Focusing on the Core Business to Create
In her role as EVP COO of the action sports company Woodward, a division of Powdr Corporation, Jody Churich is charged with managing operations, business development, and strategy. To enhance her ability to create value for her organization, she attended HBS's Strategy: Building and Sustaining Competitive Advantage program along with several of her colleagues. What she discovered was an immersive, comprehensive learning experience that changed the way she thinks about strategy. She shares some highlights of her time in the program.
Why did you choose to attend this program?
Our CEO is a big supporter of high-level education, and he has attended many programs at Harvard. For this program in particular, our CFO believed that the strategy component would be particularly relevant to us because our company has reached a pivotal and transformative time.
What was the most rewarding aspect of the program?
First, the professors were amazing—highly engaged, energetic, and world-class. Also, the case study methodology allowed us to pull the lens back and think clearly about how to focus on specific details of our business units and business strategy. It gave us the tools to see what has and has not worked at other businesses. This is really important. And the diversity of the participants—with executives from all over the world—exposed us to a broad range of perspectives on business decision making.
Was there a benefit to attending the program as part of a team?
Definitely. Attending as part of a team allowed us to align our thinking. After each session, we sat down as a group to examine what was applicable to us and what made sense for our business. We were able to discuss how to go back and apply what we had learned. Instead of just one person carrying the torch back to the company, we had a team of people with a common understanding of the value proposition.
Did you take away anything that you can apply to your work?
There were many valuable takeaways, but I think the most important one was learning to think about where we want to go as a company and how we’re going to win. That was huge. Growth is seductive, and sometimes we try to force growth. But I learned that it’s important to stop and really refocus on what’s going to drive the core business. The faculty did a great job of coaching us to step back and think through all of the very critical components in strategic thinking, planning, and execution. They helped us examine why big businesses experience failures, why a company like Apple or Walmart crafted decisions affecting long-term cascading growth. It’s not what business or industry they’re in, but rather the way they went about making decisions. So the program provided a framework for figuring out our differentiators, our complementary businesses, how to create value, how to make trade-offs, and how to build a strategy that’s focused and executable
What would you say to someone who is considering the program?
You're not going to find a higher level of engagement or critical thinking than with the Harvard professors. It's not just the classroom learning—by stepping away from the office and immersing yourself in the HBS environment, you get an end-to-end experience. You receive the case studies in advance, along with questions, so you are very well prepared when you arrive. And the accommodations are great. There’s no better way to learn than stepping away from the workplace and engaging with other executives who are dealing with the same level of business challenges. I look forward to continuing my executive education with HBS.