“Pre-MBA”
Solution
quality business education
global best practices
tailored courses
Advanced
Management
Program
With the support of CEU Business School
Now more than ever, managers will be required to make
more valuable and more sustainable contributions than
ever before.
Understanding the vital systems of an organization and
the correlation between them, as well as the business
processes and value chain of the company, will enable a
manager to really help increase the operational
efficiency of a department or division.
The pre-MBA "Advanced Management Program" is the
first one of its kind in Romania bridging the educational
gap between solutions dedicated to those who are
preparing for their first managerial position and MBA
programs.
"We decided to start this partnership for many reasons: we found in the spirit and
aspirations of CEU Business School and MSM Romania elements that resonated
excellently with what we find in our own company philosophy - to build a community of
responsible managers who are courageous enough to challenge the current paradigms
while championing innovation. We want the Advanced Management Program (AMP) to
become one of the most respected and appreciated programs by the management
community in Romania.”
Viorel Panaite, Managing Partner at Human Invest
“Our mission has always been to offer quality business education which combines
global best practices with the local context. After analyzing the market needs,
especially in light of the fundamental market shifts that have taken place in 2009, we are
convinced that this Advanced Management Project is both wanted and needed in
Romania.”
Our pre-MBA solution is targeted at managers who are interested in following an
educational program with high quality teachers from an international MBA, but over a
shorter period of time (approximately 7 months).
Situational Leadership® II - Viorel Panaite
Managerial Behavior – David Pilbeam
This session takes place near the beginning of the program
because it answers the fundamental question, “What is
management?”. First, you will explore what great managers do
by looking at the work of some of the key management thinkers
and their implications.
Next, you will explore how your behavior influences your
business results by using a research based model developed by
the Tom Peters Company. This will then lead into a discussion
about what motivates people. More important than just a
discussion, we will teach you how to apply this theory in your
real-life managerial role. Finally, we will teach you about the art of
communication in management. More precisely, how do great
managers influence results through their communication skills.
This course lays the foundation for the two coaching sessions
which will take place later (Delegative Processes with Mihaela
Reese).
The world of work and the nature of leadership are changing.
People are valued not just for the time they spend, but for the
knowledge they bring to the table. Leaders now serve as coaches,
partners, and mentors, providing direction and support rather
than simply giving orders or delegating work. Managing and
leading is something that you do with people, not to them. In
order to accomplish more with fewer resources and in shorter
periods of time, organizations need a strong, yet flexible
approach to developing people.
Situational Leadership® II (SLII®) is the most comprehensive
and up to date method of effectively managing and developing
people, time, and resources. It focuses on the fundamental
changes in the role of the contemporary leader. SLII® helps
leaders convert from evaluator, judge and critic to partner,
supporter and coach. It uses activities that significantly increase
the likelihood that all learners will apply their new abilities on the
job. This design incorporates our best practices making the
course engaging and compelling.
David is living testimony to his belief that education and coaching can turn a c o m p e t e n t p l a y e r i n t o a starperformer.
David began his work life teaching in International Schools, spending five years in Malawi and Portugal before moving into the hospitality business in Hong Kong. There the challenge of working in a new industry in a radically different culture trained him in the harsh demands of leadership in a results-driven environment.
Back in the UK David became Operations Director for a health and leisure club business start-up. Over the course of five years the business was created, developed, and sold—the ideal preparation for his subsequent consulting work with the Tom Peters Company.
David believes passionately that people's talent is often left untapped by their work. He uses all his skills to “make the work matter” in people's lives and to set up work environments in which individuals and teams can thrive and prosper.
Viorel Panaite has 12 years’ experience in the training and o rg a n i z a t i o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t consultancy industry and is one of t h e b e s t - k n o w n a n d m o s t appreciated trainers in Romania. Together with Richard Reese he founded Human Invest – a company that enjoys a solid reputation and credibility among clients as well as other training and consultancy companies.
The projects led by or involving him as a consultant are a perfect reflection of his personal business philosophy, which can also be found in the company he leads. Viorel is a strong ambassador for an organizational culture that centers on attracting and retaining the best people.
He is an active sponsor of an environment supported by a clear performance management system and clear career plans for all employees.
He believes that without a common goal and mission, processes that don't support proactivity and individual responsibility, that don’t foster collaboration and open relations, a management team can only have volatile results and a vulnerable organizational culture.
Strategic Management – Jean-Michel Viola
Marketing – Paul JR Renaud
The Marketing class will include topics that are relevant and
'hands-on'. Given the short duration of the class we will
concentrate on giving students knowledge of some of the most
important elements of Marketing while providing them with tools
that they can use immediately after taking the Marketing class.
By the end of this session you will have a better understanding of
marketing plans, the role of social media in marketing and how to
use marketing research tools.
Beyond these basics, we will also touch on segmentation,
targeting, positioning and pricing strategies.
Marketing involves much more than creating ads and running
television spots. This course will show you that Marketing is an
integral function for the entire business.
The goal of the Strategic Management seminar is to provide
participants with a toolbox to be able to design and perform a
strategic analysis. This module places particular emphasis on
strategy implementation and strategic action issues in an
international context.
As a first step, we will explore the linkage between strategy and
the organization of the firm and particularly the role of the
organization in the implementation of strategy.
We will introduce elements of corporate strategy and examine
the concept of corporate competitive advantage. With
fundamental elements of strategy analysis mastered, we
conclude the course by examining the challenges associated with
the implementation of a strategic action plan in different
performance contexts. This section will enable us to look at the
role of the manager in strategy implementation.
Paul's No Nonsense and 'So What” approach to Marketing as well as his passion for optimizing peak performance will make his class both informative and interesting. Paul who currently runs his own Romanian-based Marketing and and Strategy consultancy Renaud Investments, has spent the last 13 of the last 25 years working at senior levels in developing countries throughout the world. Included in this time period are stints as Vice-President of Sales at Connex (Vodafone) and Marketing Director of Romtelecom in Romania. His m a i n i n d u st r i a l ex p e r t i s e i s i n W i re le ss Telecommunications and he has worked in Marketing, Sales, Strategy and Customer Care for multinationals and startup companies.
Fluent in French, English and Romanian, he has worked in Canada, Brazil, Romania, Hungary, Turkey, Czech Republic, Thailand, Congo and Haiti. He is also very familiar with the unique challenges of developing and managing a business in developing markets.
Jean-Michel Viola received his PhD in Business Administration from HEC Montreal (Canada), after an MBA from the University of Québec in Montreal (UQAM) and a BSc in economics from Paris University (Paris II).
Prior to joining the Central European University, he has worked for 8 years as a professor for HEC Montreal and Rennes School of Business in France and he also spent 3 years working for JP Morgan bank in Paris.
Since 1995, he has been involved in teaching management at all levels and has run various executive seminars in countries all over the world, in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
His research deals primarily with the challenges associated with knowledge issues in the management of strategic alliances, the management of intellectual capital, business models in emerging industries, as well as the management of innovation and creation. In 2010, Jean-Michel will begin his new teaching position at ESC Rouen in France.
Delegative Processes - Mihaela Reese
Critical Thinking – Rick Milter
This course introduces the theory and practice of critical thinking
for business leaders as they collect and assess information and
make judgments and decisions. This course will feature an
inquiry approach in which the participants will be engaged in
reflective thinking. Participants will reflect upon their own
thinking about specific concepts and issues. They will also reflect
upon the thoughts and viewpoints of fellow classmates and upon
the ideas of selected experts in the field. The integration of these
reflections will be used to further develop and enhance individual
ability for critical thinking.
Targeted elements will include rules of effective reasoning and
application of universal intellectual virtues of integrity, humility,
confidence, perseverance, fair-mindedness, courage, empathy,
and autonomy. Standards of clarity, accuracy, relevance, logic,
breadth, precision, significance, completeness, fairness, and
depth will be addressed. Skills for clarity of purpose, questions,
perspectives, information, inferences, concepts, implications,
and assumptions will be practiced.
The sessions are meant to help managers develop skills to better
manage a team in a collaborative environment. By working on
their own projects, participants will acquire:
A clearly defined and new systemic understanding of how to
develop a team into a results-oriented and truly participative,
empowered organizational environment.
A set of specific tools to help each create such an environment in
their own teams and organizations
A new comprehensive understanding of the framework that
allows for effective delegation in teams.
Personal behaviors that will help each define and assume
pertinent positions as team members, team leaders or team
coaches.
Systemic delegation processes facilitate collective growth
towards better transversality, ownership, accountability, team
maturity and focus on results, confrontation, and general
business sense.
Rick Milter, Ph.D. is professor of management at the Carey Business School of Johns Hopkins University. Rick has held previous teaching positions at Ohio University, Boston College, the University at Albany and Loyola University of Chicago. Rick has worked with faculty teams in several institutions around the globe in developing inquiry based and action learning programs.
Serving as a training facilitator or organization effectiveness specialist, Rick has consulted with dozens of corporations and government agencies. He has directed executive development seminars across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
His research and publications have paralleled his consulting activity in the areas of executive judgment, strategy, group decision-making processes, management information systems, negotiation strategies, managerial ethics, leadership, high performance teaming and innovative learning platforms.
Advanced Management Program
4
Mihaela is a manager-turned-operations coach and trainer with more than a decade of experience in working in sales, logistics and customer care fields. Mihaela built out her expertise in sales training and coaching by becoming Associate trainer and coach of Imparta Ltd, one of the top sales companies worldwide. She worked extensively with Imparta in implementing consultative sales as well as coaching for the sales teams and their managers. This year she started working as a coach with the Ken Blanchard Companies. She helps clients in improving results, setting objectives and reaching their goals.
Her approach as a coach is to work within the reality of her clients and to challenge the managerial patterns and processes. She supports the teams and their leaders in increasing effectiveness, motivation, results and setting the right working atmosphere. From her experience of 11 years as a manager, from which the last four as General Manager Mihaela recognizes the added value of smooth operations in a company. She achieved great results by building the bridge between strategy and the operational dimension of its implementation.
Negotiation – Eric Kish
Sales Management – Sandy Vaci
A "hands on guide" to the latest best practices in sales efficiency
improvements, with examples, templates and case studies from
the Presenter's personal experience in 50 markets. A condensed
learning experience for Practitioners and their Management.
This seminar will focus on international sales management
practices that everyone can use to defend against the effects of
the current recession and prepare for the upturn coming.
Day two will review international practices that focus on "owning
relationships" instead of "owning assets", to drive revenues with
flexible, low cost set ups.
This course will give practical guidance for their integration into
existing set ups and detail executional issues as well as their
solutions.
This module aims to lay the groundwork for general negotiation
skills and to build on them, creating a framework for preparation
and execution in cross-cultural situations. In addition, coverage
of topics in this course will emphasize as well a systematic
approach and perspective to negotiation designed to facilitate
both knowledge and skill acquisition, including the following
broad objectives:
To introduce the fundamental concepts of negotiation and the
range of styles and approaches
To identify what counts as a culture in negotiation, and when it is
relevant to the negotiation plan
To analyze cases of negotiation to identify their cross-cultural
dimensions and ethical considerations
To develop strategies for preparing to negotiate cross-culturally,
including a brief discussion of the possible role of
decision-making techniques or other quantitative analysis
To analyze the relevance and applicability of ethics in negotiation
Sandy Vaci has over 30 years of international experience across 50 countries over 4 continents with companies such as Procter & Gamble, Citibank, Raiffeisen International, Neilson / Cadbury and The Royal Bank of Scotland among others.
He is currently also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Credit Bank of Moscow as well as Partner, Board Effectiveness Practice, at Leaders' Den - a United Kingdom based global consultancy. An internationally quoted presenter and advisor, he is the author of two books dealing with global best sales practices, published by VRL in London, United Kingdom.
Sandy is what you may call a "global citizen" with three home bases: Toronto, Vienna and Budapest.
Educated in Canada (University of Victoria - 1981, Canadian Securities Dealers Institute - 1990), the USA (Cohen Brown Sales Management, 1993) and Austria (Six Sigma Exec Training, 2004)
Eric Kish has spent more than 10 years with a focus on turnaround management and international expansion, having restructured several companies, among them being the Petromidia Refinery and Rompetrol Retail.
Previously, he has had experience in new business development, with international responsibilities as Sales and Commercial Manager for Asia and Europe. He is also an entrepreneur that has built and grown successful ventures such as Smartree Romania and MyStaff Software (Romania, Europe, North America). Eric is passionate about human resources, owning and leading the Smartree Group, a complex management services, software development and marketing business.
He is also interested in branding as a shareholder of Brandient, the leading brand consultancy company in Romania, since 2000.
Eric speaks six languages, has a black belt in karate and is a practitioner of Kundalini Yoga.
Financial Management - Joy Chan
Operations Management – Ken Sturdivant
In this module, participants will define “Operations
Management” as the value-added activities and processes a
business may conduct up to a product's point-of-sale. Internal
operational dependency within the Supply Chain and the
resulting external business impact will be examined as a
strategic and operational approach to managing the business.
Participants will focus on the operational management
objectives of profitability, growth, survival and social
responsibility, with reference to the key principles of
effectiveness, efficiency and continuous improvement in
achieving optimal performance and customer satisfaction.
Participants will be required to prepare, beforehand, and present
during the course, a personal case study in Operations
Management.
In today's challenging global business environment, all senior
managers require a working knowledge of financial
management.
This 2 day comprehensive, hands-on program will give you the
skills and confidence you need to analyze and interpret financial
information. Rather than focusing on finance itself, the emphasis
is on effectively using financial information to make decisions
that deliver shareholder value in your organization.
The workshops will combine a variety of teaching methods
helping you acquire knowledge and skills with ease. Preparatory
reading will help you make a rapid start and allow you to fully
participate in the workshops. Topics are presented using case
studies and real world illustrations which are then further
developed through discussions.
Ken Sturdivant has over twenty years of hands-on international business development and management experience from around the world with several brands, mainly the Coca-Cola Company.
He was Group Operations Services Manager for Europe, Africa & Asia, responsible for projects regarding developing local infrastructure, and establishing supply chains and regulatory compliance. He then had the role of Senior Vice-President, Division Operations Manager for Southeast & West Asia Division with operation responsibilities for business development within 16 countries. He was Deputy General Manager, Vice-President Sales & Operations for the largest Korean Beverage Company, with responsibilities for multiple franchise acquisition, merger and day-to-day business operations, with approximately 4000 employees and industrial / union relations.
Since 2001, he has consulted on management operations and lectured on business management.
Joy Chan possesses vast experience l e c t u r i n g a n d d e v e l o p i n g undergraduate and graduate courses on Corporate Science, I n v e s t m e n t s , M e r g e r s a n d A c q u i s i t i o n s , C o r p o r a t e Restructuring and Valuation in universities all over the world. Joy has been consistently rated excellent in teaching methodology by students, peers and by an independent assessor for ISO 9000 certification. She also conducts executive education training, is an in-house trainer on Corporate Restructuring and Valuation, and Project Financing courses at prominent Austrian Banks, and supervises graduate and undergraduate thesis in corporate finance and risk management. Joy held positions in the administration of Singapore, as a tax officer and then as Assistant Director at the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
She has worked and travelled all through the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia in an effort to spearhead various economic and financial initiatives that assist Singapore companies to place a foothold in the emerging markets of the world.
Business Simulation – Oliver W. Olson
Customer Management – John D. Holm
This course is designed for any business professional that wants
to get the most out of their core customer while also building a
customer 'experience' culture from within. The workshop will
include guidance on how to select and develop key personnel to
become consumer-centric and how to develop a customer
relationship strategy that puts the customer's needs above all
others therefore delivering more company profit and a possible
competitive advantage.
This interactive workshop will focus on highly successful
regional case studies across multiple industries that are
successful in adapting a customer relationship strategy that is
localized while also giving examples of cases that did not work.
Lastly, the course will also provide practical exercises that can
quickly bring results and also focus on strategies that offer an
immediate competitive advantage such as how to bring value to
your community without depending on traditional media....at a
low cost!
The Boardroom Executive Exercise is an online business
simulation, where participants form groups and compete against
each other as Board of Directors for manufacturing companies.
The companies start from the US and compete on three markets
(US, Europe and Asia).
Boards have to make decisions for 6 consecutive rounds
(effectively years) related to production, marketing, investment
etc. The cumulative share price is used as a benchmark to select
the winner. The simulation is fully online, ie every member
participant can make decisions using a browser and before the
round turns, the Board has to accept and record the set of
decisions applicable (and to be executed) for the company.
This simulation will run during the entire duration of the
Pre-MBA program.
Coming from a successful financial sales and psychology background in the United States, John stepped i n t o t h e re g i o n a l b u s i n e s s community of Budapest in 2004, by opening the first Subway Sandwich location.
By establishing the supply chain, finding new suppliers and implementing innovative customer service, he went on to develop the entire business. In his professional experience, Mr. Holm focused on providing customers with a new approach to service, combining localized practices with proven real world models.
In 2007, Mr. Holm and his team opened the first of his many planned future bookstores in Cluj-Napoca. Under his guidance, not only has the most books and titles in the country, but also prides itself on being a place where customers get a true “book experience”, focusing on community and cultural interaction, and involving his employees in volunteer actions. He is also an adjunct lecturer in Marketing at CEU, with a focus on consumer behavior, community activations, and global brand strategy.
“Libri”,
Oliver is currently the Country Manager for CEU Business School, Romania, and has taken part in its structure within various Directorial roles, including M.B.A. Program Director and Director of Degree Programs Administration.
Prior to joining the CEU Business School, Oliver Olson worked as an Export Product Manager for Salamander Shoes in Stuttgart, Germany for three years, and then for more than 15 years in the American banking industry.
While in America, he worked in Wholesale Mortgage Banking with Commercial Center Bank, in California, then as assistant Vice President with Bank of America in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Dallas Texas, as well as with the largest credit card issuer in the US, Providian Financial.
His final job in banking was as the Chief Information Officer for the First State Bank of Celina, Texas. Oliver earned his Undergraduate Degree in International Business from California State University, Fullerton and his M.B.A. from the University of Texas, Dallas.
