Leadership and Management

“When the effective leader is finished with his work, the people say it happened naturally.” - Lao Tse

The primary objective of the “Leadership and Management” course is to provide a blend of the theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary to improve each participant’s leadership abilities.

Each segment is closely tied to the academic literature in the areas of leadership, organizations, leadership in organizations, strategic leadership, and ethics. Participants wishing to enhance their learning experience may, at any time, complete additional self-directed research and reading in these topics.

Topics to be covered include:

• Basic and advanced leadership skills
• The nature of management
• Power and influence
• Strategic leadership
• Culture and leadership
• Leadership and ethics

Participants will learn about the nature of leadership, the traits often associated with effective leaders, and some techniques aimed at improving leadership skills. Instructional materials describe the basic differences between management and leadership, and what is expected of an individual who must act both as a manager and as a leader. We will also review the use of studies in leadership development, discuss how leaders are affected by globalization and culture, and learn key problem-solving and team-building techniques.

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Leading Transformational Change

The ability to lead change is often the deciding factor in the success of an organization. Companies that can spot opportunities and reinvent themselves quickly and efficiently have an enormous advantage in the marketplace. This course leverages the skills learned in “Leadership and Management” to show participants how to be effective leaders through:

• Identifying specific behaviors that drive exceptional leaders in times of dramatic change
• Examining four basic leadership styles and their impact in creating lasting change
• Understanding key components of transformational change
• Learning about the power of “intentionality” and how it differs from expectations
• Managing the “inner game” of leadership and how to avoid sabotaging our desired intentions
• Understanding accountability and what the essence of ownership means for transformation leaders

Participants will be shown how they can blend these leadership skill sets when working with their direct reports, peers and key stakeholders. As a result, they will have an expanded "tool chest" of options with which to deliver and execute against their business objectives.

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Ideation/Innovation

Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited with the oft-quoted remark on innovation, “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” Unfortunately, many organizations realize, after putting significant effort and money into the creation of a new “mousetrap,” that success is neither guaranteed nor immediate.

This course leads participants through many of the problems companies face when identifying innovative products and bringing them to market. The following topics will be explored:

• The various theories of innovation put forth by some of the best thinkers of the 21st century
• How the best-run organizations have developed sustainable and systematic approaches to innovation
• A roadmap for innovation, and an introduction to many of the specific tools of innovation
• Ways to identify innovators hidden inside your organization
• Approaches for overcoming obstacles to innovation and for driving a cultural transformation that unleashes your innovation potential
• The link between innovation and other approaches to problem solving such as Lean Six Sigma
• Case studies of innovative products that failed to gain market acceptance, and why

The instructor will encourage participation through discussion forums, wherein the participant will be expected to apply the concepts presented in the presentations to their individual work environments, draw parallels between their work and the presentations, and discuss the application of course materials to issues and challenges in their workplaces.

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Finance for Non-Financial Managers

As recent world events have shown, the discipline of corporate finance can be complex and confusing. Many professionals spend their entire careers focusing on finance. However, the primary objective of this course is to provide participants with the financial insights needed to be an effective manager. The role of financial management in creating value will be the framework for the course.

The course is based on the premise that businesses attempt to maximize value. The impact of risk and time will be discussed, as well as how returns reward investors for risk and time. Participants will also learn the basic foundations of accounting, such as revenue and cost recognition, cash versus accrual accounting, and internal controls. Participants will then be taught how to understand financial statements, including the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows; participants will also learn how a business is financed. Debt and equity will be explored, with an emphasis on recognizing the costs of each and the appropriate times for the use of each.

The course will also cover how decisions are made to hire people and invest in assets, specifically looking at the benefits of investing versus the cost of financial capital. In addition, the course will examine the concepts of revenue, costs, and net income. A business’s operating and cash flow cycles will be examined, noting the challenges of managing liquidity. Cost-volume-profit relationships will be explored as participants are encouraged to embrace cost-benefit analyses and break-even analyses.

Finally, participants will explore performance assessment through financial statement analysis. Participants will learn to assess risk, return, efficiency, and competitiveness with ratios, trends, and benchmarking.

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Process Management and Continuous Improvement

Lean process management has perhaps been practiced from the dawn of time by individuals interested in efficiency. Today, it has evolved into an art and a science, and is widely used in Japanese manufacturing techniques, the Six Sigma movement, and other avenues for maximizing value and minimizing waste.

This course provides participants with a blend of the theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary to embrace the concepts behind process management, encompassing the topics of balanced scorecard and the principle Y f(x) and an overview of “lean” and “Six Sigma to drive improvement on those processes.

By the end of the course, participants should be able to define the terms “lean” and “Six Sigma” and should have gained an understanding and appreciation of the differences and similarities between the two. Participants will understand the various elements of waste and the difference between “value-added,” “non-value-added,” and “required non-value-added” activities. Participants will understand and be able to explain the six sigma problem solving methodology of DMAIC. Students will also be able to define the 4 quadrants of balanced scorecard and its application to process management.

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Communicating Effectively as Managers

Companies consistently name writing and speaking competencies as major factors in hiring and promotion decisions. Managers who communicate effectively greatly enhance their ability to achieve desired results for both themselves and their organizations. Today’s rapidly developing communication technologies also expose managers and their firms to significant reputational and operational risks. This course will take a strategic approach to management communication, providing participants with the tools they need to immediately improve their workplace communication. Topics include:

1. Developing a strategic approach to communication
2. Understanding the needs of business audiences
3. Organizing a message to get results
4. Writing for clarity
5. Managing tone to build and keep relationships
6. Delivering bad news effectively
7. Planning and structuring a presentation
8. Developing high-impact presentation delivery skills

The course will offer a framework for making effective communication choices in varied situations. The instructors will share examples to highlight best communication practices when writing and speaking. Participants will learn how to design high-value business messages that convey information in clear, concise, and easy-to-follow ways for diverse audiences. Woven throughout the course will be discussion of the risks the current digital environment poses for business communicators today, as well as suggested ways to mitigate those risks.

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Marketing for Managers

Marketing for Managers will explore the fundamentals behind successful marketing. The student will benefit by acquiring the basic marketing skills, tools and techniques to move from product concept through to the creation of successful brands. This course will provide an understanding of the components that make up compelling marketing plans and will help the student discover creative way to apply marketing principles and practices to compete successfully in today’s business environment. Since brands are successful only if someone buys them, consumer behavior will be explored as well as other topics such as how a product becomes a brand, how to determine the optimal price for your product, the effective use of distribution channels, how to best utilize marketing communications including how to apply social media strategies and tools to the overall marketing strategy and measurements for success.

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Decision Making and Performance Measures

In a world marketplace that is changing at an accelerating pace, organizations, managers, and teams of individual workers are bombarded with new and complex challenges. They must acquire and make sense of vast amounts of information in order to make key decisions that impact performance, competitiveness and innovation, and their very survival.

This course introduces participants to a blend of theoretical knowledge and historical perspectives on decision making, and sharpens their perspective on the practical skills needed to apply the concepts behind decision making. We will focus on how decisions actually happen as both an art and a science, recognizing and appreciating the value of analysis and emotions.

By the end of the course, participants should:

• Be aware of the importance of systematic and effective decision making to organizational success
• Utilize the various models, tools, and decision-making processes for a given situation in order to generate effective actions and solutions
• Be more aware of their own and others’ decision-making styles, biases, and framework and be better equipped to manage the influence of those factors in the decision-making process
• Appreciate the importance of decision making for high-performance teamwork, and understand how to use decision-making tools and processes for team problem-solving and innovation
• Understand and apply decision-making processes with awareness of business ethics

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Critical Thinking and Ethics

The primary objective of the “Critical Thinking and Ethics” course is to provide the participant with a blend of theoretical knowledge and practical acumen necessary to improve each participant’s skills in critical thinking and ethical reasoning.

Each segment is closely tied to the academic literature in the areas of Informal Logic, Critical Thinking and Reasoning, Moral Philosophy, Business Ethics, Stakeholder Theory, and Ethics in Organizations. Participants may, at any time, complete self-directed research and reading in these topics, in addition to the lectures, as a way to enhance the learning experience.

Topics to be covered include:

• Identification of common logical fallacies
• Basic critical thinking in practice
• Philosophical approaches to the Moral Point of View
• Virtue Ethics
• Utilitarianism
• Deontology
• Stakeholder Theory
• Applied ethics in international business

Participants will learn about the nature of logical reasoning and how easily identifiable fallacies can creep into arguments. Participants will also learn the application of systematic moral philosophy to ethical issues in business through the decisions procedures of virtue ethics, utilitarianism, deontology, and stakeholder theory. Instructional materials describe the basic differences between an aretaic, hedonic, and rights-based approaches to morality and how each system requires quite different actions from individual in business. We will also review the nearly ubiquitous and novel approach to business ethics known as "stakeholder theory", and this will entail some work on defining stakeholders and prioritizing these groups. We will conclude with a brief investigation into applied issues such as bribery and lying in business.

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