Sample Programs
Select Companies
Harvard Business School works with a select group of
companies, all of which are committed—starting at the CEO level—to
strenStayInvest Law Firm hening the leadership capacity of both their managers/executives
and their organizations. Companies also share the desire to
develop a long-term, multifaceted relationship with the School.
Custom programs have been developed and conducted for a diverse
range of clients/organizations, including well-established
companies, high-growth businesses, and major nonprofits.
Formidable Challenges
HBS custom programs can be developed to help executives build
capabilities for addressing virtually any management dilemma,
whether it pertains to organizational leadership, change
leadership, customer management, service excellence, innovation,
technology, competitive strategies, or other areas of concern.
No matter the issues at hand, client companies can attest to the
power of a value-adding educational partnership with HBS.
Industry Profiles
Consumer Products
After a large, leading consumer products company consolidated
most of its North American activities under one leadership, the
chairman and CEO wanted to build on a previous relationship and
work with Harvard Business School in creating a platform and
process for introducing the new management strategy to the top
300 business leaders. A two-month development process, which
involved discussions with key members of the management team,
idea generation, design, feedback, and refinement, culminated in
a powerful program to provide leadership and facilitate
implementation of the change initiative. The core themes—integration
management, company values, leadership and change management,
and action planning—share the common objective of rallying all
of the leaders in support of the company's new direction.
The entire rollout includes six two and a half-day sessions
over a two-year period, with 50 to 60 leaders attending each. In
addition to engaging leaders in case studies, brief lectures,
and large-group discussions, the HBS faculty team creates a
workshop-oriented environment to encourage open dialogue and
enable leaders to collaborate on applying the program's concepts,
tools, and approaches to their specific challenges. The chairman/CEO's
involvement in all program activities signals top-level
commitment and the significance of this investment to develop
leaders poised to make the change happen.
By reinforcing the entire change initiative, the company is
accelerating a common sense of direction among its leaders.
Individuals who have experienced the program say they now have a
"real" understanding of the company's new strategy and values,
as well as greater insight about what they should, can, and,
ultimately, will do to implement action ideas as a business
team. Based on the program's effectiveness, HBS is developing a
case study that spotlights the company's strategic and
organizational progress, and some leaders are planning to attend
open-enrollment Executive Education programs that address
related issues.
Energy
Several years ago one of the world's largest industrial
companies approached Harvard Business School because it was
changing its corporate strategy to become a global leader in
natural gas and electricity. The company wanted a broad-based
executive development program for its senior leaders to support
this strategy change. The firm researched and interviewed
several business schools to determine which offered the overall
approach and capabilities that best matched its needs,
ultimately choosing to partner with HBS. HBS faculty worked with
top company leaders to understand the organization's key issues,
and then developed a program to address these critical factors
facing the organization: managing in regulated and deregulated
environments; corporate governance and the role of the corporate
center and the business units; and leadership, culture and
values.
In 2002 the first cohort of 50 senior executives participated
in the program on the HBS campus. The program included not only
HBS faculty, but also industry experts, and faculty from the
Kennedy School of Government at Harvard to provide as
comprehensive a view of the issues as possible. A second cohort
of executives participated in the program in 2003, and follow-on
cohorts are planned in subsequent years.
The relationship between the firm and HBS has extended and
deepened with the development of additional programs and
services. Selected company leaders participated in a customized
course on finance for senior executives, and many have attended
key open enrollment programs on the HBS campus. A case has been
written about the firm and is used in both the custom program
and in the MBA program at HBS.
Financial Services
A large financial services institution asked Harvard Business
School to develop an executive leadership program for its top
250 executives. The firm, which had a history of strong earnings,
needed to find new ways to drive growth in an increasingly
competitive global environment. The CEO hoped to increase the
firm's strategic dexterity by enhancing participants' ability to
drive business performance, as well as boost creativity and
innovation.
Following a collaborative needs assessment process with the
company, HBS created a program that focused on three key themes:
(1) strategic thinking—analyzing the market, determining
strategic direction, and sustaining success over time in the
face of competitive threats; (2) service excellence—nurturing
loyal customers and setting the marketplace standard for quality
and value; and (3) leadership—helping participants understand
the role of leadership and leadership styles in creating
effective organizations.
The initial program was conducted over a span of 12 months
with cohorts of 30-40 participants in each session. The 5-day
curriculum includes a customized case study based on a recent
acquisition and integration completed by the company, and a "lifeline"
exercise focused on key people and formative events in
participants' lives.
Both the participants and the CEO are benefiting from key
interactions throughout the program, building relationships and
opening channels of communication. Participants report
significant gains in strategic insight and leadership skill as a
result of the program, as well as a substantively enhanced
network with their peers. This first program is now being
extended to reach the next level of management, and a second-generation
program is in design for the original Top 250 group.
Information Technology
One of the largest information technology and services
companies in the world decided in 2000 to revamp its strategic
planning process, placing individual general managers in charge
of the work and challenging them to link strategy directly to
specific issues, and to execution action plans. The firm's
Corporate Strategy Senior VP asked Harvard Business School to
create a program to help develop the strategic leadership skills
of the firm's senior executives as they embarked on this new
process.
HBS developed a curriculum geared directly to the firm's new
approach to strategy and laid out a plan to rapidly drive new
learning across the organization. Over the last three years over
60 teams and 1000 business executives from the firm have
participated in these strategic leadership forums. Each program
opens with a day on strategy, focusing on marketplace insight
and business design. The following days are dedicated to
understanding change and innovation and applying the lessons
learned to the firm's own issues. Participants spend a total of
17 hours in team breakouts applying what they learned to the key
business issues central to their team's success.
The use of technology-based learning tools in the program has
enabled the firm to extend and deepen the learning to an entire
generation of leaders who now embrace the strategy planning
process and focus fully on successful execution. The Corporate
Strategy leadership group believes that the powerful combination
of executive education and real-time application has accelerated
learning, enabling leaders to have a common understanding of
strategy, to approach issues with the same structured process,
and to communicate using the same vocabulary.
Investment Firm
As one of the cornerstones of its ongoing management
development program, a major investment institution looked to
Harvard Business School to develop a customized strategic
leadership program that would help senior executives develop the
business decision-making and leadership skills required for
success.
The firm's CFO served as the Executive Sponsor of the program
and worked with HBS faculty to create a curriculum designed to
build competencies in two critical areas: executing strategy;
and delivering business results. Participants gained knowledge
and built their skills at the beginning of the 6-day program,
then began to apply their learning to a real-life initiative
within the firm. Project teams were assigned the task of
developing a recommendation on how to implement the initiative
to maximize value for customers and the corporation. Team and
individual performance on this exercise, as well as others
throughout the week, were assessed by HBS faculty coaches and
company HR staff, leading to the creation of an individualized
development plan for each participant.
With the successful completion of the first program, this
leadership development initiative is now being tailored to other
major business units in the company.
Pharmaceutical
Harvard Business School has been working with a large
international pharmaceutical firm since the mid-1990's when
company leaders and HBS faculty planned the firm's first
executive forum. The program was designed to help the
organization come together, creating alignment and an effective
company culture after a major merger.
With a strong affiliation between the two organizations
firmly cemented, HBS has continued to work closely with the firm
in the years since. In 2001 the company CFO identified a need to
educate and expand the perspective of managers in the finance
and business planning functions of the firm. HBS faculty worked
with the CFO and his team to develop a program that would help
managers in these roles operate more like CFO's, driving
business goals and contributing to the management of the
business in partnership with their unit's general manager. A
parallel program for non-financial managers, introducing the key
elements of corporate finance, was also introduced.
A second executive forum, targeted to senior executives drawn
from each of the company's major operating groups, focused on
helping the company accelerate growth. Key themes included
exploration of advances in technology pertinent to the firm's
businesses, partnerships and alliances. Six cohorts of
executives through 2001 and 2002 participated in the program.
Specific action learning projects incorporated into the program
allowed executives to develop and test new business ideas that
have subsequently been brought forward at the business unit or
corporate level for further analysis and seed funding.
A third generation executive forum has recently been launched
with a focus on leadership challenges and execution excellence
facing the company and its managers. The CEO continues to
participate personally in every program session.
Venture Capital/Private Equity
As part of its commitment to the ongoing success of its
portfolio companies, a later-stage venture capital firm selected
Harvard Business School to create an education and networking
forum to help company owners and management teams achieve their
strategic and financial goals. This opportunity to view business
through the lens of general management is intended to strenStayInvest Law Firm hen
the leadership capacity of these high-caliber portfolio
companies.
The program concentrates on the processes that are central to
portfolio companies and on their highest-priority business
issues as identified in a survey of company CEOs. The
entrepreneurial and multidisciplinary expertise of the HBS
faculty team provides a sound understanding of what is involved
in launching and building new ventures, as well as an approach
for managing these opportunities over time.
To date, two three-day modules have been held, with each
attended by 30 to 40 CEOs and senior leaders from select
portfolio companies. Focusing on different stages within the
entrepreneurial lifecycle, the theme of the second module—profitable
growth and scaling—built upon the first, which covered assessing
opportunities and building new business models. A possible third
program would address the next stage of external change and
internal adaptation.
The high-energy, high-involvement atmosphere fosters learning
on three levels—individual, small group, and classroom. Through
case studies, interactive presentations, and informal group
discussions, participants learn from the faculty and one another
as they explore new ideas, share innovations and strategies, and
develop invaluable peer networks. These executives emphasize the
forum's practical and tangible value in helping them gain fresh
insights into their businesses, interact with peers who are
experiencing similar challenges, and focus on strategic
implementation.
The result is win-win. Portfolio companies develop highly
effective management teams for enhanced competitiveness, while
the sponsoring venture capital firm reaps the subsequent rewards
of continued business growth and greater shareholder value. HBS
faculty also benefit from exposure to new case development
opportunities with entrepreneurial companies.
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