Business Acumen Simulations
Enhance Business Acumen and Strategy Execution Skills Within a Dynamic & Competitive Environment
BTS has customized our simulations for many different clients and industries. Below is a small sample
of our offerings. If you have a need, we can deliver.
AT&T - Leading with Distinction
Need:
After a series of joint ventures and acquisitions, AT&T had assembled a wide
array of assets. The objective of the senior leadership team was no longer about acquisitions for scale
and transformation; it was now about executing on the combined set of assets. AT&T needed to break down
silos, change its culture to incorporate more innovative and collaborative thinking, and focus on the
complexities and trade-off s in executing on it's the 3-year plan. Th e company also needed to foster
a "One AT&T" mindset, and develop a market leader mentality, as one of the largest integrated
communications company on the planet.
Solution - An Experience Enabling Leaders to Practice Successful
Execution of AT&T’s 3-year Plan:
A cascading strategic initiative comprised of 5-day, 3-day and 2-day workshops
with online pre-work and post-session follow-up.
The solution, “LEADING with DISTINCTION” (LwD), is a world-class leadership and
strategic alignment initiative custom-designed for AT&T. The program combines experiential learning,
Officer and Senior Manager led discussions, subject matter experts, and peer networking, to focus
on the following key areas of development:
- Alignment with the one AT&T strategic direction
- Global strategic perspective
- Leading change and innovation
- Collaboration and employee engagement
- Cultural transformation
- Financial and business acumen
The interactive, discovery-based online pre-work served to level set participants on
AT&T’s key financial and operational terminology, as well as strategic imperatives and macroeconomic and
industry trends.
Business Outcomes: Team-based Approach Focused on Collaboration, Innovation &
Extraordinary Leadership:
Participants in each workshop collaborate in teams, which vie with each other for customers and
talent in a dynamically competitive marketplace. Teams must execute on AT&T’s strategy while focusing on success
factors in AT&T’s Extraordinary Leadership model, a strength-based approach to leadership development.
As the fi rst step, teams devise their 3-year plan for successful execution of AT&T’s business
plan, including an articulation of the culture required for success. Th is strategic roadmap includes measurable
goals on AT&T’s primary business metrics, prioritization of AT&T’s key strategic imperatives, and alignment of capabilities
across business units and functional areas.
Successful execution requires leaders on each team to work collaboratively across functions to maximize
their competitiveness in the market. Teams discover that it is critical to break down silos if they are to drive profi table growth for
One AT&T. In addition, leaders are encouraged to take a long term view involving calculated risks. Th e teams who are able to see
and seize new opportunities achieve competitive advantages and superior results.
The experience aligns participants to AT&T’s strategic direction and objectives, and enables them to
develop and practice leadership skills that will support successful execution of the company’s plans, including leading change.
Each participating leader committed to a personal action plan, drawing line of sight from the company’s
strategic objectives to their day-to-day work. Th ese plans focused on concrete actions leaders would take to lead with distinction
and accelerate execution of AT&T’s strategic imperatives. In addition to providing a monetary profi t improvement estimate,
leaders outlined how their plan served to improve Return on Invested Capital, a long-term measure for the company. To date, participants
have targeted hundreds of millions of dollars of improvements aligned to the One AT&T strategy. Moreover, the initiative has been
credited with accelerating the formation of new workgroups and organization changes to support the strategy.
Th e initiative also included a feedback mechanism to senior management, whereby participants
were provided with an opportunity to engage with senior AT&T executives. During these dialogues, participants discussed key
challenges and barriers for AT&T.
Client Testimonial:
“Seven of your participants fl ew home with me [after LwD]. Th ey were genuinely energized,
grateful, stretched, enthusiastic, motivated and exhausted. You hit it out of the park. This will make a diff erence in this
company. You know this is one of my top priorities for AT&T. You made me real proud today. Well done."
Randall Stephenson to AT&T University team after the first session
Target Audience:
- Managers and executives at wireless operators
- Business partners to wireless operators
- Anyone familiar with the mobile industry
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Business Acumen Simulations