Dean Scott Beardsley: Background

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From the course by University of Virginia

Strategic Planning and Execution

255 ratings

University of Virginia

Strategic Planning and Execution

255 ratings

Course 4 of 5 in the Specialization Business Strategy

Avoid the pitfalls of strategy planning and execution with the tools and skills from this course. You'll learn the pillars of strategy execution--analysis, formulation, and implementation--and how to use the 4A model to effectively approach strategy execution. Finally, a panel of leaders from entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and industry, share their expertise gleaned from years of successful strategy planning and execution.

From the lesson

Practical Perspectives

This week we welcome guest speakers from a range of industries, from startups to nonprofits, to share their expertise from years of successful strategy development and execution. They'll communicate their best tips to help you develop your strategist's toolkit. We're also fortunate to be joined by Darden's Dean Scott Beardsley, whose 26 years with McKinsey informs the concrete tips he shares to improve strategy development and execution.

Dean Scott Beardsley: Background2:51

Dean Scott Beardsley: Perspective14:05

Dean Scott Beardsley: Process6:28

Dean Scott Beardsley: Advice4:34

Meet the Instructors

Michael Lenox
Senior Associate Dean and Chief Strategy Officer
Darden School of Business
Jared Harris
Samuel L. Slover Research Chair in Business Administration
Darden School of Business
Scott Snell
E. Thayer Bigelow Research Professor in Business Administration
Darden School of Business

My name is Scott Beardsley and I am the Dean at the University of Virginia,

Darden School of Business.

And my background previously was 26 years at McKinsey and

Company where I served on the Board of Directors called the Shareholders Council.

And also, I had the privilege to lead McKinsey's Strategy Practice in Europe,

Middle East and Africa for about eight years.

In addition, I did a lot of my client service

in the area of strategy with clients in many different industries and

most of the different continents of the world.

And here at Darden, I have to be responsible for the strategy for

the business school.

Strategy has been an important part of my career

pretty much throughout my time after business school.

I wouldn't say that I was a born strategist, but

I started doing a lot of strategy work in my second year at McKinsey and it was

the most common area that I did my client work in over my 26 years at the firm.

And also, it was an area that I enjoyed doing knowledge research on and

my particular area of expertise was regulatory strategy.

Prior to McKinsey, I worked as an engineer in Silicon Valley.

And one of the reasons I went back to business school is I wanted to learn

about issues such as strategy, because I found them to be very appealing.

And when I went to McKinsey, I had the chance to exercise that muscle and

to learn how it works in the real world.

As an engineer, what I enjoyed was the analytical rigor and

I didn't mind the quantitative aspect of it at all.

However, I felt very limited in terms of the scope of what I was able to

think about.

And when I was in Silicon Valley, my focus was on semiconductors and

I was often involved in very detailed conversations with engineers

about the merits of a specific type of chip.

However, my interests were much broader at the enterprise level when I

would hear CEOs speak about the strategy and the vision.

I was intrigued and I was in a way jealous of their ability to think globally and

at the level of the enterprise.

And that was one of the things that inspired me to go back to school and

get my MBA.

And ultimately, why I enjoyed doing strategy work at McKinsey for

my clients and doing my knowledge research was I

was interested at the broader perspective that strategy touched.

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