A business needs both a purpose and a direction if it is to survive, prosper, and grow. Responsibility for defining the business’s overall purpose and setting its direction lies with the most senior people in the organization (typically the CEO and the Board of Directors). This responsibility is called Strategic Management, which involves the guidance of the entire organization over the medium to long term. Strategic managers must have a good understanding of all of the functional areas of the business (e.g. marketing, finance, operations, human resource management, etc.) and how they are connected.
Students of Strategic Management will learn how organizations determine their mission, analyze their external and internal environments, and make choices about how best to compete in their industry and in a dynamic world. The faculty within the strategic management area possess an eclectic mix of general management skills and experience: entrepreneurship, economics, consulting, venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, management of intellectual property, public management, and business-government relations.
U of T Scarborough's Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Specialist Program in Strategic Management, with optional co-op, comprises two streams:
- The Management Strategy stream gives students a broad exposure to all functional areas of management, preparing them for senior management roles in private sector, public sector, non-for-profit organizations, and management consulting firms.
- The Entrepreneurship stream provides students with the tools to take a self-employment or entrepreneurial career path, including start-ups, taking over a family business, or working in consulting.
Sample Strategic Management Courses
For a full list of required courses to complete a Specialist in Management and Strategic Management, please refer to the Academic Calendar.
Career Options
U of T Scarborough’s BBA degree specializing in Strategic Management allows our students to gain experience by applying the latest management and strategic management theories to real-world problems both inside and outside the classroom. Sample roles of work term students and recent graduates include:
- Financial Analyst
- Business Analyst
- Product Strategist
- Project Analyst
- Project Management Coordinator
- Consultant
- Business Development Coordinator
- Strategic Initiatives Associate
- Consumer Insight Analyst
Strategic Management students secure co-op and full-time roles with successful companies such as:
- Ontario Public Service
- PwC Canada
- Rogers Communication
- Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan
- Monitor Deloitte
- City of Toronto
- Toronto Transit Commission
- Samsung Electronics Canada Inc.
- Ontario Power Generation
More Career Options: Program Tipsheet