Executive Electives Week

Drexel LeBow Executive Electives Week features coursework that spans a diversity of disciplines and explores some of the most pertinent challenges facing industry today. Designed by leading faculty members, industry experts and the Corporate and Executive Education team, these immersive experiences are designed to enhance your business acumen and sharpen your existing skillsets.

Executive Electives: Course Descriptions April 2023

Blending Human & Technology: Reshaping the Workplace of Tomorrow

Date: Thursday, April 13, 2023
Location/Format: Drexel University City Campus, In Person Delivery
Instructors:

• Murugan Anandarajan, PhD, Senior Associate Dean of Academic Programs and Faculty Affairs, Academic Director, Dornsife Office for Experiential Learning, Professor
• Carlos F. Moreira, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers

In this course, we examine how emerging technologies, such as AI, mixed reality, and blockchain, have added value to organizational transformations enabling businesses and global economies to succeed in the post-COVID-19 era. However, the missing ingredient of most digital transformation initiatives is a sustained and successful focus on improving employees’ and leaders’ digital dexterity. i.e., the ambition and ability to use technology for better business outcomes. This course will present the critical drivers (leadership, organizational culture, work design, and technological skills) that reduce the dexterity gap and enable organizational transformation. During the session, we will discuss questions such as the following:

• How are the dynamics between organizations and employees changing?
• How can we reshape behavioral norms to foster working with continual adaptation while minimizing burnout and stress?
• How do we modify our organizational artifacts to be supportive of a blended workplace
• How do businesses meet the challenge of accessing, retaining and retraining talent?
• How can individuals guide their careers with the changing talent requirements?
• How do organizations blend human and technology talent?

Leadership, Power and Politics

Date: Friday, April 14, 2023
Location/Format: Zoom, Virtual Delivery
Instructors:

• Lauren D’Innocenzo, PhD, Associate Professor, Provost Solutions Fellow
• Payal Sharma, PhD, Assistant Professor, University Nevada-Las Vegas

What makes someone powerful? Is it the position they hold? The resources they have? Their influence and control? For some, gaining power or feeling powerful can be difficult given the various challenges that exist in the workforce. Then there are the challenges of double-standards that exist at work. Some personality styles may be interpreted differently across gender, race, age, and culture. For some, being assertive and confident can be interpreted as aggressive while for others it is seen as a strength.

We want to infuse empathy and compassion into our interactions, but for some, doing so labels you as weak. How do you manage these difficult dynamics? This course will be a blend of interactive exercises, learnings from research, panel discussions, and focused workshops geared towards application.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the sources of power
• Identify strategies to build your power
• Discuss challenges in the workplace related to politics.
• Understand biases at work
• Explore the use of language and how it impacts interpersonal dynamics
• Understand non-promotable vs. promotable tasks at work
• Explore time from the perspective of values and congruence

Resonant Storytelling Transcending “Narrow-tives” to Amplify Executive Impact

Date: Saturday, April 15, 2023
Location/Format: Drexel University City Campus, In Person Delivery
Instructors:

• Daria Torres, MBA, MSE, NACD. DC Managing Partner, Walls Torres Group

Stories are among the most effective vehicles for conveying your message and value proposition. Communication enriched with compelling narratives can catapult your persuasive influence, personal brand, and overall professional trajectory. Through impactful storytelling you can also advance your organization’s efforts to deepen customer engagement, improve employee retention, strengthen investor relations, and myriad other objectives.

Through discussion and interactive exercises, you will explore the “7 Principles of Resonant Stories” and practice using this framework to enhance your messaging and surpass the limits of “narrow-tives.” You will see concrete examples of inclusive storytelling and be able to identify what drives some stories to appeal to more wide- ranging audiences.

This session will be hands-on and very pragmatic, providing actionable insights to improve your connection with varying constituencies, and across many important contexts.

ESG in South Africa: Navigating Risks, Disruptions, and Uncertainty

Date: TBA
Location/Format: Cape Town, South Africa. In-Person Delivery during Global Immersion
Instructors:

• David Becher, PhD, Dean’s Industry Fellow, Professor

This executive course will integrate real world visits in South Africa with current environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues facing companies today to amplify the importance of a global perspective through a local lens. Key topics covered include the role of governance in today’s societal challenges, and examining on-going crises, from environmental concerns to diversity metrics. EMBA students will be challenged to address critical issues in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) from a global perspective and explore how it drives financial value and impacts daily lives.

Delivered from a financial-business perspective, this course employs an experiential approach, relying on real-life cases and interactive discussions and exercises. This approach allows executive students to better understand and evaluate the decision- making processes behind effective ESG strategies. Particular emphasis will be placed on learning from ESG in action and why it is fundamental to a firm’s mission.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) challenges from a global perspective through the local lens of South Africa
• Engage with South African individuals and entities facing ESG challenges ranging from environmental concerns to social disruptions
• Apply learning experiences by identifying and analyzing important ESG issues facing global companies today