Executive Program in

Strategy and Organization

Dates: August 16 28, 2015
Application Deadline: July 10, 2015
Tuition: $ 23,000 USD

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Price subject to change. Program tuition includes private accommodations, all meals, and course materials.

OVERVIEW
Strategic Management. Organizational Theory. Design Thinking. The Executive Program in
Strategy and Organization focuses on all three. Through pioneering multidisciplinary research
from pre-eminent Graduate School of Business faculty, youll learn how to think strategically
for your organization, culture, and the environment in which you compete. Its two academically
rigorous weeks packed with lectures, exercises, case studies, discussion groups, talks with
Silicon Valley executives, and other notable guest speakers.
At Stanford, we focus on frameworks that help you think in new ways about the strategic
challenges and opportunities you face. Rather than getting a checklist of best practices, youll
come away with the skills necessary to design and build powerful, winning action plans. Youll
gain insight into why certain strategies work and others fail. And, youll explore cutting-edge
research on human motivation and economic incentives, game theory, and the role of power
and influence. Its a unique opportunity to learn things you wont find in the news or business
books, and to see how researchers and other executives look at business to spark new ideas.

The Executive Program in Strategy and

Organization is ideal for anyone who has, or
is about to take on, responsibility for the
strategic direction of their organization. Its
specifically designed for:
Senior executives with 10 to 15 years of
experience
Senior functional leaders transitioning
into general management
Division-level managers who will soon
assume corporate-level positions
Larger global organizations from any
industry

SAMPLE DAILY SCHEDULE

Early Morning

KEY BENEFITS

Optional early morning exercise session

The Executive Program in Strategy and Organization will help you:

Breakfast

Explore how your organizations competencies and shortcomings translate into strategic
challenges and opportunities

Full breakfast at Schwab Residential Center

Study Group Discussions

Morning Session I

Develop skills to build appropriate action plans

Perspective on Strategic Leadership

Gain alignment between your firms strategy, the way in which its organized, and the
environment in which it competes

Morning Session II

Use analytical tools to identify and evaluate a firms strategy and its position in the industry

Strategy Identification and

Competitor Analysis

Develop effective frameworks for executing change management initiatives

Lunch
Buffet lunch with patio dining

HIGHLIGHTED SESSIONS

Afternoon Session I
Organizing for Improved Performance

INDUSTRY AND COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

Afternoon Session II

One of the most important determinants of firm performance is the attractiveness of the
industry in which it competes. This session will provide practical tools for conducting an
industry analysis and for evaluating a firms position in its industry.

Strategy Implementation and

Organizational Power

Late Afternoon
Personal study and reflection

DISCOVERING SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS MODELS

Dinner

While successful business models are often discussed and examined for their value as a
preplanned approach to business, the fact is that most successful business models are
actually discovered as the result of an iterative process conducted over time. We will review the
three essential ways in which successful business models are discovered: through exploration
into new possibilities, through improved exploitation of what we already know, and by
harnessing competition as a source of continued innovation.

Cocktail reception followed by dinner speaker

Evening
Networking with participants

DECISION POWER AND OWNERSHIP: ORGANIZING ACTIVITIES INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE FIRM

We will study the economic principles governing optimal allocation of decision power within a
firm as well as outsourcing activities and vertical integration issues. We will discuss a variety of
ways in which incentives, monitoring, and asymmetric information interact and which
organizational method is optimal for each setting.
gsb.stanford.edu/exed/epso

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION / ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP

A very beneficial course. I have no doubt that I have received a lot from this experience, new
ideas, new ways of thinking about things, new frameworks to think about things within, new
academic contacts and a bunch of new experienced and capable friends to call on if/when I
need some assistance. Great stuff. I whole heartedly recommend it.
Anthony Johnston | Chief Operating Officer | Tenon Limited | EPSO 2013

TYPICAL PARTICIPANT MIX

Management Function
9% Corporate Development
2% Finance/Accounting
67% General Management
4% Information Technology
2% Logistics
2% Operations/Production
7% Research/Development
7% Sales/Marketing

Industry
4% Broadcasting
13% Computer/Electronics/Software
2% Education
6% Entertainment/Leisure/Food Service/
Lodging
35% Financial Services/Insurance/Real
Estate
2% Government
16% Manufacturing
2% Military
7% Mining/Metal Processing/Petroleum/
Oil/Gas
7% Pharmaceuticals/Medical Devices
4% Retail/Wholesale
2% Telecommunications/Information
Services

Region
15% Africa
10% Asia
10% Australia/New Zealand
23% Europe
4% Middle East
25% North America
13% South America

TAKE THE NEXT STEP

For more information, or to apply to the
Executive Program in Strategy and
Organization, please visit
gsb.stanford.edu/exed/epso.

LEADERSHIP IN CRISIS MANAGEMENT

What should management do when a crisis focuses the harsh spotlight of public opinion on their
organization? Whether it results from a firms own missteps (think BP) or from strategic activism
or media action (think Greenpeace), crisis is increasingly on the agenda for todays executives. In
this session we will explore the skills and organizational structures required to prepare for, and
productively manage, a crisis to avoid bringing lasting damage to a firms reputation.

FACULTY DIRECTORS
William P. Barnett, the Thomas M. Siebel Professor of Business
Leadership, Strategy, and Organizations, Stanford Graduate School
of Business; and Affiliated Faculty, Stanford Woods Institute for the
Environment, focuses on competition within and among corporations
and how competition affects the founding, growth, performance,
survival, and innovativeness of organizations.
Andrzej Skrzypacz, the Theodore J. Kreps Professor of Economics,
Stanford Graduate School of Business; and Professor of Economics
(by courtesy), School of Humanities and Sciences, is known for his
research is in the area of microeconomic theory. His focus is on
the areas of information economics, market design, and dynamic
games. His recent papers consider auction design, bargaining theory,
repeated games, and collusion in markets.

OTHER STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS FACULTY

Lanier Benkard
Gregor G. Peterson Professor of Economics
Steven Callander
Professor of Political Economy
Deborah Gruenfeld
Moghadam Family Professor of Leadership
and Organizational Behavior
David M. Kreps
Adams Distinguished Professor of
Management; Professor of Economics (by
courtesy), School of Humanities and Sciences
Paul Oyer
Fred H. Merrill Professor of Economics
Jeffrey Pfeffer
Thomas D. Dee II Professor of
Organizational Behavior
Hayagreeva Rao
Atholl McBean Professor of Organizational
Behavior and Human Resources; Professor of
Sociology (by courtesy), School of Humanities
and Sciences; Academic Director, Stanford
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Certificate

Condoleezza Rice
Denning Professor in Global Business and the
Economy, Stanford Graduate School of Business;
Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow
on Public Policy, Hoover Institution; Professor
of Political Science, School of Humanities and
Sciences; Denning Director of the Center for
Global Business and the Economy
Kenneth W. Shotts
David and Ann Barlow Professor of Political
Economy; Professor of Political Science (by
courtesy), School of Humanities and Sciences
Jesper B. Srensen
Robert A. and Elizabeth R. Jeffe Professor
of Organizational Behavior; Professor of
Sociology (by courtesy), School of Humanities
and Sciences; Faculty Director, Stanford
Institute for Innovation in Developing
Economies
Sarah A. Soule
Morgridge Professor of Organizational
Behavior; Professor of Sociology (by courtesy),
School of Humanities and Sciences

EXPERIENCE THE STANFORD DIFFERENCE

gsb.stanford.edu/exed/epso

Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Education programs offer executives from
around the globe an extraordinary opportunity to immerse themselves in an intensive,
collaborative learning environment where the focus is continually on the future. Taught by
Stanfords world-renowned faculty and supplemented by guest speakers, participants acquire
the knowledge, vision, and skill to bring innovative leadership to their organizations while
advancing their personal and professional growth.