Navigating a competitive commercial environment is tough.
Really tough.
And it's only getting harder: volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity are the order of the day and to succeed, you need to develop your instincts and acumen.
But developing these skills is hard: Learning 'on-the job' is risky and takes years, while book-learning and theory only goes so far.
To help navigate the challenge, we bring you the HFX Applied Strategic Management program.
Designed to turn you into a savvy business leader, the program is based around our flagship business simulation, 'The Strategy Game'.
You will assume control of a small electronics manufacturing company where you are responsible for 8 months of strategic decision-making. You will have to plan and execute strategy; Align decisions across marketing, operations, HR and finance; Analyse management accounts and competitive intelligence and adapt your strategy; and navigate external risks and crises.
By playing the game to win, you will learn everything there is to know about strategic management, including:
- How to assess your organization's competitive position
- How to develop a strategic plan
- Understanding what makes a winning product portfolio
- Understanding product P&L
- The importance of competitive and market intelligence
- Aligning managerial decisions across different functional areas
Who is the course for?
For sales, marketing, HR or operations execs, the course will boost your strategic understanding and ability to drive performance in your organisation. For CAs / CPAs the course serves as 40 hours of CPD.
For entrepreneurs at the helm of a growing business or consultants advising them, the course will give a deep insight into the pressures of strategic management in a dynamic environment.
This course is used at some of the world's top business schools, so will give potential MBAs insight into B-School curricula, or help grads from other disciplines make the transition to commerce.
Customer feedback:
"The 'gamified' aspect of the course means that it is completely unlike the typical CPD I do: The simulation's round-by-round ranking provides instant feedback on your strategic approach, while forcing you to adapt to both the decisions of your competitors and in-game curve balls. Overall, this is an extremely effective training program for anyone in financial management."
- Dave Drummond, CA, Financial Controller, Interfor
"Participating in the Strategic Management course was a great experience and it exceeded my expectations. The game is challenging and gave me a deeper understanding of managerial decision-making. Whether experienced executive or just beginning your career, whatever industry you are in I would thoroughly recommend it. I really enjoyed it and learnt a lot."
- Richard Fenning, SEO Manager, B2W Digital
"Too often in any company the internal inter-departmental struggles stifle the company's potential. This course helped me to understand how strategic decisions made in one functional area impacts all others, as well as the outcomes of the organisation as a whole. I definitely learnt a few things from this which can be applied in my professional life."
- Ceryx Constantino, Ship Broker, Tide Maritime
What you will learn:
This course takes you on a deep-dive into the challenges of strategic business management in a competitive industry. The underlying simulation means you get to learn-by-doing in the most engaging and exciting way possible. By the end of the course you will understand:
Competitive Strategy
The course will sharpen your business instincts by helping you understand the importance of strategic management in the context of a competitive, dynamic business landscape. By the end of the course, you will understand the importance of:
- A focused competitive strategy
- Monitoring the macro environment to help you identify and mitigate risks to your business
- Assessing the manoeuvres of your competitors to help defend your position in the market
- Relevant and timely market research to help you with the above
Principles of Management
Our instructional videos will take you into the weeds on the principles of business management. By the end of the course, you will understand:
- The importance of pricing, marketing and product development in generating and managing demand
- The importance of forecasting demand and planning production accordingly
- How to scale and compensate your workforce to maximise productivity
- How to manage your company's cash position through calculated borrowing and investing
- How to align all of these decisions in the service of a broader corporate strategy
Excel for Business
This course helps you to develop proficiency at using excel to conduct financial analysis. We teach you how to use excel to make business decisions, and our well designed spreadsheet templates and matching instructional videos will help you understand:
- Demand forecasting and seasonality of demand
- Production planning and capacity management
- Cashflow forecasting and conducting difference analysis
- The importance of a product P&L analysis to help with pricing and investment decisions
Management by the Numbers
At the heart of the underlying game is management by the numbers. This course will teach you:
- What the OODA loop is, and how to apply it to business decision-making
- To think accurately, quantitatively and granularly about decision-making across all business functions
- To think like a pro!
About HFX Training:
We are passionate about the power of simulation-based training to equip the business leaders of today and tomorrow with the know-how to navigate today's complex commercial environment.
With backgrounds in academia and business, our instructors - all PhDs and MBAs - have been delivering simulation-based training since the 1970’s, and our courses and the simulation games that support them are used at some of the world top business schools and fortune 500 companies.
To learn more, visit us at www.hfxtraining.com
What you will receive:
Once you have signed up for the Applied Strategic Management course, you will receive:
Immediate, life-time access to the Applied Strategic Management course curriculum
Available here at courses.hfxtraining.com, including:
- Over 20 Instructional Videos on Strategic Management
- 4 x Downloadable Excel Templates
- 2 x Downloadable Strategy planning guides
- Detailed, MBA Style Case Study and FAQs
Access to the 'The Strategy Game' Simulation
In the game's portal you play the game itself, and will have access to your:
- Simulated Company Accounts
- Decision Input Sheet
- Downloadable Financial Statements
- End of Game Report
Access to paid coaching sessions
Where with one of the HFX Instructional team you can get personalised:
- Pre-game and in-game guidance
- Feedback on any of your written strategic analyses or plans
- End of game feedback on your performance and tips for improvement
Certificate of Completion
Upon finalising the course you will receive:
- A certificate of completion from HFX Training
- The certificate states that the course is the equivalent of 40 hours of CPD
- Share on your resume, LinkedIn, and CV
Course Curriculum:
- Guide to this section
- Product Appeal (4:43)
- Exercise: Demand Forecasting (1:37)
- Production Management (3:32)
- Workforce Size (1:57)
- Exercise: Production Bottlenecks (1:29)
- Production Cost Management (2:56)
- Exercise: Product P&L (0:51)
- Financial Management (3:08)
- Exercise: P&L Forecast (2:03)
- Excel: What-if analysis (2:11)
- Book a coaching session!
Pricing and Payment Options:
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can I participate in the Applied Strategic Management Course with other friends and colleagues?
The business simulation game that underlies this course, The Strategy Game, has a Player versus Player (PvP) mode. Most commonly used in academia and by corporates, the PvP mode allows participants to compete directly against each other. This live competition format makes the course even more engaging.
If you and your friends or colleagues might be interested in participating in such a multi-participant course and PvP game, please contact us at [email protected] for more information.
Are there any knowledge pre-requisites to participate in the Applied Strategic Management Course?
The course and the game that underlie it require an analytical approach to business decision-making and they are commonly used on undergraduate or graduate business programs and corporate training workshops around the world.
Equally however, this course has been used with great success at secondary school level, provided that the students have a real interest in business.
As such, there are no prerequisites per se, but the course and game require a serious, methodical approach.
Do you offer any refunds?
Within the first 30 days of purchase, If there is any reason that you are not happy with the course, please contact us at [email protected] and we will try to resolve. If we are unable to resolve your issue to your satisfaction, and subject to a video conference call with our team, then we will offer you a full refund.