Detailed programme Advanced Management Programme

Kickoff

We start the programme with a kick-off day with the goal of introducing the participants to:

the Advanced Management Programme in detail, with a special focus on the strategy & leadership track
the other participants: background & challenges
the learning objectives on both the individual & group levels

Strategy Track

In the strategy track, we make participants familiar with key concepts in strategic thinking.

Two key questions in strategic management are: How do we achieve a competitive advantage for our organisation? How do we out-perform our competitors? These questions deal with the content of strategy, and the answers point to the crucial characteristics of successful strategies.

Which leads us to another key question: How are great strategies formed? This question deals with the strategy process and with the topic of strategic planning. Can (and should) we plan strategically? And how far do we have to go with that planning exercise?

The questions are straightforward − but the answers are not!

Confusion often arises by the fact that strategy occurs at multiple levels. At the corporate level, strategy is about where to compete. At the business level, strategy is about how to compete. When business strategies are to be implemented, they need to be translated into functional strategies, such as a marketing strategy, an IT strategy, an HR strategy, and so on.

Furthermore, there is not only one way to think strategically: in academic surroundings as well as in practice, different scenarios have proven to be valuable.

The Advanced Management Programme provides you with a clear overview of useful frameworks on various levels. The challenge for the participants is to formulate their own conclusions from the course in line with their organisation’s specific focal points.

Here is an overview of the different modules:

Strategic overview (2 days) “Setting the strategic scenery”

Great strategies require an aligned and integrated approach. The overall guiding and integrating framework provides deep insight and a practical checklist for translating strategic intent into the business model, the value proposition and the business strategies. During this session, you will (re)discover the most powerful tools and models for developing and evaluating strategic options. Emphasis is on real-life applications and on experiencing the advantages, limitations and pitfalls of using these tools.

Competitive strategy (2 days) “How to win in the core”

One of the most powerful sources of sustained competitive advantage is having the skills and routines for implementing strategy in a highly efficient and effective manner. The Integrated Performance Management Framework provides an integrated approach toward strategic alignment. This revolutionary model also provides unique insights into how to strengthen an organisation in its growth and prepare it for future strategic challenges.

Corporate performance management (1 day) “How to create a high-performance organisation”

Creating a Strategy Focused Organisation to continuously feed and fine-tune the strategy is a big challenge: How do we set up the visioning process? How do we integrate strategy, programming and budgeting? What is the most efficient and effective way to measure success?

Marketing strategy (1 day) “How to master competitive dynamics”

No company operates in isolation − the success of every marketing action depends on the competitive context. In this session, we identify the steps to be taken to diagnose a competitive attack, recognise the different types of competitive attacks, determine whether a counter-reaction is necessary, and discuss different response strategies.

Strategic innovation (1 day) “From being better to being different”

There is growing recognition that, in order to escape cutthroat competition, firms need to depart from established industry recipes and radically change an industry’s rules-of-the-game by competing in a fundamentally different way. Strategic innovators target new customer groups with a novel value proposition, and they also often possess different resources and capabilities. Developing an appropriate competitive strategy requires major changes, and very often this takes time.

Strategic integration (1 day)

This session adopts a case-based approach to strategic marketing. By means of a first real-life case study, you learn how a firm can align its marketing strategy, market offering, distribution and communication mix, pricing, and organisation for maximum impact. Then, yet another real-life case study serves to illustrate the impact of marketing strategy on the decision-making process of senior managers in evaluating a major acquisition opportunity. Through the latter case study, you gain insight into how a large, global company evaluates a strategic acquisition opportunity.

Project defence (1 day)

The strategy track includes an individual project with the following goals:

Creating an integrated vision on strategy and its complementary management domains
Anchoring the newly acquired knowledge by relating back to your work environment
Stimulating reflection in your respective organisations with peer senior and top management
Exchanging best practices and pitfalls in the group

The project consists of two phases:

Workshops throughout the programme
Project defence at the end of the programme

Leadership track

Leaders do make a difference. But not all leaders are equally effective. The ability to map a strategic course and move the organisation along it is the critical test of leadership on every level. The way leaders lead determines where the organisation goes and how it gets there. For most organisations, leadership continues to be the greatest catalyst to fulfilling their real potential.

In the leadership track, we seek to sharpen your leadership role by providing you with the toolboxes and the self-insight necessary to leveraging all your potential.

There is no one and only way to lead. As a consequence, management gurus offer various scenarios for making the best of your talents. Our School’s slogan definitely applies here: “We don’t teach. We develop what is already inside you!”

The connecting thread running through the different leadership modules is a personal development plan that supports you in reflecting on your development needs. Peer-to-peer coaching will give you an external sounding board complementing your internal insights.

Here is an overview of the different modules:

Executive Decision Making (2 days) “Winning decisions: getting it right the first time”

Especially at the top level, decisions have to be made based on insufficient information and under pressure. Awareness of the impact of the dynamics that influence Executive Decision Making is a prerequisite to making the right choices based on the right arguments. For a leader, being right is one thing − and convincing others is at least as important. Therefore, how to “sell” your decisions is another topic of this challenging session.

Negotiation & Conflict Mediation (1,5 days) “Negotiating to create added value”

Negotiations are part of everyday life both within and between organisations. The so-called conflict model is no longer sustainable. Our international expert, Prof. Venter, is respected worldwide in the highest political, academic and business circles. He has produced pioneering work and made an active contribution to reform in South Africa following the apartheid regime. He is not only at home in the world of politics but also in the business world as a board meeting facilitator, as a designer of transformation processes, and as a negotiation advisor and trainer. The power of his unique approach comes from his profound psychological insight, his quest for win/win solutions, and his diplomacy and long-term vision.

Powerful Leadership (2 days) “Know yourself and your organisation”

What is the DNA of your organisation? How do we align organisational processes to create the right context for the business we are in? Prior to this module, every participant has the opportunity to participate in an assessment based on the Vlerick Learning Organisation Questionnaire. This report indicates strengths and opportunities for improvement at different levels throughout the organisation.

What is your DNA? How can you assess the DNA of your employees? Do you still have what it takes to be a good leader? Are you still in touch with your unique strengths and personal ambitions? Do you experience enough moments of flow? What about your own career management? It’s lonely at the top and constructive feedback is very rare. This module will give you valuable and energising inspiration for your personal development.

Complementary management domains

In addition to the strategy and leadership tracks, corporate finance and strategic HRM complete the senior manager’s toolbox.

Corporate finance (1,5 days): “How to maximise stakeholder value”

Good strategies maximise stakeholder value, and in most situations the dominant stakeholder is the shareholder. What kind of financing, investment and operational decisions can we take to maximise EVA? What is the impact of the financial situation on the strategy? Recent trends and best practices regarding M&As will also be discussed.

Strategic Human Resource Management (1,5 days): “ How to manage your talent chain”

Management is about getting things done − and, in the end, it is all about people! In this module, we elaborate on the strategic aspects of managing your "talent chain": finding, attracting and retaining good people in your organisation from a general management perspective. In addition, we focus on aligning HR, line and top management.