New Report From Ashridge

Despite a reduction in the size of strategy functions, strategy is still an important topic for executive development. Europe?s top seven business schools alone provide 34 different strategy programmes so it can be a difficult task to choose a suitable option.  The purpose of the report was to compare and benchmark the strategy programmes on offer.

Focusing on European business schools that provide open enrolment strategy courses, nine schools were selected to take part in the study from the 2006 Financial Times Executive Education Ranking. Each of the schools chosen has strategy programmes of between 3-5 days duration and are open to employees from any interested company.

42 strategy programmes were identified and grouped into ten categories. Competitive strategy for value creation was the largest category with seven different programmes offered.  Group-level or corporate-level strategy was the smallest category with only one programme on offer across Europe.  Other categories include strategy execution, mergers and acquisitions and strategy and human resources.

The report highlights that potential participants and sponsors (HR/Talent Managers or Training budget-holders) find it difficult to choose between programmes within these categories because business schools do not provide all the information that they require before they make a decision.  In particular, not enough detailed information about the concepts and content taught on each programme is readily available.   

The report contains a model to help choose between schools and programmes. The model, a set of 20 criteria, is separated into four groups relevance of learning; acquisition of learning; value for money and transference of learning. It also describes the top five criteria that talent managers use when choosing between schools and programmes.

Andrew Campbell, director of the Ashridge Strategic Management Centre who commissioned the report, commented: Good strategy is the foundation of success.  Managers with strong leadership skills and weak strategic capability can easily lead their organisations in the wrong direction.

Copies of the report, European Business Schools Open Enrolment Strategy Courses Independent Benchmarking Project, are available online at www.ashridge.org.uk/report-strategycourses or can be ordered by contacting melinda.pooley@ashridge.org.uk.