Airbus Certificate and Diploma in Management
THE CLIENT PERSPECTIVE
“The Certificate in Management is a central pillar to our Leadership Development Strategy and it constantly delivers leaders to our business who have the confidence and capability to rise to the new challenges of industry leadership.”
Alan Davis
Employee Development Advisor
Airbus is one of the world's leading aircraft manufacturers, providing both passenger aircraft and also serving the military sector. It produces the world's largest airliner, the superjumbo A380, and in 2003, for the first time in its history, the company delivered more aircraft than its major competitor, Boeing.
Airbus saw its middle managers as being critical to the future development of the business, and wanted a way of developing those managers.
In coming to LUMS, the company's aim was to find ways of developing its middle managers to:
- see the bigger picture of the business
- become better people and change managers
- take responsibility, demonstrate initiative, and sharpen decision-making in complex situations
- make a tangible difference to the business
- gain a recognised qualification
Programme focus and differentiation
Two related programmes were designed: a Certificate and Diploma programme, both with flexibility of content and entry. The aim was to provide middle managers with an appreciation of the big picture of the business as a context for people and change management.
The programme was designed not just to focus on 'the way we do things around here' (from Deal and Kennedy's definition of culture), but also on how things get done in Airbus. Accordingly, emphasis was given to bringing about the behavioural alignment needed for the successful development of the business.
Applying learning to the business
After each module, delegates apply their learning to key business issues which are sponsored by senior managers, drawing on LUMS' long experience of linking theory to practice. Executive summaries of these assignments are used to draw senior managers' attention to recommendations which can lead to business improvement.
Championing the programmes
The programme is championed by Airbus directors, and they and other senior managers become involved at key points in the programmes. This demonstrates their commitment to the programme objectives and ensures that, where appropriate, individual learning can become organisational learning.
Programme elements
The programme uses a mix of theoretical input, discussion groups, business projects, experiential activities and reflection.
Each group of 24 people is formed into four action learning sets.
Business projects are conducted within each learning set in the final months of the programme.
These projects serve a triple objective – improving the business, providing outputs that can be used for accreditation, and and in some cases providing source material for publication.
Measures of success
- Retention was 100% during the first two years of the programme.
- Projects made tangible contributions to the business (in areas as diverse as HR strategy, flight risk management, travel policy and recruitment).
