1-day program for senior executives and business owners. Today’s business environment is one of rapid change. Innovation is happening at an accelerating rate, but these innovations are often rapidly being copied. Products and technologies are being commoditized as customers demand more and more, but are not being willing to pay for it. New low-cost competitors are challenging many traditional incumbents, while other new entrants are bringing in new business models that challenge the traditional advantage of large established players.
While today’s world can be seen as a period of growing and unprecedented challenge, it can also be characterized as a period of unlimited opportunity. A number of companies, with new types of strategies, are experiencing high growth. This raises several questions questions. How can companies grow in this changing environment? How can both new companies and established incumbents identify and develop high growth strategies? How can traditional competitors move away from ‘market share wars’ and better respond to new entrants who challenge and re-write the rules? Developing growth strategies in this changing world is the focus of this workshop.
In the morning, the focus will be on understanding and responding to important long-term changes in the competitive environment and their implications on growth strategies. In the afternoon, the focus will shift to challenging our thinking about innovation and customer-focus – two critical components of future growth strategies. A final summary discussion will explore the dual challenges of delivering results today while simultaneously preparing an organization for the future.
The Professors will situate their presentations in the context to today's real world challenges such as widespread disruption precipitated by technological and political upheaval and their effect on economic stability, consumer and competitive behaviour. They will draw on their extensive research with some of the worlds leading companies. They will present insights from established companies such as Apple, Ryanair, P&G, Development Bank of Singapore, and Hilti, as well as take important learnings from those who have enjoyed but failed to sustain their extraordinary success for example Tesco and Nokia.
The professors will present their insights from their research in highly interactive sessions allowing for buzz-groups, discussion and debate.
AGENDA 09:00 – 10:00. Registration of participants, morning coffee
10:00 – 11:30. Part 1.
The Changing Competitive Landscape: From Industries to Ecosystems Professor T. Malnight
Ecosystems, reflecting an expanding array of stakeholder relationships, have become a central focus of competition. Moving beyond buyer-seller transactions, ecosystem strategies drive and shape new opportunities and also challenge and shape future business models. But there is not a single approach or answer in ecosystem strategies. Looking across growth companies, this session will outline multiple ecosystem strategies that both threaten traditional industry-based strategies and open new opportunities. The workshop will engage attendees to rethink their strategies and growth opportunities looking forward.
11:30 – 12:00. Coffee break
12:00 – 13:30. Part 2.
Growing your Business Organically Whatever the Weather Professor S. Meehan
Learning from the experience of market leaders, participants will learn which fundamentals must be in place to build a valuable customer franchise for the long-term. They will acquire a framework and some practical tools to enable them to assess their own company’s readiness for growth.
13:30 – 14:30. Lunch
14:30 – 16:00. Part 4.
Overcoming the Odds and Becoming Customer-Led Professor S. Meehan
Being customer-led is difficult to achieved and very challenging to sustain. The rewards, however, are spectacular. They will learn from exemplars that being customer-led is an outside-in belief system enabled by concrete practices and walk away with useable frameworks.
16:00 – 16:30. Coffee break
16:30 – 17:30. Part 3.
Disruption as a Growth Strategy Professor T. Malnight
Many new entrants are disrupting traditional leaders and introducing radical new business models. But disruption in not solely a strategy for new entrants, it is also an opportunity, and requirement, for large players as well. This session will explore how leading growth companies are pursuing disruption as a strategy, and also how they are leveraging disruptions as a central focus of their growth strategies. The workshop will engage attendees to rethink the role of disruption in their strategies and their associated innovation organizations, looking forward.
17:30 – 18:00. Summary.
Shifting the Organizational Center of Gravity Professor T. Malnight and Professor S. Meehan
This summary session will integrate topics from the earlier workshops in outlining the issues in simultaneously delivering results today while also preparing your organization for future growth. The session will develop some of the important issues in how you lead and shape your business moving forward.
18:00 – 19:00. Cocktail
AGENDA 
