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Business Leadership Skills

Certificate ID: BLSHRPC1
Direct your organization's future while managing today's bottom line by thinking strategically, assessing the financial implications of decisions, mobilizing change, and communicating with other business leaders.

Description

The Certificate in Business Leadership Skills provides managers with a toolkit to think strategically, assess financial implications of their decisions, mobilize change within an organization, and communicate with other business leaders. The courses in this series prepare managers to chart the future of their company as well as manage for bottom-line performance today, while providing engaging opportunities to specialize in a specific area of career interest.

Who Should Take This Certificate?

This certificate series is designed for managers who require a solid understanding of leadership and strategic management concepts in order to ensure contribution to the organization's financial performance.

Enrollment

To register, contact an Enrollment Counselor at info@ecornell.com or 1-866-eCornell (+1-607-330-3200 from outside the United States).

Certificate programs are eligible for eCornell Payment Plans. Discounts are available for military personnel, veterans, and Cornell University Alumni. eCornell programs are not eligible for financial aid or federal Pell Grants. Contact an enrollment counselor for more information.

Courses in this Certificate

• Mastering the Time Value of Money

  • In today's competitive business world, managers are charged with making many project-related decisions, often involving costs or revenues that will be encountered some time in the future. Managers need to have a fundamental understanding of the time value of money.

    In this course, participants develop a solid understanding of the time value of money. Using timelines and cash-flow calculations they will learn to project cash flow, calculate payments, establish the value of securities and investments, and determine when it is more cost effective to lease or to buy.

    Course Description
• Understanding Financial Statements

  • In order for organizations to succeed, leaders and managers must be able to accurately interpret and utilize financial reports. They must also be able to assess the overall financial performance of the organization, a particular department, or the competition, and then convey the organization's financial condition to its constituents.

    In this course, participants will learn how to read and interpret income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. By understanding the information contained in each of these key reports, participants will have a solid foundation upon which to base more advanced analysis of their firm's financial performance.

    Course Description
• Developing an Agenda for Change

  • The many economic, competitive, and global factors that influence how organizations conduct business are constantly changing and evolving. The ability of organizations to understand these influences on their organizations and to respond to and adapt to these changes is critical for long-term growth and survival.

    This course, the first in a four-course series, "Getting Things Done in Organizations: Creating Change and Building Support", discusses change as a political process driven by individuals and leaders within the organization who emerge as change agents. To be effective, individuals must recognize the areas within the organization over which they can exercise control and the areas over which they cannot.

    Course Description
• Mapping the Political Terrain of Allies and Resistors

  • Implementing an agenda for action is a political process driven by individuals within the organization who emerge as change agents. Essential to their success is the understanding that all new initiatives attract both allies and resistors.

    This course, the second in a four-course series, "Getting Things Done in Organizations: Creating Change and Building Support", teaches leaders how to frame their agenda in a way that helps them identify and assess potential allies and resistors to their initiatives. With this understanding participants will be able to anticipate and prepare for arguments resistors may use in their attempts to derail the initiative.

    Course Description
• Negotiating Support and Buy-In for Your Agenda

  • In these highly uncertain and turbulent times, going it alone is no longer a route to success; as a result, effective leaders build coalitions of support for their agenda and change initiatives. Leaders develop such coalitions by establishing their own credibility and the credibility of their agenda.

    This course, the third in the series, "Getting Things Done in Organizations: Creating Change and Building Support," is designed to:

    • Help learners develop a "roadmap" for negotiating support for their action agenda
    • Convey an understanding of the principles of bargaining power and influence in the process of negotiating a strategic initiative
    • Help learners apply this conceptual model to their action agenda in their organization
    • Help learners analyze the political agendas of others in the organization, identify sources of support for their agenda, and develop a strategy for building support for their initiative
    Course Description
• Mobilizing the Coalition for Action

  • In most organizations, it is no longer sufficient to identify what needs to get done, and how it should get done. A leader must have the skills to implement his or her initiative and to overcome the dynamics of opposition and resistance that exist in every organization.

    This course, the fourth in the series, "Getting Things Done in Organizations: Creating Change and Building Support," is designed to help learners:

    • Apply the leadership style appropriate to the situation
    • Put a change coalition into place
    • React to changing conditions in the organization to ensure successful implementation
    • Anticipate and prepare for the future
    Course Description
• Strategic Thinking

  • Strategic thinking is defined as both a way of looking at the world - particularly at challenging situations - and as a way of applying a set of techniques for framing and solving problems. It takes different forms in different situations, and certain levels of strategic thinking are more efficient for various industries and corporate cultures.

    In this course, participants learn the four basic levels of strategic thinking under which an organization can operate, and the circumstances under which an organization must shift to a higher strategic level. At the completion of the course, participants will be able to prepare a competitive analysis of an organization, with recommendations for strategic development based on an industry analysis and an understanding of the organization's history, culture, and current operations.

    Course Description
• Scenario Planning

  • The complexities of rapidly expanding technology and economic globalization make it necessary for organizations to develop tools for strategic analysis to ensure their ability to compete as an industry leader. Scenario planning is a powerful tool used by the most successful corporations for strategic analysis and decision making, enabling an organization to chart a course or optimize its resource allocation in complex situations when the future is uncertain.

    In this course, participants learn to evaluate an organization's strategic position, competencies, and plans for expansion across a full range of potential future developments.

    Course Description
• Managing Employment Issues in a Global Context

  • Today's organizations operate in global markets where employment issues, regulations, and labor practices vary dramatically among countries and regions of the world. In order for officers and managers in multinational corporations to manage multiple, diverse branches of their business, they must understand workplace diversities and develop strong cross-cultural methods for handling them.

    In this course, participants develop a global perspective of the variability and constantly changing labor issues in the regions where they operate. Participants explore international employment systems and examine several multinational case studies that will assist them in developing practical approaches for managing global employment issues and responding to international labor and human rights challenges.

    Course Description
• Executive Decision Making
  • In today's competitive business climate, it is imperative that executives know how to make key decisions quickly and decisively. Strategic decisions often entail considerable risks and can have long-range implications for the organization. In this course, participants will learn how to apply formal decision-making processes in order to reduce risk and choose the best course of action for their organization. They will learn methods and techniques for making critical decisions in a challenging environment with limited time and resources. This course focuses on how to maximize available assets, identify risks and obstacles, and gather the necessary data for an informed decision-making process.
    Course Description
• Leading Through Creativity
  • Organizations that understand the creative process and foster this with employees find themselves at the top of their industry. They know how to harness the creative power of their workforce to develop new products and services. The creative process that leads to this type of innovation is often veiled in mystery and the misconception that one must be gifted to be creative. Creativity, however, is as much a matter of technique as intelligence. In this course, participants will learn a series of individual and group techniques designed to cultivate organizational creativity and the development of new ideas. Participants will learn to enhance their capacity for creative thought and will be able to use their abilities to develop their organization's ability to be innovative, resulting in increased market share and profit.
    Course Description
• Systems and Strategies for Managing Organizational Conflict

  • Workplace conflict is common in organizations. In order to manage this issue effectively and reduce the loss of productivity and high costs of litigation associated with it, modern organizations are developing specific strategies to identify and manage conflict. This course uses a fictional case study to teach participants how to design and implement an integrated conflict management system in their organizations and how to evaluate its effectiveness.

    Course Description
• Making Capital Investment Decisions

  • One of the most important aspects of a manager's job is to evaluate the feasibility of new initiatives and to make sound investment decisions. This includes conducting a thorough and reliable analysis using the appropriate financial decision-making tools.

    In this course, participants will learn six capital budgeting rules that provide a framework for making sound project investment decisions. Participants will examine how the rules differ from one another, and which rules are most appropriate for different project settings.

    Course Description
• Using Ratio Analysis to Evaluate Financial Performance

  • The ability of an organization to analyze its financial position is essential for improving its competitive position in the marketplace. Through a careful analysis of its financial performance, the organization can identify opportunities to improve performance at the department, unit, or organizational level.

    In this course, participants will learn to use several ratio analysis instruments to achieve a comprehensive understanding of a firm's financial performance. The course then addresses how this financial health information can be used as a foundation upon which to design and implement initiatives for increased productivity and profitability.

    Course Description
• Unlocking Your Leadership Potential
  • Leaders are not born; they are developed. This course helps managers identify and enhance the particular leadership style that matches their personal strengths. By providing participants with a range of assessment tools, including an online 360-degree evaluation, this course builds critical leadership competencies essential to career development and advancement. Linked to Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management Leadership Model, the online 360-degree evaluation is designed to identify participant’s management strengths and weaknesses. Participants will create a Leadership Development Plan designed to guide their career development.
    Course Description
• Overcoming Challenges to Leaders and Their Teams

  • As managers take on new roles and responsibilities, the risks and consequences of failure become much greater. In this course, participants gain skills in identifying and overcoming the obstacles and pitfalls they may face at different stages of their careers.Participants revise an existing personal Leadership Development Plan to guide them through leadership transitions and make them more effective managers and members of their organizations. (Participants must bring a completed personal leadership development plan to the course—either one they created in LSM509, Unlocking Your Leadership Potential, or one they’ve created in their workplace.) They also develop strategies for helping their team of direct reports grow and change when faced with new assignments.

    Course Description
• Internal Consulting Skills for HR Professionals
  • The role of the HR professional is being transformed from that of the guardians or enforcer of an organization’s policies and procedures into that of a strategic business partner. As demands on and expectations of HR professionals change, they must continually develop new skills to add value to the organization. Essential skills of the HR Professional as Business Partner are consulting skills. As an internal consultant, HR professionals act as a proactive advisor providing critical input into the strategic initiatives of the organization and become increasingly involved in the implementation of strategies. As HR professionals take on these additional responsibilities, our role changes and we are able to have a greater impact on the organization.
    Course Description
• Establishing Momentum: Managing Structure, Resources, and Performance

  • Effective leaders not only develop good ideas and create action, but also implement the ideas and sustain action. You can be charismatic. You can be charming. But your skill as a manager will be evaluated in terms of your ability to get things done.

    Once you have gotten an initiative off the ground, you need to ensure that your coalition has the ability to produce results and drive momentum. A proactive leader must have the managerial competence to build the coalition’s capacity to keep the initiative moving forward and growing, and the performance-management skills to keep it operating effectively.

    This course is designed to help learners:

    • Develop a “roadmap” for establishing momentum for their coalition’s agenda
    • Apply facilitative and directive leadership styles appropriately in teams and organizations
    • Maintain organizational capacity in order to allocate resources and prioritize effectivelyMonitor performance in order to evaluate progress and make corrections
    • Apply these skills to a change agenda in their organization
    Course Description
• Sustaining Momentum: Motivating Through Vision, Culture, and Political Agility

  • Leaders need to provide the vision exercise the political agility, and establish the organizational culture necessary to keep their initiatives vital and moving forward. Proactive leaders must have the skills to keep the “soul” of their coalition alive and relevant to the needs of the organization.

    This course is designed to help learners:

    • Manage organizational culture to sustain momentum.
    • Become politically agile in ensuring continued support for their agenda.
    • Manage their coalition—and their agenda—for the long-term.
    Course Description

Accreditation

Participants who successfully complete all eight required courses and four elective courses in this certificate series will receive a Certificate in Business Leadership Skills from Cornell University.

CORE REQUIRED COURSES
-Mastering the Time Value of Money HAME507
-Understanding Financial Statements HAME513
-Developing an Agenda for Change ILRMS509
-Mapping the Political Terrain of Allies and Resistors ILRSM510
-Negotiating Support and Buy-In for Your Agenda ILRSM511
-Mobilizing the Coalition for Action ILRMS512
-Strategic Thinking LSM502
-Scenario Planning LSM503



ELECTIVE COURSES - SELECT FOUR
-Managing Employment Issues in a Global Context ILRSM502
-Executive Decision Making LSM506
-Leading Through Creativity LSM507
-Systems and Strategies for Managing Organizational Conflict ILRSM504
-Making Capital Investment Decisions HAME508
-Using Ratio Analysis to Evaluate Financial Performance HAME514
-Unlocking Your Leadership Potential LSM509
-Overcoming Challenges to Leaders and Their Teams LSM510
-Internal Consulting Skills for HR Professionals ILRHR513
-Establishing Momentum: Managing Structure, Resources, and Performance ILRSM513
-Sustaining Momentum: Motivating Through Vision, Culture, and Political Agility ILRSM514

HRCI Recertification

The courses in this certificate series have each been approved for six (6) recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR, and GPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute. Some courses have been approved for six (6) Strategic Management recertification credit hours toward SPHR and GPHR recertification or six (6) International HR Management recertification credit hours towards the GPHR designation. See individual course descriptions for more information. Please contact the Human Resource Certificate Institute (HRCI) for further information about certification or recertification.

Technical Requirements

With all eCornell courses, access is easy. Participants only need a computer and an Internet connection. To view specific technology requirements, visit our Technology Requirements page.

 
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