Institution: Harvard Business School (USA)
Course: Strategy: Building & Sustaining Competitive Advantage
I have always been a believer in constant learning as a way of life. I am always on the look out to learn something new or to find a new source of inspiration. I am also hugely passionate about Australia and my home state of South Australia.
In 2019 I attended re-union function for a previous leadership course (South Australian Defence Industry Leadership Program 2015) and two fellow students (John Salerno ILF 2019 and Andrew Vlass ILF 2016) were describing their amazing experiences in learning at Havard Business School (HBS) and the University of New South Wales. The conversation that followed led me to the amazing SA Industry Leader’s Fund.
My application to attend Harvard Business School to study Business Strategy resulted in the award of an ILF grant. I chose Havard largely based on it’s worldwide reputation as a leader in business education – reinforced as I browsed the ILF website and discovered that many other ILF scholars had actually selected the same or similar courses at HBS.
While my attendance was interrupted by COVID19, in May 2022 I left for Boston to attend my course. Travelling to the USA at the end of COVID required a lot or paperwork! As I was shown to my room on the HBS campus, realisation dawned on me. I was at Harvard!
The HBS uses the case study method of learning, so there was a lot of pre-reading and note taking required. The case studies however, were fascinating and gave me valuable insights to industries that I had no experience in.
Attending students were allocated to home groups who resided in the same living area. A typical day had us meeting over breakfast to discuss the case studies of the day. The entire course group (over 100 people) were from very diverse backgrounds. My home group hailed from Australia, USA, Canada, Spain, Denmark, UAE and Mexico with backgrounds in operations, projects, banking, consulting, communication and foreign aid.
The core of the Business Strategy course was founded on the Value Stick model of Business Strategy developed at HBS by Felix Obeholzer-Gee. It was a simple model that was reinforced by the extensive case study discussions. I found this model of education utterly engaging and stimulating and my time passed very quickly.
Attending this course was a life changing experience for me. The other people on the course inspired me – as did attending the wonderful HBS campus. But realising my contributions to the course were highly-valued by my fellow students also gave me the confidence to back myself more in business.
Defence industry work has particular challenges when it comes to the application of Business Strategy models. What I learned at HBS I was able to adapt and apply to my work at Saab and it has also provided me with a much broader view of strategy across different industries.
I am extremely grateful to the ILF Board Members who granted me this opportunity and continue to be a passionate advocate of the ILF and SA Business.
