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   Course Synopsis

Singapore, the Island Nation: An Overview

 

1. Brief Introduction: history and geography

2. The Peoples of Singapore

3. Culture and Subcultures

4. Educational System

5. Housing

6. Transportation

7. Economy

8. Summary

 

Climate Change and its impact on Sustainability

 

This session will discuss natural hazards and their impact on sustainability and development of the coasts in Asia, and will answer the question “Why is Asia particularly vulnerable to climate change?”

 

Sustainable Environmental Management

 

The speaker will share with the participants Singapore's environmental management including the natural environment and environmental management, e.g., water and wastewater treatment, air emission control, and solid waste management. The speaker will also share with the participants various environmental management case studies.

 

Sustainability Leadership

 

This session will explore the rationale, need, values and competencies needed for leaders to demonstrate sustainability.

 

At the end of the session, participants will be able to :

 

·  Define Sustainable Leadership, differentiate it from other Leadership models

·  Map the values, competencies, need and rationale for Sustainable Leadership

·  Be inspired through reviewing examples of current issues and challenges facing the world

  population to demonstrate Sustainable Leadership mind-set              

·  Develop strategies to advocate and role model Sustainable Leadership

Outline

·  Experiential exercise: What are the challenges and issues facing the world and us in the 21st

  century?

·  Why Sustainable Leadership matters, what it is?

·  How is SL differentiated from other Leadership models?

·  Exploring values and competencies

·  Sustainability Leadership begins with ME - what I can do differently to advocate and demonstrate

  Sustainability leadership.

·  Action planning to overcome obstacles to change.

 

Economic Sustainability

 

The five basic needs of all citizens are: employment (E), housing (H), healthcare (H), education for their children (E) and adequate retirement financing (R). However, the provision of these five basic needs (EHHER) by governments has led to persistent budget deficits, mounting public debts and worsening international competitiveness in many developed and developing countries. Greece is one such example. This is clearly economically unsustainable.

 

In the case of Singapore, our unique institutional arrangements and constitutional fiscal handcuffs has help to ensure that the five basic needs can be met without government running a budget deficit. The purpose of this session is thus to explore and understand the Singapore’s brand of fiscal sustainability.

 

 

Entrepreneurship and Innovation:

When East meets West

 

Entrepreneurship and innovation goes hand in hand like a horse and carriage. However, the road to being an entrepreneur is not an easy one. Besides having the right characteristics, the necessary environment must also be there to encourage individuals to become entrepreneurs. Innovation, just like entrepreneurship, is not something that can be simply turned on when called upon. Innovation begins with a process that calls for individuals to be creative. Creativity however, is not necessarily something innate in all individuals. Research in the area of entrepreneurship indicates that entrepreneurs are not

born and can be made. Entrepreneurs essentially start businesses to take advantage of opportunities and innovate in order to continue being successful. Thus, the potential for anyone to be an entrepreneur is there, however, only a few will take this route as a career. Why is this so? Can we train someone to be innovative? Can we turn the man on the street into an entrepreneur?

 

This session will look at the characteristics of an entrepreneur and the reasons why one would choose to be an entrepreneur. This session will also look at innovation from an “East vs West” perspective, e.g. how could would be entrepreneurs find innovative ideas from trends observed in the West and vice-versa in the East? For example, how can we see opportunities from demographic, technological and economic changes? How can a small country like Singapore potentially be the centre for innovation?

     Driving Innovation Through Diversity-

     The Engine of Growth for 21^st Century   
     Businesses

Innovation is a given.  If a company or organization does not innovate, it is almost certain to perish.  Innovation today is a key differentiator for companies and organizations.  A major factor has been because of globalization and the commoditization of products and services, which are changing the way businesses and organizations organise themselves.

One of the changes that companies and organizations are experiencing is a more diverse workforce.  This is fast, if not already, becoming the norm.  But what companies have realised is that diversity is not defined just by race or gender, but encompasses age, cultural background, education, personality, skills and life experiences.  Companies and organizations are inundated with differing voices and viewpoints – a result of the increased level of diversity – and these can be powerful factors in steering innovation, if leveraged correctly and wisely.

This has thrust leadership to the forefront, because having an inclusive strategy, i.e. involving the diversity in the organization or company should not be implemented rashly.  Leaders must first cultivate the insight to recognize and understand differences and their power to bring about profound cultural shifts in organizations. This mental transformation is critical to developing transformational leadership capabilities. It is becoming the single most important step toward becoming a successful player in the global arena.

Objectives

The objectives of the course are to help participants to understand the impact of diversity and innovation in organizations and companies, and how to possibly leverage on diversity and innovation to help a company to be successful.

Course Outline

·  How has Globalization and Diversity impacted innovation in companies and organizations?

·  How has it impacted the way leaders lead?

·  How can companies leverage on diversity to become successful?

Creativity and Innovation

In today’s fast-paced, constantly evolving world, the three Rs of education – Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic – are inadequate to prepare youngsters for the future. They need to be educated in cReativity as well.

This short session introduces participants to the notion of creativity and its characteristics, what fosters and what hinders creativity, the difference between, “invention” and “innovation”; examples of innovators and innovations that have changed the lives of many.

 

Service Innovation

Businesses today are undergoing rapid changes.  Customers are becoming more sophisticated.  They no longer go for the most economical products or services.  They are attracted to products and services that are uniquely different from others.  Management expert, Gary Hamel, remarks that organisations today need to be creative to come out with a breakthrough improvement in customer service.

 

This half-day session will show you how you can achieve service innovation.  From convincing you that you can be creative, to providing various techniques to generate new ideas, to applying innovative thinking to come out with “wow” services, it will change the way you think and behave.

            Photo provided by Singapore Tourism Board

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