Oxford Advanced Finance Leadership Program (10 Days)

Introduction:

Leaders from various sectors will greatly benefit from this esteemed Oxford High-Performance Leadership Programme, designed to equip them with the essential tools to thrive in high-stress environments dominated by finance and leadership responsibilities.

This course, part of the Oxford Leadership Programme and the Oxford High-Performance Leadership Programme, focuses on mastering the integration of advanced financial strategies with leadership skills, transforming financial professionals into competent executive leaders.

The advanced course for finance executives covers fundamental yet critical concepts in management, leadership, and financial management, including people management, team leadership, financial analysis, control, and planning.

The Oxford Leadership Course plays a crucial role in the development of finance leadership, preparing both current and future finance leaders to meet the challenges ahead.

Objectives:

By the end of this Oxford leadership course, participants will be able to:

• See themselves not just as managers, but as both managers and leaders.
• Define clear goals and performance expectations for their teams.
• Organize tasks, delegate workload, and structure information effectively.
• Maximize their influence on outcomes.
• Utilize the strengths and abilities of team members to achieve goals.
• Evaluate different leadership and management approaches to select and apply those most appropriate for their context and style.
• Build confidence through the practical application of techniques, moving beyond theoretical understanding to challenge conventional management practices.
• Expand their financial competence to effectively manage the financial aspects of their executive roles and enhance performance.
• Acquire the skills to select the most appropriate financial instruments and analytical methods for capital budgeting, operational financing, and other activities, leading to sound quantitative strategies.
• Gain insights into key financial issues, understanding how well an organization performs in planning and controlling financial resources across departments, business units, and the organization as a whole.

Training Methodology:

• Participative lectures
• Case method of teaching
• In-class exercises
• In-role simulations
• Finance games
• Peer learning

Course Outline:

Unit 1: Knowing What Your Tasks Are

• Manager or leader?
• Self-image.
• Understanding the full scope of duties beyond the contract.
• Reconciling the needs of conflicting stakeholders.
• Understanding when and why change is necessary.
• The six-step change process.

Unit 2: Personal Effectiveness, Time Management, and Delegating Authority

• Self-awareness and organizational context.
• Goal achievement orientation.
• Personal and team goal setting.
• Performance appraisal.
• Time management.
• The core model of delegation.

Unit 3: Communication, Influence & Conflict Management

• Communication mediums.
• Effective listening.
• Emotion and rapport.
• Influence: Persuasion and negotiation.
• Assertive conflict handling.

Unit 4: Team Design, People Leadership, and Motivation

• Successful team operation.
• Determining team roles.
• Team management in action: A team-building workshop.
• Reward and motivation.
• Vision creation and dissemination.
• Leadership styles and behaviors.

Unit 5: Improving Team Effectiveness and Performance via Coaching and Development

• Methods of acquiring skills and knowledge.
• Coaching models for individual and group development.
• Skills in providing feedback.
• Planning for development.
• Identifying further actions.

Unit 6: The Task of Making Financial Economic Decisions

• Financial economic analysis.
• Value creation for the corporation and shareholders.
• Viewing the business as dynamic.
• Strategic position analysis and competitor benchmarking.
• Corporate governance and agency issues.
• Gathering relevant information and data.
• Understanding financial reports and terminology.
• Where financial analysis and decision-making occur.

Unit 7: Business Performance Measurement and Assessment of Performance

• Analyzing business ratios and performance.
• Perspectives of organizational control.
• Shareholder perspectives.
• Lender perspectives.
• The pyramid of ratios as a system.
• The DuPont system of financial performance analysis.
• Economic Value Added (EVA).
• Evaluating default risks.

Unit 8: Projection of Financial Requirements

• Interrelationship of financial projections.
• Operational plans and budgets.
• Traditional cost systems and variance analysis.
• Cash budgets and cash flow forecasts.
• What-if modeling.
• Dynamics and growth of the business system.
• Degree of operating leverage.
• Business expansion programs.
• Financial engineering.

Unit 9: Analysis of Investment Decisions

• Time-delayed approaches.
• Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR).
• Strategic context of investments.
• EVA versus NPV.
• Improvements in investment analysis.
• Equivalent annual cost.
• What-if analysis including sensitivity analysis, scenario modeling, and NPV breakeven.
• Effective strategies and policies under risk and variability.

Unit 10: Valuation and Business Performance

• Shareholder wealth maximization.
• A perspective on shareholder value creation.
• Trends in value-based approaches.
• Value creation through restructuring and amalgamation.
• Value creation through acquisition strategies.
• Valuation of business entities.
• Restructuring corporate organizations.
• Management Buyouts (MBOs) and Management Buy-ins (MBIs).