The Strat-Tutor Software Supplement for Students

Available with the 11th edition is a third generation software product called Strat-Tutor that is, in effect, a full-fledged, computer-assisted, interactive study guide for the whole text. Students can access the Strat-Tutor software free at the publisher’s Web site for the book www.mhhe.com/thompson. It consists of two main sections:

The Self-Testing Feature
The test section of Strat-Tutor contains (1) a 25-question self-test for each text chapter, (2) a 50-question self-exam covering the material in Chapters 1–6, and (3) a 50-question self-exam covering the material in Chapters 7–11. The 11 chapter tests consist of an assortment of true–false, fill-in-the-blank, and challenging multiple-answer questions that cover the text presentation rather thoroughly. These tests were deliberately made demanding (given their "open-book" nature) so as to require careful reading and good comprehension of the material. When the student completes each test, Strat-Tutor automatically grades the answers, provides a test score, points the test score in the student’s personal "grade book," indicates the questions with wrong answers, and directs students to the text pages where the correct answers can be found. Questions incorrectly answered can be attempted as many times as needed to arrive at the right answer. In addition, we created conventional (single- answer) multiple-choice tests covering Chapters 1–6 (50 questions) that students can use to prepare for in-class exams given by the instructor.

Used properly and in conjunction with each other, we think these tests will provide students with a welcome and effective way to gauge their readiness for the course instructor’s own examinations on the 11 chapters. None of the questions on Strat-Tutor correspond to those on the instructor’s test bank.

The Study Questions and Case Preparation Guides
We’ve all experienced poor and uneven student preparation of cases for class discussion. Sometimes it’s because of inadequate effort, but more often it is because of confusion over exactly what analysis to do and/or inexperience in using the tools of strategic analysis to arrive at solid recommendations. To give students some direction in what to think about in preparing a case for class, Strat-Tutor provides study questions for all 36 cases in the 11th edition. To help them learn how to use the concepts and analytical tools properly, there’s an interactive guide (not a solution) for use in preparing 15 of the cases. Each study guide has been tailored to fit the specific issues/problems and analytical requirements posed by the case. We have scrupulously avoided creating one generic study guide because cases in strategic management cut across a broad range of issues and problems and entail diverse analytical requirements (strategy analysis in single-business situations is fundamentally different from strategy analysis of diversified companies; cases where the spotlight is on developing a strategy are fundamentally different from cases where the main issues revolve around strategy implementation and execution).

The Strat-Tutor case preparation guides provide:

The interactive design of the case preparation guides keeps the ball squarely in the student’s court to do the analysis, to decide what story the numbers tell about a company’s situation and performance, and to think through the options to arrive at recommendations. Strat-Tutor is thus not a crutch or "answer file" for the cases; rather, it is a vehicle for using the PC to tutor students in strategic thinking and helping them learn to correctly apply the tools and concepts of strategic management. We’ve endeavored to design the case preparation guides to coach students in how to think strategically about business problems/issues, to drill them in the methods of strategic analysis, and to promote sound business judgment. You can be assured that the case notes students develop with the aid of Strat-Tutor will represent their work, not ours.

To decide whether Strat-Tutor makes sense as a requirement or recommended option in your course, we suggest going to the Web site for the textwww.mhhe.com/thompson, reviewing one or two of the chapter tests and case preparation guides, and perusing their contents to get a feel for the caliber of the software and its fit with your instructional approach. Strat-Tutor utilizes a Windows format (familiar to most students) and is very user-friendly; the software must be used on computers equipped with Windows 3.1x, Windows 95/98, or Windows NT.