General Management Programme (GMP)
We live in a fast-paced, dynamic and competitive world. The business landscape is changing all the time and what works one day, may not work the next. Companies need to be more innovative, more motivated and quicker to respond than ever before if they want to adapt to present day-to-day challenges while still planning for future success. Whether they succeed or fail at this will depend, more often than not, on the quality of those trusted with leading the business.
General managers are the cornerstone of any successful business. The GIBS GMP is an eight-month programme designed to equip senior managers who are transitioning, or have transitioned, into a general management role with the tools and confidence to succeed.
Unique features of the GIBS GMP
This programme is a personalised journey of discovery and growth. Through lectures, simulations, company visits, an international immersion, coaching and 360 degree assessments, you will challenge preconceived notions, grow in knowledge, experience and confidence and formulate strategies for success, for yourself and your company.
There are a number of factors that make GIBS General Management Programme unique – the pedigree of your peers; the pedigree of your lecturers; our focus on intensive coaching; teamwork and the international immersion to Singapore and Vietnam.
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The pedigree of your peers – As one of South Africa’s leading business schools, GIBS is privileged to attract the top performers from some of the top businesses in the country. Each programme is made up of participants from different industries. Like you, they are driven to learn, grow and succeed. This is leveraged through our highly interactive engagements where you are encouraged to participate in rigorous discussions, debates and offer advice.
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World-class faculty – The programme is facilitated by senior GIBS faculty, hand-picked local and international faculty, as well as leading industry practitioners and experts. Faculty are selected because they have ongoing, real world business experience and are successful business people in their own right.
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Intensive coaching – An essential aspect of our programme is the intensive coaching that you will receive, individually, and as a group. The aim of our experienced coaches is to create a relationship of trust where you are encouraged to stretch yourself, question your motivations for decisions made, and challenge your choices. With the help of our coaches, participants have reported life changing, or certainly behaviour changing, experiences.
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Teamwork – Although this programme is an intensely personalised growth experience, teamwork and the involvement of your peers is at the centre of its success. Participants work together on many different levels, understanding their individual management styles, identifying individual strengths and weaknesses, learning to work with different personalities and building important bonds and relationships.
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Participation in a leading business simulation – Participants will learn from a leading business simulation which will assist them in mastering functional skills, thinking more strategically, and highlight their strengths and challenges in creating successful teams.
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International business immersion – We live and work in a global community. Knowledge, understanding and experience of the world around us is a vital part of being a General Manager. An important and unique part of the programme includes international travel during which students will experience the dynamic Singaporean and Vietnamese economies and compare and contrast it to the South African environment.
This programme is designed for senior managers with functional expertise who are moving from leading a business unit or function to a general management role where they are managing a more complex business entity across its entirety. It is also aimed at general managers who have already made the transition over the past one to two years and would like to improve their performance.
Your learning journey
The programme journey begins with pre-programme online leadership and personality assessments and the completion of documents necessary for the group and individual coaching process. Once the programme begins, it will consist of the following four parts: On-campus contact blocks, international travel, individual coaching and business simulation.