by Alessandro Cortese, Past President of the European Society of Association Executives (ESAE) and CEO of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) Executive Master Programme. January 2016 will see the start of the second edition of the Executive Master in International Association Management. The Solvay Brussels School Economics & Management, the ESAE (European Society of Association Executives), UIA (Union of International Associations) and FAIB (Federation of European and International Associations established in Belgium) will partner again after a very successful first edition of the programme. The Executive Master in International Association Management is taught by academics from the Solvay Brussels School Economics & Management and features regular intervention from prominent association executives sharing their insights and expertise with the objective of providing association professionals with increased opportunities. The 16-day modular programme is designed to provide training in leadership skills, to illustrate a broad coverage of the main fundamental strategic and functional areas in management, and to understand best practice across the association sector. It is targeting practised association managers from professional and scientific societies (organizations with direct individual membership), trade organizations and federations, and association management companies (AMCs). The Solvay Brussels School faculty comprises of highly qualified academic experts, all with extensive business experience. These module leaders will team up again with qualified association specialists allowing for a bottom-up approach in defining the module content. Real-world perspective thus complements the academic study throughout the programme. Many leaders of important international associations or global AMCs participated during last year’s programme, bringing cases specific to the sector and completing the academic perspective: Isabel Bardinet, CEO ESC; Michel Ballieu, CEO ECCO; Robin Lokerman, CEO Institutional Division MCI; Andrea Bauer, CEO Vereint; Alfons Westgeest, Group VP Kellen Company; Helga Severyns, Senior Director UITP. They are expected to join the 2016 edition, together with other speakers to be announced in the next weeks on the website of the programme. The January intake is spread in seven self-contained modules of two or three days running on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The first module is dedicated to “Leadership & Change Management”. The realization that leadership is a relationship and not just a personal skill or talent will encourage participants to embrace self-awareness and a whole range of personal, interpersonal and team skills that they can learn, develop and practise in order to become better leaders. A second module will be dedicated to “Finance & Performance”, introducing the basic concepts and tools of financial management: capital budgeting decisions and financing decisions. The third and fourth modules will focus on “Strategic Management”, providing the participants with an introduction to business strategy. It will also cover fundamental governance concepts with a special focus on non-profit priorities.The aim is to allow participants to develop a view of strategic management, helping them to identify the fundamental determinants of success in their business environment. The next module will be dedicated to “Marketing” with the objectives being to make participants aware of the importance of marketing in today’s economy and to understand the contemporary approach and culture of “value-focused” marketing. The last module, “Project & Event Management”, will provide a structured setting in which the participants can familiarize themselves with the most important ideas in project management, and learn how to apply these concepts to their personal working needs and those of their organization. www.esae.org www.solvay.edu | ||||||