Program Overview

In today’s fast-moving, complex business environment, the ability to innovate quickly, reliably, and effectively is imperative for achieving profitability and growth. Yet, all too frequently, organizations are unable to generate sufficiently creative ideas and effectively move them to market. Innovation and creativity are treated as mysterious processes. Organizational investments to support change and innovation are overlooked. As a result, change and innovation efforts are often fragmented and shortlived, with little measurable influence on business competitiveness and success. Successful implementation of new business strategies and innovations is dependent on executives who know how to understand innovation and lead organizational change. Leading Innovation andChange provides executives with the critical insights and tools they need to successfully manage innovation and avert the pitfalls associated with traditional approaches to change. The program introduces participants to proven tools and techniques for encouraging innovation, a new analytical model of the leadership process, and a unique framework for analyzing the change process from three perspectives—strategic, political, and cultural.

The MIT Edge

Renowned for its leadership in technological innovation, MIT is also distinguished for its leadership in the innovation of cultural and organizational solutions that enable businesses to achieve optimal results and outpace their competitors. MIT's internationally-recognized faculty are leaders in their fields and sought-after business consultants. They work closely with their counterparts in corporations and governments around the world to develop principled, innovative leaders and to generate ideas that advance management practice. The unique strategies, tools, and frameworks introduced in Leading Innovation and Change have been developed by the faculty of the program.

Program Benefits

Through a combination of lectures, case studies, and group discussions, you will learn to:
• identify the leadership strengths and weaknesses of their own firms
• recognize the difference between effective leadership and good management
• avoid the roadblocks typically encountered in making change
• adopt best practices for managing innovation and change
• develop procedures for encouraging innovation in their organizations
• understand successful practices of the “Digital Organization”
• effectively communicate their strategies and recommendations

Who Should Attend

Leading Innovation and Change is designed for senior-level managers from leading organizations in the United Arab Emirates and around the Middle East including:
• Executives of public and private corporations, NGOs, and government entities responsible for developing and executing strategy
• Top managers and board members of recently-privatized corporations
• Government ministers and deputy ministers in technology, finance, and business/industrial policy

The Learning Experience

Conceptual material, specially designed workshops, and computer simulations give participants hands-on, practical experience with organizational change strategies and innovation practices. Upon completion of the program, participants will be able to put these change models and implementation tactics to work in their own organizations. Through networking opportunities with each other and the faculty, participants will have the unique opportunity to engage in discussions about their ideas and challenges with like-minded professionals, enhancing the development of their local, regional and global strategies.

Contact Information

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT Sloan School of Management, Office of Executive Education, 238 Main Street, Suite E48-501, Cambridge, MA 02142-1046 • Phone: +1 617.253.7166 Fax: +1 617.253.6773 • email: sloanexeced@mit.edu • http://mitsloan.mit.edu/execed

Higher Colleges of Technology, Center of Excellence for Applied Research & Training, 5464 Muroor Road, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates • Phone: +971.2.4048200 • Fax: +971.2.4462050 email: hctmit@hct.ac.ae • www.certonline.com

Program Outline

Leadership in the Organization
Are the skills required of effective leaders well represented in your organization? What are the
leadership strengths and weaknesses of your firm? How would you characterize your own favored
leadership capability?

Leadership: A Case Example
What are the differences between effective leadership skills and good management techniques? When
and how are passion, persistence, and a workaholic focus required to make a difference?

Leading Innovation—Perspectives on the Organization
Why do projects get off track? What are the challenges that threaten the success of your projects?
How do you avoid the pitfalls associated with change initiatives?

Innovation and Creativity in Organizations
Where do new ideas come from in your organization? What procedures do you have in place to
encourage innovation? How do you routinize the processes of innovation and creativity?

Innovation, Productivity, and the Digital Organization
How do new business processes, employee skills, and human resource policies affect productivity?
What are the best practices of successful “Digital Organizations”? How do different practices fit
together to form a coherent system?

The Matrix of Change
What are incremental vs. disruptive changes? How do you navigate through different types of change?
How do you characterize change management features such as the feasibility of proposed changes,
the preferred speed of execution, and the best sequence of changes?

Change Simulation
The capstone of the course is an organizational change simulation whereby participants use their local
knowledge and learning from the program in a “practice field” to effectuate a major change in a
(simulated) division of a global firm.

Effective Communication for Change
How do you express your recommendations concisely and from the other person’s point of view? What
is your “elevator pitch”?