Case study

PRIME: Leadership & e-learning

Leadership programmes represent a territory proclaimed by many to be off-limits for e-learning. Surely this is one area, say some, where 'face-to-face' simply cannot be replaced?

However, the appearance of PRIME:Leadership, a unique web-based leadership programme developed by Epic in partnership with CMPS - the part of the Cabinet Office that deals with development of senior public service staff - and iMPOWER, looks set to confound these prejudices.

The purpose of PRIME:Leadership is to empower individuals in developing their capacity as strategic leaders. In an area of training where there is often no right or wrong answer, and where a rigidly instructional methodology would therefore be inappropriate, the programme takes an open-ended yet highly interactive approach to the subject area. Users can follow individual paths through a diverse range of material including:

• Tutorials
• Case studies
• Scenario-based simulations
• Conceptual nuggets called 'thoughts'
• Off-line exercises
• Links to suggested texts and qualified sources of further information

The learning package, comprising 20 hours of online learning, can also be supported by a range of off-line individual and group activities.

The programme contains the following modules:
1. Starting point
2. Current thinking
3. People
4. Partnerships
5. Strategic thinking
6. Change and organisational learning
7. Competences

PRIME:Leadership has been specifically designed for strategic leaders who operate in an increasingly complex environment, work across boundaries, face issues of risk management and are under pressure to deliver high-level results. Through participation in the programme, these people will be enabled to:

• Develop the ability to think in a strategic way
• Learn the skills needed to lead and inspire people
• Deliver effectively through partnerships
• Understand how to create a learning environment for themselves and for their organisations

HRD professionals have long bemoaned the lack of quality e-learning materials in this area. Now PRIME:Leadership is being made available to the general business audience. Developed to meet the needs of senior civil servants and their equivalents in the wider public sector, PRIME:Leadership thus comes with a unique pedigree - and the lessons it teaches and the questions it raises for participants make it equally applicable to strategic leaders in the private sector. Content for the programme was developed in collaboration with the prestigious Lancaster University Management School.

For further information including prices and demo of PRIME:Leadership, contact:

Epic:
Tracy Capaldi-Drewett

+44 (0) 1273 728686

Centre for Management and Policy Studies (CMPS):
Miguel Godfrey (Dr)

+44 (0) 20 7276 1338