IMPACT

The Advanced Management Program equips executives to face the rapidly changing environment of today's economy with cutting-edge tools, frameworks, and insights from Columbia Business School faculty, practitioners, and coaches. During each session throughout the four weeks, participants address issues pertinent to current conditions while providing a long-term perspective essential to developing your effective leadership abilities and style to drive your organization’s success.

Our focus is the same as yours — return on investment. You can expect the following:

We Bring Proof*

• 100 percent of participants said the Advanced Management Program 2x2 helped them develop new ways of thinking.
• 98 percent of participants said the knowledge gained in the program was immediately applicable to their professional goals.

*Numbers in this section are based on program evaluations from Advanced Management Program participants in 2015 and 2016

Certification

Upon completion of the program, executives earn Columbia Business School alumni status with the following benefits:

• A 25 percent tuition benefit for themselves and up to four colleagues each year for programs lasting up to seven days.
• Global Columbia Business School alumni networking opportunities
• Access to Columbia Business School Alumni Career Services resources
• Lifetime Columbia Business School e-mail address
• Subscriptions to all Columbia Business School alumni publications
• Eligibility to join a Columbia Business School alumni club

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

FORMAT AND LOCATION

The Advanced Management Program 2x2 option consists of two, 2-week modules with program support in between. The first module takes place in the spring, the second in the fall. The program is also available in a consecutive four-week format. In both formats, accommodations are provided and included in the program tuition.

Uniquely designed to take place in two distinct locations in the greater New York area, the program brings together executives from around the world and across sectors and industries to learn in an immersive and productive environment.

The first half of the program takes place at a full-service conference center on the outskirts of New York City where executives, faculty, and program managers reside throughout the first two weeks of the program for a fully immersive learning experience that only this retreat-like setting can provide.

For the second half of the program, participants stay in a five-star hotel in Manhattan. The program sessions for part two take place on the Columbia University campus and throughout Manhattan, immersing participants in the business capital of the world. The city becomes an integral part of the learning experience as we take you to inventive, inspiring, and informative locations throughout New York in a variety of program sessions. Take an inside look at the program experience.

PROGRAM CURRICULUM

Weaving together more than 50 unique program sessions over the course of four weeks, the Advanced Management Program combines lectures, workshops, and discussions with a variety of experiential learning opportunities that take you outside of the conventional academic environment.

Learn more about experiential learning in the program from the faculty director:

It’s this carefully curated and diverse curriculum that executives who have completed the Advanced Management Program have called "eye-opening," "empowering," and "transformational." The 2x2 option offers the same amazing curriculum, simply in a scheduling format that might better meet your demands.

For an inside look at the Advanced Management Program 2x2 curriculum, download the program agenda.

PREPROGRAM, IN-SESSION, and POSTPROGRAM EXPERIENCE

At the Advanced Management Program, your journey of intellectual, personal, and professional growth begins long before you arrive in New York and doesn’t end with the last day of the program. A team of faculty and staff members is single-mindedly dedicated to creating an overarching learning experience for you that extends beyond the four weeks of the program.

From connecting with the program director and members of your executive cohort prior to the program start date to help you identify the organizational challenge you’d like to bring to the program to address, to working with the program director then again after you’ve returned to your organization, we’re committed to giving you professional development with a lasting impact.

Preprogram

In preparation for your arrival, Program Director Bruce Craven will reach out to set the foundation for your learning by helping you with:

• Setting your personal and organizational goals
• Identifying and preparing your Living Case (Learn more about the Living Case in our program information downloads.)
• Completing your 360-degree feedback assessments

You’ll also hear from various faculty, get connected to members of your incoming cohort, and begin to exchange ideas and objectives.

In-Session

Throughout the program, more than 50 faculty members and practitioners led by Faculty Director Paul Ingram share their subject-matter areas of expertise to inspire and guide your journey to authentic leadership, strategic thinking, and decisive execution.

Dynamic and engaging sessions challenge executives’ existing ideas and frameworks. Concepts are absorbed, internalized, and actualized to create immediate and lasting change for executives and their organizations.

In-Between Sessions

With the 2x2 option, participants start implementing their learning between the two sessions and receive coaching on their progress. They continue to develop designated personal and business projects and maintain the class connection and community via a virtual component.

Postprogram

After the program concludes, Program Director Bruce Craven consults with executives to maintain the trajectory of their work and help them progress as leaders. Executives also have access to various virtual learning opportunities and are encouraged to leverage their Columbia Business School alumni benefits including the invitation to attend alumni events.

SESSIONS

The Advanced Management Program offers diverse and carefully curated sessions* to help participants create more organizational and professional value. Many of these sessions take advantage of our unique location, New York City, as a laboratory to study innovation, improvisation, and robust organizations. From Columbia University, we bring the finest, relevant, cutting-edge research so participants can engage promising ideas on improving performance before they become widely diffused. Below is just a sampling of what you will experience.

The Living Case

The Living Case is a cornerstone of the program, and an opportunity for senior executives to begin to apply program insights directly to the business challenges they currently face in their organization. Through group work and one-on-one sessions with Columbia Business School faculty and coaches, executives will collaborate as “consultants” on each other’s cases by both providing and receiving practical advice, honest feedback, and inspiring ideas for dealing with the challenges they’re facing. At the end of the program, each participant will walk away with an action plan they can immediately implement upon return to their organization. Learn more about the Living Case from the faculty director in this video:

Learn more about the Living Case from the faculty director:

Delivering the Right Message with Impact

Great leaders have presence. Working with Columbia’s voice coach, Andrea Haring, who has taught great actors like Al Pacino, participants have the chance develop their own presence by diagnosing and practicing effective communication. Communication also goes beyond the literal message. The program includes a session on how to leverage symbolic communication, a great tool for leading an organization’s culture. For this, we engage with curators from some of New York’s world-renowned art museums, who use their collections as examples of how a message can be shaped with symbols. The class then applies the lessons to their own organizations.

Alignment: Getting Everyone to Pull Together

Even the best strategy will fail if an organization isn’t capable of executing it. We bring the latest ideas, from both expected and unexpected sources, on building an effective organization. For example, we bring research evidence from Columbia’s Global Leadership Matrix project (www.gleam.org) on how networks can be used to create flexible and responsive organizations. Participants then use that information to analyze their own relational capabilities, and those of their organizations.

We also look to sports and music for ideas on how to organize in the field. Olympic rowers take participants on the water to illustrate how to create cohesion. There, the class can truly feel the impact of alignment. In the same spirit, we sit in with a symphony orchestra, as the conductor demonstrates different leadership styles and the players explain where they look for direction and what they do when they can’t find it.

Organizing to Innovate

While it’s important for an organization to execute a strategy, there also must be space to be inventive. In the classroom, we meet with thought leaders, such as Rita McGrath and Bill Duggan, to discuss strategic innovation. We also examine innovation up close, allowing participants to practice the leadership and interaction patterns that encourage new ideas.

Innovation requires risk-taking, and sometimes failures occur. Jazz musicians know this as well as anyone, since they innovate constantly. We bring in world-renowned musicians so participants can see (and hear) what success in this realm really means.

We then take these lessons to a session that employs improvisational actors as coaches. The actors show participants how to listen to and encourage others to express ideas, and how to combine these ideas into a successful product.

Leadership: From One into Many

At Columbia, we see leadership as helping others to do better. To do that, though, one also has to lead oneself. So to help participants impact their organizations, we also help them impact themselves. Sheena Iyengar, author of The Art of Choosing, and Hitendra Wadhwa, director of the Institute for Personal Leadership, help us weave this theme into classroom sessions.

This work also extends outside the class, with one-on-one coaching, both on leadership practices and on the values that guide one’s choices (Almeida in the Financial Times). We introduce a process of daily reflection, which helps participants absorb and prioritize what they’ve learned and allows them to better manage their time, priorities, and focus back at work. And participants work with some of the city’s best young actors on drawing from one’s own life story to connect with others.

Executive Performance as a Function of Well-Being

To lead requires focus and energy, so one’s health and well-being is essential. Executive Well-Being is a comprehensive model that teaches you how to manage your energy at the program and to develop long-term positive health practices through daily sessions. The connection between the physical self and successful leadership is made in other parts of the program as well.

The Leader Isn’t Alone: Spouse/Partner Program

Successful people rely on support and advice from those they trust. The Advanced Management Program provides an option for you to invite your spouse/partner or a guest to join specific parts of the program. Guests attend some sessions with you, and they also engage in separate programming to help them understand what you’ve learned and what you will be tackling after the program.

For an inside look at the Advanced Management Program, download the program agenda.

*The selection of sessions may vary from iteration to iteration and are subject to change.

PARTICIPANT PROFILE

The Advanced Management Program is designed for senior- and upper-level executives with a minimum of 15 years of managerial experience, responsibility, and professional success who seek an even greater level of achievement through the exploration of new ideas, perspectives, theories, and realities. Executives who come to the program have a wealth of knowledge and successes that make up their professional experience. They also have a curiosity about themselves, are willing to view their strongest convictions with humility, and believe in continuous learning and progress to discover what else they can do for their organization and who else they can become in the future.

Hear more about your program cohort from the faculty and program directors:

The 2x2 option format was launched to offer flexibility for those who find being out of the office for four consecutive weeks too much of a barrier for enrolling in the program.

Typical Participant Mix

Representative Companies and Organizations

FACULTY

Paul Ingram, Faculty Director
Kravis Professor of Business Management

Paul Ingram is the Kravis Professor of Business at the Columbia Business School and faculty director of the Advanced Management Program. His PhD is from Cornell University, and he was on the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University before coming to Columbia. He has held visiting professorships at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the University of Toronto. The courses he teaches on management and strategy benefit from his research on organizations in the United States, Canada, Scotland, China, and Australia, and his research has been published in more than 40 articles, book chapters, and books. Ingram's current research projects examine the influence of intergovernmental organizations on bilateral trade and democratization, the structure and efficacy of managers’ professional networks in China and the United States, and the effects of networks and institutions on the evolution of the Glasgow shipbuilding industry.

He has served as a consulting editor for the American Journal of Sociology, as a senior editor for Organization Science, as an associate editor for Management Science, and on the editorial boards of Administrative Science Quarterly and Strategic Organization. He recently completed a term as president of the College of Organization Science of the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS).

Ingram’s undergraduate degree is from Brock University, where he received the Governor General’s Award as the top graduating student. In 2004 he received the Distinguished Graduate Award from Brock’s Faculty of Business, and in 2007 he won the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence at Columbia Business School. He has consulted on issues of organizational design and strategy to leading companies in the finance, health care, and consumer products industries.

Hear about the role of the faculty director from Paul Ingram:

 
Bruce Craven, Program Director
Adjunct Associate Professor, Executive Education

As director of the Advanced Management Program, Bruce partners with the faculty director and the on-site and off-site Columbia teams, working with visiting faculty and conference center staff to deliver a transformational educational opportunity for the executive participants.

At the program, Bruce teaches sessions on leadership, focusing on communication, defining purpose, flexible learning, effective messaging and the power of writing as a tool to face future challenges. In addition to his teaching and leadership roles, he has responsibility for the pre- and postprogram effort of the executive education team, including serving as an executive coach.

Over the years he has taught and had a leadership role in a number of open enrollment and custom programs in the Executive Education portfolio. He has also been a visiting professor at the WHU Business School in Germany in 2013-2014 and the faculty director in 2016 of the one-week leadership program of WHU at the Columbia Business School.

Concurrent with his work in executive education, his writing credits include a published novel, a produced screenplay, and a business case on the credit function of a building supply company for Columbia Case-Works.

Hear about the role of the program director from Paul Ingram:

 
Along with Professors Ingram and Craven, more than 50 Columbia Business School faculty members and industry experts contribute to and teach in the program. Faculty members who have taught in the program include:

AN INSIDE LOOK

Advanced Management Program 2x2 Profile: Ahmed Elsheikh

Ahmed Elsheikh

General Manager at PepsiCo

Ahmed Elsheikh says he saw AMP 2x2 as a three month program not four weeks. He created his own 100 day plan between the sessions to implement the learning he gained.

Advanced Management Program 2x2 Profile: James Donaghy

James Donaghy

Chairman at Structure Tone Inc.

James Donaghy says AMP 2x2's schedule made it possible for him to attend an executive program of this caliber. The break also allowed him put certain ideas to work immediately and also allowed him to reflect on other knowledge he gained.

Advanced Management Program 2x2 Profile: Rembert DeVilla

Rembert de Villa

Global Head of Client Management and Chief Strategy Officer at EXL Service

Rembert de Villa says the time between the first two weeks and the second two weeks allowed him to apply the concepts they learned including prioritization, alignment, and adopting a personal leadership style.

Advanced Management Program 2x2 Profile: Simon Browne

Simon Browne

Vice President at Freudenberg Nonwovens LP

Simon Browne says AMP 2x2 gave him a chance to use time between sessions to learn and apply the learning he gained from the 360 degree feedback and discuss what he had learned to his team.

Advanced Management Program 2x2 Profile: Kevin Toth

Kevin Toth

Senior Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer at Harleysville Insurance Group

Kevin Toth talks about how the schedule worked around his demanding work and family responsibilities and also provided a chance for him to crystallize the concepts and put them into practice.

Advanced Management Program 2x2 Profile: Ahmed Elsheikh

Ahmed Elsheikh

General Manager at PepsiCo

Advanced Management Program 2x2 Profile: James Donaghy

James Donaghy

Chairman at Structure Tone Inc.

Advanced Management Program 2x2 Profile: Rembert DeVilla

Rembert de Villa

Global Head of Client Management and Chief Strategy Officer at EXL Service

Advanced Management Program 2x2 Profile: Simon Browne

Simon Browne

Vice President at Freudenberg Nonwovens LP

Advanced Management Program 2x2 Profile: Kevin Toth

Kevin Toth

Senior Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer at Harleysville Insurance Group

Get an inside look at the program in this image slide show:

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Executives from across industries and sectors explore new ideas, perspectives, theories, and realities.

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A conference center on the outskirts of New York City becomes your learning retreat for the first half of the program – creating the intimate and immersive environment needed to accelerate and jump start your learning experience.

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During the day, executives learn from Columbia Business School faculty during a combination of lectures and interactive classroom sessions.

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A range of experiential learning sessions which leverage non-traditional settings and exercises combine critical analysis with intellectual, creative, and social engagement.

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The program cohort becomes part of a symphony orchestra, as the conductor demonstrates different leadership styles and the musicians explain where they look for direction and what they do when they can’t find it.

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Executives build lasting relationships and a powerful professional network in between program sessions.

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In a business world that's more uncertain than ever it pays to be able to think on your feet. The program’s improvisation session teaches executives how to do just that – and how to be focused and present in the moment.

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The second half of the program takes place on Columbia University campus in New York City. Immersing themselves in the business capital of the world, program participants soon realize that the city becomes an integral part of the program experience.

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Faculty director Paul Ingram leads through one of the over 50 classroom sessions. At Columbia Business School, participants are guaranteed personal attention throughout the program.

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The Leadership Jazz session with Columbia University Professor and accomplished jazz musician Chris Washburne is an involving and entertaining evening where music mixes with thought-provoking conversation about jazz and its relationship to leadership.

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On a hands-on tour of world-famous Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan, executives learn about brand and customer experience management.

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Executives learn from and connect with more than 50 Columbia Business School and Columbia University faculty members, including Ernst & Young Professor of Accounting & Finance Doron Nissim, pictured here.

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One of the most impactful sessions of the program is an afternoon with the New York City Fire Department that stretches executives’ understanding of effective communication, what it means to work as a team, and how to lead amidst chaos and stress.

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Through fencing bouts between program participants, executives learn how to develop fast and effective decision-making skills from this historical sport.

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Olympic rowers lead program participants through this exercise in order to demonstrate how to create cohesion. On the water, executives truly feel the impact of alignment.

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Barry Salzberg, former CEO of Deloitte and professor of professional practice at Columbia Business School, runs a program session on changing organizational culture.

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The program’s commencement ceremony – a celebration and recognition of achievement – concludes the program.

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Having built an invaluable network of peers from around the world, executives come together for one last group shot on the Columbia University campus before they return to their organizations, ready to realize their return on investment.