The Oxford Advanced Finance Leaders Programme

Introduction

This 10-day seminar brings together some of the most important areas of management, leadership, and financial management: Mastering People Management & Team Leadership Skills, and Financial Analysis, Planning and Control.  It will help business professionals:

• Stand back from the detail of their everyday specialism and appreciate the bigger picture required of management roles
• Apply effective people management skills confidently
• Use the financial techniques of planning and control
• Improve performance from the use of the tools of financial analysis

Seminar Objectives

• Understanding your role as manager and leader
• Establishing clear objectives and standards of performance for your team
• Managing your workload using effective prioritisation, delegation and information management techniques
• Maximising your influencing skills
• Developing and leveraging the capabilities of team members

The seminar provides delegates with the knowledge required to find better answers to questions such as:

• Which specific variables, relationships, and trends are likely to be helpful in analysing business problems?
• Are there possible ways to obtain a quick ‘ballpark’ estimates of likely outcomes of decisions?
• How precise an answer is necessary with regard to problem-solving and decision-making?
• How reliable are available financial data, and how is uncertainty and risk likely to impact on the outcomes of decisions?
• In economic and financial analysis what are the implications and relative importance of cash flow as distinct from accounting profit?
• What limitations are inherent in financial data and the key financial statements, and how will these affect financial analysis?
• How important are qualitative judgments in the context of decision-making?

Who Should Attend?

This seminar will benefit individuals who are in charge of teams and/or departments. It is aimed at business professionals from sales and marketing, operations, engineering, planning, project management, logistics, procurement, human resources and other non-financial areas, who want to better understand the financial aspects of their roles, and accountants, financial analysts, auditors, and other financial personnel and senior finance professionals who require an update or a refresher in the topics covered. 

Organisational Impact

Managers who have shared and practised different ways of performing the key leadership functions offer increased self-awareness, flexibility and confidence. They are better able to stand back from the everyday detail and focus on longer-term organisational needs, secure in the knowledge that their team are competent and motivated to deal with operational tasks.

Organisations should benefit from an increase in the ability of their managers to understand and analyse the key financial statements and anticipate the financial factors that form the basis of strategic decision-making, which should ultimately result in better planning, and improved company performance.

All the topics in this seminar are considered in the context of maximisation of shareholder wealth, which is the primary objective of all commercial organisations.

Personal Impact

Delegates will be exposed to a range of different approaches to leadership and management practice, allowing them to select those most suitable for their situation and personal style. The opportunity to experiment with key techniques before applying them in the workplace will help build the confidence to move beyond traditional assumptions about the ‘right’ way to manage.

Delegates should leave the seminar with a better understanding of the financial tools and techniques that support an organisation’s planning and control, with regard to their own departments or business units, as well as their companies. They will have the opportunity to broaden their financial knowledge to enable them to develop and manage the financial aspects of their role more effectively and improve performance. It will increase their self-confidence in dealing with financial issues and financial professionals.

Selection of the most appropriate tools is an important part of management. Delegates will acquire the ability, when involved in decisions about investment, operations, or financing, to choose the most appropriate tools from the wide variety of financial techniques available to provide a quantitative analysis.

Competencies Emphasised

• How to interpret organisational needs and communicate them effectively to the team
• How to manage your time
• How to influence others
• How to motivate and develop your team
• How to manage performance and change
• How to interpret and analyse the financial statements of a business: balance sheet; income statement; cash flow statement
• How to prepare financial projection models to determine the financing needs of the business
• How to use the various applications of discounted cash flow (DCF) in the appraisal new investment projects
• How to choose the most appropriate financial tools and techniques, and identify their strengths and limitations

Training Methodology

The management and leadership elements of the seminar use a range of approaches to learning, including experiential group activities, individual exercises, mini case studies, role plays and syndicate discussions. Formal inputs are used to introduce underpinning theory. A key part of the learning process is sharing the differing experiences participants bring, as well as experimenting with novel – and sometimes challenging – techniques.

The financial elements of the seminar include numerous practical examples and real life illustrations. The training methodology combines presentations, discussions, team exercises and case studies. The emphasis is on gaining the theoretical knowledge and practical application of all the topics covered. As a result, delegates will return to their companies with both the ability and the confidence to apply the techniques learned. It will be presented in a very user-friendly way to suit individuals with varying levels of financial knowledge and experience. Our aim is for this to be an enjoyable learning experience.

Seminar Outline

Day 1 - Understanding Your Role

• Leader or manager?
• Beyond the job description: finding out what your organisation requires of you
• Balancing conflicting stakeholder demands
• Understanding the nature of change
• A model for implementing change

Day 2 - Personal Effectiveness, Time Management and Delegation

• Understanding yourself and your organisational environment
• Outcome orientation
• Setting personal and team objectives
• Managing performance
• Finding and using time effectively
• A model for effective delegation

Day 3 - Communication, Influence & Conflict Management

• Channels of communication
• Effective listening skills
• Emotions and rapport
• Persuasion and negotiation: the keys to personal influence
• Managing conflict assertively

Day 4 - Team Building, People Management and Motivation

• How high-performing teams work
• Identifying team roles
• Motivation and reward
• Building and sharing a vision
• Different approaches to leadership

Day 5 - Enhancing Team Performance through Coaching and Development

• How people learn
• Coaching for personal and team growth
• Feedback skills
• Development planning
• Next steps

Day 6 – The Challenge of Financial/Economic Decision-making

• The practice of financial/economic analysis
• The value-creating company
• A dynamic perspective of business
• What information and data to use
• The nature of financial statements
• The context of financial analysis

Day 7 – Assessment of Business Performance

• Ratio analysis and performance
• Management’s point of view
• Owners’ point of view
• Lenders’ point of view
• Ratios as a system
• Integration of financial performance analysis
• Some special issues

Day 8 – Projection of Financial Requirements

• Interrelationship of financial projections
• Operating budgets
• Standard costing and variance analysis
• Cash forecasts/budgets
• Sensitivity analysis
• Dynamics and growth of the business system
• Operating leverage
• Financial growth plans
• Financial modelling

Day 9 – Analysis of Investment Decisions

• Applying time-adjusted measures
• Strategic perspective
• Economic value added (EVA) and net present value (NPV)
• Refinements of investment analysis
• Equivalent annual cost (EAC)
• Modified internal rate of return (MIRR)
• Dealing with risk and changing circumstances

Day 10 – Valuation and Business Performance

• Managing for shareholder value
• Shareholder value creation in perspective
• Evolution of value-based methodologies
• Creating value in restructuring and combinations
• Financial strategy in acquisitions
• Business valuation
• Business restructuring and reorganisations
• Management buy-outs and management buy-ins

Oxford Management Centre
John Eccles House
Robert Robinson Ave
Oxford Science Park
Oxford
OX4 4GP
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 1865 338088

Fax: +44 1865 338100

email info@oxford-management.com