Strategic leadership for changing times
27 NOVEMBER 2019
Scania teams up with Stockholm School of Economics to deliver Scania Evolution, a future-focused in-house management programme.
Scania has launched a new in-house strategic leadership programme, to help its managers respond to the challenges of the future transport system. Scania Evolution was established by Scania Academy and long-time education partner Stockholm School of Economics Executive Education.
The first programme took place in Sweden over the summer, and was attended by 21 managers from all over Scania’s global family. The course has three different modules:
- Excellence in core – what Scania is doing really well today and what needs to continue being done well in the future.
- Strategic bets – focusing on the future, where Scania is a part of an ecosystem rather than a traditional value chain.
- Kill your darlings – what should Scania stop doing?
Equipped for the challenges ahead
The reaction from the first students was uniformly positive.
Fernando Gonsalez is a Purchasing Manager for Scania Latin America in São Paulo. He felt that the course was exactly what was needed to equip him for the challenges that lie ahead.
“When I received a description of the content of the programme, I realised how connected it was to the new Scania mindset. It is a special moment in our industry that can either lead us to a very promising future or a dead-end. We must be aware of new trends, new technologies, different business models, and be conscious about the right moment to abandon parts of the past without jeopardising what we do best.”
For Marius Steenkamp, General Manager at Scania South Africa in Cape Town, the course was a chance to look again at his management skills.
“This training has boosted my leadership development and provided me with new perspectives on leadership and motivation. The opportunity to gain a better understanding and gain insights into the future we are busy shaping is priceless.”
Fabrizio Previdi, Sales Manager at Scania Finance at ItalScania, adds, “This experience will contribute not only to my career but also to how I grow as a person.”
A chance to learn more about strategic work
One aspect of Scania Evolution is that it allows participants to become ambassadors for new trends.
For Jenny Brandt, HR Manager in IT, it was a chance to learn more about the strategic work that applies to all of Scania, as well as increase her knowledge of the changes that lies ahead for the world of transport.
“The industry is changing, and we as leaders need to be prepared for this and work with our colleagues to make the transition in our organisation,” she says.
When the next group starts the Scania Evolution programme in early 2020, they will if anything have to learn and applying those lessons in an even faster, more intense way than the first participants.
Thankfully, as Fernando Gonsalez points out, the course will give them all they need.
“It’s hard to nominate a single best moment considering all the immersive and diverse subjects but the way this training changed our mindsets was definitely something else,”, he says.
More information about Scania Evolution »
