Preparing for Industry 4.0 with leadership skills
HOW prepared are you and your business for an uncertain and surprising future? In today’s complex global business environment, disruption and change are constant.
Development in digital technology is driving exponential changes in the global business environment, leaving business leaders with the need to acquire new skills, thinking and behaviour.
At Oxford University, Industry 4.0 is not a technological issue, but a leadership issue that demands new ways of thinking and behaving.
Hence, the introduction of the new Oxford Leadership 4.0 Immersive Learning Lab, a collaboration between Saïd Business School, Oxford University, and K-Pintar. The programme aims to build the capabilities and skills of Malaysians and Asean business leaders and to respond to adaptive changes in a complex and fast-changing environment.
According to Saïd Business School Corporate Executive Education director Dr Elaine Heslop, the learning lab is a dynamic and immersive process that supports leaders from Malaysia and Asean as they navigate the leadership challenges of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR).
She said the lab provided a place to question assumptions and build a deeper understanding of how you can develop and guide your organisation for competitive advantage.
“This provocative and intellectually rich programme leverages the expertise of the Oxford University to deepen your understanding of the megatrends and emergent movements that are set to change the future of corporations,” she added.
The learning lab consists of a five-day residential module at Oxford Saïd’s executive education facilities in Oxford, United Kingdom designed to equip senior business leaders with the knowledge and capability to move away from traditional notions of hierarchical leadership. It allows them to be more agile and resilient leaders, and make organisations less vulnerable to critical changes in the wider business and social context.
Participants will be encouraged to reflect and build a greater awareness of the unique attributes of humans as leaders in the digital economy.
Heslop said through the learning lab, the module would prepare one to engage with the following:
WHAT does it mean to be human in the context of the future of work?
HOW do we build and lead organisations in an Industry 4.0 world?
WHAT does firm success look like and how does it occur in Malaysia today, and how will that change?
WHAT do leaders do in this emerging context — mindset, power and authority, collaboration, team?
“The lab marks a new direction in our executive practice at Oxford. We are delighted to be working with colleagues across Malaysia, a burgeoning economy in the world, on how to engage and confront the new challenges posed by 4IR.
“Our faculty has renowned experts and researchers in their specialist subjects and will provide one with access to leading-edge thinking, bringing complex ideas and questions to life,” said Leadership 4.0 Immersive learning Lab for Corporations academic director Professor Dr Marc Ventresca.
The lab will be led by Ventresca and Heslop. It will be delivered through a combination of interactive classes, discussion, group work and facilitation.
The faculty from Saïd Business School will be joined by academics, practitioners and business leaders with relevant insights.
Over the past 15 years, Heslop has worked with a wide range of leading organisations to architect and deliver transformational change programmes.
She has a particular interest in organisational design, the role of play in executive education, and the design of leadership interventions at scale.
As director, she is responsible for the portfolio of clients that the school delivers throughout the world. Heslop’s team works with Oxford Saïd’s Faculty and Associate Fellows to create tailored programmes to meet the needs of individual organisations.
On the other hand, Ventressa’s research and teaching focuses on innovation, institutions and infrastructure. It involves empirical projects of organisational strategy and economic sociology in growing markets.
The learning journey progresses from why the questions matter and exploring what they mean in an Asean, networked, and 4IR context, to how organisations and leaders can best respond to and convert challenge into opportunity.
Saïd Business School at Oxford University Executive Education associate dean Dr Andrew White said in the wake of 4IR, fresh graduates are less than likely to see longevity in their first job and will have to re-invent themselves in line with the technological changes around them.
The lab provided a place to question assumptions and build a deeper understanding of how you can develop and guide your organisation for competitive advantage.