India's fast-growing economy is fueling the need for capable senior executives who can capitalize on the region's emerging opportunities.
To secure a strategic edge, today's leaders must possess wide-ranging skills—from creating shareholder value and building brands to leading breakthrough change and fostering innovation. In this Q&A, Harvard Business School (HBS) professor Krishna Palepu, faculty chair of the Senior Executive Leadership Program—India, outlines the need for improving leadership capacity in South Asia and beyond.
With so much opportunity at stake, we're seeing great demand for programs aimed at improving leadership capacity in fast-growing Indian companies as well as companies that are trying to expand into emerging markets. Unlike programs that are functional in nature, the Senior Executive Leadership Program—India provides a theme-based learning experience that's designed to help participants develop the capabilities required of top leaders.
This program is very market-driven. Because their companies are in growth mode, it's very hard for senior leaders to take seven or eight weeks off at a stretch and come to an on-campus program. To meet the needs of these busy executives, this intensive seven-week leadership program is broken into four modules that take place on campus at HBS and in our state-of-the-art classroom in Mumbai—the first time HBS has delivered a program across two continents. This means that participants are only away for one to two weeks at a time, which many find more manageable.
To provide continuity between modules, participants continue their learning through Harvard Business School Online Live, our virtual classroom that features sessions with some of our top thought leaders. We'll also have distinguished guest speakers and provide professional leadership coaching to all participants. And last, but certainly not least, the Senior Executive Leadership Program—India has the distinction of being the only HBS Executive Education offering in India that offers HBS alumni status, which is a lifelong asset.
In terms of aspirations, this is an intensive and a very selective program for accomplished senior executives with 15 to 20 years of experience, all of whom are on the fast track and expect to ascend into senior leadership positions. While the executives may have similar levels of experience, the participant mix will undoubtedly be quite diverse. Some may work at rapidly growing young companies that have the potential to become big; others will be from divisions within already-large companies. The common thread is that all of them are preparing to assume greater leadership responsibilities.
It's a fast-paced program that covers about 15 themes, each taught by a different HBS faculty member who is a world-class thought leader in that area. The first module, which takes place on the HBS campus, is focused on global strategy and understanding the global economy. It's during this time that participants will begin their Value Mapping strategy project, in which they apply their learnings to a specific opportunity or challenge within their organization.
The next module takes place three months later in Mumbai, and there we'll examine how to develop and deliver a unique customer value proposition, achieve service excellence, create shareholder value, and drive corporate performance. Module 3, again in Mumbai, focuses on leading organizations, design thinking and innovation, doing business in the digital era, and negotiations—all taught by some of the world's foremost authorities on these subjects. And finally, we reconvene at HBS for our last module, which explores how to lead breakthrough change, be an authentic leader, build businesses and ventures, and lead an accountable organization.
As you can see, we're not teaching the basics or functional skills. Rather, we're focusing on the important issues facing today's top-most leaders. It's really about identifying strategies they can apply to enhance their current position in the marketplace.
They will emerge ready to take on senior leadership positions in fast-growing companies and compete in a global context.
