Course Overview

This three day on corporate financial strategy, which will be presented as a truly interactive seminar, will test and stretch participants to enable them to use the tools and develop the mindset to think and plan strategically, while underpinning these long and short terms plans with a solid financial base.

Participants will:

Appreciate how events in the global market impact the European market and ways of working
Take steps within your organization to define, analyse and improve corporate strategy, relations with stakeholders such as government, and implement value-creating budgets and investment metrics
Consider competitive strategies to grow company wealth
Learn about corporate finance, types of deals and funding
Consider different types of alliances and how to manage the relationships
Evaluate investment opportunities
Recruit, retain and reward talent within the business
Understand how risk management can improve shareholder value
Analyse the changing financial environment and how your company will be able to change and adapt
Learn how to utilize a Balanced Scorecard, integrate it, and set the true key performance indicators

Course Content:

First Day

European market
Definition and boundaries of a market
Geographical, competitive, demand & supply, cultural, historical?
How to analyse a market
Barriers and issues to overcome
Market forecasting
Managing change

Case Study: Competitive advantages that UK businesses have to exploit

Growth strategies
Organic vs. acquisitive
Diversification, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions
Funding acquisitions, an overview
Measuring success

Discussion: Pros and cons between organic and acquisitive growth

Competitive strategies
Competitor analysis
Ranking product and service offerings
Identifying sources of competitive advantage
Creating value and utilizing new global markets
Communicating strategy to the market and investors

Case Study: Marks and Spencer case study utilizing the BCG Matrix

Global market
Boarders and locations
International governments and their impacts
Tax and accounting systems operating
Liquidity and funding issues
Barriers to market entry

Discussion: Going Global, how the global market is driving change

Split into working groups
Considering growth strategies
Ideas for exploiting potentials to make that happen
Methods for dealing and working with the barriers faced

Group Presentations: Each group to present the areas they considered and ideas generated for enhancing competitive position

Second Day

People power
The future of business
Methods for spotting and tracking rising stars
Talent workshops, mentoring and review
Recruiting, rewarding and retention

Case Study: Utilising the 9 box matrix system to track and develop staff

Essential skills for consultants
Selling skills
Presentation and writing skills
Problem solving
Managing client relationships
Project management

Case Study: Tender process for a website from the client viewpoint

Split into working groups to practice skills and techniques, then decide the area their group wish to focus on and select their scenario.

Role play sessions to understand both the client and consultants view point

Kaplan’s Balanced Scorecard
Introduction to the Balanced Scorecard
    • Concepts and Application
    • Prerequisites
    • Implementation issues
    • How does this compare to traditional methods?
Translating the vision into operational goals
Communicate the vision and link to individual performance
Business Planning
Feedback, learning and adjusting the strategy accordingly

Case Study: What gets measured gets controlled!

Third Day

Evaluating Future Investment
Analysts forecasts, and setting hurdle rates
Issues in calculating IRR and other metrics
Identifying an investment project
Cashflow and non-cashflow based project evaluation
Building in uncertainty
Measures of success
Strategic fit

Case Study: Supply chain finance (purchasing, inventory and sales) and sources of working capital within a business

Discussion: Why is working capital so important?

Business Ecosystems
What is a business ecosystem?
Virtual businesses
Supply chain management, outsourcing
Control versus flexibility and innovation
Drawing the line on collaborative ways of working

Case Study1: Bill Gates, Microsoft speech on protecting business eco-systems
Case Study2: Creating a virtual company: example of buying a car

Partnerships
Types of collaboration
Strategic alliances
Joint ventures
Managing the relationships
Evaluating success

Discussion: Issues, answers and opportunities in partnership scenarios

Capital constraints and Basel 2
Types and Tiers of Capital
Achieving balance, maximizing return safely
Basel 2 - 2010

Corporate Strategy And Financial Capability
The role of private and public equity, debt and internal funding
Capital cost ladders
The implications of capital restriction
Modelling decision-making hierarchies and project synergies
Considerations for private and government-owned companies

Case Study: Northern Rock’s strategy and what went wrong

Working with Government, Supranationals and NGOs
Definitions and their influence and impact
How these stakeholders impact corporate strategy
The role of the World Bank, IMF, credit support agencies and others
Integrating stakeholders into corporate strategy

Case Study: European Parliament and its impact on UK based companies