The Oxford Advanced Management & Leadership Program

Introduction

This Oxford advanced management, and leadership course provides a thorough grounding in strategy principles and a practical framework for strategic development at every organizational level. It emphasizes the critical roles of team leaders and middle managers in maximizing their team's potential.

Participants in this Oxford advanced management and leadership program will be introduced to advanced leadership techniques and methods for steering their teams toward peak performance, essential components of leadership, and management programs.

Advanced Leadership and Management

As part of the curriculum, we are committed to integrating critical concepts from an advanced leadership program and an advanced management program, ensuring that participants are well-prepared to take on strategic roles within their organizations.

Includes mastering the nuanced distinction between leadership and management and understanding how these skills interplay to create an effective organizational strategy, a tenet of the Oxford executive leadership program.

Targeted Groups

• Heads of departments.
• Managers at all managerial levels.
• Supervisors and team leaders.
• Individuals interested in acquiring advanced management and leadership skills.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this advanced management course, participants will:

• Define and clarify strategy and strategic plans and explain the strategic process as part of helicopter thinking.
• Deconstruct the strategy process into clear steps, offering a practical management toolkit for each significant phase.
• Learn through stimulating case studies, extracting key lessons for strategic leadership.
• Implement these strategies within their sphere of management responsibility - through the stages of analysis, option generation, choice, implementation, and measurement.
• Position these strategies within the context of broader organizational change and influence.
• Gain greater confidence in executing strategic roles within their company, aligning with an Oxford strategic leadership program.
• Recognize their dual role as both manager and leader.
• Set clear team objectives and manage performance standards effectively.
• Enhance decision-making and optimize the allocation of time and resources for improved performance.
• Adopt a well-established planning process.
• Execute strategies effectively.
• Speed up the thinking process and solve problems more efficiently.
• Explore different viewpoints on team dynamics and leadership.
• Experiment with new techniques to build flexibility and confidence in leveraging the power of the team.

Targeted Competencies

• Business analysis.
• Strategic team working.
• Strategic presentation skills.
• Identifying and utilizing team members' talents.
• Structuring teams for peak effectiveness.
• Creating and communicating a compelling vision.
• Motivating team development.
• Managing performance and conflict.
• Emotional intelligence.
• Empowerment and delegation.

Course Content

Unit 1: Strategic Thinking and Business Analysis

• What are strategy and strategic planning?
• Why are strategy and strategic planning important?
• What are the main conceptual frameworks?
• External analysis - understanding and analyzing business attractiveness - macroenvironmental factors, growth drivers, competitive forces, and market dynamics.
• Benchmarking your own strategic position/competitor analysis.
• Analyzing customers.
• "Thinking backward from the customer."
• Mini-case on the importance of external analysis.

Unit 2: Internal Analysis and Fusion of Analyses Into Strategic Options

• Combining external and internal analyses.
• Financial internal analysis.
• Non-financial internal analysis.
• The concept and practicalities of the "balanced scorecard."
• Diagnosing strategic problems and opportunities.
• Fusion of analyses into strategic choices - SWOT and the strategy matrix.
• Case examples of strategic choice.
• Mini-case on the importance of internal analysis.

Unit 3: Strategic Plans and The Relevance of Alliances and Joint Ventures

• Review of strategic tools.
• Content development of a strategic plan.
• Constructing a strategic plan using a 5-page framework.
• Real-life business strategy examples.
• Strategies for forming alliances and joint ventures.
• Best practice examples in partnerships.

Unit 4: Global Strategy, Teambuilding, and Management of Internal Communication

• The essence of globalization and global strategic considerations
• The strategic dimension of globalization.
• Organizational dimensions of globalization.
• Human dimensions of globalization.
• Building and managing a strategic planning team.
• Strategy communication throughout the organization.
• Obtaining team buy-in for strategy execution.

Unit 5: Strategic Implementation and Gaining Value from Strategy

• Effective execution - converting strategic analysis and planning into action.
• Linking strategy with operational objectives.
• Implementation – getting practical things done.
• Strategic planning of your career.
• Creating tomorrow's organization out of today's organization.
• Conclusion - the corporate and individual value of strategic thinking.

Unit 6: Teams and Their Leaders

• Team, leadership, and management dynamics.
• Key leadership tasks.
• Influence, authority, and power.
• Leadership styles and style flexibility.
• Self-awareness.
• Emotional intelligence and rapport.

Unit 7: Vision, Direction & Alignment

• Developing a shared vision.
• Aligning goals and objectives.
• Crafting meaningful performance indicators.
• Approaches to problem-solving.
• Communicating visions effectively.
• Fostering engagement with challenging messages.

Unit 8: Team Dynamics

• Team development.
• The sociology of the team.
• Characteristics of high-performing teams.
• Balancing team roles.
• Non-traditional team structures.
• Delegation and empowerment.

Unit 9: Developing the Team

• Facilitating learning and competency growth.
• Building coherence within a team.
• Challenges of self-managing teams.
• Coaching, mentoring, and fostering self-learning.
• Utilizing feedback for improvement.
• Leveraging strengths for peak team performance.

Unit 10: Performance & Conflict Management

• Defining and measuring performance
• Approaches to measuring team and individual performance.
• Performance through the eyes of the customer.
• Performance management: science or art?
• Conflict as a catalyst for team development.
• Dealing with challenging interpersonal relations.

Integrating these units ensures that this Oxford advanced management and leadership program stands out as an advanced management program, offering a comprehensive master of advanced management, perfectly aligned with the esteemed reputation of the Oxford executive leadership program.

Participants in this Oxford advanced management and leadership program will emerge equipped with the strategic thinking and leadership skills of the most senior positions in today's dynamic corporate environment.