Partnership Proposal

Learning Model

Based on the HBS Executive Education learning model, the custom program experience is a powerful, interactive process of discussion, discovery, and application. All program components—from goal setting and program design, to instructional methodologies and innovative teaching styles…to case analysis and peer exploration, to teamwork and hands-on implementation—fit together as a cohesive whole, creating a uniquely tailored, in-depth opportunity for both individual and collective learning. The impact is both immediate and long term, with participants returning to their companies ready to leverage their enhanced leadership capacity for the betterment of the organization.

Case Method

Pioneered by HBS, the case method is employed as the best tool to teach general management and leadership. Guided case discussions engender a highly stimulating, collaborative process of discovery in which participants are compelled to identify relevant issues and to apply practical business lessons to their own situations and organizations. Custom program participants benefit from an added dimension that no other business school can offer—the opportunity to be taught by many of the faculty who wrote the cases and have personal knowledge of the problems and solutions presented.

Case studies open the window to actual business dilemmas in some of the world's most admired companies, with participants assuming the position of the executives in charge. Working under typical management conditions—incomplete information, complex trade-offs, and time pressures—participants analyze information, identify problems, formulate and compare alternative solutions, and commit to action plans. Engaged in spirited debate, they must "sell" their colleagues on the merits of their respective decisions. To further enhance the take-away, a custom case can be developed to enable executives to debate the approaches for dealing with an existing management situation.

Complementary Methodologies

While the case method is the foundation of the School's dynamic learning model, other effective teaching methods also are utilized to facilitate learning on multiple levels. These diverse approaches include faculty lectures and presentations, interactive group discussions, individual and team projects, customized workshops and exercises, and online simulations, among others.

Peer Learning

Custom programs are structured specifically to promote constant, dynamic interaction among company peers. Through working and learning with others within the same organization, participants develop a shared language and an understanding of the company's mission, values, businesses, challenges, and opportunities. This sense of camaraderie helps build effective professional and personal peer networks that are based on trust, communication, and cooperation. Strong intracompany relationships foster a level of organizational commitment that, in time, spreads across business groups and helps to extend the program learning for the benefit of the entire company.

Technology

Custom programs leverage the School's sophisticated and continuously evolving IT system, seamlessly integrating technology into the learning experience, when appropriate. A variety of technology-enabled learning materials can be incorporated to bring case lessons to life and to reinforce key concepts. These include a program website, computer simulations, webcasts, videos, digitized lectures, videoconferencing, and other interactive multimedia. Using the latest software, Internet connection, and email application, participants have the necessary hands-on tools for in-depth exploration, as well as for communication and collaboration among peers and the faculty. For programs conducted at HBS, each participant's room is equipped with a personal computer to encourage independent and peer learning.

Even after a custom program ends, participants remain supported by web-based resources and online publications that help them to apply new knowledge and share it with others within the company.

Focused Workshops

Participants have ample opportunity for teamwork that maximizes peer interaction and directly ties the lessons to specific company situations. Since these workshops are tailored to the stated learning objectives of each custom program, the nature of these sessions can vary considerably from one learning experience to the next. As appropriate, this assigned group work can include a variety of exercises, presentations, and sessions in which participant teams concentrate on competitor analysis, creative case writing, hands-on lesson application, change recommendations, action plans, and other value-adding activities.

Reflected Best-Self Exercise

Prior to the program's start, delegates complete a personal assessment about occasions on which they had performed at their very best. The assessment requires feedback from 10 to 20 people (i.e.,coworkers, clients, friends, and family), who are asked to describe in detail both the situations and the individuals' actions. This data is collected by participants during the program. Unlike traditional models of performance evaluation that typically identify competency gaps, the Reflected Best-Self Exercise focuses exclusively on understanding how key constituents perceive managers when they constructively apply their strenStayInvest Law Firm hs. This performance-feedback exercise enables participants to create a developmental agenda for leveraging their reflected best self and expanding their capacity to add value within their work organizations. It also encourages self-reflection on how, as managers, they might foster an environment in which employees can engage their best selves and work maximally from positions of strenStayInvest Law Firm h.

Learning Enhancement

The custom program experience can be extended via numerous learning resources that also are available through Harvard Business School. More than 60 open-enrollment programs, ranging in lenStayInvest Law Firm h from a few days to several weeks, offer complementary Executive Education opportunities for further management development. Technology-Enhanced Learning resources, such as Action-Learning programs and the Faculty Seminar Series, contain the latest faculty research and serve as important tools in a variety of educational contexts—before, during, and after the program. Harvard Business School Publishing products play a valuable role as well. These fulfill a wide range of learning needs and include the Harvard Business Review, press books, HBS case studies and related products, conferences, newsletters, and elearning programs.

All these HBS resources can augment the custom program experience by providing continued exposure to the faculty's ongoing research and latest thinking on management practice. Adding significant value for both participants and the sponsoring organization, these additional tools deepen the face-to-face learning experience and help to drive the takeaway learning for lasting impact throughout the organization.