Welcome to Competitive Strategy from LMU in Munich and thank you so much for being here. In this course, we're going to learn how to analyze competitive situations in a structured way. We're going to train how to make business decisions taking potential reactions of partners and opponents into account. And we're going to look at real firms and try to understand why they did what they did. So let me briefly go with you through the outline of this course. In the first three modules, I'm going to introduce you to the theoretical concepts and ideas that we need to successfully analyze competitive situations. But no worries. We're going to be using lots of examples and illustrations which make the theory easy to understand and much more fun. In modules four, five and six we are going to use what we have learned so far to discuss the most important topics in strategic management, namely market entry, research and development, pricing, and product design. Every module in this course is going to be structured in a similar format. We begin each module with an introductory video just like the one you're watching now. The intro is followed by five to eight video lectures. These are grouped into sub modules, or sparks, as we call them. At the end of each module we wrap up the topics we discussed, and we put them into a broader context. Together we are pioneering a truly new course format that gives you much more flexibility in accessing the course content. So, if you're already familiar with a certain topic, feel free to skip it. If you're not sure about it just check out the corresponding wrap-up, because there we're going to summarize the learnings of each module. If you want to focus on a certain aspect you can directly jump into the right modular spark. There are going to be plenty of opportunities for you to challenge yourself and to test whether you really understand the concepts covered in the course. Each video lecture is going to contain at least one video in, one in-video question. At the end of each spark, there is a short quiz. And at the end of each module, there is another, more challenging quiz. And on top of that, there is a final exam quiz that covers the content of the entire course. The content of this course is based on some great textbooks on competition and strategy and we're going to provide you with the respective references. However, there is no need to do any readings. To make the course lively for you we're going to illustrate the content with examples and analyze real life firms. So, in this context, we make us of stylized facts, that do not necessarily reflect reality. The course material is prepared for educational purposes only. We do neither intend to make a judgmental statement about any firm, nor harm or highlight any particular firm. So let me end by saying that I'm really excited about this course, and that I'm very happy to have you here. So please do stay on and let's get directly started with the first video lecture. See you. [BLANK_AUDIO]