Abstract
This chapter tells the story of how Ericsson—a high-technology, global telecommunications company—used executive education to support implementation of a new strategy. The chapter focuses on how a common model, language, and set of tools for strategy development—embedded in Ericsson and introduced by a new executive education program developed by the Columbia University Business School, Executive Education—drove organizational learning and developed leaders and networks that could better implement the company’s new strategy. Executive education was leveraged to build internal alignment among leaders, engage their commitment to the new strategy, and put structures, processes, and mechanisms in place to drive the new strategy throughout the company.
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Notes
- 1.
Pietersen (2002, p. 229) says that when a leader writes “a Leadership Credo … you define your core principles and your theory of success for your business—‘This is what I believe in, and here’s how we are going to win’. The Leadership Credo is the vehicle for integrating organizational strategy with leadership effectiveness.”
- 2.
Pehrson had participated in a Huber Institute study of how innovative companies use learning strategically to meet critical business challenges. Bill Klepper, the lead academic at CBS Executive Education for the program, and Stephen Newman, the program’s in-company director, both saw that strategic learning was critical. All three wanted to better understand how executive education was working and identify ways to improve the initiative. Data collected for the assessment and reported in this chapter include: interviews with key designers/managers and with nine participants from programs that preceded the fifth custom program; interviews with six participants in the fifth program; four questionnaires administered between September 2004 and April 2005 before, during, and after the program; participant observation of program segments; and documents (annual reports and related program materials). We created a customized survey based on our Strategic Leverage through Learning © model.
- 3.
Pietersen, op. cit., pp. 63–64.
References
Ericsson. (2012). Bringing the networked society to life. Annual report 2012. www.ericsson.com
Ericsson. (2014). Welcome to the networked society. Annual Report 2014. www.ericsson.com
Pietersen, W. (2002). Reinventing strategy: Using strategic learning to create and sustain breakthrough performance. New York: Wiley.
Pietersen, W. G. (2004). A leadership process for creating and implementing breakthrough strategies. www.williepietersen.com
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Gephart, M.A., Marsick, V.J. (2016). Linking Leadership Development to Strategy at Ericsson. In: Strategic Organizational Learning. Management for Professionals. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-48642-9_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-48642-9_6
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