Course details

Overview ?

Introduction

Why do some companies appear to have little difficulty in growing and changing whilst other companies decline and even collapse? Why do companies fail in markets that are showing considerable growth? Why is it that in many businesses 80% of the total available profits are earned by just the top 3 or 4 companies?

The answer is simple and straightforward - but it is not easy. Companies that grow and change are companies that know how to build robust strategies that secure and sustain competitive advantage. The concepts of strategy and competitive advantage are at the very heart of business success. This has always been the case. The big challenge in the 21st century is that almost all businesses are becoming more complex, more competitive and more international

This course focuses on these two central and vital concepts – strategy and competitive advantage. The course is relevant to managers in every part of the organisation because increasingly managers need to understand now their part of the business contributes to these two important issues – building a robust strategy and sustaining competitive advantage

The principal highlights of the course are:

Introduction to leading-edge thinking and best practice in strategy building
Guidance in developing ourselves from operational to strategic managers
DVD presentations by world-class scholars and practitioners
Case studies for class work and discussion
Case presentations based on the personal experience of the course leader

Objectives

The central objectives of this course are as follows:

To ensure that participants understand the concepts of strategy and strategic management
To understand the main frameworks within which robust strategies can be created
To understand the linkage between strategy building and implementation
To understand the meaning of the concept of competitive advantage
To ensure that strategy is changed and developed to create a sustained level of high performance
To enable participants to understand how their specialist parts of the organisation contribute to strategy building and achieving sustainable competitive advantage

Training Methodology

The training process is based on a carefully planned mix of highly focused input from the course leader - with practical illustration of tools and concepts; group work on small-scale case studies; interaction and group discussion; and group work on a major case study. The course manual will serve as a toolkit for subsequent everyday use. There will also be presentations on DVD given by acknowledged world-leading authorities on the subject. The principles and approaches to strategy and strategic management will be illustrated by real-life cases in which the course leader has been personally involved

Organisational Impact

Much better decision-taking and time and resource allocation - leading to better organizational and individual performance
Introduction of strategic thinking into new levels of the organization
Top management having more confidence in the ability and judgement of its operating managers
Operational managers will have a better appreciation of the need and content of organizational change
Managers will understand how and why change is necessary to achieve sustainable competitive advantage
Managers will implement strategic programmes and projects more effectively

Personal Impact

Delegates will achieve the following byt attending this course

Increasing career flexibility (vertically and horizontally)
Accelerated thinking speed and problem resolution for all difficult dilemmas
Improved understanding of the impact of operational specialization on corporate strategy
Improved teamworking capabilities in analyzing and solving strategic problems
Improved skills in ensuring most effective impact of individual specializations
Greater motivation and proactivity

SEMINAR OUTLINE

DAY 1

Business Strategy, Strategic Management and Strategic Choice

Generic Competitive Strategies
Structural Analysis of Industries and Companies
“Competitive Positioning” versus “Blue Ocean” approaches
How value migrates over Time
Customer Selection and the Principle of Differentiated Customer Engagement
The Integrated Supply-Demand Chain as the Basis of 21st Century Strategic Thinking
Choice and Complexity – The Fundamental Problem in Strategic Thinking and Planning
Mini-Case on Strategic Choice

DAY 2

How to Build a Robust Strategy

The Interface of External and Internal Analysis: Trade-Offs and Balance
The Concept of Shareholder Value and its Relationship to Strategic Planning
Financial and Non-Financial Aspects of Strategy, Objectives and Mechanisms
Advanced Application of the “Balanced Scorecard” Principles
Diagnosing Strategic Problems and Opportunities
Strategic Choice – Offensive versus Defensive Strategic Programmes
How to Build and Use the “5-page Strategy Framework”
Mini-Case on Strategic Choice

DAY 3

The Concept of Competitive Advantage and the Ways of Securing Competitive Advantage

Review of the tools used so far
Competitive Advantage through Cost Leadership
Competitive Advantage through Product/Service Differentiation
Competitive Advantage through Differentiation of the Business Model
Combining Cost Leadership with Differentiation: Singapore Airlines Mini-Case
Balancing Cost Leadership and Differentiation in Delivering Value to Customers
Introduction and Briefing for the main Case Study
First-phase group work on the main Case Study

DAY 4

Strategic Risk and Global Strategic Management

Identifying and Assessing Risk and Uncertainty
Tools and Techniques in Managing Risk and Uncertainty
The Essence of Globalization and Global Business Strategy
Globalization – Managing the Strategic shift from between National/International/Global phases
Globalization – Managing Organizational Change and the Human Resource dimension
How to Build and Manage a Strategic Planning team
Managing the Interface of Strategy and Global Operations
Second-phase work on the main Case Study

DAY 5

building tomorrow’s organization out of today’s organization

Final-phase work on the main Case Study
Group Presentations of the main Case Study
Strategic Renewal: The Life-Cycle Principle Applied to Business Strategy
The Importance of Vision and Values in Driving Strategic Development and Organizational Change
The Senior Executive as Strategic Leader and Communicator
The Senior Executive as Coach and Mentor - Getting Strategic Thinking into all Levels of Management
Conclusions (1) - Building Tomorrow’s Organisation out of Today’s organisation
Conclusions (2) - The Corporate and Individual Value of Strategic Thinking