Frequently Asked Questions

This three-module program has been designed specifically for IATA and the aviation industry. The delivery occurs at a pace of about one module per month, in a virtual environment that allows learners to work collaboratively from dispersed locations. Due to this, this program will last approximately three months.

The aim of the program is to develop and apply critical thinking and general management skills, as well as other capabilities for effective 21st-century leadership. The program will also help leaders from IATA and the aviation industry to keep up with the latest thought leadership, best new business models and concepts and to cultivate an effective peer network in their industry. It accomplishes these goals with a strong blend of online components, including both synchronous and asynchronous activities.

The program is structured to accommodate busy schedules and therefore there are weekly activities that can be done in your own time at your own pace as well as weekly activities such as live sessions where you participate in facilitated discussions with Harvard Business School or another elite school faculty. You will also engage in discussions with aviation industry experts, senior leaders and your peers in a collaborative environment.

This program allows participants to learn today and apply tomorrow. Program assignments and discussion sessions are built into the normal work calendar and linked to business issues. Participants typically spend four hours per week or twelve hours per module.

The three modules in this program will cover the following topics: Leadership and Influence, Operational Excellence, and Global Mindset and Collaboration.

Featured speakers are Harvard Business School faculty members, Harvard Business Press and Harvard Business Review authors, and can include faculty members from Harvard or affiliate organizations and aviation industry experts.

The participants will have access to course information and materials at their fingertips through an online portal. Such portals help to support learning as a never-ending process, not just an event. The portal contains the following sections:

Featured stories, interviews, and key research points. This section highlights stories, interviews, and key research points relevant to strategic challenges faced by the business.

Calendar. This section includes links to webinars, interactive workshops, group activities and other learning opportunities organized by date.

Experts’ corner. This section includes profiles of individuals leading and participating in this program and links to their work.

Action learning. This section lists action-learning projects developed by participants.

Recommended content. This section includes learning material from program modules tailored to the needs and business objectives of the organization.

Tips, advice and ideas. This section is a collection of participants’ best practices, lessons learned, and questions that the experts have answered.

Forums led by authors, faculty and other experts. This section includes online forums, moderated by HBP, giving participants an additional channel in which to interact.

The sessions will be recorded and you will have the opportunity to review the recording of the session should you miss one of the live sessions.

HBP provides a dedicated moderator for each cohort who not only provides instruction but also engages the target audience in facilitated discussions and stays connected each week through the discussion board.

The program methodology is based on participant-centered learning design that encourages reflection, discussion, and critical thinking. Participants collaborate to build critical-thinking skills. They also use a combination of case-method examination/instruction; online discussion; offline study and live, virtual team activities.

To create leaders, Harvard Business School creates the context in which leaders are formed: real-life challenges, wrapped in complicated and sometimes insufficient information. Each challenge confronts our participants with a rich web of consequences and a demand for a prompt, responsible plan of action. These challenges are our cases. Through the case method, the case study discussion becomes a crucible for participant-centered learning in which participants exercise the fundamentals of leadership that they will practice the rest of their lives.

Based on our design principle ‘learning by doing’, the program will include at least one application exercise as part of each module. These are exercises that require the participants to work in small groups offline to complete the exercise and prepare for a debrief of their work in plenary. The application exercise is typically the last exercise of each module and designed to allow the participants to apply the learnings in the program to a specific exercise that also relates directly to their company context.

All modules provide tools and frameworks for participants to use on the job through presentations by world class experts, HBS faculty, HBP moderators and through the program content including HBR articles and HBS case studies. Participants also build a personal library of materials from the program sessions that they can refer back to for just-in-time support long after the program has ended.