MembershipBrochure

Strategic Managementand the Strategic Management Forum

Paul BarnettFounder & CEO

Welcome“If you agree that Strategic Management practised professionally can transform the fortunes of businesses, organisations, communities, economies, and of society as a whole, you may wish to help us in achieving our primary purpose: advancing the professional practice of Strategic Management”.

This is my message to those who are considering membership of the Strategic Management Forum.

Our Board and Council are comprised of experienced strategists with extensive global experience, working in companies of all sizes and in all sectors. Experience tells us that Strategic Management professionally practised can deliver powerful benefits on many levels. We have demonstrated this many times over, and seen others do the same. But we also know there is room for massive improvements in the way Strategic Management is usually practised. We strongly believe that professionalisation will improve practice.

Join us today, and let's be a force for positive transformations.

Paul

Paul BarnettFounder & CEO

Our PurposeThe primary purpose of the Strategic Management Forum is “advancing the professional practice of Strategic Management”. As already stated, we believe that doing so can have a positive transforming impact.

We exist to serve our members - strategy practitioners from all sectors. They may not call themselves strategists but, regardless of their functions (finance, marketing, operations, etc.), they are strategists. We can help improve their strategic thinking, planning, execution, and reporting capabilities and effectiveness.

We intend to support professional career progression in the practice of Strategic Management at all levels from the earliest Affiliate Membership through to Fellowship, nurturing increasing professionalism at each stage of a lifelong journey.

In the near future we will focus on a number of key initiatives critical to the process of evolving Strategic Management whilst also strengthening individual member benefits.

“But Strategic Management is already a profession...”It is not. It is not even close to being a profession.

There are no widely-accepted standards of Strategic Management practice. There is no accreditation or certification of strategy courses taught by business schools. The body of knowledge is extensive, but it is incoherent and inaccessible. And there is no respected and internationally-recognised professional body.

Strategic Management is a discipline that is yet to become a profession, and we aim to ensure that this happens.

The road ahead will include initiatives focused on the building blocks that are described above. And our goal is to balance the need for standards with the desire to be open, accessible and inclusive to a global audience. Our focus will be on the practice of strategy, to avoid too much overlap with existing organisations focused on the academic theories of Strategic Management. Our work has begun, and we are already establishing research projects with leading companies, institutions and business schools.

The Board and The CouncilBoth our Board and our Council represent the community we wish to serve. They include strategists from all sectors, and from all continents of the world.

Our Chairman, Barry Hedley, is a Fellow of the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School. A Harvard Business School MBA and former director of Boston Consulting Group, he also co-founded Braxton Associates (acquired by Touche Ross, later Deloitte Consulting, when Barry became Director of their global strategy consulting practice).

The Council, which includes the Board, enhances our ability to achieve our mission in a practical way, as well as providing thought leadership, intellectual contribution and strategic insights relating to the Strategic Management Forum's initiatives and activities. It will also represent the interests of our global network, and will be heavily engaged in our initiative-focused Working Groups.

Barry HedleyChairman

Our History

In little more than two years we created a website, launched Strategy Snack emails, produced a monthly newsletter, grew a LinkedIn community to more than 20,000 members, established a Twitter following, attracted Heads of Strategy to the launch of our Chief Strategists Club, hosted a seminar, ran Strategy Socials in London and New York, ran seminars in partnership with KPMG, and attracted applications for Founder Membership from senior strategists in 40 countries.

Recruiting Founder Members who would represent the community we wish to serve was one of our main initial goals. They are from all sectors and all continents, and they represent emerging, developing and developed economies. They are diverse in several ways, but they are all senior professionals who passionately support our aims.

At the start of 2014 we established our Board and Council from amongst our Founder Members. We are now ready to focus on the next milestones on our journey, and we hope that you will join us.

Membership

We offer various levels of membership to reflect all levels of knowledge and experience. Our aim is to provide a career-related ladder of recognition.

Entry level, the first step on the ladder, is Affiliate Membership, open to anyone interested in the subject of Strategic Management. The highest level is Fellowship, for those with a considerable amount of knowledge or experience.

We also offer Corporate Membership to companies and organisations that wish to nominate a number of employees as members, and who would like to engage with us as institutions. Discounted Corporate Membership is available for not-for-profit organisations, including government and public sector organisations, universities, colleges and business schools.

In the following pages we explain the benefits of membership and of the different membership types.

Affiliate Membership BenefitsAffiliate membership is open to anyone with an interest in Strategic Management. It is also the first step on a career related ladder of recognition for those seeking a career in strategic management. The benefits include:

● 30% discount on strategic management related books from leading publishers, including Harvard Business Review Press, Wiley, Pearson, Routledge, Oxford University Press and Palgrave Macmillan

● Free or discounted attendance at national and local events, and at those, carefully selected, events offered by third parties

● Annual Strategic Management Forum Conference attendance (discounted rates)

● Monthly newsletter subscription (free)● Strategy Snacks email subscription (free)● Access to a members-only online community and members'

discussion forum● Job listings – wanted and offered (free to advertise)

Associate, Full Member and Fellowship BenefitsThese memberships give you the recognition you deserve as a strategist, and a package of additional benefits:

● Letters after your name (except Affiliate Membership)● Membership certificate● Access to a global network of strategists● 30% discount on strategic management related books from

leading publishers including: Harvard Business Review, Wiley, Pearson, Oxford University Press and Palgrave Macmillan

● Free or discounted attendance at national and local events, and at those of carefully selected third parties

● Annual Strategic Management Forum Conference attendance (discounted rates)

● Monthly newsletter and Strategy Snack subscriptions (free)● Access to a members-only online community, members'

discussion forum and members directory● Access to Focus Groups (see next slide)● Job listings – wanted and offered (free to advertise)

Focus Groups (Think Tanks)

Paul BarnettFounder & CEO

Focus Groups actively engage our global members in a way that is of most interest to them. By 'focus' we mean industry focused (e.g. Energy), sector focused (e.g. Government), topic focused

(e.g. Innovation) or location focused (e.g. Amsterdam). Each Focus Group has a dedicated website and a private social network to support the community of interest.

This is an example page from our first Focus Group's website.

Join as an Associate, Full Member or Fellow:Associate (ASMF) + 2 Focus Group

For business school students studying for an MBA or MSc in Strategic Management at a recognised business school, or people with at least three years' relevant* practitioner experience. Annual £95 (Quarterly £25)

Full Member (MSMF) + 3 Focus Groups

For graduates of business schools with an MBA or MSc in Strategic Management from a recognised institution, or people with at least seven years' relevant* practitioner experience. Annual £195 (Quarterly £52.50)

Fellow (FSMF) + Unlimited Focus Groups

For people with a relevant Doctorate or at least ten years' director level experience, and the ability to demonstrate a level of Strategic Management capability that might be expected in such a position*. Annual £250 (Quarterly £65)

* “relevant” will be defined by the Strategic Management Forum

Corporate Membership Benefits

"We are entering the age of the strategist". No longer will strategy be "the domain of a small coterie, perhaps led by a chief strategist who is protective of his or her domain—or the exclusive territory of a CEO". Why the change? Because "today’s more volatile environment is increasing the time a company’s top team spends on strategy", as it requires more strength and focus, and because "involving more senior leaders in strategic dialogue makes it easier to stay ahead of emerging opportunities, respond quickly to unexpected threats, and make timely decisions".

These are the views of McKinsey & Co, who also found that "rare is the company, though, where all members of the top team have well-developed strategic muscles. Some executives reach the C-suite because of functional expertise, while others, including business unit heads and even some CEOs, are much stronger on execution than on strategic thinking". If the top team have underdeveloped strategic muscles, how underdeveloped must those of the organisation be?

Imagine, then, the competitive advantage to be had by having all of your managers and executives develop their strategic power and performance. This is the benefit of Strategic Management Forum membership for businesses and organisations.

Corporate Membership Types

Regular Corporate Membership

Corporate Membership is available to businesses of any size. The cost varies according to the number of nominees:● 1-4 nominees £250 each● 5-24 nominees £225 each● 25+ nominees £195 eachDiscounted Corporate Membership

Discounted Corporate Membership is available to not-for-profit organisations at a rate of £125 per nominee.

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Nominees of Corporate Members of both types get all the benefits of the individual membership level they qualify for, up to the level of Full Member. The company or organisation they work for gets additional benefits.

Nominees from Corporate and Discounted Corporate Members may apply for Fellowship, paying the difference in membership fee to upgrade. They must still meet the qualification criteria for the grade.

For more details please email: membership@strategicmanagementforum.org

www.strategicmanagementforum.org

membership@strategicmanagementforum.org