Overview
The Enterprise Leadership in the Asian Context programme is specifically tailored for executives aiming to lead with a comprehensive understanding of enterprise-wide challenges and opportunities in Asia’s dynamic business landscape.
Participants will develop strategic leadership skills that bridge diverse functions and cultures, enabling them to navigate complex organisational environments effectively.
Emphasising regional insights and cross-cultural adaptability, the course prepares leaders to drive sustainable growth and transformation across their enterprises in Asia.
Key Highlights
- Cultural Intelligence in Action: Leverage a world-class culture assessment to decode Asian norms of power, trust, deference, and harmony. Learn how “face” and conflict-avoidance shape leadership, negotiation, and organisational dynamics.
- Family Capital and Ownership Realities: Understand the influence of dynastic ownership, family conglomerates, and Government-linked Companies (GLCs) on governance, business models, and long-term strategy.
- Creativity within Constraints: Explore how individuals and teams innovate in Asian organisations while navigating hierarchy, risk-aversion, and unspoken expectations.
- Decision-Making and Risk Appetite: Contrast Western boldness with Asian consensus-driven caution. Gain tools to manage motivated reasoning, delays, and consensus-building for better cross-cultural alignment.
- Talent, Leadership and Engagement in Asian Cultures: Navigate hierarchical dynamics, align global practices with local expectations, and build trusted cross-cultural relationships within Asian workforces.
- Negotiation and Influence in Asia: Improve your ability to analyze the negotiation situation and learn how
to develop a strategic plan while considering the Asian context to improve your skills to negotiate effectively. - Leading Change in Asia: Grasp why change is slow, relational, and informal. Learn to map influence networks, mobilise shadow hierarchies, and use cultural levers for sustainable transformation.
- Next Course Starts On 16 March 2026See Full Schedule
- Duration16, 17, 18 March 2026 (3 days)
- LevelAdvanced
- VenueSingapore Management University
Learning Objectives
- Lead Enterprise-wide Across Borders: Integrate functional, cultural, and strategic insights to drive organisation-wide growth and transformation in Asia.
- Adapt Leadership to Asian Realities: Balance Western strategic frameworks with local cultural dynamics in decision-making, negotiation, and talent engagement.
- Drive Sustainable Growth: Anticipate ownership structures, family politics, and informal influence patterns that shape Asian business performance.
- Navigate Complexity with Agility: Execute strategy effectively in volatile, fragmented, and non-Western market environments.
- Mobilise People and Cultural for Change: Unlock creativity, align talent, and leverage informal networks to lead enterprise transformation authentically.
Topics/Structure
Uncover your personal “culture” with a Harvard culture assessment and see how power, trust, and deference shape leadership impact.
Explore the role of face, harmony, and conflict avoidance in driving meetings and negotiations.
Through an interactive game, debrief, and case study, experience how cultural dynamics fuel real-world leadership success.
Creativity in Asian organisations refers to the capacity of individuals and teams to generate novel and useful ideas.
That's within the bounds of social hierarchy, cultural deference, and relational dynamics—while navigating unspoken expectations about risk, harmony, and face.
Thrive in Asia’s fast-shifting markets where execution matters more than planning.
Explore how local-global tensions, family-owned conglomerates, government-linked firms, and informal capital shape strategy, risk appetite, and long-term growth.
Deepen your understanding of how hierarchy, power distance, and cultural expectations shape talent management, leadership behaviours, and employee engagement across Asian workforces.
Learn to align global practices with local norms and build trusted cross-cultural relationships that strengthen team cohesion and performance.
Strengthen your ability to analyse negotiation dynamics and craft effective strategies tailored to the diverse cultural landscapes of Asia.
Learn how hierarchy, face-saving, indirect communication, and relationship building shape outcomes so you can negotiate and influence with greater confidence and impact.
Change is possible, but it is often slow, relational, and rarely driven from the top down. Failure usually comes from pushing too fast or overlooking cultural blockers.
Informal networks and real influence reveal how power often resides in shadow hierarchies, senior advisors, or informal groups outside the organisational chart.
This session includes a game or simulation to bring these dynamics to life.
Who Should Attend
This programme is suitable for Senior business leaders:
- With at least 10 years of working experience
- Challenged to prepare and develop top-line growth in their businesses and business units in Asia.
Fees and Funding
SGD 4,360
(inclusive of 9% GST)*
SGD 4,000
(excluding 9% GST)*
* Fee is subject to change. GST applies to individuals and Singapore-registered companies.
* For Singaporeans aged 25 and above, you may utlise your SkillsFuture Credits to defray part of the programme fee.
Please refer to SkillsFuture Singapore's SkillsFuture Credit page for more details.
** Fee is subject to change. GST is not applicable to foreign based companies.
For More Information:
Tel: +65 6826 1317 (Ayden Tay)
Email: aydentay@smu.edu.sg
Schedule
Start Date(s):
Intake Information :16, 17, 18 Mar 2026 (3 days)
