Harvard Business School Publishing Adds New Topics To Harvard Managementor® Plus

ORLANDO, FL (TechLearn 2003) – November 3, 2003 – Harvard Business School Publishing today announced a new version of Harvard ManageMentor® PLUS, the online performance support tool for managers in a hurry. Harvard ManageMentor PLUS Version 2 offers four new topics – Implementing Strategy, Making Business Decisions, Implementing Innovation and Persuading Others – within the complete set of 37 topics that comprise the eLearning program.

“Today’s organizations are trying to make dramatic moves forward in a new age of competitiveness, and this requires that each employee be in lock-step with the corporate mission,” said Maureen Betses, VP of eLearning at Harvard Business School Publishing. “Our customers want tactical advice on how to make that tough decision, how to gain agreement and alignment among groups, how to implement great ideas, and how to align individual or group actions with corporate strategy. These four new topics address managers’ needs and provide them with tactical, practical advice on core business activities.”

As with all the Harvard ManageMentor modules, the four new topics were developed with the guidance of world class experts and practitioners in the field. Specifically, the four new modules are:

• Implementing Strategy – This topic reaches beyond strategy formulation to execution on corporate strategy. Tools help teach managers how to align teams, units and even individuals with corporate strategy and help them achieve strategic goals through action plans and other techniques. Development of this program was guided by C. Davis Fogg, author of Implementing Your Strategic Plan and a strategy consultant who specializes in developing and implementing corporate strategic plans.
• Making Business Decisions – This module offers a practical approach to making effective decisions and treats decision making as a group process. The topic’s framework for making effective decisions incorporates steps for identifying underlying issues, generating and evaluating multiple alternatives, communicating the decision and implementing the decision. Helpful tools facilitate the application of this framework to practice. David Garvin, a specialist in general management and a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, served as the advisor on the development of this topic.
• Implementing Innovation – This topic acknowledges that, without a committed champion to turn a new idea into reality, innovation efforts fail. In this module, managers learn the skills necessary to turn ideas into reality by championing ideas— either their own or someone else’s— and successfully implementing innovation. This topic was developed with guidance from Kumar Nochur, a highly accomplished consultant and educator with over 20 years of experience in the field of implementing innovation.
• Persuading Others – This module helps managers improve their ability to influence outcomes by developing the skills required to command attention, change minds and influence decision-makers. This topic shares techniques to help managers persuade others—whether outside or in formal power structures—to listen and respond to their requests. Harry Mills, an internationally recognized authority in the fields of influence, persuasion and motivation, guided the development of this module.

Availability
Harvard ManageMentor PLUS Version 2 will be available in December 2003. For customers who want to assess user comprehension of the 37 topics, new comprehension tests also will be available.

About Harvard ManageMentor PLUS
Harvard ManageMentor PLUS brings fundamental information and resources to managers worldwide. Each of the online performance support tool’s 37 topics provides practical advice, tips and tools to address the key challenges managers and project leaders face every day – in a feature-rich format, with audio elements and interactive elements, that can be used quickly and easily to immediately enhance on the job effectiveness.

About Harvard Business School Publishing eLearning
Harvard Business School Publishing (HBSP) is a wholly owned, not-for-profit subsidiary of Harvard University. The HBSP eLearning division provides online leadership and management programs to a growing list of over 500 corporate eLearning clients. Combining premier content with flexible technology, HBSP eLearning is transforming the way that important management ideas are shared in the workplace. The eLearning programs include Harvard ManageMentor®, Leadership Transitions, Managing Change, Decision Making, Coaching for Results, Influencing and Motivating Others and more. www.eLearning.hbsp.org

Contact:
Susan Rozmanith
781-783-7551
srozmanith@hbsp.harvard.edu