Saïd Business School, University of Oxford has co-founded a new cross-industry global programme: The Institute for Real Growth (IRG).
Saïd Business School, University of Oxford has co-founded a new cross-industry global programme: The Institute for Real Growth (IRG). The Institute was announced by WPP as the first programme of its kind to help Chief Marketing Officers and other senior business leaders to drive more effective growth strategies.
Co-founded by Oxford Saïd, WPP, Facebook, Google, Kantar, LinkedIn, New York University, and Spencer Stuart, the non-profit aims to help organisations focus on sustained, long-term 'real growth' by equipping leaders with best practice approaches to their strategy, structure, capability and leadership.
‘Oxford Saïd is extremely proud to be the founding business school partner of the Institute for Real Growth,’ said Professor Andrew Stephen, L’Oréal Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean of Research. ‘Our new partnership will allow us to contribute our research expertise to IRG’s work and to craft future research to further address the difficult challenges senior leaders face regarding business growth.’
The news was announced in New York at the first in a series of IRG events hosted by WPP, where the new findings from their largest and most comprehensive global growth study differentiating growth overperformers from underperformers were shared. The research feeds into the programme alongside a curriculum that comprises a series of workshops that provide close collaboration with peers, world-class case studies, expert speaker insight and individual coaching, personalised to each attendee’s leadership and organisational business growth needs.
At the event in New York, Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said: ‘Sustained growth is the number one priority for leaders in this disruptive and fast-evolving business environment. The Institute for Real Growth is unique in its cross-industry reach; it brings together influential partners to help organisations focus on long-term growth through unrivalled insight and expertise, academic rigour and transformative ideas.’
Marc de Swaan Arons, co-founder of the Institute for Real Growth said: ‘Together with my co-founder Frank van den Driest, we have expanded on WPP’s global growth study to create an industry-wide programme that is focused on helping senior leaders make better marketing decisions and influence better business decisions. IRG is the only platform where senior growth leaders can learn from world-class overperformers and topic experts and collaborate with peers to solve their specific business growth challenges.’
The IRG will also be involved in the School’s Driving Disruptive Growth Programme, starting on 11 June 2019 and directed by Professor Stephen. This programme will bring senior leaders from around the world to Oxford Saïd to develop new ways to accelerate business growth by turning disruptive macro forces into unique competitive advantages.
The partnership introduces IRG as the latest member of the Oxford Future of Marketing Initiative (FOMI). Directed by Professor Andrew Stephen, FOMI comprises academic and industry partners whose mission is to inform and shape the future of marketing thought and practice.
Read more about the Institute for Real Growth and the global growth study