Public Sector Strategy and Finance

Course Outline

Overview

By attending this course, non-finance staff who need to extend their understanding of finance will learn how this could make a difference to their organization’s financial management.

This course explores the specific role that is required of strategic managers in an organization with a more detailed examination of some key elements.

The course also includes site visits to organizations relevant to the course so delegates can develop an understanding of how their contemporaries function in the real-world.

The course will wrap with a summary of the key learning points, followed by an action planning exercise with a view to apply the acquired knowledge and skills immediately upon your return to work. Post-course support is also available in relation to the implementation of your action plan, up to six (6) months following course completion.

Agenda

Investment and Financial Management of Long-term Projects

• Project Appraisal
• Project Estimation
• Budgeting
• Financial management

Financial Management – Stakeholder Expectations

• Identifying stakeholders
• Accountability to stakeholders
• Triple bottom line
• Levels of investor control

Pricing Decisions

• Strategic pricing
• Price structure
• Pricing policy
• Analysing costs and profits

Site Visit

• Industrial visit to a relevant organization.
• An insight into the internal working of companies.
• An opportunity to learn through interaction with practising professionals.

Public Sector Strategic Management

• What is Strategic Management?
• Understanding the Strategic Position of the Organization
• The Strategic Toolkit
• Stakeholder Management

Politics and the Public Sector

• Working alongside politicians as they come and go
• Civil servants Working directly with elected representatives
• Aligning service and political objectives
• Maintaining strong corporate governance and continuity of service delivery

Aligning the Public Sector to Support the Economy

• Skills and job creation
• Facilitating a dynamic and productive environment for business development
• Assisting new businesses to establish and grow
• Public services providing a ‘showcase’ for modern Working practices

Site Visit

• Industrial visit to a relevant organization.
• An insight into the internal working of companies.
• An opportunity to learn through interaction with practising professionals.

Course Review

• Summary and recap of key learning objectives
• Action Planning

Target Audience

This course is suitable for:

• Directors and Deputy Directors, and all other public sector senior officers who work directly to lead politicians and with other public services to achieve broader community outcomes (public health and well-being and economic development).
• Staff who need to extend their understanding of finance to more specific operational activities.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to understand:

• The role of finance in project delivery.
• The role of stakeholders and their impact on an organization’s financial performance.
• The processes involved in deciding prices.
• How to focus on ensuring that the authority and its services are fit for purpose in the current, medium and long term.
• A strategic overview of service delivery.
• When and how to ‘intervene’ in the authority’s operations.
• A practical perspective into contemporary work practices in your field.
• How to implement an Action Plan at your workplace using the knowledge and skills acquired through the course.