Unlocking Strategic Competitive Advantage

During this course, you’ll progress through a series of learning objectives designed to update and advance your strategic thinking, equiping you with practical tools and concepts for unlocking, and gaining new, competitive advantages.

You’ll be able to contribute valuable insights to senior-level strategy discussions about the direction of your business, conduct strategic analyses independently and lead teams through the process.

During this course, you will learn how to:

Reboot your strategic mindset

• Review and re-evaluate competitive advantage principles
• Clarify your strategic objectives

Spot new growth opportunities

• Identify high-potential markets
• Uncover market growth areas that will maximise value for your organisation
• Identify your truly valuable markets and meaningful strategic objectives

Analyse your competitors

• Identify the true range of your competition
• Systematically dissect your competitor's strategies
• Pinpoint your competition's strengths and weaknesses
• Develop compelling value propositions for customers

Target the right segments 

• Qualify the value of your potential customer segments and uncover those truly valuable to your business
• Develop a defensible and persuasive case for senior stakeholders in your organisation around which segments to retain, enter or exit

Test positioning and messaging 

• Test whether your value propositions are as compelling as you think and really meet your customer needs
• Qualify the value of your potential of your customer segments
• Develop a persuasive case regarding which customer segments to retain, enter or exit

Brand strategically 

• Explore how to position yourself in a customer-compelling way
• Understand how to reinforce and revitalise your branded market position(s)
• Discover strategies for expanding into new markets with existing and new brands
• Use real-world checks to ensure your brand propositions truly resonate

By taking part in this course, you will have a range of opportunities to get to know your class. You will also be invited to a course dinner, offering you the chance to come together with a wider cohort of short-course learners to help expand your professional network.

There will also be a full-afternoon excursion to Manchester United - including a private tour of Old Trafford, a strategy-application seminar and a private dinner at the football club.

Throughout the course, you will:

• Learn from world-leading academics and guest speakers who bring cutting-edge practical knowledge into the classroom
• Collaborate with other senior professionals from diverse industries participating on the course
• Apply learning directly to your own organisational challenges
• Engage in lively discussions, workshops, and exercises that bridge theory and real-world practice

Stand-Out Learning Features

• Applied Learning - Work in an environment designed to foster active engagement, where your facilitator draws on the collective experience of your cohort to enrich the learning
• Peer Knowledge Exchange - Benefit from insights from professionals across sectors, helping you grow your leadership mindset and market strategy skills
• Reflective Practice - Take a rare pause from your daily routine to reflect on your own strategy capabilities and challenges, with support from a top-tier academic expert
• Professional Networking - Build long-lasting professional relationships with peers from a variety of backgrounds, expanding your business network and perspective
• Personal Growth - Deepen your self-awareness and discover how to sharpen your core market strategy competencies in changing business landscapes
• Behavioural Change - Embrace new mindsets and adopt evidence-based practices that will enhance your decision-making and strategy effectiveness

Learning Continues Beyond the Classroom

Before, during and after the course, you’ll have access to our virtual learning environment, where you’ll find:

• Pre-course preparation
• Slide decks and case studies
• Recommended readings and resources

And to support your long-term growth, you’ll continue to access these materials, plus the University of Manchester’s online library, for up to 12 months after course completion.

By the end of the course, you will:

• Think like a strategy leader – Speak confidently and contribute meaningfully to high level strategy discussions
• Master essential frameworks – Understand and apply proven tools for market analysis, segmentation, and positioning
• Make data-informed decisions – Choose the right segments and strategies based on evidence, not guesswork
• Build meaningful customer value – Advance filtered, compelling propositions tailored for your target audiences

Plus, we expect your organisation to be more:

• Confident that it can be a market leader with strong competitive advantages
• Competent in strategic analysis and planning
• Current with best practices in strategic thinking
• Equipped to rethink and refresh existing strategies in teams

This programme is ideal for managers and senior professionals who shape or influence strategy in their organisation, or are about to step into that role.

Whether you work in the private, public, or non-profit sector, you'll gain the tools to assess competitors, craft targeted value propositions, and make confident strategic choices.

Professor Bryan Lukas holds a Chair in Marketing and is a thought-leader in competitive strategy, including segmentation, targeting and positioning.

In addition to achieving 17 teaching awards, Bryan has worked with over 1,300 executives across open and custom leadership programmes. As a consulting academic, Bryan has been an advisor to management in a variety of manufacturing industries and service sectors. He also has served as an expert witness in numerous legal proceedings internationally.

On completing the course, you’ll earn the Manchester Professional Certificate in Unlocking Strategic Competitive Advantage, plus a digital certificate and badge you can share on LinkedIn.

Pathway to a diploma

• Complete any four short courses from our executive short courses portfolio to earn the Manchester Professional Diploma in Leadership
• Includes three executive coaching sessions to apply your learning and shape your personal development strategy

Advance to the Global MBA

If you apply to the Global MBA within five years, you may be exempt from one elective (please mention this course in your application).

If you choose to stay in Manchester during your time on one of our short business courses, you can benefit from preferential rates at the Hyatt Hotel, a modern and elegant hotel located at the heart of our campus and adjoining the Executive Education centre.

Learn more about the Hyatt Hotel >>

View frequently asked questions about our short business courses here >>