Participant profile

Leaders is designed for senior managers in the media and newspaper industry who need to develop an understanding of the future strategic options in the industry, and their implications. It is integral to the success of the program that participants consist of senior members of the editorial departments, executives from the advertising, marketing, production and finance departments, as well as those involved in electronic media.

To realize the maximum benefit of the program, participants are recommended to sign up in teams of 2 - 4 from multiple functions. This facilitates the cross-functional cooperation that is crucial to the implementation of the home company project as well as more intensified cooperation between these functions in the future.

The Leaders program has been conducted successfully for nine years. The average participant is 40 years old and has had 15 years of experience in the industry and 10 years of management experience.

The international scope of the program is high, with 13 - 15 nationalities represented in class.

Participation is limited to 36 participants to facilitate fruitful in-class discussions, advice and feedback.

Value of the program as seen by alumni:

Gerd Bielenberg, Commercial Director, GWP international media service, Handelsblatt/Holtzbrinck Group
“SIMI had been recommended to me by a former participant. This program came exactly at the right time for me. Nine years after studies it provided me with a great and very relevant brush-up of some business models and really broadened my horizon with regards to the future of our industry and how we can shape it. The wealth of experience provided by fellow students also proved to be a great input.”

Anand Ramabhadran, Business Head, Hindustan Times. HT Media Ltd. India
“Firstly do not expect a pedantic classroom program...expect that what you discover there can be reapplied back in your home company....I use the word "discover" carefully for the learning at SIMI is a process of discovery dictated by the self interest that one wants to take out of it as well as the group dynamics. The lectures by highly learned faculty members are indeed very good as they tend to get thought provoking...but to me the biggest value was in the heterogeneous group.....a lot of interaction, understanding that somebody somewhere has tried a solution to the problem that you are facing back home in your market and therefore indulging yourself in your very own Eureka moment. The two projects that we did at SIMI were the short term results of the program....one of them is physically under implementation in my home company and, success or failure apart, the fact that we have a structured strategy with various bottlenecks planned for (with learnings from a lot of my colleagues and the faculty at SIMI) and the project is in implementation mode provides a sense of achievement. SIMI Leaders program is definitely worth the time and effort.” 

Quentin Gemoets, General Manager, Les Editions de l’Avenir (Belgium)
“Not only does the Leaders program provide participants with a very strong and useful business audit model, it also effectively builds up ability to anticipate and manage change. Although quite demanding, the well-balanced mix between interactive lectures, individual assignments and group projects definitely contributes to make this program one of the world’s best programs for top executives in the media/newspaper industry. High level networking – both during and after the program – with colleagues facing similar issues and opportunities is the cherry on the cake!”