HBP-Harvard ManageMentor Sharpening Your Business Acumen

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HBP No. 7892
A UG US T 2, 2 0 2 2
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FACILITATOR GUIDE
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Harvard ManageMentor:
Sharpening Your Business Acumen
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This guide was prepared by Harvard Business Publishing for the sole purpose of aiding classroom instructors in the use of Harvard
ManageMentor: Sharpening Your Business Acumen (HBP No. 7890). The guide and the HMM course are developed solely as the basis for class
discussion and are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management.
Copyright © 2022 Harvard Business School Publishing. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1–800–545–7685,
write Harvard Business Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise—without the permission of Harvard Business Publishing.
Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School.
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Jose Renato Kitahara, Other (University not listed) until Oct 2022. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
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Table of Contents
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Quick Start Guide ............................................................................................................................................... 3
Learning Objectives ........................................................................................................................................ 3
Duration & Availability ................................................................................................................................... 3
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How to Use (Suggested) ................................................................................................................................. 3
Facilitator Guide ................................................................................................................................................. 4
Course Overview ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Course Structure and Content ................................................................................................................ 4
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Content Summary................................................................................................................................... 5
Café Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 7
Admin Console..................................................................................................................................................11
Admin Resources Page ......................................................................................................................... 11

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Appendices ........................................................................................................................................................14
Appendix A: Assessment Questions and Feedback .................................................................................14
Question 1 ............................................................................................................................................ 14
Question 2 ............................................................................................................................................ 15
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Question 3 ............................................................................................................................................ 16
Question 4 ............................................................................................................................................ 17
Question 5 ............................................................................................................................................ 18
Question 6 ............................................................................................................................................ 18
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Question 7 ............................................................................................................................................ 19
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not listed) untilAcumen
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Oct 2022. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
QUICK START GUIDE FACILITATOR GUIDE ADMIN CONSOLE APPENDICES
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Quick Start Guide
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Harvard ManageMentor: Sharpening Your Business Acumen
In this course, students will learn how organizations operate, create value, and gain competitive advantage. They will discover
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what makes businesses thrive and ways to assess an organization’s health by developing an understanding of business models,
strategies, and key financial statements. Students will have the opportunity to learn strategies and best practices from business
leaders, authors, and coaches like Monisha Misra, Isabella Diaz, Emily McComb, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Udit Gandhi, and Hubert
Joly.
This one-page quick start guide helps you fit this course into your class right away. For more details on pedagogy, refer to
the rest of the teaching guide.
Learning
Objectives
1.
2.
3.
4.
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Learn to define business acumen and understand how it benefits you at work.
Describe and discuss the basic building blocks of business success.
Read key financial statements and gain insight into an organization’s financial health.
Understand business models and how an organization creates, captures, and delivers
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value.
5. Understand business strategy and how organizations gain competitive edge.
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Duration & Seat time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Availability
Asynchronous learning
Languages: English
Designed and developed in compliance of WCAG 2.1 AA standards

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How to Use Students can go through the lessons at their own pace outside of class. To further explore the
(Suggested) concepts, consider following the structure outlined under Café Overview within this document
and using the Café PowerPoint supplement (HBP No. 7891) available on the Harvard Business
Publishing Education website or in the Harvard ManageMentor Admin Console.
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Facilitator Guide
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Course Overview
Harvard ManageMentor (HMM) helps students develop the skills they need to thrive in the workforce. These online courses
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combine the latest in business thinking from management experts with interactive assignments to empower students with the
skills employers seek.
In this course, students will learn how organizations operate, create value, and gain competitive advantage. They will
discover what makes businesses thrive and ways to assess an organization’s health by developing an understanding of business
models, strategies, and key financial statements. Students will have the opportunity to learn strategies and best practices from
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business leaders, authors, and coaches like Monisha Misra, Isabella Diaz, Emily McComb, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Udit Gandhi,
and Hubert Joly.
This facilitator guide provides an overview of the course’s learning objectives, content, assessment, suggested use, and
administrative guidance.
Course Structure and Content

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Harvard ManageMentor courses include videos, audio, interactive exercises, comprehension assessments, tools, and
worksheets that help learners put into practice what they learn. Each course is structured as follows:
• Lesson: Each course contains a lesson section that presents the key concepts and reinforces them with polls, callouts,
infographics, examples, tools, and handouts. The content also includes short videos featuring leading global business
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experts and executives. The lessons offer an opportunity for learners to practice and reflect key concepts.
• Performance goal: Performance-based skills that are tied to each lesson.
• Assessment: The multiple-choice, scenario-based test measures comprehension of the material and a student’s
ability to apply it. (See Appendix A.)
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Harvard ManageMentor courses include the additional features:
• Discussion guides: Learners can use these discussion guides to lead discussions with peers about how the course
concepts apply to and can be used in teamwork.
• Editor’s choice: Curated monthly from Harvard Business Review to bring timely and relevant articles to lessons.
• From the Collection: Articles from Harvard Business Publishing experts and thought leaders.
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• Quick-read: The quick-read presents only the key concepts in a course for a learner to review in approximately 20
minutes.
• Podcasts: Curated regularly from HBR to complement Harvard ManageMentor sessions.
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Content Summary
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Lesson 1: Why You Need Business Acumen
Performance Goals: Define business acumen and understand how it benefits you at work
Videos:
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• Know About Business to Grow in Business (Monisha Misra)
• Level Up at Work: Understand Your Organization’s Big Picture (Isabella Diaz, Emily McComb)
Tools and Handouts: None
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Lesson 2: Learn What Makes Organizations Thrive
Performance Goals: Describe and discuss the basic building blocks of business success
Videos:
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• Building Blocks of Business Success
• Add Value with Complements (Felix Oberholzer-Gee)
• Why Gross Profit Matters (Emily McComb)
Tools and Handouts:

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• Learn About Your Customers
• Building Blocks of Business Success
• Opportunities for Growth

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Lesson 3: Build Your Financial Skills
Performance Goals: Read key financial statements and gain insight into your organization’s financial health
Videos:
• The Income Statement: Tracking Profit and Loss

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• What Can You Find on a Balance Sheet? (Udit Gandhi)
• What to Know About Cash Flow
Tools and Handouts:
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• Assess Your Organization’s Financial Health
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• Three Key Financial Statements
Lesson 4: Business Model Basics
Performance Goals: Understand business models and how your organization creates, captures, and delivers value
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Videos:
• A Tale of Two Business Models
• Creating a Winning Business Model (Monisha Misra)
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• What a Change in Business Model Can Do (Hubert Joly)
Tools and Handouts:
• Elements of a Business Model
• Analyze Your Business Model

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Lesson 5: Know Your Organization’s Strategy
Performance Goals: Track the financial performance of your operations, projects, or investments
Videos:
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• Strategy: A Plan to Create Value (Felix Oberholzer-Gee)
• How a Change in Strategy Saved Best Buy (Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Hubert Joly)
Tools and Handouts:

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• Business Model vs Business Strategy
• Create Value for Stakeholders
Articles and audio for all lessons: Articles and audio are updated regularly for each course. Current articles and podcasts are
listed within the lessons on the Resources page.
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Discussion Guides for all lessons: Understand Business Strategy, Develop an Enterprise Mindset
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Café Overview
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A Harvard ManageMentor Café is a brief learning experience based on the concepts and skills found in a particular Harvard
ManageMentor course. During a Café, participants review key concepts, discuss tools, exchange ideas, and practice skills.
Harvard ManageMentor Cafés strengthen the online learning experience in a variety of ways:
• Cafés allow learners to apply Harvard ManageMentor course content and tools to their specific organizational and
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team workplace context, thereby increasing relevance and value.
• Cafés provide an opportunity to learn with others. During Cafés, learners gain support in their development and
benefit from the ideas of others as they discuss issues and challenges.
• The Café experience increases the opportunity for learners to enhance their skills in a topic area by providing
opportunities to practice and apply the skills over time.
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The Café learning experience consists of three components:
1. Part 1: Self-paced, individual preparation (60–90 minutes)
2. Part 2: Live, group-based Café session (60 minutes)

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3. Part 3: Self-paced, individual application (ongoing)
At the conclusion of the blended experience, managers should be able to
• Define business acumen and understand how it benefits them at work

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• Describe and discuss the basic building blocks of business success
• Read key financial statements and gain insight into their organization’s financial health
• Understand business models and how their organization creates, captures, and delivers value
• Learn about business strategy and how organizations gain competitive edge
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Part 1: Self-paced, individual preparation (60–90 minutes)
Before the live Café session, participants should complete all the lessons for the Sharpening Your Business Acumen course. They
also need to complete the online assessment and identify what their organization’s customers, employees, and suppliers need
or value, and how this shapes the work the organization does.
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Part 2: Live, group-based Café session (60 minutes)
The Café class session represents the core learning experience. The session provides an opportunity for learners to exchange
ideas and questions with others, discuss the context of how concepts and skills apply in the workplace, practice and begin
application of those concepts and skills, and build momentum and support for applying the concepts and skills in the workplace.
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The Café session focuses specifically on the following concepts and tasks from the Sharpening Your Business Acumen
course: explore the benefits of business acumen, understand the building blocks of business success, and analyze your
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organization’s business strategy.
The Café session should take approximately 60 minutes using the provided slide deck and notes within. If you prefer a
shorter session or wish to spend more time on a specific activity, you can choose to cover only the activities that are most
relevant to your class learning objectives.
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SE CTI ON AC TI VI TY TI ME
Introduction • Show icebreaker question while participants are arriving to 8 minutes

the session: What is business acumen, and why is it
important?
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• Introduce facilitators.
• Review tips for using technology during the session.
• Debrief icebreaker question.
• Review session objectives.

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SE CTI ON AC TI VI TY TI ME
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Skill focus: • Define business acumen. 12 minutes
Explore the
• Reflection activity: Learners identify areas of the
benefits of
organization they are most knowledgeable about.
business
acumen • Introduce three benefits of business acumen.
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• Facilitate practice activity: Asking valuable questions.
Participants:
– Consider a scenario and questions that can help align

work to company goals.
– Generate additional questions that reflect cross-
functional thinking.
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Skill focus: • Review the four building blocks of business success. 18 minutes
Understand the
• Discussion: Learners describe the organization’s customers
building blocks of
and the customer needs the organization responds to.
business success
• Discussion: Learners discuss why cash flow is important
and actions that help manage cash flow.
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• Reflection activity: Learners consider ROIC and what types
of spending might have a high ROIC.
• Discussion: Learners discuss what profitable growth looks

like and what happens when an organization is growing
profitably.
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Skill focus: Analyze • Define business strategy. 18 minutes

your organization’s
• Facilitate practice activity: Creating value. Participants:
business strategy
– Identify what could impact customers’
willingness to pay and how much they are
willing to pay.
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– Identify what impacts employees’ and

suppliers’ willingness to sell and the price at
which they will sell.
• Reflection activity: Learners identify which of the three

groups (customers, employees, suppliers) may have the
most opportunity to create value.
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Applying what • Review session objectives and skill areas discussed. 4 minutes
you’ve learned
• Review directions for completing the On-the-Job section of
the online Harvard ManageMentor course, including the
action plan.
• Close the session.
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Part 3: Self-paced, individual application
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After the class discussion, students should do the following:
• Think of two things they can do over the next 90 days to further apply and develop their skills in this area.
• Execute their action plan over a time frame specified by the instructor.
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• After the specified time frame, follow up on the action plan and ask students to reflect on the experience.
The PowerPoint slides (HBP No. 7891) available in the Admin Console or on the HBP Education website also have extensive
notes for class discussion. This can aid you through the Café session.
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Admin Console
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The Admin Console will be your place to monitor learner activity and usage, manage learners, update information your learners
see on the homepage, observe key metrics, and find information and resources to help you get the most out of both the Admin
Console and Harvard ManageMentor. You must be logged in with an educator’s account on the Harvard Business Publishing
Education website to access and use the Admin Console from your coursepack.
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There are five tabs in the Admin Console, which take you to five separate pages:
• One View: One View is the default administrator landing page and presents key Harvard ManageMentor activity at
a single glance. License activity and course activity cumulative metrics provide an overview of how your learners
are using Harvard ManageMentor.
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• Reports: Harvard ManageMentor provides reports to help you track and analyze learners’ progress and
completion. For more information, please refer to the Administrator’s Guide available in the Admin Resources tab
described below.
• Learners: Learner management tasks are performed from the Learners page. It displays a list of all registered
learners alphabetically. From this page, you can export the entire list of learners or a subset of learners you’ve
filtered by last name, first name, email, or status.
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• Company Content: In this tab, you can customize your content with a custom message and links to
additional/external content that your learners will be able to access from their Harvard ManageMentor courses.
• Admin Resources: This tab provides you with access to a host of documents that will help you promote, manage,
and better work with Harvard ManageMentor. Documents include things such as the content summary (a listing
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of all lessons, performance goals, videos, and discussion guides). There is also a downloadable guide to the various
features of the Admin Console on the Admin Resources page.
Admin Resources Page
The Admin Resources page is your go-to destination for resources to help you get the most out of Harvard ManageMentor.
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With tools to help you promote HMM to learners, curate content for specific needs, embed insightful content in your
communications, host Café events, learn about reporting features, and more, this page is a valuable companion to any Harvard
ManageMentor administrator. We suggest scrolling down to the Resources section where you can search for admin guides,
Café resources, assessment questions, and more. You can also use the filters on the left side of the page to jump to specific
areas or check out the table to see all of the resources available to you.
Using the Admin Resources page

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Click the Admin Resource tab from the Admin Console.
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Get started in with the Welcome Kit, a collection of resources curated to get administrators up to speed on all that Harvard
ManageMentor has to offer. This can be accessed from the top of the Admin Resources page or from the All Resources section
further down. You can also quickly access resources to develop a communication strategy in the Communications Strategy
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section.
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You can access the five most popular admin resources and download them by scrolling down the page. You can also read
testimonies from other users of the Harvard ManageMentor platform.
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Below the popular admin resources are videos to view and/or share with learners. Below these featured videos is a link
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where you can access the HMM Admin YouTube page to see all the videos available for Harvard ManageMentor admins.
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Under the “All Resources” header are all the documents you might need as students work through the course, listed
alphabetically. Each document has a category associated with it (Marketing, Café, Reference, Content, or HMM
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Implementation) a brief description, and the option to download. Any documents available in languages other than English will
have a link that says, “Other available languages”, where you can choose your preferred language before you download the
document.
On the left side of the page, you can also search for various resources by category by clicking one or more of the check
boxes under Categories. By default, all categories are selected.
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Appendices
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Appendix A: Assessment Questions and Feedback
Question 1
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You’re great at your job and know how to hash out ideas and accomplish goals with your team. But in larger meetings, you
don’t always understand what your colleagues in other divisions are discussing or why they think it’s important. Which of the
following will best help you boost your overall business savvy?
A. Make a short list of concepts or concerns you’ve heard discussed. Reach out to coworkers on other teams and ask
them to give you a quick explanation of an issue and how it impacts their job.
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B. Start a small business of your own so you can learn the basics. Keep a journal with notes about lessons learned.
C. During your annual review, tell your manager that you feel lost and would like some resources to learn more about
your organization and your industry as a whole.
Question 1 Feedback (Lesson: Why You Need Business Acumen)

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The correct answer is A.
A. Good choice. You answered: Make a short list of concepts or concerns you’ve heard discussed. Reach out to coworkers
on other teams and ask them to give you a quick explanation of an issue and how it impacts their job.
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You can learn a lot by reaching out to colleagues who perform different functions in your organization. This can help
you build your understanding of your organization as a whole—an important element of business acumen. To learn
more, see Why You Need Business Acumen.
B. Not the correct choice. You answered: Start a small business of your own so you can learn the basics. Keep a journal
with notes about lessons learned.
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While starting a business would be a major learning experience, it’s not necessary. Reaching out to coworkers for brief
conversations about their roles will help you understand more about how your organization functions and the
responsibilities and priorities of different teams. Those are important parts of business acumen. To learn more, see
Why You Need Business Acumen.
C. Not the correct choice. You answered: During your annual review, tell your manager that you feel lost and would like
some resources to learn more about your organization and your industry as a whole.
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Your annual review is a good time to ask for resources to learn more, but you don’t need to wait until review time to
take action. Reaching out to coworkers on different teams for a brief chat to learn about their work, concerns, and
priorities is a good way to learn more about your organization and boost your overall business acumen. To learn more,
see Why You Need Business Acumen.
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Question 2
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You understand your customers and how your organization provides what they want. What is another key building block of
business success?
A. How the organization can slash costs in the next fiscal year in order to boost profits and keep the leadership happy.
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B. Whether the organization generates a healthy cash flow, allowing it to pay its bills and invest for future growth.
C. What part of the organization’s fiscal year is the best time to ask for a salary increase or a promotion.
Question 2 Feedback (Lesson: Learn What Makes Organizations Thrive)
The correct answer is B.
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A. Not the correct choice. You answered: How the organization can slash costs in the next fiscal year in order to boost
profits and keep the leadership happy.
It is important to think about how your organization can stay financially healthy, but cutting costs or focusing on short-
term profit aren’t always the best ways to help an organization thrive. One key building block of business success is
generating a healthy cash flow. This ensures that the organization can continue to operate and may be able to invest
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for future growth. To learn more, see Learn What Makes Organizations Thrive.
B. Good choice. You answered: Whether the organization generates a healthy cash flow, allowing it to pay its bills and
invest for future growth.
One building block of business success is the ability to generate a healthy cash flow. This means that the organization
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can pay its bills and can potentially have money available to pay off debt or invest in new ideas and projects,
supporting profitable growth. To learn more, see Learn What Makes Organizations Thrive.
C. Not the correct choice. You answered: What part of the organization’s fiscal year is the best time to ask for a salary
increase or a promotion.
No
It might be a good idea to consider your organization’s financial state before you ask for a raise, but that’s not a key to
overall business success. Whether your organization generates a healthy cash flow is one key building block of business
success. A healthy cash flow means your organization can pay its bills and may have enough cash on hand to invest for
future growth. To learn more, see Learn What Makes Organizations Thrive.
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Question 3
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You hire and supervise vendors who help create one of your organization’s products. Some of them want to be paid weekly, but
your organization will only pay monthly. How does this policy help your organization, even when it means you have to work
harder to maintain a positive relationship with vendors?
A. It helps ensure that the organization has enough cash on hand to pay expenses as it waits for the money in its accounts
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receivable to flow in.
B. It reduces the time the payroll team spends on paperwork and reporting, helping to increase their productivity and
reducing opportunities for errors.
C. It contributes to the organization’s gross profit margin, which is the metric everyone in your organization should focus
on most.
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Question 3 Feedback (Lesson: Learn What Makes Organizations Thrive)
A. Good choice. You answered: It helps ensure that the organization has enough cash on hand to pay expenses as it waits
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for the money in its accounts receivable to flow in.
Part of business savvy is understanding how your organization manages cash flow. Even if your team isn’t directly
impacted by monthly or quarterly cash flow, it’s important to understand the impact of your decisions on accounts
payable and receivable. To learn more, see Learn What Makes Organizations Thrive.
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B. Not the correct choice. You answered: It reduces the time the payroll team spends on paperwork and reporting,
helping to increase their productivity and reducing opportunities for errors.
While it’s good to consider possible impacts on the payroll team, the benefit of paying monthly rather than weekly is
related to your organization’s cash flow. Understanding how the organization as a whole is impacted by cash flow and
how the company has to manage accounts payable and receivable is part of business acumen. To learn more, see Learn
What Makes Organizations Thrive.
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C. Not the correct choice. You answered: It contributes to the organization’s gross profit margin, which is the metric
everyone in your organization should focus on most.
Gross profit margin is definitely important, but it’s not affected by when you pay vendors. It’s also not the only thing
those with business acumen focus on. Understanding how cash flow affects your organization as a whole is part of
business savvy. To learn more, see Learn What Makes Organizations Thrive.
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Question 4
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You lead the graphic design team at your organization. Based on your role, why would it make sense for you to dig into financial
reports?
A. When you focus on revenue and net profit, you understand how to make the right decisions for your organization. This
is ultimately the most effective way to support your team.
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B. After spending some time focusing on financial data, you’ll appreciate your graphic design role more.
C. With a better understanding of the organization’s financial health, you can propose new ideas that align with the
company’s goals and spending capacity.
Question 4 Feedback (Lesson: Build Your Financial Skills)
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The correct answer is C.
A. Not the correct choice. You answered: When you focus on revenue and net profit, you understand how to make the
right decisions for your organization. This is ultimately the most effective way to support your team.
Revenue and net profit are important metrics, but financial reports include other important information that can help
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you understand your organization’s overall financial health and longer-term plans. This helps you align your work with
your organization’s broader financial picture, positioning you to better support the business and advance in your own
career. To learn more, see Build Your Financial Skills.
B. Not the correct choice. You answered: After spending some time focusing on financial data, you’ll appreciate your
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graphic design role more.
Reviewing financial data may give you a renewed appreciation for your role, but the real reason to look at financial
reports is that this can help you understand the bigger picture and align your work to better support both the
organization and your career. To learn more, see Build Your Financial Skills.
C. Good choice. You answered: With a better understanding of the organization’s financial health, you can propose new
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ideas that align with the company’s goals and spending capacity.
Financial reports provide data that help you understand your organization’s current finances and longer-term plans and
priorities. When you align your work with the organization’s financial health, you support the organization and your
own career success. To learn more, see Build Your Financial Skills.
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Question 5
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You’re preparing a presentation about your organization’s business model to help train new employees. You have described
who your customers are. What is another key aspect of the business model you should explain?
A. How the organization plans to maximize returns from invested capital and drive profitable growth.
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B. What customer needs your organization satisfies and how your products or services solve a problem for your
customers.
C. Why the business model helps your organization attract the most skilled employees in your industry.
Question 5 Feedback (Lesson: Business Model Basics)
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The correct answer is B.
A. Not the correct choice. You answered: How the organization plans to maximize returns from invested capital and drive
profitable growth.
Maximizing returns on invested capital and driving profitable growth are two building blocks of a successful business.
These are important goals for any organization. But a business model describes how an organization will operate and
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why it will succeed. Like a story, it includes “characters” (customers) and tells how the organization will respond to
something customers want or will solve a problem they have. To learn more, see Business Model Basics.
B. Good choice. You answered: What customer needs your organization satisfies and how your products or services solve
a problem for your customers.
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A business model is like a story. It includes a customer value proposition that describes what the “main characters”
(customers) want or need, and how the organization responds with a solution that satisfies customer desires or that
solves a problem for them. To learn more, see Business Model Basics.
C. Not the correct choice. You answered: Why the business model helps your organization attract the most skilled
employees in your industry.
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Attracting top talent is important, but a business model focuses on how an organization delivers value to customers. It
includes information about how the organization satisfies a customer want or solves a problem for customers. To learn
more, see Business Model Basics.
Question 6
A home appliance manufacturer known for superior quality is thinking about introducing changes in a bid to boost revenue.
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One proposal is to start offering their products in a broad range of colors. Which question will best help the company make a
decision about the proposal?
A. Will customers’ willingness to pay be affected by having a broad range of colors to choose from?
B. Will bringing in the new colors necessitate a major change in the marketing strategy?
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C. Will introducing the new line of colors require training or changes at production facilities?
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Question 6 Feedback (Lesson: Know Your Organization’s Strategy)
A. Good choice. You answered: Will customers’ willingness to pay be affected by having a broad range of colors to choose
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from?
Customers’ willingness to pay is a key issue that can guide organizations in their decision making. If a change increases
customers’ willingness to pay, it is likely to have a positive impact on revenue and profits. To learn more, see Know
Your Organization’s Strategy.
B. Not the correct choice. You answered: Will bringing in the new colors necessitate a major change in the marketing
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strategy?
The organization should focus on whether the change will increase customers’ willingness to pay, not on its impact on
marketing. This is a key issue that will have real impact on the organization’s profits and overall health. To learn more,
see Know Your Organization’s Strategy.
C. Not the correct choice. You answered: Will introducing the new line of colors require training or changes at production
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facilities?
Organizations should think about how strategic changes will impact various business units. But when deciding whether
to make a change, a key issue to prioritize is customers’ willingness to pay. This will have a meaningful impact on the
organization’s profits and overall health. To learn more, see Know Your Organization’s Strategy.
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Question 7
An engineering firm offers robust professional development opportunities to employees and develops an effective framework
for helping them advance in their careers. How does this strategy help the company meet its business goals?
A. It helps ensure that employees make fewer mistakes in their work.

No
B. It saves the company money because it doesn’t have to pay others to offer this training.
C. It affects employees’ willingness to sell their labor to the organization.
Question 7 Feedback (Lesson: Know Your Organization’s Strategy)
The correct answer is C.

Do
A. Not the correct choice. You answered: It helps ensure that employees make fewer mistakes in their work.
Providing professional development does much more than reduce errors. Offering robust career support impacts
employees’ willingness to sell—their willingness to work for the organization. This is a form of value that benefits the
organization, supporting its overall business goals. To learn more, see Know Your Organization’s Strategy.
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B. Not the correct choice. You answered: It saves the company money because it doesn’t have to pay others to offer this
training.
os
While reducing expenses can be important, providing training and career development is a strategy that can benefit
organizations, even if it costs money. Offering robust career support can impact employees’ willingness to sell—their
willingness to work for the organization. This is a form of value for an organization, which can affect its overall health
and success. To learn more, see Know Your Organization’s Strategy.
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C. Good choice. You answered: It affects employees’ willingness to sell their labor to the organization.
By offering training and opportunities for career advancement, an organization can impact employees’ willingness to
sell—their willingness to work for the organization. This is a form of value for an organization, which supports its
overall success. To learn more, see Know Your Organization’s Strategy.
yo
op
tC
No
Do
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HBP-Harvard ManageMentor Sharpening Your Business Acumen

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HBP-Harvard ManageMentor Sharpening Your Business Acumen

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Learning Objectives ........................................................................................................................................ 3

Duration & Availability ................................................................................................................................... 3

Facilitator Guide ................................................................................................................................................. 4

Course Overview ............................................................................................................................................. 4

Course Structure and Content ................................................................................................................ 4

Admin Resources Page ......................................................................................................................... 11

Appendix A: Assessment Questions and Feedback .................................................................................14

Duration & Seat time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Designed and developed in compliance of WCAG 2.1 AA standards

Course Structure and Content

• Performance goal: Performance-based skills that are tied to each lesson.

Harvard ManageMentor courses include the additional features:

• Podcasts: Curated regularly from HBR to complement Harvard ManageMentor sessions.

Tools and Handouts: None

• Add Value with Complements (Felix Oberholzer-Gee)

• Why Gross Profit Matters (Emily McComb)

Tools and Handouts:

• Learn About Your Customers

• Building Blocks of Business Success

• Opportunities for Growth

Lesson 3: Build Your Financial Skills

• The Income Statement: Tracking Profit and Loss

• What Can You Find on a Balance Sheet? (Udit Gandhi)

• What to Know About Cash Flow

Tools and Handouts:

Lesson 4: Business Model Basics

• A Tale of Two Business Models

• Creating a Winning Business Model (Monisha Misra)

Tools and Handouts:

• Elements of a Business Model

• Analyze Your Business Model

• Strategy: A Plan to Create Value (Felix Oberholzer-Gee)

Tools and Handouts:

• Business Model vs Business Strategy

• Create Value for Stakeholders

1. Part 1: Self-paced, individual preparation (60–90 minutes)

2. Part 2: Live, group-based Café session (60 minutes)

At the conclusion of the blended experience, managers should be able to

• Define business acumen and understand how it benefits them at work

• Describe and discuss the basic building blocks of business success

Part 1: Self-paced, individual preparation (60–90 minutes)

Part 2: Live, group-based Café session (60 minutes)

Introduction • Show icebreaker question while participants are arriving to 8 minutes

• Review tips for using technology during the session.

• Debrief icebreaker question.

• Review session objectives.

– Consider a scenario and questions that can help align

• Discussion: Learners discuss what profitable growth looks

Skill focus: Analyze • Define business strategy. 18 minutes

– Identify what impacts employees’ and

• Reflection activity: Learners identify which of the three

• Close the session.

Part 3: Self-paced, individual application

Admin Resources Page

Using the Admin Resources page

Click the Admin Resource tab from the Admin Console.

Question 1 Feedback (Lesson: Why You Need Business Acumen)

Question 2 Feedback (Lesson: Learn What Makes Organizations Thrive)

The correct answer is B.

The correct answer is A.

Question 4 Feedback (Lesson: Build Your Financial Skills)

graphic design role more.

Question 5 Feedback (Lesson: Business Model Basics)