{
  "id": "competency:mba-strategy",
  "code": "CDU-BUS-MBAS-910",
  "level": "MBA",
  "name": "MBA — Strategy",
  "faculty": "Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management",
  "lineage": [
    {
      "institution": "Wits Business School",
      "year": 2016,
      "note": "supposed to be — the strategy stream of the MBA"
    }
  ],
  "researchProject": "Where a venture should compete: concentration, portfolio position, customer value and price",
  "description": "Market concentration and merger screening, the growth–share portfolio, customer lifetime value and the inverse-elasticity price — the four numbers behind where to compete and what to charge.",
  "syllabus": [
    "Industry structure: market shares, the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index, merger screening",
    "Portfolio strategy: the BCG growth–share matrix, relative market share",
    "Customer strategy: retention, margin multiple, lifetime value, the acquisition-cost ceiling",
    "Pricing strategy: the Lerner index, price elasticity, the optimal markup"
  ],
  "reference": {
    "HHI": "Σ s_i² over every firm, shares in percent (0–10,000); unconcentrated < 1,500, moderately 1,500–2,500, highly > 2,500 (US DOJ/FTC Horizontal Merger Guidelines 2010, §5.3)",
    "Merger delta": "ΔHHI = 2 · s_a · s_b for the two merging firms",
    "BCG": "relative market share = own share ÷ largest rival share; high growth ≥ 10 % a year; star · cash cow · question mark · dog (Henderson, BCG 1970)",
    "CLV": "m · r / (1 + d − r): margin per period m, retention r, discount d (Gupta & Lehmann 2003)",
    "Lerner": "(P − MC) / P = 1 / |ε|, so P* = MC · |ε| / (|ε| − 1) for |ε| > 1 (Lerner 1934)"
  },
  "role": "You are a strategy partner explaining where a client should compete and what to charge. Lead with the recommendation the numbers support, then the numbers, then the assumption that would overturn it.",
  "feeUsd": 1,
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "qualification": {
    "award": "MBA",
    "nqfLevel": 9,
    "qualificationType": "Professional Master's Degree (HEQSF qualification type 9b)",
    "totalCredits": 180,
    "minCreditsAtExitLevel": 120,
    "iscedFields": [
      "041"
    ],
    "standards": [],
    "registration": "not registered"
  },
  "modules": [
    {
      "code": "CDU-BUS-MBAS-910-901",
      "title": "Coursework — the executable units",
      "nqfLevel": 9,
      "credits": 60,
      "prerequisites": [],
      "coRequisites": [],
      "outcomes": [
        "answer every unit of the qualification against its published reference, with the working shown"
      ],
      "assessment": {
        "formative": [
          "worked examples re-run against the published reference",
          "seeded practice scenarios, deterministic per (pan, unit, attempt)"
        ],
        "summative": "every unit passed once through the seeded assessment (the seeded assessment room)",
        "passMark": 50,
        "subminimum": 40,
        "moderation": "internally assessed by the unit itself — its reference implementation is the marker; the working is published so anyone can re-run the mark (D-13.1 — no model marks anything)"
      },
      "unitIds": [
        "hhi_concentration",
        "bcg_portfolio",
        "customer_lifetime",
        "lerner_pricing"
      ],
      "notionalHours": 600
    },
    {
      "code": "CDU-BUS-MBAS-910-902",
      "title": "Research report",
      "nqfLevel": 9,
      "credits": 120,
      "prerequisites": [
        "CDU-BUS-MBAS-910-901"
      ],
      "coRequisites": [],
      "outcomes": [
        "Where a venture should compete: concentration, portfolio position, customer value and price"
      ],
      "assessment": {
        "formative": [
          "worked examples re-run against the published reference",
          "seeded practice scenarios, deterministic per (pan, unit, attempt)"
        ],
        "summative": "the research report, assessed against the qualification’s published reference block",
        "passMark": 50,
        "subminimum": 40,
        "moderation": "internally assessed by the unit itself — its reference implementation is the marker; the working is published so anyone can re-run the mark (D-13.1 — no model marks anything)"
      },
      "unitIds": [],
      "notionalHours": 1200
    }
  ],
  "units": [
    {
      "id": "hhi_concentration",
      "name": "Market concentration and merger screening",
      "answers": "How concentrated is this market, and would merging two of its firms move it into a higher scrutiny band?",
      "example": {
        "shares": [
          30,
          25,
          20,
          15,
          10
        ],
        "mergingA": 2,
        "mergingB": 3
      },
      "reference": "Herfindahl–Hirschman Index; US DOJ/FTC Horizontal Merger Guidelines (2010) §5.3 bands; shares are normalised to sum to 100",
      "signature": {
        "input": {
          "shares": {
            "type": "number[]",
            "describe": "Each firm's share (percent, or any weights — normalised to 100)"
          },
          "mergingA": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Position (1-based) of the first merging firm, 0 for none",
            "min": 0,
            "max": 50,
            "default": 0
          },
          "mergingB": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Position (1-based) of the second merging firm, 0 for none",
            "min": 0,
            "max": 50,
            "default": 0
          }
        },
        "output": {
          "hhi": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "HHI before any merger, 0–10,000"
          },
          "band": {
            "type": "string",
            "describe": "unconcentrated · moderately concentrated · highly concentrated"
          },
          "delta": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "ΔHHI from the merger, 0 when none is named"
          },
          "postMergerHhi": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "HHI after the merger"
          },
          "postMergerBand": {
            "type": "string",
            "describe": "the band after the merger"
          }
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "bcg_portfolio",
      "name": "The growth–share portfolio",
      "answers": "Is this business unit a star, a cash cow, a question mark or a dog — and why?",
      "example": {
        "marketGrowthPct": 14,
        "ownSharePct": 18,
        "largestRivalSharePct": 12
      },
      "reference": "Henderson (1970), the BCG growth–share matrix: relative market share ≥ 1 is high; market growth ≥ 10 % a year is high",
      "signature": {
        "input": {
          "marketGrowthPct": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Market growth, percent a year",
            "min": -50,
            "max": 200
          },
          "ownSharePct": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "The unit's own market share, percent",
            "min": 0.01,
            "max": 100
          },
          "largestRivalSharePct": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "The largest rival's share, percent",
            "min": 0.01,
            "max": 100
          }
        },
        "output": {
          "relativeShare": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Own share ÷ largest rival share"
          },
          "quadrant": {
            "type": "string",
            "describe": "star · cash cow · question mark · dog"
          }
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "customer_lifetime",
      "name": "Customer lifetime value",
      "answers": "What is a retained customer worth today, and so what is the most it is worth paying to win one?",
      "example": {
        "marginPerPeriod": 240,
        "retentionRate": 0.8,
        "discountRate": 0.12
      },
      "reference": "Gupta & Lehmann (2003): CLV = m · r / (1 + d − r), margins at the end of each period, constant retention and discount",
      "signature": {
        "input": {
          "marginPerPeriod": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Contribution margin a customer yields per period",
            "min": 0
          },
          "retentionRate": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Share of customers retained each period, 0–0.99",
            "min": 0,
            "max": 0.99
          },
          "discountRate": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Discount rate per period, 0–1",
            "min": 0,
            "max": 1
          }
        },
        "output": {
          "marginMultiple": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "r ÷ (1 + d − r)"
          },
          "clv": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Lifetime value of one retained customer"
          },
          "maxAcquisitionCost": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "The acquisition cost at which winning the customer breaks even (= CLV)"
          }
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "lerner_pricing",
      "name": "The inverse-elasticity price",
      "answers": "Given marginal cost and how sensitive demand is to price, what price maximises profit, and how much market power does it imply?",
      "example": {
        "marginalCost": 60,
        "elasticity": 2.5
      },
      "reference": "Lerner (1934): (P − MC)/P = 1/|ε|; the profit-maximising price P* = MC · |ε| / (|ε| − 1), defined for elastic demand |ε| > 1",
      "signature": {
        "input": {
          "marginalCost": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Marginal cost per unit",
            "min": 0
          },
          "elasticity": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Absolute price elasticity of demand, > 1",
            "min": 1.05,
            "max": 50
          }
        },
        "output": {
          "optimalPrice": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "P* = MC · ε / (ε − 1)"
          },
          "lernerIndex": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "(P − MC) / P = 1 / ε"
          },
          "markupOnCost": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "(P − MC) / MC"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}