Strategy and Innovation

Manage Growth and Change with Innovative Strategies

Designed for senior managers and executives, this intellectually rich engagement program challenges you to explore the latest strategic tools and apply them directly to your business with the support and guidance of our world-class faculty.

You will develop and harness your own creative potential to deliver competitive advantage for your organization, and understand the different routes to successful innovation.

Benefits to You

Strategy provides the tools you need to lead your organization through turbulent times. You will be able to:

• Apply effective cutting-edge strategic tools to your business
• Foster innovation and creativity and harness them for competitive advantage
• Understand the current and future business environment and how to plan for the unexpected
• Assess and leverage your strategic organizational culture
• Effectively manage the change required to deliver on your vision
• Build your confidence and skill in operating in the strategic arena

Benefits to Your Organization

Strategy elevates good leaders to exceptional performers. This program will help participant organizations:

• Develop their organizational capacity to define and implement effective business strategies
• Capture the competitive benefits of innovation and creativity in the workplace
• Capitalize immediately on the deepened insights and skills brought back to the workplace
• Support their teams through periods of organizational change
• Develop a long-term plan for the sustainability of the organization

Program Format

Even the deepest learning comes to nothing, if intent is not turned into action. This program is designed as a highly interactive experience, using case studies, group projects, experiential activities and lectures. Throughout the program you will receive individual guidance from leading-edge faculty, who are available beyond their session times.

Topics Covered

• Strategy Fundamentals
• New Tools in Strategy
• Creativity & Innovation
• Understanding your Political Landscape
• Organizational Culture
• Change Management

Program Content

• Core concepts of strategy: Classic macro environment scanning (PEST, SWOT, Porter’s 5 Forces)
• New Tools in Strategy: Blue Ocean Strategy, Business Model Canvas and Lean Launch Pad, The End of Competitive Advantage, Playing to Win
• What does it mean to be a creative leader? Key skills and techniques to develop individual creativity for business impact
• Case Studies in Innovation: How very different companies successfully innovate: Gore, Apple, IBM, 3M, Lockheed Martin
• Systems for innovation and appreciating failure
• Evaluating, understanding and managing uncertainty in the business environment
• External risk management and reducing the impact of crises: horizon scanning, risk reputation management and effective stakeholder engagement
• Scenario approaches to the development of strategy
• What does it mean to be a ‘great place to work’ and why does it matter? Understanding your organizational culture and leveraging it for success
• Effectively managing change

Strategy Project

This program is designed to build applied skills in strategy, innovation and change management. To this purpose, you will engage in a Strategy Project that focuses on the future of your organization. The project will consist of:

• Opportunity statement: map out a significant strategic direction or opportunity for your company, and describe its strategic importance
• Analysis: develop a business case in the face of your chosen challenge or opportunity
• Recommendations: draft a proposal on how to tackle your plan, and outline the expected strategic outcomes

During the week you will receive one-on-one time with a faculty advisor to support your project. At the end of the program you will present your proposal to the group, and get feedback for moving it forward in your organization.