Cranfield School of Management

In the first week you will begin to build a personal development agenda. This agenda forms the starting point for project work over the middle weekend. This period provides the learning context for this project, which is a realistic simulation of your managerial challenges.

Developing Managers Potential: Understanding managerial roles, distinguishing between managerial and operational contributions, assessing and developing individual management style and impact.

Organisational Culture and Change: Exploring how different ways of thinking affect managerial contribution, determining the role of individual managers in organisational change, creating change through pockets of good practice.

Managing Politics: Recognising the relevance of political processes in change, identifying types of political behaviour, developing managers` political awareness and competence.

Leadership and teamwork: Understanding the roles of leadership and management, applying the concept of leadership at all levels. Comprehending how to develop as a leader from within the organisation, appraising the use of teams in organisations, and exploring the role of the individual in teams.

Competitive strategy: Analysing external factors and core competencies to determine the basis on which your own organisation competes, understanding the managerial and organisational implications of chosen competitive strategies. Recognising the characteristics of the strategy-making process and knowing how to contribute to that process.

Managerial economics: Understanding the key economic indicators and trends affecting business on a global and local scale.

Finance and management accounting: Understanding and using financial information ratio analysis, managing the budgetary process, investment appraisal, interpreting corporate finance issues.

The tasks closely parallel managerial activity in real organisations. During and after the project, a series of facilitated reviews, led by the tutorial team, will help you recognise clearly what is required to gain managerial visibility and credibility. The process will bring into sharp relief your key development areas, usually resulting in renewed confidence, clarity and sense of purpose.

Throughout the second week, you will continue to experiment with your personal development agenda. You will also undertake a short project that provides a vehicle for translating insights from the programme into work-based actions. 

Managing Knowledge: Managing knowledge as a resource, designing systems and strategies for knowledge management, influencing through ideas

Effective Marketing Management: Grasping the principles of effective marketing and their application, being able to contribute intelligently to debates on marketing.

E-Business and Supply Chain Management: Understanding current approaches to e-business and supply chain management.

Operations Management: Defining the role of manufacturing and service operations, managing the relationship between operations and marketing management improving operational processes.

Strategic Management of People: Identifying strategic people processes and the implications for design and implementation examining the role and relevance of the HR function in the strategic management of people.

The action planning process is taken very seriously. Each participant constructs a comprehensive 100-day action plan covering personal development and organisational change issues. Expressed in highly practical terms, this plan has clear objectives, detailed examples, deadlines and measurable outcomes. On the final day, you will present the key elements of your plan, focusing in particular on what you expect to have achieved by the time of the Review Modules.

The Review Modules

Progress Review Module (3-months)

Three months after the course you are invited back for a 24-hour review module to revisit your action plan and set new targets in light of your progress.

Continuing Development Review Module (12-months)

To support your continuing development you are invited back to Cranfield to reflect on the long-term impact of your development from the programme, gain an insight into managing your continuing personal development, renew your development agenda and plan the next phase.