed
7 years, 6 months ago
This is my first introduction to game theory and I enjoyed it. It is self
contained and the material was explained thouroughly and made simple. The
course setting was also well done, refreshing and kept me going. Overall good
course and I recommend it .
- 2 reviews
- 2 completed
7 years, 7 months ago
This was my first business course and my first game theory course, so the
ideas and concepts were far outside my experience. I had to work hard on the
quiz problems and go back and re-watch the lectures. I went through a LOT of
paper drawing matrices and game trees. All that said, I learned quite a lot
and enjoyed the challenge. The quizzes and final made you think. I liked the
lectures, too. They were low key and it felt like you were just chatting with
a friend who knew more about the subject than you do. I thought the whole
tablet thing worked well; made the whole experience more intimate than someone
speaking to, or in front of, slides.. I thought it was a great introduction
for those who may go on in this area or for someone like me for whom this will
be probably be my only course in competitive strategy.
- 2 reviews
- 1 completed
7 years, 7 months ago
nicely done by prof. kretschmer and staff loved prof. teaching from a chair
with i-pad highly informative material on the business world prisoners dilemma
can be quite valuable tx again maybe a follow-up more advanced course in
future
- 10 reviews
- 9 completed
7 years, 7 months ago
Prior Experience: Took Coursera's Game Theory Course 1) Easier than Game
Theory with minimum Mathematics definitions and probabilities 2) Present
concepts with real examples (German Airlines, Chocolate vendors to place
advertisements in ET movie, etc) 3) Final exam and quizzes are not
memorization of definitions. Some questions involve calculations to determine
the correct strategy of business owner. Conclusion: Very interesting course
and lecturer. Materials are well organized and easy to follow. Will definitely
pursue similar business courses.
- 86 reviews
- 77 completed
7 years, 8 months ago
This is a fantastic introductory course on the amazing world of Game Theory
and strategies in competitive settings. It is fantastic because it "looks &
feels" great - the material is masterly prepared, it's fresh and fun, the
lecturer is an amazing communicator, the videos never have a dull moment, the
contents are solid economic science, and you get out of it feeling like you
now know a lot about company interactions. Unfortunately, it's also
introductory because if you're like me and you've had advanced training in
Game Theory or related, this course will be too basic. I did have fun in the
course - but I did not really learn anything radically new. Not surprisingly,
the quizzes are indeed also a piece of cake. In sum, take the course if you
never had previous exposure to the subject - I guarantee you'll learn. If you
do know about this stuff, well... it can still be fun! I had a great time
remembering old concepts, and so can you.
- 2 reviews
- 1 completed
7 years, 8 months ago
A solid course.. Maybe not half as rigorous as Operations Management course by
Penn or Finance by UMich, but equally interesting.. The course it totally
self-contained, and the professor is very precise.. Lectures are shorter than
most management course lectures, but good enough for an introductory level
course.. The assignments are literal cakewalk..Just one thing, though I know
it's a basic course, given the super-interesting topic, the LMU team could
have given us a little more.. Maybe a couple of more weeks, or a bit more
explanations, trivia, or case studies!
- 10 reviews
- 6 completed
7 years, 7 months ago
Outstanding course. Outstanding content. Outstanding delivery. The videos are
10 minutes each with at most with the concept explained in the first couple of
minutes and then good examples provided. The professor has a clear succinct
manner in which he explains the ideas and then follows up with modern day
examples. The quizzes are not a cake walk if you dont listen to the lectures
clearly and pay attention but that should not be a problem since the lectures
are a pleasure to watch. Fantastic course. I just hope this team develops a
more advanced version of the concept of competitive strategy.
- 6 reviews
- 6 completed
7 years, 5 months ago
This is really a topic of my interest ! It is very well explained by the LMU
professor. He's really great! Cool Course!