+44 (0)1234 754509 |
kim.bibby@cranfield.ac.uk
|
www.cranfield.ac.uk/som/cced
Developing Country MDs to maximise the opportunities in a changing
global landscape –
a Networked Learning Approach
The organisation
L’Oréal is a leader in the global beauty business. Founded over 100 years ago by a chemist/entrepreneur in Paris, the
organisation is now present in 140 countries, employing 89,300 people and developing and marketing 34 global brands.
The business issues
L’Oréal has very clear ambitions: to continue to lead in a
highly competitive sector, to continue to globalise and, over
the next ten years, to double the number of consumers the
organisation serves. As the world moves towards emerging
markets they recognise a need to change and adapt.
The organisation’s Country Managing Directors are critical
to the success of this strategy. They are responsible for
managing the L’Oréal business in their country, providing
strong leadership for the organisation’s employees and
ensuring that L’Oréal fulfils its social responsibilities to the
communities in which it operates.
It is a complex and challenging role and L’Oréal is seeking
to develop a new generation of senior executives to
succeed in an environment of increasing complexity,
globalisation, hyper-competition and continuous change.
A Networked Learning Approach
The Country Managing Director’s Programme takes a
Networked Learning approach to developing the skills
required in this challenging context. Initially a successful,
fully residential programme, was designed to meet the
specific needs of this important group. Over time it was felt
that a blended, technology-enabled, approach could
increase the efficiency of the learning, and the degree of
long term application.
In the current programme, Country Managing Directors
from around the world meet initially for a face-to-face
module in Paris and begin the process of coming together
as a supportive learning community. In this first session the
group focus on their leadership challenges.
After returning to their regions, they join a series of
scheduled, web-based tutorials with Cranfield faculty over a
12 month period – combining pre- and post- work
L’Oréal
+44 (0)1234 754509 |
kim.bibby@cranfield.ac.uk
|
www.cranfield.ac.uk/som/cced
assignments and coaching support.
Issues tackled with Cranfield faculty during these sessions
include
Change,
Innovation,
Visioning,
Stakeholder
Management and Leadership/Management Style.
As an online, networked, community they are supported
with additional, guided resources made available at
intervals from the Cranfield Knowledge Interchange. These
relate to specific topic areas identified as most useful
during the face-to-face module.
A concluding face-to-face, Paris based, event draws the
learners together to consolidate the learning. It is also an
opportunity to strengthen personal relationships for the
continuance of their career networks going forward.
Why Networked Learning?
“
Learning is effected in time and in situ. Cranfield brings
new frameworks, new insights, tools, benchmarking. And
it’s done in such a way that it is integrated with our own
development cycle.
Our Country MDs prepare for each session with their own
challenges in mind; work in a focussed way with faculty on
new models and ways of thinking; share ideas amongst
themselves - online and at a distance - and then apply the
new knowledge very quickly in their own environment, with
support from the Cranfield team.
Learning is embedded in their work responsibilities. We are
successfully bridging the ‘learning-knowing-doing’ gap. It’s
a very powerful recipe.”
Tony Russell, Director Senior Executive Development,
L’Oréal
Impact
As a result of the Programme L’Oréal has already observed
a number of changes:
Firstly in terms of leadership style: Country Managers
themselves are more self-aware, more sensitive to their
own leadership style, to their relationships with others and
to intercultural issues.
Programme participants are employing a range of tools
from the programme to tackle their day-to-day challenges.
Examples include: the use of new change management
models in Southern Europe; new lenses on sustainable
development
deployed
in
Asia;
and
stakeholder
management models applied in L’Oréal’s start-up operation
in Kenya.
The changes in leadership style are having an impact both
upwards and downwards in the organisation.
The programme is demonstrating that the tools, models,
new ideas and new insights introduced during the
programme are an important way of complementing the
development that L’Oréal is able to do internally.
Why Cranfield?
“Firstly Cranfield brings a very strong faculty, a faculty
which has breadth and depth, international diversity, and
which is rooted in business practice. ‘Knowledge into
Action’ is something which is very important for us too.
Then there is partnership: Cranfield has significant
expertise in business partnership and learning delivery.
Through the breadth and depth of their online resources,
Cranfield is very capable of reaching out to an international
senior executive population, which is extremely important
to us.
And finally the notion of innovation and continuous
improvement. All of those ingredients are very important.
It’s a very complete package.”
Tony Russell, Director Senior Executive Development,
L’Oréal
Facts and Figures
The networked programme has run twice with more
programmes planned. To date, L’Oréal Country
Managing Directors from across Western Europe,
Taiwan, Croatia, Venezuela, Kenya, Panama,
Lebanon, and Singapore have attended.