introduction
Nexus Knowledge is a consultancy practice engaged in the design and delivery of company transformation programmes and business education initiatives more generally. It has been developed over thirty years by Colin Edward Egan, its Principal Consultant and a former Professor of Marketing and Strategic Management at leading international business schools (please click/tap the Colin Edward Egan tab on the Main Menu for details). The practice primarily applies Colin’s own research in business and/or university environments but it also engages with a network of senior practitioners and academics for the delivery of large and/or complex projects.
Areas of expertise include:
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- Business Education
- Consultancy
- Executive Development
- Organizational Transformation
- Speaking Engagements
The practice has delivered a broad cross-section of courses, seminars, workshops, masterclasses, think-tanks, webinars and speaking engagements for students, managers and executives in many countries, covering the following subject domains:
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- Brand
- Global Strategic Management
- Innovation
- International Business
- Leadership
- Marketing
During his academic and organizational career to date, Colin has worked exclusively with ‘post-experience’ education and management development programmes in leading university business schools, global companies and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). ‘Major Project’ engagements with companies including the Strategic Business Units (SBUs) of Philips, IBM, Castrol and BP are covered in the first Nexus Knowledge category on this Page: Organizational Development.
In the last two decades, the biggest global growth in executive education has been the participation of senior managers, business leaders, entrepreneurs and company owners in university business school ‘open’ MBA programmes. Colin’s engagement in this category of post-experience management learning is covered in the second Nexus Knowledge category on this Page: Business Education.
The common theme of both categories is the alignment of management theory and business practice as depicted in the two icons representing them, both of which symbolise the ‘bursting out’ of knowledge from scholarly texts. At Nexus Knowledge our management development philosophy and its related mantra is ‘A Way of Thinking, a Way of Working’. Our vision is to provide astute managers and business owners with the necessary competencies to design and lead intelligent companies.
Amidst the turmoil and uncertainty associated with US-China trade tensions alongside EU-UK disruptions during the slow-moving Brexit processes, the business ‘mood-of-the-moment’ is dark. But ‘Beyond Brexit’ and international trade tensions lie ample opportunities for companies from all countries, from all sectors and of all sizes to explore. To be successful, they need to develop the capabilities and competencies now for long-term global business strategy success.
Organizational Development
In dynamic market conditions companies must constantly adapt to survive and prosper. While much change is incremental in nature there are circumstances which dictate that an organization should transform itself fundamentally from ‘the way we are now’ to ‘the way we need to be’ for long-term competitive success.
While large organizations can share ‘back-office’ operations across multiple Business Divisions, the challenges for SBUs within them are not so different from those experienced by most SMEs (see below). The corporate strategy challenge for big companies is to leverage the benefits of scale while empowering SBUs to adapt to their specific business environments.
Please click/tap the ‘Knowledge Transfer’ icon above/left for details of ‘Major Project’ engagements by Nexus Knowledge with the SBUs of Philips, IBM, Castrol and BP, amongst others.
Business Education
There has been a huge growth worldwide in the availability of a wide variety of MBA and specialist Masters degrees created for the highly lucrative ‘executive education’ market. These are for the most part ‘open’ programmes which attract participants from a broad cross-section of business sectors, this diversity of background often claimed to be a key benefit by university business school course providers.
Many of the same universities also offer a range of open ‘short courses’ which do not bestow a qualification but claim that many of the MBA-style benefits still accrue to participants. To see real-world real-time examples of this plethora of executive development service offers, browse the back pages of the current edition of The Economist magazine and/or the ‘Business Education’ section and features published regularly by the Financial Times (although such traditional media are being rapidly usurped by google ads and other more direct approaches to carefully targetted potential consumers).
The fastest-growing qualification in this category is the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) which aims to combine the academic credence of a PhD with a clearly-defined business application, defined by the leading management education accreditation body, AMBA, as follows: “A DBA places emphasis on the novel application of theory, as well as the potential creation or testing of theory within the context of practice.”
Many large companies offer ‘in-house’ executive development programmes, either in partnership with a university business school or by directly employing well-known consultancy firms such as McKinsey & Co. and/or independent professors topping up their meagre college stipend!
For details of Nexus Knowledge engagements in all these types of business education programmes please click/tap the ‘Open Book / Open Mind’ icon above/left.
nexus knowledge in Focus
Self-study
This category can relate to private study before and/or after formal education such as Diplomas or MBAs. There are three broad categories: (i) functional-specific publications (known as the trade press), e.g. Logistics Manager Magazine; (ii) general management publications, including weekly magazines (e.g. Management Today, The Economist, Bloomberg Businessweek), daily financial news press (e.g. Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal) and semi-academic forums (e.g. Harvard Business Review, McKinsey Quarterly); (iii) peer-reviewed academic journals (e.g. Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Marketing, Journal of International Business Studies).
With regard to this ‘Self-study’ category, Colin is Academic Director of Strategic Management Think Tank, a publishing imprint focusing on global business strategy & marketing in developed and emerging markets. For details of current books please click/tap the British Business Manifesto tab on the Main Menu. For details of upcoming publications during this year and into 2021, click/tap the 20:20 Vision tab on the Main Menu.
Global Strategic Management
This subject arena combines the disciplines of international business, strategic management, marketing and organizational behaviour, amongst others. The principles of global strategic management apply equally to companies from all countries, all sectors and of all sizes.
Small & Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) and Strategic Business Unit (SBU) Management Development Events
The key to long-term business strategy success is a sharp customer focus and an emphasis on building sustainable competitive advantage in the company’s chosen target market(s). Since all markets have different business environments and competitive dynamics it is essential that an SME or SBU of a larger company adapts for these diverse conditions.
Nexus Knowledge has typically focussed upon customised management development and training programmes to work with companies in addressing these marketing and strategic management challenges. Many of these events have also been delivered on ‘open’ programmes, typically in association with business partners such as the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and federations/associations/commerce chambers with a close affiliation to the specific requirements of SMEs in a variety of sectors.
The common factor across all these events is a sharp focus on innovation and entrepreneurship in the brave new world of free trade globalization and post-Brexit growth and prosperity. New opportunities will abound while unknown threats will be ever-present and mostly unpredictable.
Please click/tap the SME & SBU Business Strategy tab on the Main Menu for further details, sample events and course outlines associated with the British Business Manifesto initiative.
Nexus Knowledge & Global Business Strategy
The ‘flagship’ Nexus Knowledge post-experience course is Global Business Strategies. Related courses, masterclass seminars and strategic management workshops have been delivered in multiple formats and in many countries, both in leading university business schools and on behalf of companies. Please click/tap the ‘Chakra Mandala’ icon above/left to view the details of this Global Business Strategies course along with related workshops and seminars covering international business, strategic management, market analysis, marketing strategy, marketing management, brand management and innovation strategy.
At the core of the global business strategy course and the book Outside Fortress Europe: Strategies for the Global Market is a Master’s curriculum-designed course based upon international business and strategic management studies. This was originally adapted, designed and delivered at Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, UK in 1991.
While the curriculum framework has remained largely the same, the context and its content have changed beyond recognition over the years. The most recent adaptation of the core Global Business Strategy course was translated into Chinese and delivered with simultaneous interpretation to senior leaders of Chinese companies and institutions participating in the flagship Executive MBA Program offered by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). The five BiteSized Fortress Europe Volumes have been derived from key elements of this and related courses, especially the International Marketing MBA elective delivered over many years at Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, UK.
Strategic Management Workshops
The ‘Workshop’ format is a highly flexible and efficient means of addressing a wide range of management projects and tasks. For the most part, workshops are held ‘in-house’ with a designated team of employees led by an employee facilitator or with an external, independent consultant.
Please click/tap the ‘Blackboard & Bright Light’ icon above/left for further details and case study examples of delivered projects by Nexus Knowledge, all of which combine proven frameworks and processes with evidence-based principles to address a broad cross-section of strategic management challenges and tasks.
Seminars and Speaking Engagements
The ‘textbook’ key point of departure between a ‘Workshop’ and a ‘Seminar’ can be summarised as ‘hands-on’ versus ‘thought-first’: doing versus thinking. For the most part this is a false dichotomy, especially in a company environment where the most effective outcomes are invariably achieved by an effective combination of the two ‘ways-of-working’. For further insights, please see the discussion and case studies presented in the ‘Strategic Management Workshops’ category above.
Colin has undertaken many speaking engagements on a variety of international business and global strategic management topics in numerous locations, including ‘masterclass’ events with simultaneous interpretation in Slovenian, Serbian, Russian and Chinese.
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All content © Colin Edward Egan, 2020