Understanding Business Strategy: Decision-Making and Disruptive Thinking

Learn to turn challenges into opportunities through this highly interactive and hands-on course. Using a case study format, teams follow the story of a struggling company trying to survive in an ever-changing business climate. Participants must evaluate the market, analyze information to determine customer needs and strategize to pursue the right customers and the right markets. Gain shared insights about your company’s pressing issues and the way forward. Determine how critical decision-thinking traps may be holding you back. Realize how small improvements can affect the bottom line, set priorities, define key challenges and gain a broad understanding of your company’s key concerns and influential factors.

Instructor

Ann Martel

Ann Martel is the instructor of Finance Skills for Non-Financial Professionals for The School of Continuing Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  Ann is a highly regarded business leader with a passion for delivering high-energy presentations and classes on the ... read more

Benefits and Learning Outcomes

• Explain business strategy and decision-making
• Identify product life cycles
• Evaluate different growth strategies
• Define disruptive technologies and supply chain efficiency
• Describe customer segmentation
• Identify critical decision-making traps and develop tools/methods to mitigate these traps
• Explain short-term versus long-term profitability
• Explain value-added services

Course Outline/Topics

• Introductions
• Overview of the simulation
• The challenge – getting the basics right
• Adding value – creating competitive advantages
• Winning the business
• The way forward
• Beyond the SWOT analysis
• Critical decision-making traps and tools
• Making decisions to increase organization value
• Developing a unique growth preposition
• Create individual strategy document