::The Center for Paper Business and Industry Studies::

Professional Education

Management Development for Enhanced Performance

Program outline:

The Art of Leadership
Today's most successful companies are those in which managers at all levels know how to get the most out of themselves and their people. They know how to use and adapt their managerial style for maximum effectiveness, and more importantly, they know how to manage and handle the impact of frequent organizational changes on individuals and groups. This module will discuss how to be an effective leader, and how to effectively manage change.

Effectively Managing Change
Managers are often admonished to "change or perish." This is particularly true in the pulp and paper industry given the mergers, acquisitions, and consolidation activities in the industry. Unfortunately, many organizations have changed a great deal and still suffered or perished. This session will examine the impact of change frequency and severity on individuals in the organization, their attitude toward the change, as well as their ability to embrace it. The role of managers in planning and implementing change will be emphasized, and the role of different change management practices will be addressed.

Creating Successful Bargaining and Negotiations Outcomes
Managers are engaged in daily bargaining and negotiations for resources, delivery schedules, budgets, and performance expectations. This module will take a methodical and insightful look at the components and techniques of successful bargaining and negotiations. This module is designed to help participants develop a clear and concise thought process required to plan, conduct, control, and succeed at bargaining and negotiations at all levels.

Effectively Managing High Performance Teams
The ability to work effectively in teams is critical to improving organizational performance. Effective teamwork is critical to tap into and leverage team members' knowledge, resourcefulness, and creativity, all crucial elements in enhancing performance. This session will examine the strategic use of teams, the technical and interpersonal factors that can facilitate (or hinder) team performance, the management of team interaction processes, and organizational mechanisms that serve to support and encourage teamwork.

Leveraging People Resources for Improved Performance
Line and staff managers are taking more responsibility with respect to reviewing, developing, and motivating those who work for them and creating a flexible and adaptable workforce. This session will discuss valuable people-related strategies that can be implemented to energize your work force and organizational performance. Topics that will be covered include strategies for employee selection and development, empowering people, reviewing and rewarding performance, feedback, and improving employee satisfaction.

Improving Capital Effectiveness
Capital effectiveness in the pulp and paper industry is a major issue as the industry is not recovering its cost of capital. This session will discuss steps that must be taken to improve capital effectiveness and identify issues that prevent projects from performing as expected. An important step is to spend more time in pre-project planning. Projects must be analyzed to insure that they meet the business objectives and produce the value shareholders demand. The Construction Industry Institute (CII) has developed several tools that when used by the project team can help define the success of pre-project planning. Application of these tools in the industry has shown significant improvements in capital effectiveness.

Strategic Decision Making Under Uncertainty
This session will focus on strategic development in manufacturing, product and services environments. A process framework for framing opportunities, creating alternative strategies and making value enhancing strategic decisions within your business will be provided. Further, analytical methods and tools will be developed in order to help make strategic decisions in areas with limited information or high degrees of uncertainty.

Customer Relationship Management
This session will provide managers with a framework and set of tools that will enable them to become better at managing customer relationships. Increased customer satisfaction and loyalty are critical in improving the profitability of the industry. This session will discuss what constitutes a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) initiative, how to take a holistic view of CRM, and how to coordinate customer interaction and information across multiple channels. The session will also discuss the role of technology in building strong customer relationships.

Guest Speakers During Evenings
During two of the four evenings guest speakers who are successful in their profession will challenge the participants' perspectives about the Pulp and Paper industry. The actual topic will depend on the speakers but will range in the areas of technology transfer, managing organization learning, supply chain management, developing business strategy, and green manufacturing.