Custom Programs

The Experience

Environment

Most organizations come to Harvard Business School to participate in the vibrant community, residential learning environment, and vast resources. A similar learning environment also can be created off-site to accommodate your company’s priorities. In both instances, executives have ongoing opportunities to interact with one another and with the faculty inside and beyond the classroom.To reinforce the School's extraordinary sense of community, on-campus participants:

  • Enjoy personalized service and expansive facilities that help them concentrate, interact, and learn
  • Live, dine, and work in an exclusive enclave that is solely dedicated to executive development
  • Access common areas that promote interaction and live in technology-enabled single rooms

Capability Development

Custom programs are tailored to the specific needs of each organization. Whether the goal is to prepare for a major change initiative or to build individual or organizational competency in a particular area, your leaders will gain the required skills and frameworks.

Based on an organization’s key objectives, faculty members incorporate their latest research and insights into the curriculum materials. A custom program is developed to enhance capabilities in crucial areas such as: market differentiation, sustainable corporate strategy, technology innovation, operations excellence, performance measurement, globalization and outsourcing, corporate governance, and business ethics.

Each custom program offers a one-of-a-kind learning experience with the focus on identifying critical issues and formulating solutions that deliver results.

Direct Application

Developed around stated goals, custom programs consistently deliver high takeaway value for both executives and their organizations. This is accomplished in three ways:

  • Involvement is limited to groups of deeply committed individuals who possess a level of personal responsibility for learning and extending the lessons beyond the classroom
  • Program content and faculty delivery focus on practical ways for you to leverage the content and apply your enhanced expertise within the workplace
  • Concepts, insights, models and frameworks, case lessons, and best practices can be applied directly to your organizational challenges

Sample Schedule

Executive Growth

By fostering professional, intellectual, and personal development, custom programs empower executives to develop critical leadership skills, shape powerful ideas into competitive solutions, and think and manage proactively in a changing business world. Through the process of discussion, discovery, and application, they will refine their management style, rethink the firm’s business practices, and establish effective peer networks. As a result, they will return to the organization with the mindset, skills, and strategies needed to contribute more broadly as leaders.

Impact

For both participants and their sponsoring organizations, the ongoing value of a custom program becomes evident in many ways. Executives will acquire a deeper, shared understanding of your company, as well as broader perspectives on the latest industry trends and strategies. Focused on improving leadership and teamwork skills, each program explores how to sustain higher levels of trust and transparency, while building more effective communication networks. Participants will leave inspired to accomplish corporate goals and committed to sharing their learning throughout the organization.

For groups of executives across diverse functions, business units, and regions within the same company, the custom experience translates into a readiness to respond to the challenges facing their business groups, their companies, and themselves as managers. As more leaders have the opportunity to experience the same program, the benefits grow exponentially—and deliver an even higher return on investment to your company.