Business Acumen for Senior Managers

Many senior managers have covered financial basics at an early stage in their career. This unique workshop is designed to give both a refresher on these basics but also apply them to a business context which is directly relevant to this level of participant. For senior managers the need is to understand what the core financial measures predict about the evolution of a business.

This highly participative workshop combines teaching, group work and a simulation which uses the financial statements of a relevant organisation. Clients choose between their own organisation or competitors, often using both.

A possible outline is as follows:

Day 1
Morning: Introduction to financial accounting and financial statements

Afternoon: Lecture on financial statement analysis and group work on the diagnosis of financial performance of selected companies

• Presentations by groups summarizing the conclusions of their analyses
• Comparison of performance of the selected companies
• Identification of the strengths and weaknesses of the target company

Evening: Individual preparation of case material

Day 2
Morning: Lecture on dynamic Dupont chart

• Group work on actions to improve financial performance to achieve certain return on equity objects
• Presentations by groups
• Identification of key 'solutions' needed by the target company