Strategic Productivity

Led by Professor Bart Van Ark from the Productivity Institute, this course will delve into the intricacies of strategic productivity, exploring frameworks, tools, and industry case studies which will empower delegates to identify the strategies needed to advance their organisational efficiency.

This course will be underpinned by the Strategic Productivity Framework, a tool developed by the Productivity Institute which brings together research into what makes a business productive.

During your time of this course, you will explore five core pillars of productivity – access to finance, innovation and digital, worker skills and well-being, leadership and management, marketing and communication – to help you future proof your business.

Day one: Motivation, Measurement and Management of Productivity  

• What is productivity?
• Why does it matter for economy, strategy and society
• Why has productivity growth slowed and can we expect it to recover
• Introducing the three I’s for productivity: Innovation, Investment and Institutions
• Measurement and management of productivity
• Long-term vs. short-term focus in strategy
• The role of the CEO / Managing Director
• Developing a productivity narrative for your business

Day two: Innovating for Productivity 

• The concepts of business efficiency and business innovation
• Research and development
• Digital technology, AI and digital adoption
• Servitization and platformatization
• Workforce effects
• The role of technology, innovation and digital leaders
• Create a business innovation strategy

Day three: Investment for Productivity

• Finance and investment for productivity
• Skills and management competencies
• Flexible teams
• The role of the finance leader
• The role of the human capital leader
• Develop an investment plan for strategic assets

Day four: Collaborating for Productivity

• Internal collaboration and communication
• Marketing and brands as productive assets
• External collaboration: the ecosystem concept
• Boardroom dynamics: bringing productivity angles into the boardroom
• Develop a boardroom agenda for productivity

Throughout the course, you will take part in a productivity driven project and present your work to the group on the final day, where you will gain insightful feedback from your peers on how you can implement your learnings back into your organisation.

During the course, you will have a range of opportunities to get to know your class, including a course dinner which offers the chance to come together with a wider cohort of short-course learners to help expand your network.

Throughout the course, you will hear from leading industry experts, network with a variety of business leaders and work with other delegates to apply core aspects of the course to your organisation.

During your time on this course, you will gain several stand-out learning experiences, including:

Applied Learning – A learning environment created by the course facilitator that draws on the experience and input of your course peers.

Knowledge Transfer – A steady stream of feedback from participating peers with diverse business backgrounds to help build your leadership skills.

Reflection – A rare time-out to contemplate your own leadership capabilities and challenges while engaging with our world-class faculty.

Network Expansion – An expanding professional network drawn from your peers.

Personal Growth – An expanding self-awareness of your own leadership competencies and how they can be honed.

Behavioural Change – An adoption of new rationales and mindsets that improve your managerial skills.

As part of this course, you will gain access to our comprehensive virtual learning environment before, during and after your time with us. Here, you will find course materials, including pre-work, slides, case studies, and recommended readings, all conveniently available to aid your learning.

At the end of the course, you continue to have access to this online learning area and the University of Manchester online library for up to one year, supporting you to embed your new toolkit of skills and knowledge back into your workplace.

• Cultivate a strategic mindset allowing you to identify which metrics to measure to start improving productivity
• Develop a clearer understanding of why productivity matters and how it can positively impact your business
• Gain expert knowledge and insight from The Productivity Institute by accessing their world class research and real-world case studies 
• Align your businesses productivity processes with wider strategic goals, and learn how to make tactical day-to-day decisions to achieve them
• Understand the social and ESG impact of investing in your business’s infrastructure
• Build a strong professional network of industry experts, opening doors to future collaboration and mentorship

• Explore practicable, actionable productivity strategies that can be tailored to your specific organisational challenges
• Discover the key factors contributing to your organisation competing effectively in a UK and international business market
• Gain insights into how productivity directly impacts your organisation’s bottom line, KPIs and industry benchmarks
• Implement ideas which future proof your organisation by prioritising adaptability and proactivity
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement within your organisation, which focuses on operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness

This course is for senior leaders from businesses with a staff base of 50+ who are engaged with the strategic decisions, performance management, and operational activity of their organisation.

Delegates are welcomed from a broad variety of industries, ranging from construction to retail, as well as international leaders travelling to Manchester from overseas.

Bart Van Ark is a Professor of Productivity Studies at Alliance Manchester Business School and is also the Managing Director of The Productivity Institute, a UK-wide organisation which aims to lay the foundations for an era of sustained and inclusive productivity growth, by bringing together academic research, policy studies and business engagement.

Between 2008 and 2022 Bart was Chief Economist at The Conference Board, a global business research organisations headquartered in New York, where he worked with dozens of global companies on business strategy related to (global) economic trends, labour markets and human capital, technology and innovation, and productivity.

Bart is an internationally acclaimed economist in the field of international comparative productivity measurement and his research has cut across the areas of economic growth, international economics and business, development economics and economic history.

Upon successful completion of this short business course, participants will be awarded the Manchester Professional Certificate in Strategic Productivity.

You will also receive a digital Manchester Professional Certificate in Strategic Productivity from Accredible, in the form of an online certificate and badge which can be displayed on LinkedIn profiles and represents completion and participation in the course.

You can choose to curate your own curriculum by attending any four courses from our extensive portfolio. On completion of the four courses of your choice, you will be awarded the Manchester Professional Diploma in Leadership.

As part of the professional diploma, you will receive three executive coaching sessions.

These sessions will help you to apply your continued learning directly into your organisation, identify the specific skills needed to enhance your leadership capabilities, and align your professional development goals with the wider goals of your organisation.

If you choose to stay in Manchester during your time on one of our short business courses, you can benefit from preferential rates at the Hyatt Hotel, a modern and elegant hotel located at the heart of our campus and adjoining the Executive Education centre.

Learn more about the Hyatt Hotel >>

View frequently asked questions about our short business courses here >>