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Executive Education Classroom

Master Science-Driven Strategies to Drive Business Growth

Science-Driven Strategy Executive Training | Leadership Development Program

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.

Upcoming Program Dates

November 11-14, 2025
8:30 am to 4:30 pm

Why Rice Business Executive Education

World Renowned Faculty with Experiential Learning: All of our programs are taught by our world-class business school faculty who are prolific researchers in their areas of expertise, and have won numerous prestigious teaching awards. Additionally, our executive education faculty leverages their consulting experience and the professional experience of classroom participants to co-create a rich learning environment.

Alumni Benefits: All participants in Rice Business Executive Education courses are invited to register and attend future school events, including executive speakers and conferences.

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

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What Participants Say

Craig Taylor, CEO of Atlas Commodities – a mid-stream energy company, shares the value of Rice Business Executive Education programs and how they’ve fueled the success of the organization’s employees.