General Management Program

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Shaping the future of outstanding leaders. This program empowers you with the leadership skills to move beyond your field of expertise and play an increasingly strategic role in your organization.

Select a Session Session 1: Jan 6 – Apr 25, 2025 Session 2: Aug 4 – Nov 21, 2025

Status

Accepting Applications
Format

Blended

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Location

Virtual and HBS Campus
Fee

$80,000

The program fee covers tuition, program materials, accommodations, and most meals.

Impact at scale starts with cultivating a deeper understanding of enterprise strategy, business operations, and multidisciplinary approaches to leadership. It's how leaders turn disruption into opportunities and elevate corporate success.

The General Management Program is a career-changing experience designed to broaden your business perspective, management expertise, and leadership skills. You'll develop the ability to build teams that drive change and give your organization a competitive edge.

Key Program Features

Multi-faceted learning and the case method

We approach learning from every angle—a robust blend of faculty presentations, case studies, individual and group exercises, small group discussions, and large classroom debates. Among these formats is our renowned case method, where you’ll learn to think on your feet, sharpen your analytical skills, and make critical decisions in real time. The case method puts you in the role of chief decision-maker, navigating challenges facing leading companies around the world. Arrive with an open mind—leave with a global perspective, unparalleled leadership skills, and a network of dedicated peers around the world.

Learning groups

Immerse yourself in an environment that creates space for deep, constructive engagement with a diverse set of peers from leading organizations. You'll forge powerful connections and gain valuable perspectives in our intimate learning groups. These smaller groups within your program cohort will transform into a personal board of advisors during the program and beyond.

Executive coaching

Work individually with a professional HBS Executive Coach to reach personal goals and address professional challenges. In addition to your one-on-one sessions, your executive coach will work with you and your learning group to facilitate effective collaboration and provide insights into the practice of teaming. All individual sessions with your executive coach are completely confidential.

Personal strategy statement, action plan, and business case

You will engage in multiple projects designed to apply your new skills to solving a fundamental challenge facing you and your organization. This exercise will improve your communication with peers, help you create a strategy for driving innovation, and prepare you for roadblocks that may arise.

Personalized guidance by leading experts

HBS faculty are leading work on the issues that will define the future. Get in-class and one-on-one access to some of the brightest business minds on the planet.

Distinguished guest speakers

You will have a unique opportunity to hear from a powerful lineup of guest speakers—often the case protagonists—who share how they overcame diverse business and leadership challenges.

Alumni status

Upon completing the program you will become a lifetime member of the HBS alumni community. Executive Program Alumni have exclusive access to our vast global alumni network and an array of resources that facilitate lifelong learning and personal development.

Key Topics

Deepen your knowledge of financial management, strategy formulation, and accounting
Navigate industry disruption and learn how to drive innovation by building a culture of experimentation
Capitalize on digital transformation, AI, and ESG
Enhance your analytical and negotiation skills to handle complex decision-making and gain a competitive advantage
Learn to recognize and diagnose problems, and quickly identify or generate winning solutions
Think about the big picture and consider global and industry forces in decision-making
Grow as an agile leader who never stops steering their organization forward

Program Format

4

modules
4

weeks on the HBS campus
3

weeks of full-time live online learning
9

weeks of part-time self-paced learning

The General Management Program requires just seven weeks away from the office over the course of four months. You will alternate between full-time, rigorous modules and part-time, self-paced modules that provide the opportunity to apply new insights at work. Through this proven "learn-apply-refine" approach, you can prepare for the challenges and opportunities ahead while moving forward in your current role.

To offer flexibility to executives around the world, live online sessions in Module 2 will follow a global-friendly schedule.

Module Details

Module 1 Jan 6 – Feb 8, 2025 Part-Time Virtual, Self-Paced

Module 2 Feb 9 – 28, 2025 Full-Time Virtual, Live Online

Module 3 Mar 1 – 29, 2025 Part-Time Virtual, Self-Paced

Module 4 Mar 30 – Apr 25, 2025 Full-Time.

Who Should Attend

This program is designed for executives looking to expand their impact through an end-to-end understanding of the enterprise and a multidisciplinary approach to leadership.

Ideal candidates include:

Functional leaders at large organizations whose role is significantly expanding
Executives becoming business-unit, divisional, cross-functional, or regional leaders
Top executives at midsize organizations who have profit-and-loss responsibility
Executives in roles that cover the scope of general manager, deputy general manager, vice or senior vice president