Unlocking Strategic Competitive Advantage

During this course, you will work through a funnel of learning objectives that result in a fresh mindset for strategic thinking and an essentials-toolkit for market-focused strategic planning. Not only will you be able to contribute valuable insights to strategic, senior-level conversations about the direction of your business, but undertake strategic planning by yourself, or lead a team to do so. First, you will:

• Learn how to establish your strategic context and:
• Identify the shareholder-value-driving growth areas of your business; and
• Uncover your truly valuable markets and correct strategic objectives

We then concentrate on your competition and show you how to:

• Identify the true range of your competition; and
• Dissect competitor strategies systematically and pinpoint their strengths and weakness

Next, we turn to your target market segments and learn to:

• Qualify the value of your potential customer segments and uncover those truly valuable to your business; and
• Develop a defensible and persuasive case for senior stakeholders in your organisation around which segments to retain, enter or exit

We then proceed with how to position yourself in your chosen target market segments to be customer-compelling, and you will learn how to:

• Develop definitive value propositions for your customers; and
• Test whether your proposed propositions really are as compelling as you think and meet the needs of your customers, new and old

There will be a course dinner on evening three, in an iconic Manchester venue, offering the opportunity for your class to come together with a wider cohort of short-course learners to expand your networking opportunities.

Finally, we move to branding your strategic positions and learn how to:

• Reposition, reinforce or revitalise your brands; and
• Expand into new markets and market segments with existing and new brands

There will be a networking drinks reception on evening one where you will get to know your course colleagues. There will also be a course dinner on evening three, offering the opportunity for your class to come together with a wider cohort of short-course learners to expand your networking opportunities.

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Delivered face-to-face in purpose-built executive education facilities at Alliance Manchester Business School, the format is highly practical and interactive, and it draws on the experience and insights of your participating peers. Guest speakers, invited lecturers, mini case studies, discussions, group exercises and applications to participants’ own business contexts make for a varied and dynamic learning experience. We aim for several stand-out learning experiences, including:

Applied Learning - A learning environment created by the course facilitator that draws on the experience and input of your course peers.

Knowledge Transfer A steady stream of feedback from participating peers with diverse business backgrounds on, for instance, how they overcome competitive obstacles in their markets.

Reflection A rare time-out to contemplate your own strategic opportunities and challenges while engaging with our world-class faculty.

Network Expansion An expanding professional network drawn from your peers.

Personal Growth An expanding self-awareness of your own strategic competencies and how they can be honed.

Behavioural Change An adoption of new rationales and mindsets that improve strategic decision making.

Facilitated Challenge A regular raising of difficult strategy questions by the course facilitator designed to take you away from your work environment into new work-territory.

On completion of this course, we expect you to be more:

• Confident in devising and directing strategies that are suited for highly competitive markets, new and established;
• Competent in the logic and principles underpinning strategies focused on market success; and
• Current with decisive strategic planning tools and the skillset to both evaluate and use them.

Overall, you will develop the skill and mind-set for senior-level strategy planning conversations and be able to contribute with strategic insight to the future of your organisation’s winning market positions.

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This course is designed for professionals who have, or are moving into, a role that has strategy planning responsibilities within their organisation. Whether you come from a private, public or not-for-profit organisation, this short, intensive course will help you tackle your competitors and develop compelling value propositions for target customers.

This session explores the key drivers of productivity and how leaders can identify practical opportunities to improve performance. You will consider the wider economic policy levers that shape productivity, the factors within an organisation's control, and the trade-offs leaders need to navigate when seeking sustainable improvement.

• Explore the drivers of productivity and how they affect firm-level performance.
• Use a practical framework and checklist to identify opportunities for improvement.

This session helps leaders build confidence in understanding and applying AI responsibly. You will explore the opportunities, risks and governance considerations linked to AI adoption, while experimenting with practical tools that can support leadership tasks and organisational decision-making.

• Understand key AI concepts and how they can support productivity and decision-making.
• Identify responsible approaches to AI adoption within your organisation.

This session explores how organisational design, operating models and processes influence performance. You will consider practical ways to improve effectiveness, manage resources and support continuous improvement in complex and changing environments.

• Explore how structures, systems and processes shape organisational performance.
• Identify practical actions to strengthen effectiveness and adaptability.

This session explores how leaders can support people and organisations through change and transition. You will use practical models and tools to understand why change can be unpredictable, communicate with clarity and build confidence during periods of uncertainty.

• Apply practical tools to communicate clearly and support teams through change.
• Use models such as Bridges’ Transition Model and the 4C framework to strengthen leadership effectiveness.

This session explores strategy as the art of making choices. You will consider how leaders can assess strategic options, make effective trade-offs and allocate resources in a fast-paced world, including the importance of stopping some activities to focus on the priorities most likely to deliver successful outcomes.

• Explore how to judge strategic choices and trade-offs in different situations.
• Apply simple strategic models to support focus, resource allocation and decision-making.

This session introduces risk appetite and enterprise risk management as practical tools for leadership decision-making. You will explore how organisations identify, assess and manage risk, while considering how risk appetite can support responsible business growth.

• Understand how risk appetite supports better leadership decisions.
• Explore practical ways to assess, prioritise and manage organisational risk.

This session explores how leaders can build, protect and manage organisational reputation in complex environments. You will consider the links between governance, strategy, trust and legitimacy, and examine how organisations can respond effectively during reputational challenge or crisis.

• Explore the drivers of reputation, trust and legitimacy.
• Consider practical approaches to managing reputational challenges and values-based relationships.