General details Executive Education Centre Egrove ParkOxfordOxfordshireOX1 5NYUnited Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)1865 422683 Email: Click here Website
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Status Business School
Accreditation & Recognition FT Ranked
Date established 1965
Services available
Languages of instruction English
The Saïd Business School is Europe’s fastest growing business school. An integral part of the University of Oxford, it embodies the academic rigour and forward thinking that has made Oxford a world leader in education. It is dedicated to developing a new generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs and conducting research not only into the nature of business, but the connections between business and the wider world.
Executive Development at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School helps to shape the 21st Century leadership agenda by working with individuals and organisations to create and meet new opportunities in the present, and for the future. We offer a global perspective, a high level of customer focus based on an 800-year tradition of individual tutorial development, and a team of practice-based faculty dedicated to excellence in executive education. Combining the resources of the Said Business School and the wider University, our portfolio of future-facing open-enrolment, diploma and custom programmes build long-term partnerships with our clients – developing, empowering and supporting their activities at both the individual and organisational level.
Saïd Business School offers a range of open-enrolment programmes focusing on finance, leadership, strategy & change. These programmes are notable for their focus on the individual participant, their use of current issues from the world of business, and their interpretation of the broader global context. See our list of programmes below.
Customised programmes Custom Programmes at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School create powerful transformational experiences that lead to lasting change and shape the future. With over 40 years experience in the design, development and delivery of programmes for major commercial, public and third sector clients around the world, we know that each organisation requires unique learning interventions that are highly customised to their own particular contexts and challenges.
Our strengths lie in the consultative process we use to develop a deep and substantive understanding of these needs – and in our ability to design not just individual development experiences, but whole learning architectures that integrate innovative approaches to learning with an unparalleled access to the most appropriate insights and resources – from industry, our dedicated executive education faculty, our wide international network of practitioner-orientated Associates, and the intellectual
powerhouse of Oxford University.
Saïd Business School, Oxford City campus What we can do for you • Co-creation of custom programmes through close client relations and involvement as ‘strategic advisors’ • Innovative programme design • Made to Measure • Designed to Inspire • Informed by Insight • Our ability to bring the intellectual rigour of the whole of Oxford University to our activities
• Our ability to facilitate change and shape the future –of individuals and organisations
• Our responsive ‘in-house’ team of practitioner-orientated executive education faculty
Our partners view us as strategic advisors who can help them craft learning experiences to develop executives as well as the organisations they lead. Oxford programmes can take a wide variety of formats including:
Our learning events can take place in the historic city of Oxford, on client premises or in conference centres in the UK or abroad. Some of our programmes are run jointly with other Business Schools or other delivery partners. Whatever the context though, we focus on providing an environment that stimulates, challenges and engages participants.
Our team brings deep knowledge of initiating and sustaining complex change projects in a range of sectors. Much of our executive development focuses on developing the mindsets, knowledge and behaviours that are critical for leaders as they drive change and implement new strategic directions. We employ a wide range of learning methods including live cases, scenarios, workshops, projects and business simulations. Our primary goal is to ensure that learning is translated into action and delivers value for our clients. Recent clients A selection of our sector-leading current and recent clients includes: Professional services • Accenture • Clifford Chance • Deloitte Technology and Engineering • BAE Systems • MAN AG • Meggitt Aerospace Information and Communications • IBM • Telefonica • Vodafone Financial Services • Bank of China • Standard Chartered Bank • Zurich Financial Services Consumer Goods • L'Oréal • SABMiller • Sainsbury's Public Sector • European Patent Office • UK National Health Service • Abu Dhabi Civil Service Client Feedback Mervyn Davies, former Chair and CEO, Standard Chartered Bank now Trade Minister, UK Government “I would describe our relationship as a real partnership. We have developed a number of programmes with Oxford. The key to their success has been relevance, timeliness and quality of content. They change as the organisation changes. Oxford’s ability to evolve with us is one of their greatest strengths.” SABMiller participant “An extraordinary way of driving us out of our daily box and waking our collective responsibility to the challenges of the 21st Century.” Andrew Harley, O2 Group HR Director “When someone who is very hard-bitten, working very long hours, looks you in the eye and says ‘I really appreciate you doing this for us,’ it means something. We’ve made people stop and think about what they do.” Chairman, Abu Dhabi Civil Service “It is one of the fastest programmes we have ever developed. We couldn’t have done it without the commitment of everyone at Saïd Business School. I am delighted the first programme went so well.” Working to understand your needs
Recent clients
A selection of our sector-leading current and recent clients includes: Professional services • Accenture • Clifford Chance • Deloitte
Technology and Engineering • BAE Systems • MAN AG • Meggitt Aerospace Information and Communications • IBM • Telefonica • Vodafone Financial Services • Bank of China • Standard Chartered Bank • Zurich Financial Services Consumer Goods • L'Oréal • SABMiller • Sainsbury's Public Sector • European Patent Office • UK National Health Service • Abu Dhabi Civil Service Client Feedback Mervyn Davies, former Chair and CEO, Standard Chartered Bank now Trade Minister, UK Government “I would describe our relationship as a real partnership. We have developed a number of programmes with Oxford. The key to their success has been relevance, timeliness and quality of content. They change as the organisation changes. Oxford’s ability to evolve with us is one of their greatest strengths.” SABMiller participant “An extraordinary way of driving us out of our daily box and waking our collective responsibility to the challenges of the 21st Century.” Andrew Harley, O2 Group HR Director “When someone who is very hard-bitten, working very long hours, looks you in the eye and says ‘I really appreciate you doing this for us,’ it means something. We’ve made people stop and think about what they do.” Chairman, Abu Dhabi Civil Service “It is one of the fastest programmes we have ever developed. We couldn’t have done it without the commitment of everyone at Saïd Business School. I am delighted the first programme went so well.”
Working to understand your needs
We are known for our strong partnership ethos. We align ourselves to you – to your organisation, your operating principles and your stakeholder environment. Your organisation’s needs drive each stage of the design, development and delivery process, ensuring relevance throughout the programme and flexibility and responsiveness in learning architecture.
The most important part of developing a bespoke programme is an accurate and detailed diagnosis of your needs and context.
Our standard practice is to nominate a senior Faculty member to act as Programme Director.
This person leads a team that works alongside you to clarify your precise needs and, in collaboration with you, to design, evolve, deliver and review the programme. This involves understanding and assessing the business and organisational context for change and pinpointing individual learning needs, using competency frameworks and customised self-assessment and 360-degree instruments.
The Programme Director then works with you and Oxford faculty to design and develop the programme: this may range from a short, finite course for a select group of participants, to a complete management development strategy for the whole management group. We have a strong track record in flexibility – with the ability to adapt and refine the design as we go through the process of development and delivery. The process is reviewed at every stage, based on achievement of your overall objectives and the impact of the programme on the performance of your organisation. The Oxford Difference Oxford has an outstanding track record in the provision of custom programmes to help organisations meet their strategic goals. We draw on Oxford’s 800 year tradition of educating leaders to create unique learning experiences that facilitate change and shape the future – for organisations around the globe in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.
A key factor in our success is the ‘front end’ engagement with the client. Ours is a highly collaborative process, in which we work with our clients as strategic advisors and co-creators to develop deep and substantive understanding of their business and learning goals which inform the design of not just individual courses, but whole learning architectures.
We bring the intellectual rigour of the whole of Oxford University to our interactive programme designs: we draw both on the leading-edge research of Saïd Business School and on the broader expertise of the entire University to open participants’ minds to the wider competitive context and the innovative opportunity of change.
Drawing on over 40 years experience in custom programme delivery, our dedicated team of executive education faculty and practitioner Associates bring deep knowledge of the creative learning processes needed to develop the mindsets, knowledge and behaviours that are critical to drive change and improvement. Our innovative approach to executive learning is modeled on Oxford’s long tradition of individual tutorial, debate and intellectual rigour, which encourages each participant to take ownership of their own learning and push their boundaries of understanding and self-assessment.
Our clients testify to our ability to create powerful interventions that blend understanding, inspiration and action to achieve outstanding results and lasting impact at both the organisational and the individual level.
"An extraordinary way of driving us out of our daily box and waking our collective responsibility to the challenges of the twenty-first century."
SABMiller participant
CASE STUDY: Abu Dhabi’s leading civil servants join Said Business School’s development programme for transformational change.
The Executive Education team of Said Business School at the University of Oxford is working with the government of Abu Dhabi to deliver a development programme for more than 200 of its leading civil servants. The programme has been created to support the government’s Policy Agenda, a major transformation project initiated by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, setting out the Emirate’s vision of the future.
Authors: Steve Ludlow: Said Business School, University of Oxford.
First Published: January 2010 CASE STUDY: Engaging with the Future, 21st Century Challenges Alan Clark, the European MD of international brewing giant SABMiller, set out to create a revolutionary development programme for his top team. Not your usual practically-oriented business school programme but something visionary and inspiring – “a programme that reached out into the future”. Clark explains his reasoning: “For executives at this level a much broader view is needed of the way the world could unfold and the implications for our organisation. I wanted a long-term look into the future so it would not hit us as a surprise.” Authors: Steve Ludlow: Said Business School, University of Oxford. First Published: January 2010 CASE STUDY: Changing Culture at Standard Chartered Bank How to capitalise on an institution’s heritage while evolving into an agile modern organisation? Today’s volatile and complex global environment demands new leadership capabilities – the ability to manage conflicting demands under conditions of extreme ambiguity, to weld together a coherent and focused international organisation whilst respecting regional diversity, and to motivate staff unmoved by older hierarchical approaches. Facing these challenges was Standard Chartered Bank, a large and long-established international bank specialising in developing markets with a strong multicultural tradition that employs over 30,000 people in 615 offices across 57 countries. Authors: Steve Ludlow: Said Business School, University of Oxford. First Published: January 2010
First Published: January 2010 CASE STUDY: Changing Culture at Standard Chartered Bank How to capitalise on an institution’s heritage while evolving into an agile modern organisation? Today’s volatile and complex global environment demands new leadership capabilities – the ability to manage conflicting demands under conditions of extreme ambiguity, to weld together a coherent and focused international organisation whilst respecting regional diversity, and to motivate staff unmoved by older hierarchical approaches. Facing these challenges was Standard Chartered Bank, a large and long-established international bank specialising in developing markets with a strong multicultural tradition that employs over 30,000 people in 615 offices across 57 countries. Authors: Steve Ludlow: Said Business School, University of Oxford. First Published: January 2010
General Management Programmes
Strategy & Change Programmes
Leadership Programmes
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