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General Management Plus Program at WHU

On July 9, 2016, a group of 13 managers from India, Spain, Israel, China, and Germany completed their half-year Executive Education Program on General Management at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management. All can look back on six months filled with emotions and moments of stepping out of their comfort zone, growing as leaders, and working as a team.

The five modules of the General Management Plus Program made them not only grow as responsible leaders but also as a team. Especially the fourth module, in which they implemented a learning center in Bandarawela, Sri Lanka, impressed them. During the last module of the program in July, the participants reviewed their exciting learning journey:

Sima Dor-Hay: “My three key learnings of the program are:

1. Stretching my own comfort zone
2. Do things you believe in
3. You need a team to achieve your goals”

Stefan Paraschiv: “For me, the three components of leadership are:

1. Inspire and help people
2. Make use of all resources available
3. Do all things with love and feel good about what you did”

All participants emphasized that it was very challenging to act and work in an unknown environment. Stepping out of their comfort zones made them grow personally, and also get to know and accept their personal limits. Maria described the program as a “ride on a rollercoaster of emotions”, including many personal and intercultural experiences. For May-Britt the most emotional moment was the situation when two teenagers signed up for a course offered by the new learning center in Bandarawela, Sri Lanka.

The General Management Plus Program, in which the managers participated, combines theoretical General Management knowledge with the direct application of the learnings in a social business project. Starting with a “theoretical” module in Düsseldorf, Germany, the participants are equipped with the foundations of Finance, Strategy, and Entrepreneurship. Participants are then challenged to set-up a sustainable business plan for a social business – a learning center in an Asian country – and to pitch to an investor. The program further strengthens the participants´ leadership capabilities and personal and intercultural experiences: Together as a team, they implement the learning center in the Asian country. The program is run in cooperation by WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management and the social enterprise BOOKBRIDGE, which builds learning centers in Mongolia, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka.

Impact: The team of the pilot program implemented a learning center in Tonbloab, Cambodia. Built in 2014, 80,195 people have been reached through the education initiative so far. In 2015, the team of GMP+ 2 set-up a learning center in Siem Reap, Cambodia. It has reached 28,779 people until today.

More information: www.whu.edu/gmp​

New Executive Program on Private Equity and Venture Capital successfully launched

WHU’s new Executive Education Program “Value Creation in Private Equity and Venture Capital” commenced on Thursday, April 28. The two-day program was taught by WHU Professors Serden Ozcan and Garen Markarian and took place at WHU Campus Düsseldorf, Germany.

“We are thrilled that 28 talented professionals representing six nationalities from Europe, Asia, and the Americas joined the first program run”, says Professor Serden Ozcan, Chair of Innovation and Organization at WHU. Participants had diverse backgrounds, coming from venture capital and private equity firms, corporate venture units, family offices, M&A firms, accelerators as well as family businesses, corporations, and start-ups. Such a remarkable gathering of participants from diverse organizations and countries provided a powerful forum for lively debates and exchanges of experiences.

The program was targeted to professionals who were new to the topics of Venture Capital and Private Equity but also to professionals who aimed at deepening their knowledge and at keeping up with the latest developments and tools. “The Private Equity and Venture Capital industries are changing quickly. This is why we make it a point to include the latest developments of the industries in our program”, explains Professor Garen Markarian, Chair of Financial Accounting at WHU.

In the course of the two days, the participants learned amongst others how venture capital works in each stage of a venture´s life course and how venture capitalists manage their portfolio of investments. With regards to private equity, they learned how to value a private equity company and the financing techniques and tools commonly used in leveraged buyout transactions. Besides lectures, the program offered plenty of networking opportunities, not only with fellow participants but also with professionals from leading Private Equity and Venture Capital Firms such as Alvarez & Marsal, Capnamic Ventures, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Lincoln International, and Waterland Private Equity.

WHU’s Doing Business With India Program mentioned in a blog article by "The Economist Executive Education Navigator"

"It’s all designed to give participants a deeper understanding of Indian work culture, consumer demand and investment risks and possibilities" states a recently published blog article about WHU´s Doing Business With India Program by "The Economist Executive Education Navigator".

Read the complete article online:

execed.economist.com/blog/industry-trends/doing-business-india-risk-reward​

WHU General Management Plus Program successfully begins for the third time

During the past week, the WHU General Management Plus Program began for the third time. In the program, a total of 14 participants from 8 countries, including China, India, Israel, Spain, and Germany, face the common challenge of WHU Executive Education and its cooperation partner, BOOKBRIDGE – learning general management content and directly applying what they have learned as responsible social entrepreneurs.

As top talents in their respective companies, the participants have been sent to this continuing-education program with a particular focus on entrepreneurial thinking and acting. Here, they receive instruction from the renowned instructors at WHU in the topics of strategy, leadership, and entrepreneurship. At the same time, as fully responsible entrepreneurs, they establish a learning center that follows the principles of a social enterprise. The special feature in this third round of the program is that the participants are planning and executing market entry into a new country: Sri Lanka. “The expansion of activities into a new country is a very special challenge,” Dr. Carsten Rübsaamen, CEO and founder of the social enterprise BOOKBRIDGE, commented. And he added: “Planning and implementing a market-entry strategy in hitherto-unknown regions is a valuable experience the participants can bring to their everyday work.”

WHU Executive Education and BOOKBRIDGE have already been working together on this program, the only one of its kind in the world, for more than three years. “It's great to watch how much dedication the participants devote to the entrepreneurial task at hand,” Dr. Rebecca Winkelmann, Managing Director of WHU Executive Education, was pleased to report. “I am very pleased that in BOOKBRIDGE we have a partner with which we can actually provide visual evidence of the impact of what has been learned,” she added. Even after completing the program, participants are given the opportunity to stay informed about the status of “their” learning center on a regular basis.

The WHU General Management Plus Program at a glance:

• 5 modules with a total of 18 days of attendance (10 days WHU campus Düsseldorf, 8 days of sojourn abroad)
• Leadership, strategy, entrepreneurship & business impact project
• Group size: 15 participants
• Program language: English
• Participants who successfully complete the program receive 10 ECTS
• Next program begins: January 2017

You will find more information and the application form here.​