Business Acumen and Strategy
As your leadership responsibilities expand, so does your need to understand the impact of every decision on the strategic and financial goals of your organization. That's why business acumen—an intuitive sense of how the moving parts of a company work together to create profit —is indispensable.
This course will improve your understanding of how operations, finance, marketing, and other functions must work together to create and execute a successful business strategy. You’ll also polish your financial literacy and leadership skills and become more business savvy.
Who Should Attend
Functional managers who have new or existing responsibilities to help support other departments and the organization as a whole.
Continuing Education Units
This course provides 2.1 Continuing Education Units (CEUs)
How You Will Benefit
- Gain a realistic picture of your company’s position, market, and potential
- Examine the external environment and understand how customer and business changes affect your company’s ability to succeed
- Analyze where your business stands in relation to your key competitors and what the future will look like
- Measure the performance of your business using standards that are highly correlated with value creation
- Integrate your competitive analysis and financial metrics to improve your business decision making
- Create an actionable business strategy, get stakeholder buy-in, and develop a complete strategy implementation map
- Improve your business skills by learning the right financial terminology
SHRM Preferred Provider
The Center for Professional and Executive Development is a Preferred Provider with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Agenda
Day 1 - Business Acumen and Strategy Development
- Get hands-on exercises to construct suitable business models
- Explore how to segment selection and product service offerings
- Learn how to manage strategy execution through financial dashboards and how to measure the right results
- Understand which value chain components are right for your organization
Day 2 - Business Strategy Process Development
- Understanding why your company (and you) cannot be great at everything
- Apply competitive analysis principles to direct and indirect competitors and to future and blue sky opportunities
- Assess actionable business strategies for your company
- Test strategic models and decisions through mini case studies
- Avoid common planning traps and pitfalls by conducting a business strategy review
Day 3 - Strategy Implementation and Communication Plan
- Examine models, tools, and methods for strategic planning
- Explore the essential elements needed to implement a strategic plan
- Implementing goals through acquisitions
- Develop profit improvement strategies and planning for growth
Harvey Bergholz
Harvey has experience as president of Jeslen Corp., a management consulting firm. Jeslen Corp. consults across industries and organization sizes, focusing on strategic planning, organization development, facilitation, and performance management. Working mostly with senior management and boards, Harvey and his team design and deliver tailored approaches to problem-solving and decision-making situations in organizations large and small, public and private.
Harvey’s experience includes the Hay Group, Keebler Co., where he spent two years “inside” as director, performance management, and TR Brownell Inc., Management Consultants, where he was vice president. He began his own consultancy in New York in 1974 and currently resides in Chicago.
Harvey has worked with clients at more than 120 organizations, including the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Bank of Montreal, Baxter, Hewitt Associates, E&J Gallo Winery, Olympia Fields Country Club, Ingram Distribution Holdings, PepsiCo, Morton’s, Superior Ambulance Service Inc. and Lonza.
Harvey has a bachelor’s degree from Hofstra University and a master’s degree from Northwestern University.
Day 1 – Includes breakfast, lunch, breaks, and dinner
- Check-In and Breakfast 7:30–8:15 a.m.
- Course 8:15 a.m.–5 p.m.
- Dinner 4:30–10 p.m.
Day 2 – Includes breakfast, lunch, breaks, and dinner
- Breakfast 7:30–8:15 a.m.
- Course 8:15 a.m.–5 p.m.
- Dinner 4:30–10 p.m.
Day 3 – Includes breakfast, lunch, and breaks
- Breakfast 7:30–8:15 a.m.
- Course 8:15 a.m.–5 p.m.
- Dinner 4:30–10 p.m.