Custom Programmes

What do we do?

St. Gallen University is uniquely at the forefront of research in each major industry. At the same time the Custom Programs team equips your company and your people with exactly the right insights, consulting and programs that deliver sustainable business outcomes.

The approach is business outcome focused, pragmatic, didactic and transfers deep expertise to your people for a higher return on investment than traditional consulting. We share the customer: case studies, feedback and experience.

Our Topics

Organisation Effectiveness Journeys
C-Suite Sparring and Ecosystem Orchestration
Upskilling Journeys
Action Learning Consulting

Our Offer

Upskilling Journey

Your employees are trained in all relevant business and leadership topics and have acquired a corresponding understanding of the content.

Leadership Programmes
Talent Programmes
Knowledge & Skills Programmes

Personalised Next Gen. Succession

High Net Worth Family Business

Assessment
Personalised Coaching
Personalised Development
Preparation for the Board

HiPo Ready For Succession

Several companies from different sectors

Assessment (optional)
Development of critical business gaps
Leadership development: Mindset and Change, Trends and Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and Action
In-Session: Case Studies, Keynote and Journaling
Transfer task: project implementation
Mentoring

Upskill: Customer Value & Relationship

Away from pure “sales”, towards customer value and customer relationship

Seminar 1: Mindset, Ecosystem and Trends, Strategy, KPI’s
Seminar 2: Human Driven Design, Leadership, Communication, VUCA
Seminar 3: Mindfulness
Seminar 4: Leadership and Graduation

Leadership Upskilling

Several companies from different sectors

Assessment Individual (optional)
Assessment Team Alignment (optional)
Feedback ‘honest conversations’ Pre-Task
Mindful leadership
Resilience and capacity for yourself and the team
Growth mindset and sustainability
Coaching

C-Suite Sparring & Ecosystem

We support C-levels and Divisional Heads to bring their strategic choices into real life. From transformation planning, transformation design to transformation support/execution.

Growth through M&A
Growth through Ecosystem Management
Growth through Systematic Renewal
Liquidity Crisis & Restructuring
Defending Takeovers
Debt Crisis
Procurement, Production and Distribution Crisis

Generational Readiness

Handing the leadership of the business to the next generation

Assessment
Develop corporate strategy & or review
Individual development actions and measures for success or risk reduction identified
Alignment of the owners, successor and exec committee
Establish the framework for strategy execution between board and exec committee

Transformation

Several companies from different sectors

Define 2.0 design
Create insights into how 2.0 would work: people, process, technology
Outside-in learning bringing in perspectives from different industries on success and failure
Upskilling, org effectiveness, action learning cross functional development of strategy, GTM, innovation

Organisation Effectiveness

Your people and organization are aligned in the capabilities, behavior and mindset to shift and execute on the new collaboratively.

Learning for business outcomes
Learning re behavioral change and culture
Learning re process and technology change

Creating new Business Models

New Business Models through Technology Convergence

Understand Business Model Innovation and Technology Convergence
Experiment and Prototype new Business Models collaborating with Institutes
Coaching & Validating via Pitching new Business Models

Strategy Development and Execution

Cross Functional Development and Execution of the Strategy

Strategy Development Setup e.g. Consolidation of Country Strategies
Focus & identify Gaps
Strategy on a Page Workshop
Coaching through the Process

Culture & Hybrid Working

Collaboration or effective Performance

Linking Company Culture Development in the Virtual Space with the Onboarding of Employees on new Platforms e.g. Mural
Market Research on Solutions, Concept, Feasibility Test, Creating Solutions, Testing Solutions, Onboarding of Employees: Intro videos

Go to Market

Go to Market across several Countries (Tech Company)

Bring a product to the field
Spotting of Innovation, Creation & Evaluation, MVP & Solution Testing, Marketing & Roll Out
Market Research on Solutions and Testing Solution, Onboarding of employees, Validating via Pitching New Business Models

C-Suite and Business Leader Insights Hub

C-Suite and Business Leaders lead the Swiss economy in key challenges.

The University of St. Gallen is uniquely at the forefront of research with every major industry. At the same time, the Custom Programmes team equips your business and your people with just the right insights, advice and programmes that deliver sustainable business results. These insights are shared: Case studies, white papers, research, books that equip the C-suite and the HR leaders we work with for sustainable business change.

We provide the C-suite with proven sparring partners who have connected the dots to increase the speed of board decision-making and change execution. In addition, ES-HSG can seek, align and orchestrate internal and external ecosystem partners to master the implementation of the transformation.

The ecosystem opportunity

In an ecosystem, greater value is created for the end customer. It could be that this is perhaps associated with short-term revenue losses, but long-term revenue, market and profit gains. What are business ecosystem strategies? How do you design and build an ecosystem? How can a business ecosystem be managed?

ACADEMIC PAPERS ON THE ECOSYSTEM OPPORTUNITY

Ecosystems are important for overcoming challenges together and creating value across sectors. Take a look at some of the thought leaders who are addressing ecosystem opportunities.

MOBILITY 2050: HOW WILL WE MOVE FORWARD IN THE FUTURE?

ANTICIPATE THE NEW –
INTERPRET THE NOW

INFLUENCE OF DIGITALISATION ON TRADE

Agile & Remote: The New Reality

The speed of teams has changed so that they can work virtually and/or face-to-face in networks to meet new demands, channels and markets. As the business world becomes more complex and remote, we need to adapt how and when we test, collaborate, communicate and execute our ideas to keep the team engaged and productive. How can we maintain team productivity in a VUCA environment? How can we be agile: Company, leadership, operating model and ways of working? Agile design thinking?

Academic papers on the subject of leadership

“Agile” has become the way to go. While there are many tools for applying agile working methods, it is much less clear what “agile” means for managers and their leadership behaviour. Take a look at which agile leadership practices are advocated by different academic journals.

And watch our video “Agile through the Corona Crisis“.

The new reality

DATA PROTECTION DURING THE CORONA PANDEMIC

ACCELERATION TRAP: MYTHS VS. REALITY OF SPEED

LEADING WOMEN AND SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS

Rethinking Business Models

Rethink the business model for profitability and growth.

How do you stay relevant? How do you get a competitive advantage? Where is your future growth or where does it need to be checked? What steps do you need to take now for your business model of tomorrow?

There are several academic papers on how different companies and industries have reorganised their business. Take a look at some of these interesting articles:

Clarity on Swiss private bank performance – Bigger is better in the quest for success

Hybrid business platforms – marketplaces of the future

Business model innovation for the circular economy

DISRUPTION AND BUSINESS MODELS

MIGROS CULTURE OF MISTAKES

WHAT IS ENTREPRENEURSHIP?

The Upskilling Challenge

What skills will be needed in the future to be competitive and grow? What is my personal skills gap? What skills do I need for the future of work? How do I equip my staff? How do I develop the necessary skills?

Each journey is individually curated, some are asynchronous and others synchronous. The University of St. Gallen uses the knowledge to influence the skills of the future with customer-effective didactics. Talk to us about impactful learning that changes the way we learn:

Virtual Faculty Sessions
Recorded nuggets from faculty experts
Faculty specific podcasts
Peer-to-Peer-Coaching
Personalised quizzes
Exercises for reflection
Exercises that become a habit
Immersive virtual reality (VR)
Virtual Breakout Sessions
Virtual Fishbowls
Virtual or asynchronous pod teaming
Face-to-face modules or mixed

ACADEMIC PAPERS ON THE UPSKILLING CHALLENGE

Face-to-Face-Module oder gemischt

– Swiss Alumni Index: Educational Background of Switzerland’s Corporate Directors

– Strengthening the Governance of Skills Systems

– The nature of crowd work and its effects on Individuals’ work perception

– Towards designing an adaptive Argumentation Learning Tool

HEIKE BRUCH: DRIVERS AND KILLERS OF GOOD LEADERSHIP

CASPAR HIRSCHI: UNDERSTANDING WHAT DIGITALISATION MEANS

ANTOINETTE WEIBEL:
MIGROS CULTURE OF ERROR

Drive Innovation

Innovation can be learned and inculcated in an organisation with the right catalyst, toolbox and culture. How do I innovate and how do we innovate? How does my organisation become more innovative beyond product and R&D?

A lot of research has been done on innovation promotion in recent years. Below are some articles that will take you deeper into these subjects.

The Management Transformation of Huawei

When the former CEO stays on Board: The Role of the Predecessor’s Board Retention for Product Innovation in Family Firms

A design and evaluation framework for digital health interventions

3 InsurTech Micro-Trends to watch: What can established companies learn from their disruptors?

The Use of Design Thinking for Requirements Engineering: An Ongoing Case Study in the Field of Innovative Software intensive Systems

Design Thinking

Design thinking is a development that has recently attracted a lot of attention in management discourse. The Institute for Information Management at the University of St. Gallen, the academic home of all three authors, has been conducting design thinking in teaching and research for 10 years.

In this study, Design Thinking is defined as: Mindset, Process and Toolkit. As one way of thinking, design thinking is characterised by several key principles: a combination of divergent and convergent thinking, a strong orientation towards obvious and hidden needs of customers and users, and prototyping. As a process, design thinking is seen as a combination of a micro and a macro process.

The micro-process – as an innovation process – consists of these steps: “Defining the problem”, “Finding the need and synthesis”, “Idea”, “Prototype” and “Test”. The macro process consists of milestones that manifest themselves in prototypes that have to fulfil defined requirements. As a toolbox, design thinking refers to the application of numerous methods and techniques from different disciplines: Design, but also engineering, computer science and psychology. Today, a growing number of companies, consultancies and universities are using design thinking, constantly expanding and redefining its meaning.

At the University of St. Gallen, Design Thinking is taught as a problem-oriented course of study together with research partner companies, with more than 40 projects successfully completed in the last 10 years. Research in the field of Design Thinking at the University of St. Gallen focuses on aspects of modelling design thinking processes and entrepreneurship.

It is expected that Design Thinking will be used as an innovative method in companies in the near future and will also become an integral part of management training, especially in the field of innovation. In addition, it is to be further developed at the interface of design, design management and engineering sciences.

BUSINESS INNOVATION

BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION

ENERGY BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION

Master Transformation

Many companies have to adapt massively in the face of a drastically changing environment if they want to survive. Transformation is the integration of mechanics and technology as well as the human dimension. How can we optimally master the transformation? How can we approach the transformation successfully? What are the critical factors for success? What are the pitfalls of transformation?

Read our articles on transformation:

Transform from humble beginnings to Global Leadership
Design Principles for Digital Value Co-creation from a service-dominant logic perspective
Podcast on Transformation and videos on New Work Safari and Digital Transformation.

SENSING AND ACTING ON WEAK SIGNALS: A LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE – 42ND ST. GALLEN SYMPOSIUM

HOW WILL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CHANGE LEADERSHIP? MICHEL VAN DER BEL AND HEIKE BRUCH

ADVICE FROM GLOBAL LEADER SERIES –
JEAN-CLAUDE BIVER
(CHAIRMAN OF HUBLOT)

Being Human in Industry 4.0

The successful implementation of Industrie 4.0 technologies takes into account the holistic view of human extension and experience. How does Industry 4.0 affect business management? How does Industry 4.0 take into account the practical applications for productivity? What skills are needed in Industry 4.0? What are some of the Industry 4.0 solutions?

There are some interesting articles and journals driving research on Industry 4.0. Take a look at some of these interesting research areas:

– Swiss Manufacturing Survey 2019- Eine nationale Studie

– Working World 4.0 and Intelligent Machines: Augmentation as a challenge for human resource development

– A chatbot dialogue model: Understanding human-chatbot collaboration in a complex task environment.

– The Future of Human-AI Collaboration:

– Explore whether you have the skillset as a leader of the fourth industrial revolution.

– Cyber risk research impeded by disciplinary barriers

DRIVE INNOVATION- FRUGAL INNOVATION: OLIVER GASSMANN

WHY BOSCH AND THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. GALLEN COOPERATE FOR THE IOT

SHOULD ROBOTS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BECOME LEGAL PERSONS?

Self and Servant Leadership

Leadership today, more than ever, begins with knowing and leading YOURSELF before effectively “serving” others as a leader. What is your goal? How do you help the team find its purpose? How to deal effectively with uncertainties? How do you ensure an optimal level of focus? How do you make a decision in a crisis?

Convergence Leadership

Building and leading convergence settings requires leaders who are able to work with heterogeneous partners and different industry backgrounds and expertise.

Innovation in today’s world is no longer driven in corporate R&D departments. Today, innovation takes place at the border of previously separate and independent industries, between “big” and “small”, in contexts that are very different from traditional ways of promoting innovation. We call this “sector convergence”. After bringing a European Pharma Champion to one of Europe’s best start-up capitals, we brought “big pharma” together with small start-ups to discuss approaches, collaboration and ways to look at innovation in an unconventional way: Convergence “live”.

Leadership is an area where not enough research can be done to ensure that the field moves forward and evolves. Take a look at some of the very interesting articles in this study area:

– The 4I’s of transformational leadership and the new self-leadership-framework

– Leadership 2.0 – Leadership in digital times: Leadership – Opportunities and Challenges of Digitalisation

– The missing link? Investigating organizational identity strength and transformational leadership climate as mechanisms that connect CEO charisma with firm performance

– Strengthening brand-oriented behaviour with transformational leadership

– Individualisation of leadership: new demands on managers

– Videos: “Leadership and Resilience through this Crisis” and “Decision Intelligence“.

– Cyber risk research impeded by disciplinary barriers

HEIKE BRUCH: DRIVERS AND KILLERS OF GOOD LEADERSHIP

OMID ASCHARI: WHAT IS THE TRUE MEANING OF LEADERSHIP?

THOMAS ZWEIFEL:
LEADING THROUGH LANGUAGE

Who we are – Insight to Impact

We help you transform on a large scale.

We equip your people and your business for SUSTAINABLE business transformation to move from INSIGHT to IMPACT. 70% of transformation programmes fail! Yet it is predicted that £2.3 trillion will be spent on transformation by 2023 (IDC 2019).

Our team develops programmes where talent learns, applies and transforms at the same time. This scales the company’s capabilities and increases the success of the transformation.

We are a multilingual and global team for customised programmes. We combine the power of 41 institutes and competence centres as well as partnerships in our delivery network. The University is pioneering research and application to help you achieve impactful change at individual, team and organisational levels.