The Business of Tomorrow

There are two great pressures on manufacturing today; both related to change. One is the geo-political, or global economy, the other is the expectations placed on each of us, as individuals, to cope with a very different workforce and a very dynamic workplace. This material covers the information that will help the supervisor deal with these issues and answer the questions that arise daily in the workplace. The course includes: implementing change, the impacts from global competitors, understanding the ‘mosaic’ workforce, committing to continuously learning and helping others to do the same.

Module #1 - Dealing with Change

• understand the different types of change and explore how you have reacted in the past
• understand the nature of Transformation and how it impacts Productivity
• explore the topic of managing a transformation through all three phases and understand the checklist for guiding that process

Module #2 - Globalization

• improve your understanding of the forces of globalization that are at work in the Canadian economy
• identify which of these forces directly impact our businesses
• explore the opportunities you have to turn these powerful forces to your advantage

Module #3 - Resilience; Protection in Chaotic Times

• gain understanding of the kinds of emergencies that you may have to face in your work
• identify how these contingencies directly impact your businesses
• explore the opportunities to plan for contingencies and minimize the damage to your businesses

Module #4 - New vs. Better; the Innovation Game

• improve your understanding of the need for innovation on the shop floor
• understand the innovation processes to bring about positive change
• gain some understanding of the management tools and techniques that can help

Module #5 - The New Workforce

• begin to understand how racism, nationalism and tribalism are powerful forces you may have to deal with in your workplace
• share something about the nature of the multicultural challenges in your workplace with other participants
• examine the kinds of barriers that exist in your workplace and how you can remove them
• explore the opportunity to turn these powerful forces into allies in the workplace

Module #6 - A Look in the Mirror...Knowing Yourself

• understand the importance of learning about your own style preference and how that might help you work with people with different styles
• explore a minimum of three psychological style theories and self-select your own preference on each of these models
• understand how style preference can clash or can be constructive within a team and how to facilitate groups with multiple styles within them

Module #7 - Life-Long Learning

• develop an understanding of how to turn your training expenses into investments and measure their impact
• work with other participants to see how other businesses and departments develop their strategies
• explore the opportunities we have to make learning a part of a company’s culture

Module #8 - Buisness Ethics

• understand how ethical questions enter my thinking and decision making
• practice the three point ‘Ethical Check’ approach to both business and personal cases
• understand the nature of an ethics policy and how to develop a corporate code of ethics

Module #9 - Future Pull

• explore the ever changing social mindset that has been apparent over the last century with a view to considering what will be the prevailing characteristics in the near future
• understand the key factors in extrapolation and visionary approaches to the future and explore possible scenarios in future consumer markets and relevant corporate goods market
• prepare my own positive future vision from a variety of perspectives

Module #10 - Skill Building and Application Planning

• prepare a personal development plan to help you build the future you want to see for yourself
• begin to develop plans for building the future of those groups you are affiliated with; home, work and community