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    This course is part of the CLIMB program, Leadership & Management and Strategy track.
    Introduction to Strategy Execution

    LIMITED TIME ONLY

    Extra learning at no extra cost. Enroll now and unlock a GenAI Bonus Bundle featuring complimentary lessons on AI fundamentals. Download our guide to learn more about this limited-time offer.
     

    Strategy Execution

    $1,850
    Next 8-week session starts July 23rd
    Enroll Now
    Gain the tools, skills, and frameworks to successfully implement strategy within your organization and drive impactful results.
    8
    weeks
    5-8
    hours per week
    6
    modules
    Self-Paced
    with regular deadlines

     This course earns you a Certificate of Completion from HBS Online. What you earn.

    Overview
    Syllabus
    Enrollment
    Stories
    FAQs
    Enroll Now

    Key Concepts

    Apply frameworks, tools, and goal-setting and tracking exercises to your own strategic initiatives
    Evaluate and elevate your team’s management of the core tensions of strategy execution, including how to balance growth, profit, and control
    Design measurement systems for every dimension of business performance
    Identify and manage risks that could derail strategy execution
    Empower employees through proprietary frameworks like the Job Design Optimization Tool, which helps design high-performance jobs that enhance a team’s ability to execute critical responsibilities
    Foster successful strategy execution by establishing an environment that communicates which opportunities and behaviors are encouraged and which are out of bounds

    Who Will Benefit

    Gain the frameworks and tools to improve strategy execution within your team, department, or organization.
    “I was impressed by how well the course material fit my personal challenges and goals at work, and how easy it was to use the material to improve my team’s strategy execution.”
    Melanie Lehnert-Bechle
    Strategy Execution Participant
    Prepare for a managerial role and position yourself for advancement by learning how to effectively implement strategy.
    "What I found most valuable were the methods and tools, which were useful and practical. I’ve already applied some of my learning at my job."
    Atanas Atanasov
    Strategy Execution Participant
    Design new structures and systems to manage the core tensions of strategy execution and meet business goals.
    I’ve found HBS Online's courses to be immediately applicable to my work, and they’ve made me a more productive member of our strategic team.
    Laura Wingate
    Strategy Execution Participant

    What You Earn

    Certificate of Completion

    Certificate of Completion

    Boost your resume with a Certificate of Completion from HBS Online

    Earn by: completing this course

    Certificate of Specialization

    Certificate of Specialization

    Prove your mastery of strategy or leadership and management

    Earn by: completing any three courses within either subject area to earn a Certificate of Specialization

    Learn More about what you earn

    Syllabus

    6 Modules, 40-45 Hours
    Download full syllabus

    This course features access to an AI course assistant bot, in beta release, to facilitate your successful completion of the course.
    7-8
    hrs
    Module 1

    Managing the Tensions of Strategy Execution

    Understand the various tensions managers face as they execute strategy and implement a framework for managing those tensions effectively.

    Highlights

    Making Tough Choices
    Push to Profitability
    Analyzing Management Tensions at Your Business - The 4 Levers of Control Model
    Articulating Business Strategy with the Four Ps
    ShowHide Details

    Concepts

    1. Making Tough Choices: Course Introduction
    2. Balancing Innovation and Control, Part I
    3. Balancing Innovation and Control, Part II
    4. Managing Other Organizational Tensions
    5. Analyzing the Four Ps of Strategy, Part I
    6. Analyzing the Four Ps of Strategy, Part II

    Featured Exercises

    • Analyze your organization’s approach to managing common organizational tensions
    • Identify strengths and deltas in your organization’s approach to executing strategy
    5-6
    hrs
    Module 2

    Aligning Job Design to Strategy

    Optimize the design of key jobs and align them to your organization's strategy.

    Highlights

    Performing the X-Test
    Analyzing Job Design Problems
    Span of Support
    ShowHide Details

    Concepts

    1. Designing High-Performing Jobs
    2. Understanding the Entrepreneurial Gap
    3. Identifying Spans of Influence and Support
    4. Balancing Supply and Demand in a Job
    5. Analyzing and Improving Job Design

    Featured Exercises

    • Analyze a job using the Job Design Optimization Tool (JDOT)
    • Recommend a set of job design improvements
    5-6
    hrs
    Module 3

    Energizing Employees to Execute Strategy

    Apply techniques to spur high performance and creativity among employees and create core values that inspire and guide employees through difficult decisions.

    Highlights

    Designing Stretch Goals
    Prioritizing Constituents in Your Core Values
    ShowHide Details

    Concepts

    1. Generating Creative Tension, Part I
    2. Generating Creative Tension, Part II
    3. Defining Core Values
    4. Communicating Core Values

    Featured Exercises

    • Identify ways to dial up performance and increase innovation within your team
    • Evaluate the effectiveness of your organization’s core values
    6-7
    hrs
    Module 4

    Measuring and Monitoring Performance

    Create performance measurement systems that account for all dimensions of strategy execution while conserving scarce time and attention.

    Highlights

    The Benefits of Diagnostic Control Systems
    Putting the Three Wheels Back Together - Three Wheels of Profit Planning Schematic
    A Multidimensional Approach to Measurement
    Harnessing Human Motivation
    ShowHide Details

    Concepts

    1. Designing Diagnostic Control Systems
    2. Introducing the Three Wheels of Profit Planning
    3. Building a Balanced Scorecard
    4. Selecting Goals and Measures
    5. Powering up Performance Goals with Incentives, Part I
    6. Powering up Performance Goals with Incentives, Part II

    Featured Exercises

    • Analyze and improve your organization’s approach to profit planning
    • Identify critical performance variables and develop goals, measures, and targets corresponding to them
    • Analyze a range of incentive types and identify the most useful ones for different contexts
    5-6
    hrs
    Module 5

    Identifying and Managing Risks

    Describe and identify common risks businesses face and create systems for managing and mitigating them.

    Highlights

    Your Business's Overall Level of Risk
    Considering the Balance Between Innovation and Control
    Operations Risk
    ShowHide Details

    Concepts

    1. Identifying Sources of Risk, Part I
    2. Identifying Sources of Risk, Part II
    3. Assessing Internal Risk Pressures
    4. Designing and Enforcing Internal Controls
    5. Building Business Conduct Boundaries

    Featured Exercises

    • Identify internal risk pressures using the Risk Exposure Calculator
    • Propose solutions for a new conduct boundary at your organization
    7-8
    hrs
    Module 6

    Balancing Innovation and Control

    Apply techniques to help your business innovate and adapt to change while maintaining clear focus and retaining necessary controls.

    Highlights

    Using Control Systems Interactively
    Discussing Challenges in San Jose
    Choosing a System to Use Interactively
    ShowHide Details

    Concepts

    1. Unleashing Freedom through Strategic Boundaries
    2. Adapting to Change: Interactive Control Systems
    3. Reviewing the Levers of Control
    4. Implementing the Levers of Control, Part I
    5. Implementing the Levers of Control, Part II

    Featured Exercises

    • Identify which opportunities your organization should and should not pursue
    • Propose a system you can use to focus organizational attention on emerging threats and uncertainties
    • Apply course-wide knowledge by proposing a set of solutions to strategy execution challenges at a growing consulting firm
    • Capstone activity: develop an action plan for implementing the levers of control at your or another organization
    Free E-Book

    How to Formulate a Successful Business Strategy

    This guide will equip you with the tools, frameworks, and knowledge to formulate a successful business strategy to propel your organization forward.
    Access Your Free E-book

    Upskill Your Team, Transform Your Organization

    Whether you represent a large multinational corporation or a small local business, we have a solution for your learning and development needs.
    Learn More

    Our Difference

    Strategy Execution equips current and aspiring managers with the tools, skills, and frameworks to allocate resources, measure performance, manage risk, and successfully implement strategy.
    Stay active by engaging in a new activity every three to five minutes and applying your knowledge through interactive tools and a capstone assignment.
    Stay active by engaging in a new activity every three to five minutes and applying your knowledge through interactive tools and a capstone assignment.
    Description of silent animated video above: Learner completes an interactive question by dragging and dropping choices into two different categories
    Get social by collaborating with a global community of peers before, during, and after your course. Learners who successfully complete an HBS Online program will be added to the HBS Online Community's Official Networking Group and gain exclusive access to events and other networking opportunities.
    Get social by collaborating with a global community of peers before, during, and after your course. Learners who successfully complete an HBS Online program will be added to the HBS Online Community's Official Networking Group and gain exclusive access to events and other networking opportunities.
    Description of silent animated video above: Learner types an answer in the discussion board in response to a peer's question
    Immerse yourself in real-world, case-based examples brought to life by industry-leading experts from companies like Marriott, adidas, Quiet Logistics, and Go Mobile.
    Immerse yourself in real-world, case-based examples brought to life by industry-leading experts from companies like Marriott, adidas, Quiet Logistics, and Go Mobile.
    Description of silent animated video above: Learner scrolls through video interviews from prominent business leaders

    About the Professor

    Robert Simons
    Strategy Execution

    Baker Foundation Professor
    "Strategy Execution will equip you with the tools, skills, and frameworks to allocate resources, measure performance, manage risk, and execute strategy."

    Dates & Eligibility

    No current course offerings for this selection.

    Starting
    Jul
    23
    8 Weeks  $1,850 + applicable international taxes
    Enrollment deadline July 17
    View weekly calendar
    Enroll Now
    Starting
    Sep
    17
    8 Weeks  $1,850 + applicable international taxes
    Enrollment deadline September 11
    View weekly calendar
    Enroll Now
    Starting
    Oct
    15
    8 Weeks  $1,850 + applicable international taxes
    Enrollment deadline October 9
    View weekly calendar
    Enroll Now
    • No documentation required

    All learners must be at least 18 years of age, proficient in English, and committed to learning and engaging with fellow participants throughout the course.

    Learn about bringing this course to your organization.

    Learner Stories

    84%
    have more confidence making business decisions
    I loved the mixture of academic teaching, case-based review, interaction with peers who had their own experiences to recount, and application in my place of work. To me, it was a complete package.
    Shalini Agarwal
    Professor of Radiodiagnosis at Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences
    HBS Online courses are excellent for anyone who wishes to learn more about a particular subject area or further develop their career.
    Corina Cristea Lavoie
    Corporate Services Manager at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
    Read more learner stories
    * Source: 2022 surveys and course data
     
    All FAQs

    Strategy Execution FAQs

    Could you tell me a little more about the AI Course Assistant chat bot?

    +–

    You can think of the beta version of the Strategy Execution AI Course Assistant chat bot like a virtual Teaching Assistant who can help you consolidate and confirm your understanding of course concepts. When you are finding a particular concept difficult to master, or would like additional examples of a theory, try asking the bot your question in the same way you would phrase it to a human TA. Over time, we hope to add additional functionality to the Course Assistant (including the ability to answer questions that are more logistical or administrative in nature), but the ability of the bot to handle such queries may be limited or absent at this time. Please note that no preexisting familiarity or experience with generative AI is necessary or assumed to use the bot and, while we encourage you to engage with the bot and share your candid feedback on your experience, a lack of engagement with the bot will not adversely impact your eligibility for a certificate of completion.

    What are the learning requirements in order to successfully complete the course, and how are grades assigned?

    +–

    Participants in Strategy Execution are eligible for a Certificate of Completion from Harvard Business School Online.

    Participants are expected to fully complete all coursework in a thoughtful and timely manner. This will mean meeting each week’s course module deadlines and fully answering questions posed therein. This helps ensure participants proceed through the course at a similar pace and can take full advantage of social learning opportunities. In addition to module and assignment completion, we expect you to offer feedback on others’ reflections and contribute to conversations on the platform. Participants who fail to complete the course requirements will not receive a certificate and will not be eligible to retake the course.

    More detailed information on course requirements will be communicated at the start of the course. No grades are assigned for Strategy Execution. Participants will either be evaluated as complete or not complete.

    What materials will I have access to after completing Strategy Execution?

    +–

    You will have access to the materials in every prior module as you progress through the program. Access to course materials and the course platform ends 60 days after the final deadline in the program.

    At the end of each course module, you will be able to download a PDF summary highlighting key concepts used throughout the course. At the end of the program, you will receive a PDF compilation of all of the module summary documents. We hope the module summary documents will serve as a helpful resource after you finish the course.

    How should I list my certificate on my resume?

    +–

    Once you've earned your Certificate of Completion, list it on your resume along with the date of completion:

    Harvard Business School Online

    Certificate in Strategy Execution

    [Cohort Start Month and Year]

    List your certificate on your LinkedIn profile under "Education" with the language from the Credential Verification page:

    School: Harvard Business School Online
    Dates Attended: [The year you participated in the program]
    Degree: Other; Certificate in Strategy Execution
    Field of Study: Leave blank
    Grade: "Complete"
    Activities and Societies: Leave blank
    Description:

    Strategy Execution is an 8-week, 45-hour online certificate program from Harvard Business School. Strategy Execution equips current and aspiring managers with the tools, skills, and frameworks to allocate resources, measure performance, manage risk, and successfully implement strategy.

    The program was developed by leading Harvard Business School faculty and is delivered in an active learning environment based on the HBS signature case-based learning model.

     

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    All FAQs

    Top FAQs

    How are HBS Online courses delivered?

    +–

    We offer self-paced programs (with weekly deadlines) on the HBS Online course platform.

    Our platform features short, highly produced videos of HBS faculty and guest business experts, interactive graphs and exercises, cold calls to keep you engaged, and opportunities to contribute to a vibrant online community.

    Are HBS Online programs available in languages other than English?

    +–

    We expect to offer our courses in additional languages in the future but, at this time, HBS Online can only be provided in English.

    All course content is delivered in written English. Closed captioning in English is available for all videos. There are no live interactions during the course that requires the learner to speak English. Coursework must be completed in English.

    Do I need to come to campus to participate in HBS Online programs?

    +–

    No, all of our programs are 100 percent online, and available to participants regardless of their location.

    How do I enroll in a course?

    +–

    Certificate Programs

    HBS Online welcomes committed learners wherever they are—in the world and their careers—irrespective of their professional experience or academic background. To extend the reach of HBS Online, we no longer require an application for our certificate programs. (Applications are still required for our credential programs: CORe and CLIMB.) You can now immediately enroll and start taking the next step in your career.

    All programs require the completion of a brief online enrollment form before payment. If you are new to HBS Online, you will be required to set up an account before enrolling in the program of your choice.

    Our easy online enrollment form is free, and no special documentation is required. All participants must be at least 18 years of age, proficient in English, and committed to learning and engaging with fellow participants throughout the program.

    Updates to your enrollment status will be shown on your account page. HBS Online does not use race, gender, ethnicity, or any protected class as criteria for enrollment for any HBS Online program.

    Credential Programs

    HBS Online's CORe and CLIMB programs require the completion of a brief application. The applications vary slightly, but all ask for some personal background information. You can apply for and enroll in programs here. If you are new to HBS Online, you will be required to set up an account before starting an application for the program of your choice.

    Our easy online application is free, and no special documentation is required. All participants must be at least 18 years of age, proficient in English, and committed to learning and engaging with fellow participants throughout the program.

    Updates to your application and enrollment status will be shown on your account page. We confirm enrollment eligibility within one week of your application for CORe and three weeks for CLIMB. HBS Online does not use race, gender, ethnicity, or any protected class as criteria for admissions for any HBS Online program.

    Does Harvard Business School Online offer an online MBA?

    +–

    No, Harvard Business School Online offers business certificate programs.

    What are my payment options?

    +–

    We accept payments via credit card, wire transfer, Western Union, and (when available) bank loan. Some candidates may qualify for scholarships or financial aid, which will be credited against the Program Fee once eligibility is determined. Please refer to the Payment & Financial Aid page for further information.

    We also allow you to split your payment across 2 separate credit card transactions or send a payment link email to another person on your behalf. If splitting your payment into 2 transactions, a minimum payment of $350 is required for the first transaction.

    In all cases, net Program Fees must be paid in full (in US Dollars) to complete registration.

    What are the policies for refunds and deferrals?

    +–

    After enrolling in a program, you may request a withdrawal with refund (minus a $100 nonrefundable enrollment fee) up until 24 hours after the start of your program. Please review the Program Policies page for more details on refunds and deferrals. If your employer has contracted with HBS Online for participation in a program, or if you elect to enroll in the undergraduate credit option of the Credential of Readiness (CORe) program, note that policies for these options may differ.

     

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