Strategic Growth through Customer Focus
Source: https://business.rice.edu/executive-education/open-enrollment-programs/strategic-growth-through-customer-focus Parent: https://business.rice.edu/
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Lauren Maghsoudi
Assistant Director, Open Enrollment Programs
Zoran Perunovic
Senior Director, Executive Education
Enhancing Strategic Planning & Execution to Create Value for Customers, Employees, and Shareholders
Upcoming Dates and Tuition:
April 28 - May 1, 2026\ 8:30 am to 4:30 pm\ Tuition: $6,500
Overview
Embark on a journey to become a strategy-centric executive whose organization focuses on customers, develops accountability partnerships with employees, increases sales, and rewards shareholders by growing enterprise value. In this program, you will learn how to bridge six strategy gaps in: (1) strategy thinking, 2) alignment, 3) formulation, 4) implementation, 5) monetization, and 6) embedding, and create superior performance.
Interested in Executive Education?
Who Should Attend
- C-suite executives who are responsible for strategic planning and implementation in their organizations
- Mid-level managers who are on the path to senior leadership roles and want to deepen their strategic thinking and execution skills
- Business unit heads responsible for driving growth and performance in their respective areas
- Chief Strategy Officers and professionals in strategic planning, corporate development, and business analysis roles
- Human Resources leaders who aim to align employee performance with strategic goals and develop accountability partnerships
- Sales and marketing executives looking to enhance their understanding of customer-centric strategies and improve sales growth
- Entrepreneurs and business owners seeking to scale their businesses by implementing robust, science-based strategy
- Board members, private equity advisors, and CEOs of family-offices who seek to nourish and grow portfolio companies
Outcome
- An evaluation of your company’s strategy based on the strategy gaps
- Understand the difference between customer focus and customer appeasement
- Use accountability partnerships to increase your employees’ output and ability to implement your company’s strategy
- Provide your sales team with a resonating value proposition to monetize strategy
- Inculcate humility, listening and critical thinking to become a strategy leading executive
Program Schedule
AM Session
PM Session
DAY ONE
Gap 1 - Strategy Thinking Gap: From Thinking Inhibitors to Enablers
- Explore and explode common myths about legacy strategy planning
- Understand and measure strategy gaps using failure and success case studies
- Learn the four most critical strategy thinking mistakes and solutions (salience, intuitive leaps, mythical numbers, staying put, more-is-better fallacy)
- Distinguish among problem-solving, strategy planning, and strategy implementation
Gap 2 - Strategy Alignment Gap: From Internally-Focused to Customer- Centric Strategy
- Understand the difference between actual and perceived alignment
- Gaining strategy alignment (perceived and actual)
- Learn how legacy planning using mission/vision, SWOT and industry analysis increases the strategy alignment gap
- Learn how above-average companies lead strategy with science and customer focus
- Importance of focus and customer-based strategy
DAY TWO
Gap 3 - Strategy Formulation Gap: Mastering Accountability Partnerships
- Customer focus versus customer appeasement
- The downside of customer listening (yes, you’ve read it right)
- Developing your company’s customer value equation using science
- Developing your strategy positioning statement
- Common pitfalls in becoming customer focused
- Using customer value equation to prioritize initiatives
Gap 4 - Strategy Implementation Gap: Mastering Accountability Partnerships
- Leading implementation with accountability partnerships
- Enhancing employee satisfaction with accountability partnerships
- Pitfalls of communication, persuasion and motivation as employee management tools
- Learn to more clearly link customer value and employee engagement to drive sales growth
DAY THREE
Gap 5 & 6 - Strategy Monetization / Embedding Gap: Communicating Resonating Value For Lasting value
- Crafting resonating value propositions based on customer value equation
- Communicating excellence based on achievement (not on promise)
- Developing strategy systems with permanence and lasting impact
Interactive Workshop
- Engage in a small group interactive workshop where you will:
- Develop and use your company’s customer value equation
- Engage employees through accountability partnerships
- Grow sales by developing and communicating resonating focus
- Close the gap between perceived and actual alignment
- Unlearn “legacy” habits in strategy planning
DAY FOUR
Self-Growth: Becoming a Strategy Centric Executive
- Embracing humility, listening, and trust to become an effective strategy-centric executive
- Self-evaluation in pairs (Reflect in pairs to understand your own areas of growth)
CEO Forum
- We will invite 3-4 CEOs who will describe the journey to success
- Participants will have the opportunity to network and ask questions
Meet Your Professor
Vikas Mittal
Faculty Director, Center for Customer Based Execution & Strategy\ J. Hugh Liedtke Professor of Marketing
Department Faculty
Office
McNair Hall 250
Contact 713-348-6234 Email
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Have a Question?
Lauren Maghsoudi
Assistant Director, Open Enrollment Programs
Zoran Perunovic
Senior Director, Executive Education