BUSI4J510: The Boardroom Exercise (FT)

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• To contribute to the overall aims of the programme by providing students with the opportunity to apply, at a strategic level, the concepts and theories learnt during other MBA modules to the board-level management of an international organisation.
• To allow students to reflect upon and improve the analytical, professional and social skills expected of an MBA graduate.
• To develop insights into the multi-disciplinary nature of strategic management of an organisation.
• To enable students to understand at an advanced level the implications of and trends within corporate governance structures, frameworks and policy for the effective management of corporations.
• To develop and enhance skills in strategic thinking, communication, presentation, persuasion and mindfulness within the context of the boardroom of an international organisation.

• During the MBA Programme, students are introduced to the necessary functional disciplines of general management through a range of core modules. This module allows the student to explore the multi-disciplinary nature of general management at a corporate level by seeing the application of all these functional disciplines within the setting of the corporate boardroom.
• The module is centred on the Boardroom Exercise which is a small-group activity. Students are allocated to groups and simulate the behaviour of the executive management team of a specified organisation as they prepare for and participate in a simulation of a board meeting of the corporation. This meeting is chaired by an external executive with board experience along with other similar external executives and academic staff who undertake the role of non-executive directors. The activity is designed to provide an opportunity for experiential learning, with the group carefully searching for and analysing relevant information; preparing an agreed agenda and board papers for the meeting and participating as specified members of the executive management team within the meeting.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• By the end of the module students should:
• Have a critical appreciation of corporate governance structures, risk management procedures, and related processes and policy development as they apply to the activities of a corporate board; the roles and responsibilities of executive and non-executive directors; and the effective performance of company boards;
• Have an advanced understanding of how the disciplines of general management can be integrated and used to effectively manage the strategic development and performance of an international company;
• Have an advanced understanding of the typical challenges faced by international business organisations and the development of options available to address them within the context of transformational change, ethical business practices and environmental sustainability.

Subject-specific Skills:

• By the end of this module, students should:
• Be able to think strategically and critically about the performance of an international corporation;
• Be able to critically analyse the internal, market and non-market environments of the corporation in order to understand the strategic constraints and opportunities it faces to address current and future performance;
• Be able to identify key strategic changes required within the corporation;
• Be able to develop management reports that explain current corporate performance and/or define management actions to address performance and contribute to the future strategic development of the corporation;
• Be able to articulate and persuade groups like non-executive directors and the broader investment community that the executive management team has a clear understanding of current corporate performance and the ability to drive successful future performance;
• Be able to think self-critically about their managerial knowledge and professional skills, identifying gaps and opportunities for continued personal development.
• Be able to apply organizational change concepts/theories/frameworks to effectively identify areas for change within the corporation.

Key Skills:

• Building and developing teams
• Negotiating and persuading
• Sourcing appropriate data and evaluating evidence
• Interpreting and using numerical and financial information
• Reflecting and synthesising from experience
• Developing critical thinking and reflection
• Synthesising diverse perspectives
• Developing coherent and persuasive arguments
• Selecting appropriate modes of communication

• Whilst not part of the teaching input into this module, students will be expected to draw on the content and skills developed in other core modules.
• Lectures/presentations will examine issues of corporate governance structures & processes; the roles and responsibilities of directors and boards; the composition of effective boards; the nature of board papers and investor communications; diversity, ethnicity and social mobility within Boards; and identifying and recommending strategic changes. This will also include drawing upon the collective experience and expertise of the senior executives acting as board chairs and other NEDs. Some of this material may be made available in online format rather than in a classroom session.
• The boardroom groups will need to spend time, both together and individually, analyzing the chosen company, evaluating its performance and strategy, devising and evaluating strategic recommendations and preparing the relevant documents (board papers) for consideration. This will include seeking guidance from both their chairs/NEDs and the module team on the content and presentation of the papers required for the meeting. Group meetings with the Chair/NEDs will consist of an initial meeting plus periodic face-to-face/online meetings, telephone calls and emails.
• As this team-based exercise seeks to replicate the collaborative nature of boardroom decision making the module is assessed by two group elements: the team performance within the board meeting (60%), and the team performance in preparing the board papers (40%).
• As the Boardroom meeting would be difficult to repeat, any student failing the group component of assessment will have a resit opportunity consisting of a 3,000 word individual report focusing upon a review of the performance and proposed strategies of the chosen corporation, provided that they had engaged meaningfully with the exercise. Those unable to participate fully in the preparations for and/or the board meeting at the end of the exercise will be required to take the resit assessment.

Formative feedback will be provided by the module team throughout the Boardroom Exercise, both within the workshop on effective boardroom behaviours and the subsequent group coaching sessions. In addition, each group will be able to draw on the expertise and mentoring of their board chairman and other NEDs. Further formative feedback will be provided by the chairman and non-executive directors (including a member of the module teaching team) after the full board meeting.

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