Create value and sharpen your advantage
Operations management focuses on the design, planning, and control of processes used to produce the goods and services provided by an organization. Managed well, operations play a critical role in executing overall strategy and creating value by delivering high quality at low cost. Developing a fundamental understanding of operations management is important for all managers in any organization.
In this program you will learn the key principles to optimize operations and maximize value creation for your business or organization.
- Foundations of core business processes and how to evaluate and improve them
- Supply chain, inventory, and information flow management
- Evaluation and design of effective operations strategies that align operational capability with business goals
After the program, you will think more critically and creatively about business operations. You will be positioned to apply these concepts, frameworks, and techniques to your own organization, leading your firm to greater efficiency, profitability, and customer satisfaction.
Who Should Attend?
- Business executives and leaders responsible for developing and implementing operational strategies
- Operations managers and team leaders responsible for managing operations and implementing operational improvements
- Process improvement specialists and analysts responsible for identifying and implementing process improvements
- Supply chain and logistical professionals responsible for managing the movement of goods and services
- Consultants and advisors who work with organizations to develop and implement operational strategies and improvements
- Entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to optimize their operations and create value for their customers and stakeholders
- Professionals interested in developing their skills and knowledge in operations strategy and management
- Government and military managers with oversight of institutional or organizational processes
More About This Program
This "live” interactive online program encompasses a mix of stimulating activities, engaging games to illustrate concepts, and challenging case studies. These are combined with faculty research presentations and group discussions demonstrating queueing theory and constraints, and covering capacity expansion, specialization, and strategy alignment.
This immersive online experience is delivered through:
- Six, two-hour live-streamed class sessions (these faculty-led sessions are held Monday, Wednesday, and Friday over a two-week period)
- Two informative and fun simulation games about inventory management in a supply chain, and sourcing options and choices
- Pre-session readings and questions to familiarize yourself with the session topic(s)
- Robust live, online class discussions with your instructor and other participants
Classes are held using Zoom video-conferencing, which creates a virtual classroom where you can see the professor and presentation screen, and the other class participants. The professor can see all students who engage online during the group session. You will be able to communicate with both the professor and your peers through this platform.
To participate, you will need to have a working webcam, built-in or attached, and the Zoom Cloud Meeting app downloaded onto your laptop.
If you have any questions about this requirement, call Duke Executive Education team at +1.919.660.8011 or Toll Free +1.800.372.3932, or email us at execed-info@duke.edu.
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Curriculum
Designed to address specific issues relevant to both manufacturing and service settings across a wide variety of industries, the program covers quantitative tools—models and data-driven methods—as well as qualitative frameworks. You will learn about the relationship between a firm's strategy and its underlying processes, and explore how to design new processes and improve existing ones.
You are required to read all assigned materials before each program session. Most sessions also provide several preparation questions. Consider how you would answer these questions; they will typically serve as interactive discussion points during the session.
Session Duration
2 hours
Advanced Preparation
1-2 hours of required reading or case preparation
In your initial session, you will consider the design of a process that generates a product or service that's capable of meeting demand. A process is a series of steps used to create a product or deliver a service. Each step in a process has a certain capacity—the maximum amount of output that can be produced in a given amount of time. In a well-designed process, each step has the capacity to meet market demand, and the combination of all steps produces output at a rate that satisfies the organization's needs.
This is not always easy to accomplish, as processes and individual steps come in many forms: some steps are very fast, while others are very slow and labor intensive. Some steps process many units at one time (“batch” steps) while others process only one unit at a time.
The program will begin by focusing on ensuring that a process is capable of satisfying the average demand that it faces. You will learn about the fundamental tools and methodologies that can be used to analyze a system and eliminate long-term supply-demand mismatches.
Session Duration
2 hours
Advanced Preparation
1-2 hours of required reading or case preparation
Even though a process can, on average, satisfy demand, problems may still occur. In particular, uncertainty (randomness) can generate short-term mismatches between supply and demand, resulting in backlogs of work (or queues). These short-term mismatches often arise in industries that are naturally subjected to more variability.
In this session, you will explore the root causes of uncertainties and how to use tools and strategies to understand and manage short-term mismatches. You will develop a strong understanding of how careful analysis can be a powerful means to redesign and improve business processes in both service and manufacturing industries.
Session Duration
2 hours
In this session, we will conduct a supply chain simulation. This is a web-based simulation: all participants must have a separate laptop/PC available for this session.
To enhance your skills in supply chain management, we will use an interactive simulation that will allow you to use data to experiment with different strategies and examine how individual decisions impact the entire supply chain.
Session Duration
2 hours
Advanced Preparation
1-2 hours of required reading or case preparation
Unlike services, physical goods are typically created in advance of need and “inventoried” to await customer demand. Inventory is a tangible resource that can be used to cope with demand uncertainty, unlike unused capacity in a service system that cannot be stored for future use. As a result, managing inventory of physical goods is a crucial part of matching supply and demand in industries like manufacturing and retail.
In this session, we will discuss ways to manage inventory for the organization’s benefit and explore the competing objectives of satisfying customer demand while minimizing inventory costs and investment. We will also connect inventory management with the logistics of the supply chain and explore the role of distribution centers in an organization’s ability to match supply and demand.
Session Duration
2 hours
Advanced Preparation
1-2 hours of required reading or case preparation
This session will equip you to design and deploy an effective operations strategy that aligns with the overall strategic goals of an organization. You will leverage a framework to evaluate a firm’s operations strategy within three categories of decisions: scale, source, and scope.
- Scale refers to the volume of activities performed
- Source refers to whether an operation’s activities are insourced or outsourced, and whether they are performed onshore, nearshore, or offshore
- Scope refers to the variety of activities performed, e.g., whether the organization focuses on a small set of activities (specialization) or a broad set of activities (diversification)
Using a case study and simulation, you will determine the power of operational alignment along each of these dimensions—and explore the pitfalls of operational misalignment.
Session Duration
2 hours
Advanced Preparation
1-2 hours of required reading or case preparation
The program concludes with an integrative discussion of the material covered and of the critical nature of effective operations management and strategy, both at a tactical (day-to-day) and strategic (long-term) level.
Faculty
Fernando Bernstein
Fernando Bernstein is the Bob J. White Professor of Operations Management at The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. He obtained a PhD in Operations Management from the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University and joined Duke University in July 2000.
Prof. Bernstein’s research interests include supply chain management, production planning and inventory control, applications of game theory for production and distribution systems, and revenue management. He has published papers in leading journals like Operations Research, Management Science, and Manufacturing and Service Operations Management. He also serves as associate editor for these three journals.
Kevin Shang
Kevin Shang is the Joseph J. Ruvane, Jr. Professor of Operations Management at The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. Professor Shang received his MBA from the University of California, Riverside in 1998 and PhD from University of California, Irvine in 2002.
Professor Shang's area of expertise is supply chain management and inventory control. His research focuses on developing simple and effective inventory policies for supply chain systems. Prof. Shang also conducts research on the interface of operations and finance and renewable energy systems. His research has appeared in several leading management journals, including Management Science, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, and Operations Research.
Robert Swinney
Robert Swinney is an associate professor in the Operations Management area of Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Prior to joining Fuqua, he received a BS in Astronomy from the California Institute of Technology and a PhD in Operations Management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Professor Swinney’s research addresses multi-player problems in supply chain management with a focus on the impact of customer behavior on operational decisions, social responsibility and disruption risk in supply chains, and the operations of start-up firms. His papers have been published in Management Science, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, and Marketing Science.
How to Register
For more information about how to register, please see our detailed instructions.
Frequently Asked Questions
For additional information about our Executive Education programming, please visit our FAQ page.
Listen to understand. Lead inclusively.
Globalization and technology have created an increasingly diverse workplace. Leaders must be able to communicate in a way that ensures both comprehension and inclusion with audiences from a variety of cultures who bring different perspectives . However, the strategies to navigate these conversations effectively are not always intuitive.
Leaders may unintentionally cause offense to colleagues because we are not aware of our own biases, we aren't knowledgeable about potential sensitivities of others, or when in situations where we don’t know what to say so we keep quiet. Inclusive leaders must understand the possible impact of their communication--that insensitivity deflates enthusiasm and that silence also communicates a message. The Inclusive Communication: Fostering Belonging (virtual) program will introduce you to communication skills that will enable you to successfully navigate conversations on culturally-sensitive topics.
Who Should Attend?
Business professionals in middle to senior management across an organization, including Human Resources management, and those introducing or expanding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives within their department, business unit, or organization, will find the tools provided in Inclusive Communication: Fostering Belonging (virtual) to be invaluable. Designed for professionals who want to contribute to creating inclusive work environments. this program teaches practical ways to navigate conversations on culturally sensitive topics. Participants will have opportunities to reflect on their experiences and consider ways they can proactively create and cultivate a work culture where teammates truly belong.
More about this program
This is a three-session executive education course based on material taught to Duke graduate business students. It focuses on inclusive leadership and communication strategies, and is open to individuals as well as members of diverse teams that want to contribute to creating an inclusive team environment.
These interactive sessions will include videos, polls, cases, and role plays and serve as a laboratory for you to develop and refine the skills required to demonstrate inclusive leadership. Participants will have readings and video-viewings prior to each class discussion of communications strategies and best practices.
Before each class session, participants should review assigned materials (articles, cases, and videos). These pre-class activities take less than one hour per session. We ask that these be done before the class session in order to facilitate a richer discussion.
To participate in this course you will need to have a working webcam, built in or attached, and have downloaded the Zoom Cloud Meeting app onto your laptop.
If you have any questions about this requirement, call the Duke Executive Education team at +1.919.660.8011 or Toll Free +1.800.372.3932, or email us at execed-info@duke.edu.
The many upsides of creating a culture where all of your employees can thrive are often overlooked in organizations and even in small teams. Diversity brings an array of benefits, such as increased innovation, improved problem-solving, more productive collaboration, and surfacing of new ideas that otherwise would not have come to light. However, to reap these benefits, your organization needs to maintain and build trust with both internal and external stakeholders. When your employees feel respected, appreciated, and valued, their engagement with their team or with the organization increases as does their commitment to success.
To achieve this, you will need to listen for the values and emotions of your stakeholders, foster open communication about diversity issues, and understand your own, possibly subconscious, attitudes and behaviors, and keep them in check. Inclusive Communication: Fostering Belonging (virtual) is designed to provide you with a set of skills to create an environment where diversity will enhance your team's performance.
Learning Objectives
Foundations for Inclusive Communication
- Learn how to establish ground rules that create psychologically safe and inclusive environments.
- Develop tools to engage in meaningful dialogue rather than debate, even if you don't fully understand or agree with the opposing viewpoints.
Micro-Behaviors Contribute to Organizational Climate
- Understand the impact of micro-behaviors (positive and negative) on team culture and climate
- Determine and practice effective strategies to address micro-aggressions, respond when you're offended, and deploy micro-affirmations.
Allyship and Language
- Learn to listen with empathy and convey concern in ways that are perceived as supportive.
- Determine what allyship means for you and develop strategies to signal you're an ally.
Program Objectives
Over three sessions as a participant in the program, you will take away the following:
- Learn techniques for facilitating dialogues about diversity
- Understand the complexity of conversations around culture
- Recognize a range of micro-behaviors that impact organizational climate
- Develop strategies for addressing micro-aggressions and deploying micro-affirmations
- Cultivate the skills to think critically about words and their meaning
- Be able to demonstrate communication skills required to lead inclusive teams
Sample Schedule
Session 1
Foundations for Inclusive Communication
- Establish ground rules for inclusive teams
- Understand our own experiences and world view
- Differentiate impact and intent
- Develop tools for dialogue rather than debate
Session Duration: 2:45 hours
Session 2
Micro-Behaviors Contribute to Organizational Climate
- Identify the role of micro-behaviors on team culture and climate
- Recognize Micro-aggressions, how the best intentions can sometimes go awry
- Determine and practice effective strategies to address micro-aggressions
- Deploy Micro-affirmations and understand their power and impact
Session Duration: 2:30 hours
Session 3
Allyship and Language
- Learn to listen with empathy
- Determine what allyship means for you
- Signal you're an ally
- Understand the impact of word choice, language, and pronouns
Session Duration: 2:45 hours
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Contact Details
Duke Executive Education
100 Fuqua Drive
Durham, NC 27708-0120 USA
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
8:30 am - 5:00 pm
Faculty
Daisy Lovelace
Daisy Lovelace is an Associate Professor of the Practice at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. She teaches leadership and communication and is committed to creating inclusive teams and organizations. Her professional interests include leadership, inclusive excellence, interpersonal communication, crisis management, persuasion, and influence. In addition to live instruction, she teaches short courses on the LinkedIn Learning platform. She earned her doctorate from the University of Virginia. In addition to teaching at Duke, she has held faculty posts at Indiana University-Bloomington, Princeton University, Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, Korea, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and the University of Virginia.
How to Register
For more information about how to register, please see our detailed instructions.
Frequently Asked Questions
For additional information about our Executive Education programming, please visit our FAQ page.
Adapt to the changing landscape
The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry is complex, not just because of the science, but also because of changing reimbursement practices and regulatory policies. If your organization engages with drug discovery or development at any stage of commercialization, you need to be aware of and understand changes to reimbursement or regulation and their implications for your firm.
Given the industry’s complexity and interdependencies, familiarity with only part of the biotech and pharma industry is not enough for success. Managers involved with drug discovery need to understand what comes after drug development, including whether payers will cover the product and whether providers will adopt the product. Drug makers, payers, providers, regulators, investors, and consultants in this space will find that gaining perspective on interlinkages across the industry enables you to add more value to your stakeholders, and ultimately to your bottom line, through your strategic plans, your drug development operations, your new opportunity identification, etc.
Gain a Broad Perspective
Whether you are inside the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry or someone who interacts with the industry (for example, a payer, provider, consultant, or investor) Drug Development, Reimbursement, and Regulation (virtual) will broaden your perspective of the fundamentals and changes in the industry. The live-streamed course consists of virtual discussion-based class sessions on key trends in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, such as:
- Increasing pressure on prices
- Some government factions look to tie U.S. drug prices to foreign prices, while others want to negotiate drug prices. How will these policies affect which drug development and launch strategies you choose?
- Drug makers are exploring alternate pricing, including an outcomes-based pricing model in which they are paid only if the drug works. Under what conditions should payers and drug makers sign outcomes-based contracts?
- Smaller patient populations
- Diagnostics are becoming better at identifying which patients respond best to which medicines. Should your organization partner or merge with diagnostic organizations in your vertical? How does the availability of a diagnostic affect your launch price?
- Many companies are focusing on rare diseases, moving away from the old mass-market model. Will there still be mass-market drugs? If all drugs are for rare diseases, what does this mean for regulation, prices and spending?
- Lifecycle of a drug from innovation to generic competition
- Drug makers rely on patents and exclusivity, including exclusivity for orphan drugs, for pediatric testing, and for data. Even generic drug makers receive exclusivity protections from other generics. When do these exclusivities apply and how do they change behavior?
- Faced with patent expiration, drug makers experiment with ways to extend revenue, including launching follow on products, authorized generics, and over-the-counter products. Given increasing pressure from payers to choose cost-effective drugs, can these strategies succeed?
Who Should Attend?
This live, online program offers a broad perspective of the issues surrounding the identification and introduction of new drugs, which will be useful to:
- Mid to senior-level health care leaders who either work in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals or interact with those who do.
- Within biotech and pharma, those occupying roles in strategy, marketing, R&D, product development, sales, government affairs, and business development.
- Leaders who have recently switched careers into health care, consultants with health care clients, scientists and MDs who want to commercialize a drug, and health care investors.
NOTE: This virtual program will dive deeper into drug development strategies and challenges, making it a valuable complement to our Virtual Navigating Health Care Trends program.
"Professor David Ridley successfully harnessed the power of core academic modeling blended with real-life business cases to deliver extremely relevant training. The complex and in-depth content was presented in an easily digestible format. Moreover, the supporting materials that were provided will continue to be valuable references for all attendees to lean on when making critical decisions. In a marketplace full of claims of “domain expertise,” it was refreshing to learn from an instructor who has directly impacted the pharmaceutical industry in significant ways."
Christopher KennedyPresident of Elixell Therapeutics
Recent Drug Development, Reimbursement, and Regulation (virtual) participant
More About this Program
Are you ready to gain substantial insights into how the drug development industry works from a range of industry player perspectives? Enhance your contributions to your organization and increase value for your stakeholders by understanding the opportunities and challenges in creating and executing new drug products.
This virtual course consists of:
- Three 90-minute live-streamed class sessions (held weekly over the three-week period)
- Twelve supplementary 15-minute videos, which you should review at your convenience prior to the 90-minute faculty-led class
- Robust live, online class discussions with your instructor and other participants, who come from across the health care industry
Classes will be held using Zoom video-conferencing, which has been extended into a virtual teaching system. This system creates a virtual classroom where you can see the professor and presentation screen, as well as seeing the other participants. Similarly, the professor can see all of the students who engage online during the group session. You’ll be able to communicate with both the professor and your peers through this platform. The professor uses the same technology to teach executive MBA students.
To participate in this course you will need to have a working webcam, built in or attached, and have downloaded the Zoom Cloud Meeting app onto your laptop.
If you have any questions about this requirement, call Duke Executive Education team at +1.919.660.8011 or Toll Free +1.800.372.3932, or email us at execed-info@duke.edu.
Understand the economics behind different business strategies
Course Topics
Innovation
- The cost of R&D
- The stages of drug development
- Tradeoffs between orphan and blockbuster development
- Government incentive to devise new drugs
Reimbursement
- Netflix model
- Outcomes-based pricing
- Cost effectiveness analysis
- Rebates, formularies & pharmacy benefit managers
- 340B program
- Medicaid Best Price
Competition
- Lifecycle management strategies
- Biosimilars
- Generics
Program Objectives
At the conclusion of the program, you will understand:
- How researchers estimate the average industry cost of research and development for an approved drug.
- How to estimate the value of a drug in development in order to make better decisions about which drugs to advance and which drugs to stop.
- What incentives governments create to reward developers of drugs for rare and neglected diseases.
- How governments regulate drug makers and the steps drug makers must take to avoid penalties, fines, lost revenue, and embarrassment.
- How to estimate the cost effectiveness of a drug in order to secure reimbursement.
- What price regulations have been proposed and which are likely to be implemented.
- What are the new approaches to pricing, including the “Netflix Model” and outcomes-based pricing, and under what conditions drug makers and payers should adopt them.
- How to estimate a drug’s peak market share in order to forecast sales.
- What role intermediaries such as pharmacy benefit managers play in drug access and reimbursement.
- What ten strategies drug makers use to extend sales of a drug approaching patent expiration.
- How generic drug makers compete with brand name drug makers.
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Client Success Stories
Drug Development, Reimbursement, and Regulation
A biotech CEO used skills gained at Duke Executive Education to leverage industry insights and best practices to more effectively move new technologies from the research lab to patient bedside.
Course Credit for Certificate of Leadership and Management
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Executive Education Certificate Credit
The Drug Development, Reimbursement, and Regulation (virtual) program, because of its short duration, accounts for a one-half credit (0.5) toward earning the Certificate of Leadership and Management. In order to earn this half-credit, you must:
Participate via webcam in a minimum of two of the three group discussion sessions
Complete the online portion of the curriculum each week
Score a passing grade on the final course assessment
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Executive Education
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Sample Schedule
Week 1 Session
11:30 - 1:00 p.m. EST
Drug Discovery and Innovation
- Research and development
- Make or buy
- Incentives for innovation
- Priority Review Voucher
Week 2 Session
11:30 - 1:00 p.m. EST
Drug Development and Reimbursement
- Flow of funds
- Medicare drug reimbursement
- Medicaid drug reimbursement
- Patient cost sharing
- Global drug reimbursement
Week 3 Session
11:30 - 1:00 p.m. EST
Biotech / Pharma Industry Competition
- Forecasting market share
- Drug prices
- Lifecycle management
- Generic drugs and biosimilars
Each week participants will spend an average of 2 hours supplementing the class-time learning by watching professionally produced videos of Professor Ridley and reading relevant articles on the health care industry.
Faculty
David Ridley
David Ridley is the Dr. and Mrs. Frank A. Riddick Professor of the Practice of Business. He is also the Faculty Director of Duke's Health Sector Management program. In his research, David examines innovation and pricing, especially in health care. He was the lead author of the paper proposing the priority review voucher program to encourage development of drugs for neglected diseases. The voucher program became law in the U.S. in 2007. Voucher sales total more than a billion dollars and the program has encouraged development of many drugs for neglected and rare diseases. David has published in economics journals, medical journals, and scientific journals. David teaches in the daytime MBA, executive MBA, and health analytics programs. He is the principal investigator on a grant from the Gates Foundation for 2018 to 2020 to examine incentives for drug development. He received a PhD in economics from Duke University in 2001.
Frequently Asked Questions
For additional information about our Executive Education programming, please visit our FAQ page.
Learn the language of business
Financial literacy is a fundamental component of management and leadership. Regardless of your role in your organization, you should understand how different decisions impact your organization’s bottom line today, and in the future. Financial Analysis for Non-Finance Leaders (virtual) introduces you to the essential elements of financial reporting, including managerial and financial accounting. You’ll learn to interpret financial statements, develop a greater understanding of the ways financial information is used as a strategic tool for decision making, and develop the capability to communicate operating, marketing, sales, and growth strategies in financial terms.
Accounting faculty member, Bill Mayew, who instructs this program, offers his perspective on the virtual program format.
“The blended format was a better experience than an online class. Seeing the professor in real time during the virtual class was critical to my level of engagement and movitation. Also, being able to see the other students in the class pulls you into a group learning experience. You learn from each other and you build camaraderie with the others in the class."--Michael Gutierez, National Account Manager, Chiesi USA
"For me, the blended learning format made learning outside work more accessible and efficient. The pre-reading of case studies, working through the textbook, and watching the well-produced videos helped me prepare for class. The professor's energy and engagement with students was amazing."--Eric Hermans, Director of National Accounts, Chiesi, USA
Who Should Attend?
This live, online program is ideal for self-motivated, ambitious professionals looking to fit classroom development into your already-hectic schedule. Regardless of your level, your functional role, your industry, and your geography, if you find being away from the office for four days in a row challenging, if not daunting, Financial Analysis for Non-Finance Leaders (virtual) delivered in this format is the ideal program for you.
- The virtual format allows you to work at a pace that suits your learning style, whether you have little to no exposure to financial statements or you regularly invest as a hobby.
- The live-streamed classes are recorded and available to participants online, so you may review them as frequently as you choose in order to master the material.
The Financial Analysis for Non-Finance Leaders (virtual) course is the optimal choice for professionals who will benefit from increased familiarity with financial concepts and fundaments in their decision-making, but who are unable to travel to Durham, NC, for the in-person program.
More About the Program
Our virtual program format consists of six weekly live, online class sessions, held on Wednesdays, starting at 11:00 a.m. EST, and varying from 90 to 150 minutes in duration. The same course content as the in-person program will be delivered in a format that consists of live-streamed class sessions (see schedule below) with individual or team assignments to be completed outside of class meetings, and online resources to assist with your learning. You’ll engage in robust virtual class discussions with your instructor and interesting individual and team assignments and exercises with your classmates.
The class sessions and group discussions will be held using Zoom video-conferencing, which has been extended into a virtual teaching system. This technology creates a virtual classroom where:
- You can see the faculty member and any presentation material he/she may be sharing
- You will be able to see the other participants in the classroom for that live-streamed virtual session
- The faculty instructor will be able to see all of the students engaged online during the group session
- You will be able to communicate with both the faculty member and your classmates through the Zoom platform
| Live Teaching Schedule | |
| Date | Topic |
| Sept. 1 | Introducing Financial Statements (Part 1) |
| Sept. 8 | Understanding Financial Statements (Part 2) --understanding balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements |
| Sept. 15 | Profitability and Efficiency--analyzing financial statements |
| Sept. 22 | Credit Risk |
| Online quiz completed by September 29 | |
| Sept. 29 | Inventory Management |
| Oct. 6 | Budgeting and Forecasting |
| Final exam week of October 6 | |
Ensure that you're all set to participate before the program starts. We will be hosting a cohort introduction prior to the first class:
| Date | Duration | Cohort Introduction |
| August 25 | 1.0 hour | 11:00 am - 12:00 noon ET |
For more information about our new format, please send us an email at execed-info@duke.edu.
To participate in this course you must have a working webcam, and have downloaded the Zoom Cloud Meeting app onto your laptop.
To earn a certificate credit for this course, which will count as a course toward the elective requirements for the Certificate of Leadership and Management, you must:
- Be present at a minimum of five of the six live-streamed class sessions
- Score a passing grade on the quiz and final exam for the course.
If you have questions about any of these requirements, call the Duke Executive Education team at +1.919.660.8011 or Toll Free +1.800.372.3932, or email us at execed-info@duke.edu.
Discussion topics are designed to provide an overview in financial management by introducing you to real-world financial reports and discussing the interpretation of financial information. Combined with basic practices and assessments of an organization’s financial stability, you’ll gain insight on how to leverage financial information to evaluate performance.
Discussion Topics
Financial Statements
- Learn to read the 3 most common financial statements for product and service industries.
- Analyze a company's financial health, including efficiency and profitability drivers, using DuPont decompositions.
- Use key financial ratios to analyze customer credit risk.
Costs of Goods & Cost of Services Sold
- Examine inventory costing and contribution analysis for specific products/services.
Budgeting & Forecasting
- Develop division level income statements including direct, variable and "soft" costs and utilize for project selection.
- Compare an actual P&L to budget variances; incorporate budget variance feedback into investment decisions, employee incentives and control systems to maximize division profitability.
Program Objectives
At the conclusion of the program you’ll be able to:
- Read and understand financial statements to evaluate financial performance.
- Design control systems and incentives that align objectives with profitability.
- Build budgets that monitor and evaluate business performance.
- Determine the cost and profit of business decisions.
- Identify relevant costs, including overhead, when adjusting a mix of products and services.
- Forecast division finances with a comprehensive treatment of costs and expenses beyond inventory.
- Understand key deviations from forecasts and assess the impact of potential changes to business processes.
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Faculty
Bill Mayew
Bill Mayew is a Professor of Accounting at Fuqua. He received his Ph.D. in Business Administration (Accounting) from the University of Texas at Austin. He previously worked in accounting and financial reporting assurance at Ernst & Young. Professor Mayew studies the managerial communication of firm performance, including voluntary and mandatory financial disclosures in financial reports, and has received multiple awards for teaching excellence.
Rahul Vishishtha
Rahul Vashishtha is an Associate Professor in the Accounting area. He received his PhD in Accounting from the University of Pennsylvania in 2012 and has been on the Fuqua faculty since graduation. Professor Vashishtha’s research focuses on the determinants of disclosure and its economic consequences. His recent work examines how mandated disclosure of public information affects corporate investment choices. He teaches financial accounting in the Daytime MBA program.
John Heater
John Heater is an Assistant Professor in the Accounting area. His research interests include disclosure, regulation, corporate governance, and financial intermediaries. Professor Heater’s current work on disclosure and managerial incentives investigates how increased performance disclosure requirements affect firm stakeholders and how the CEO and CFO roles affect financial reporting. Professor Heater teaches Financial Accounting.
Mohan Venkatachalam
Mohan Venkatachalam is the R.J. Reynolds Professor of Business Administration at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Professor Venkatachalam received his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1996 and is a Chartered Accountant from India. He has worked as an Accountant and Internal Auditor in India and the Middle East.
Prior to joining Duke, Professor Venkatachalam was a faculty member at Stanford University, and has taught several courses including Financial Accounting, Financial Analysis and Executive Compensation. He has published research papers on a wide range of topics in valuation, nonfinancial performance measures, accounting disclosures, derivatives and corporate governance. His most recent work involves the role of verbal and nonverbal managerial communication in financial markets. He was an Editor of the Accounting Review and serves on the Editorial Boards of The Accounting Review, Review of Accounting Studies and Contemporary Accounting Research.
How to Register
For more information about how to register, please see our detailed instructions.
Frequently Asked Questions
For additional information about our Executive Education programming, please visit our FAQ page.