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Strategy Beyond Markets: Building Competitive Advantage Through Government Relations and Public Affairs

Explore beyond-market forces, from legislation and regulation to activism and the media.

Discover how your company’s interactions with such beyond-market forces can impact your practices, reputation, and performance, through discussion of real-time cases such as these:

Pfizer cancels a $160 billion merger deal with Allergan after the U.S. Treasury takes action on corporate inversions.
Lufthansa and Air France-KLM lobby regulatory authorities to block Emirates Airline from adding new routes in the European Union.
Uber successfully disrupts the heavily regulated taxi and limousine industries in multiple cities to ensure ongoing market success.
Argentina nationalizes the oil and gas company YPF, over the objections of its Spanish parent company, Repsol.
Toyota works with the California government to allow the Prius into HOV lanes with only one occupant, creating a market advantage.

You will also learn how to build strategies that account for regulatory constraints and leverage them for competitive advantage.

Led by Stanford GSB faculty in partnership with Stanford University’s vice president for public affairs, this program provides invaluable strategic and practical tools that you can implement the moment you return to work.

You’ll leave understanding and anticipating the risks posed by policymakers, interest groups, stakeholders, and the media, and knowing how your company can create a strategy to proactively influence these key groups.

Key Benefits

Gain tools, analytical frameworks, and leadership skills to manage risk and positively impact your organization’s performance and profitability.

Evaluate and manage risk generated by policymakers and interest groups, stakeholders, and the media.
Analyze, integrate, and take ownership of your company’s beyond-market strategy.
Formulate and implement strategies to sustain your company’s interests and turn potential threats into competitive opportunities.
Dissect real-world cases — from Uber to EU privacy — and learn from their examples.
Build a strong network of peers with whom you can share ideas and experiences.

Who Should Attend

Senior-level executives with at least 10 years of experience — from any size company, any industry, and any country
Executives from large global companies that face challenges in a variety of different institutional arenas
Leaders of startups or smaller organizations seeking creative ways to build competitive advantage
Examples of appropriate roles: senior functional leaders transitioning into general management, division-level leaders who will soon assume corporate-level positions, and leaders driving strategy in the C-suite