1155 Management courses in Lincoln

EnergyEdge's course empowers you with in-depth knowledge of deepwater turbidites. Acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in this specialized field of study.

About this Training Course  The prospect maturation process, from a lead to a drillable prospect, is at the heart of the exploration business. This 5 full day course will cover all aspects of the prospect maturation process: play understanding in the context of regional geological understanding, detailed prospect evaluation; realistic risk & volume assessment consistent with the play understanding and prospect details, and an introduction to exploration economics. Throughout the course, there is a strong focus on pragmatic (geo)logical approach for assessing those aspects that are input parameters for a meaningful assessment of prospect risks and volumes, with emphasis on a balanced integration of contributions from different sub-surface disciplines. Many examples from basins from around the world are used to illustrate how traps, reservoirs, seals and charge occur in different basin settings. Specifics topics that will be discussed include the following: The statistical fundamentals for risk and volume assessment will be presented, with practical exercises for understanding the results of a risk & volume assessment as they are displayed in expectation curves. The difference between risk and uncertainty. A full discussion of the essential requirements for a working petroleum system: Trap, reservoir, seal and charge. Examples of how traps, reservoirs, seals and charge work in different basin types around the globe and in Australian basins. Exercises and guidelines for estimating uncertainties for prospect parameters, including advice for deciding which distribution type to use, and how to constrain those distributions for meaningful uncertainty ranges (setting minimum most likely and maximum values). Particular emphasis will be given to estimating hydrocarbon column lengths with their associated uncertainties in undrilled prospects. Prospects and plays: The value of play maps and how these should be used for assessment of prospect risks and for ranking of prospects within a play. Calculating volume ranges for prospects. Calculating volumes for groups of prospects; how to add risked prospect volumes for a statistically correct representation of the volume promise of a portfolio of prospects. Geophysical evidence: Incorporating geophysical evidence (DHIs) consistently and realistically in a risk assessment. An understandable and geology-based workflow, consistent with Bayes theorem, will be presented. Exploration economics. Training Objectives What this course will cover in 5 days: This course describes the various aspects that need to be considered in the prospect maturation process, including: Play development in the context of a sound understanding of the regional geology Detailed prospect evaluation and understanding of the critical aspects of traps, reservoirs, seals and charge Examples from plays and prospects in different basin settings from around the globe Realistic and pragmatic risk and volume assessment, based on the geological understanding of plays and prospects An introduction to exploration economics Examples of plays, oil and gas fields and prospects from basins from around the world, including the Far East, will be given. Target Audience This course is designed primarily for Geoscientists in exploration who would like to improve their expertise of the prospect maturation process and risk and volume assessment. The course has proven to be of value for explorers in the early phase of their career, seasoned explorers and team leaders. It will also benefit staff from disciplines working closely with exploration staff including Prospect Portfolio Analysts, Petrophysicists, Geophysicists and Reservoir Engineers. Course Level Intermediate Training Methods At the end of the course, the participants will have a good understanding of the essentials for realistic risk and volume assessments of exploration prospects. The course should allow participants to produce well-considered and realistic assessments for prospects they may be working on, and to understand and constructively challenge risk and volume assessments of colleagues and/ or partners/ competitors. Each topic is introduced by a lecture, and learning is re-inforced by practical exercises and discussions. Hand-out materials in paper and/or electronic format will be provided. Time will be made available to discuss aspects of prospects that may be brought in by course participants. Trainer Your expert course leader has a PhD in Geology from the University of Utrecht. He worked for 31 years (1979 -2010) with Shell as an exploration geologist in a variety of functions across the globe. As Principle Technical Expert, he was responsible for ensuring that Risk & Volume assessments were carried out consistently and correctly in all of Shell's exploration units. In this capacity, he led and participated in countless prospect review sessions and developed and conducted a successful in-house course on Risks & Volume assessment. As manager of the Exploration Excellence Team, he performed in depth analysis of basins and plays and provided advice on exploration opportunities to senior management. Together with his team, he visited most of Shell's exploration offices, working hands-on with Shell's local exploration teams to generate new play and prospect ideas and to suggest evaluation techniques and technologies to apply. In 2010, he was appointed as extraordinary professor Regional and Petroleum Geology at the VU university of Amsterdam and in 2012 also at the University of Utrecht. He was visiting professor at the University of Malaya (Malaysia). Through his own consultancy, as of 2010, he provides advice on exploration activities to several companies and is regularly invited to carry out technical reviews. Activities cover all continents and include Portfolio Reviews, Prospect assessment, Play-based Exploration, and Geothermal activities. He conducts courses on several topics including Risk & Volume Assessment, Prospect Maturation, Basin Analysis, Play-based Exploration, Trap & Seal Analysis, Petroleum Geology for Non-geologists. Some of his recent publications include: De Jager, J. & van Winden, M. (2020): Play-Based Exploration of the petroleum potential of the Tremp-Graus, Aínsa and eastern Jaca Sub-basins in the southern Pyrenees. Invited contribution for Digital Geology, EAGE special publication (eds: Grötsch, J. & Pöppelreiter, M.) De Jager, J. (2020). Concepts of Conventional Petroleum Systems. Invited contribution for Regional Geology and Tectonics Volume 1: Global Concepts, Techniques and Methodology (eds: Adam, J., Chiarelly, D. & Scarselli, N.) De Jager, J. (2021): Handbook Risk & Volume Assessment. Self-published De Jager, J., Van Ojik, K & Smit, R. (2023 - in preparation): Geological Development of The Netherlands. In: Geology of The Netherlands (eds: Ten Veen, J., Vis, G-J., De Jager, J. @ Wong, T.) POST TRAINING COACHING SUPPORT (OPTIONAL) To further optimise your learning experience from our courses, we also offer individualized 'One to One' coaching support for 2 hours post training. We can help improve your competence in your chosen area of interest, based on your learning needs and available hours. This is a great opportunity to improve your capability and confidence in a particular area of expertise. It will be delivered over a secure video conference call by one of our senior trainers. They will work with you to create a tailor-made coaching program that will help you achieve your goals faster. Request for further information about post training coaching support and fees applicable for this. Accreditions And Affliations

About this Training Course This 5 full-day course will focus on geological fundamentals: how different basin types differ in subsidence mechanisms, basin cycles, heat flow through time, depositional systems, structural styles and their type of petroleum systems. This will allow participants to make realistic interpretations in new areas; interpretations that are consistent with the specific basin type and to be expected depositional systems and structural styles. In addition, through simple paper-based exercises, the course will provide background and understanding of how some of the typical PBE products are made: creaming curves, Field-size plots and Yet-to-find. Finally, the essentials of commercial assessments will be covered. Training Objectives To provide participants with a sound understanding how, and under which conditions different basin types develop, and what the impact of their development is on the typical petroleum systems of these different basin types. To teach evaluation techniques that assist in the regional understanding and illustration of sedimentary basins and their development. While some of these techniques can be done using computers, in the course these will be done 'by hand' for maximum understanding. Target Audience This course is designed in the first place for geoscientists working in exploration and their direct supervisors. The course is also very instructive for specialist staff working closely with exploration staff such as (bio)stratigraphers, geochemists, basin modelers, structural geologists, geophysicists, reservoir engineers and petrophysicists. Course Level Intermediate Training Methods Each topic is introduced by a lecture, and leaning is re-enforced by practical exercises (on paper). There is ample time for discussions of general issues and any specific questions participants may have. For several exercises participants will be invited to do exercises on a basin of their choice, which will make the course more impactful for the participants. Participants will be provided with the following pre-read material: Concepts of Conventional Petroleum Systems. De Jager, J. (2020). Invited contribution for Regional Geology and Tectonics Volume 1: Global Concepts, Techniques and Methodology (eds: Adam, J., Chiarelly, D. & Scarselli, N. Play-Based Exploration of the petroleum potential of the Tremp-Graus, Ainsa and eastern Jaca Sub-basins in the southern De Jager, J & van Winden, M. (2020). invited contribution for Digital Learning - Multi-scale analysis of depositional systems and their subsurface workflows (eds: Grötsch, J. & Pöppelreiter, M.), EAGE. Trainer Your expert course leader has a PhD in Geology from the University of Utrecht. He worked for 31 years (1979 -2010) with Shell as an exploration geologist in a variety of functions across the globe. As Principle Technical Expert, he was responsible for ensuring that Risk & Volume assessments were carried out consistently and correctly in all of Shell's exploration units. In this capacity, he led and participated in countless prospect review sessions and developed and conducted a successful in-house course on Risks & Volume assessment. As manager of the Exploration Excellence Team, he performed in depth analysis of basins and plays and provided advice on exploration opportunities to senior management. Together with his team, he visited most of Shell's exploration offices, working hands-on with Shell's local exploration teams to generate new play and prospect ideas and to suggest evaluation techniques and technologies to apply. In 2010, he was appointed as extraordinary professor Regional and Petroleum Geology at the VU university of Amsterdam and in 2012 also at the University of Utrecht. He was visiting professor at the University of Malaya (Malaysia). Through his own consultancy, as of 2010, he provides advice on exploration activities to several companies and is regularly invited to carry out technical reviews. Activities cover all continents and include Portfolio Reviews, Prospect assessment, Play-based Exploration, and Geothermal activities. He conducts courses on several topics including Risk & Volume Assessment, Prospect Maturation, Basin Analysis, Play-based Exploration, Trap & Seal Analysis, Petroleum Geology for Non-geologists. Some of his recent publications include: De Jager, J. & van Winden, M. (2020): Play-Based Exploration of the petroleum potential of the Tremp-Graus, Aínsa and eastern Jaca Sub-basins in the southern Pyrenees. Invited contribution for Digital Geology, EAGE special publication (eds: Grötsch, J. & Pöppelreiter, M.) De Jager, J. (2020). Concepts of Conventional Petroleum Systems. Invited contribution for Regional Geology and Tectonics Volume 1: Global Concepts, Techniques and Methodology (eds: Adam, J., Chiarelly, D. & Scarselli, N.) De Jager, J. (2021): Handbook Risk & Volume Assessment. Self-published De Jager, J., Van Ojik, K & Smit, R. (2023 - in preparation): Geological Development of The Netherlands. In: Geology of The Netherlands (eds: Ten Veen, J., Vis, G-J., De Jager, J. @ Wong, T.) POST TRAINING COACHING SUPPORT (OPTIONAL) To further optimise your learning experience from our courses, we also offer individualized 'One to One' coaching support for 2 hours post training. We can help improve your competence in your chosen area of interest, based on your learning needs and available hours. This is a great opportunity to improve your capability and confidence in a particular area of expertise. It will be delivered over a secure video conference call by one of our senior trainers. They will work with you to create a tailor-made coaching program that will help you achieve your goals faster. Request for further information post training support and fees applicable Accreditions And Affliations

Securing UNIX systems training course description This course teaches you everything you need to know to build a safe Linux environment. The first section handles cryptography and authentication with certificates, openssl, mod_ssl, DNSSEC and filesystem encryption. Then Host security and hardening is covered with intrusion detection, and also user management and authentication. Filesystem Access control is then covered. Finally network security is covered with network hardening, packet filtering and VPNs. What will you learn Secure UNIX accounts. Secure UNIX file systems. Secure UNIX access through the network. Securing UNIX systems course details Who will benefit: Linux technical staff needing to secure their systems. Prerequisites: Linux system administration (LPIC-1) Duration 5 days Securing UNIX systems course contents Cryptography Certificates and Public Key Infrastructures X.509 certificates, lifecycle, fields and certificate extensions. Trust chains and PKI. openssl. Public and private keys. Certification authority. Manage server and client certificates. Revoke certificates and CAs. Encryption, signing and authentication SSL, TLS, protocol versions. Transport layer security threats, e.g. MITM. Apache HTTPD with mod_ssl for HTTPS service, including SNI and HSTS. HTTPD with mod_ssl to authenticate users using certificates. HTTPD with mod_ssl to provide OCSP stapling. Use OpenSSL for SSL/TLS client and server tests. Encrypted File Systems Block device and file system encryption. dm-crypt with LUKS to encrypt block devices. eCryptfs to encrypt file systems, including home directories and, PAM integration, plain dm-crypt and EncFS. DNS and cryptography DNSSEC and DANE. BIND as an authoritative name server serving DNSSEC secured zones. BIND as an recursive name server that performs DNSSEC validation, KSK, ZSK, Key Tag, Key generation, key storage, key management and key rollover, Maintenance and resigning of zones, Use DANE. TSIG. Host Security Host Hardening BIOS and boot loader (GRUB 2) security. Disable useless software and services, sysctl for security related kernel configuration, particularly ASLR, Exec-Shield and IP / ICMP configuration, Exec-Shield and IP / ICMP configuration, Limit resource usage. Work with chroot environments, Security advantages of virtualization. Host Intrusion Detection The Linux Audit system, chkrootkit, rkhunter, including updates, Linux Malware Detect, Automate host scans using cron, AIDE, including rule management, OpenSCAP. User Management and Authentication NSS and PAM, Enforce password policies. Lock accounts automatically after failed login attempts, SSSD, Configure NSS and PAM for use with SSSD, SSSD authentication against Active Directory, IPA, LDAP, Kerberos and local domains, Kerberos and local domains, Kerberos tickets. FreeIPA Installation and Samba Integration FreeIPA, architecture and components. Install and manage a FreeIPA server and domain, Active Directory replication and Kerberos cross-realm trusts, sudo, autofs, SSH and SELinux integration in FreeIPA. Access Control Discretionary Access Control File ownership and permissions, SUID, SGID. Access control lists, extended attributes and attribute classes. Mandatory Access Control TE, RBAC, MAC, DAC. SELinux, AppArmor and Smack. etwork File Systems NFSv4 security issues and improvements, NFSv4 server and clients, NFSv4 authentication mechanisms (LIPKEY, SPKM, Kerberos), NFSv4 pseudo file system, NFSv4 ACLs. CIFS clients, CIFS Unix Extensions, CIFS security modes (NTLM, Kerberos), mapping and handling of CIFS ACLs and SIDs in a Linux system. Network Security Network Hardening FreeRADIUS, nmap, scan methods. Wireshark, filters and statistics. Rogue router advertisements and DHCP messages. Network Intrusion Detection ntop, Cacti, bandwidth usage monitoring, Snort, rule management, OpenVAS, NASL. Packet Filtering Firewall architectures, DMZ, netfilter, iptables and ip6tables, standard modules, tests and targets. IPv4 and IPv6 packet filtering. Connection tracking, NAT. IP sets and netfilter rules, nftables and nft. ebtables. conntrackd Virtual Private Networks OpenVPN server and clients for both bridged and routed VPN networks. IPsec server and clients for routed VPN networks using IPsec-Tools / racoon. L2TP.

This half day course is designed for new treasurers, general trustees and management committee members or staff who work in smaller organisations to understand the basics of how to manage the finances within a voluntary or community organisation. It covers all the essential issues ranging from drawing up a budget to ensuring that the organisation has sound financial procedures.

Strategic Thinking: In-House Training The goal of this course is to provide you with the building blocks and the motivation to develop the critical skill of strategic thinking. The participants will consider a four-part model that distinguishes strategic thinking from strategic planning and managing. With that understanding, you will investigate the critical components of strategic thinking and how to apply it effectively. What you Will Learn Define strategic thinking and distinguish it from strategic planning and management Explain a high-level approach to gaining strategic thinking skills Integrate other interpersonal skills, such as self-awareness, systems thinking, leadership, constructive conflict, and collaboration, into the fabric of strategic thinking skills Select appropriate techniques to apply strategic thinking in specific situations Recognize and emulate effective strategic thinking behaviors Getting Started Introductions Course structure Course goals and objectives Foundation Concepts Interactive event: Define Strategic Thinking (ST) Interactive event: Discuss relationship of ST with Strategic Planning, Management and Decision Making Strategic Level Framework - Tying it all together Strategic thinking attributes Strategic Thinking Critical Success Factors Strategic Thinking Critical Success Factors - 5-part model Strategic Thinking and the Organization Critical Success Factors Model applied to an organization Tools Introduction (5): Environmental, 5 Forces, SWOT, Value Proposition, Integral Theory of Worldview Video: Fog of War Strategic Thinking and the Individual Critical Success Factors Model applied to an individual Tools Introduction (5): Thinking Styles, Six Thinking Hats, Reverse Thinking, Systems Thinking, Integral Theory of Worldview Strategic Thinking at the Interpersonal and Team Levels Emotional Intelligence - Self Awareness and Working With Others Team Leadership and Trust Constructive Conflict as the Gateway to Collaboration Interactive event: Testing the Models - Challenge Perspective; What's Missing Applying the critical skill of Strategic Thinking Worldview: Team versus client Trusted Advisor Interactive event: Doing what is asked (Case study, wherein participants review the default case scenario prepared for this workshop and add specific details to make the scenario more relevant to their experiences / needs. Teams develop an action plan for applying ST concepts and techniques they have learned here to the situation, then compare and contrast results.)

About this Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) This 3 half-day Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) course highlights the impact of the introduction of renewable energy, digital technologies and new operational flexibility solutions in the electricity trading market. These advancements facilitate unique opportunities and challenges for cross border trading of electricity. Most countries in Asia, have designed their own portfolio of climate actions with an accelerated penetration of renewable energy (or by importing renewable energy into their local grids). These changes are taking place at unprecedented speed and add further complexity to the operation of electricity trading markets, while presenting new opportunities. The Asian market, can tap into its vast potential of solar, wind and geothermal energy sources. A global, unified vision is emerging to support each of countries' energy needs and decarbonization goals. This VILT course will highlight priorities of each country to achieve its energy goals. The main operational flexibilities of each type of renewable resource are discussed in detail. The course also discusses the main components of Power Purchase Agreements and advancements in digitalization and how digital technologies can influence the energy market and cross border electricity trading. Key Takeaways: New Energy Market Design Cross Border Trading PPAs Mechanisms and Examples of PPAs The Increased Penetration of Renewable Resources in the Power Systems and How It Stimulates Cross Border Trading How Digital Innovation Drives Energy Markets and Cross Border Trading Training Objectives Upon completion of this VILT course, participants will be able to: Be familiar with the global vision of One Sun, One World, One Grid Understand the major trends reshaping the energy markets Learn how innovative digital technologies change the energy markets Understand why sustainable energy markets require a tighter coordination between transmission and distribution system operators Engage with each other to design the energy market of the future Target Audience This VILT course will benefit policy makers and regulators from energy agencies, transmission companies and utilities as well as power system engineers and power system operators from control centre and ISO. Training Methods The VILT will be delivered online in 3 half-day sessions comprising 4 hours per day, including time for lectures, discussion, quizzes and short classroom exercises. Course Duration: 3 half-day sessions, 4 hours per session (12 hours in total). Trainer Your expert course leader is a Utility Executive with extensive global experience in power system operation and planning, energy markets, enterprise risk and regulatory oversight. She consults on energy markets integrating renewable resources from planning to operation. She led complex projects in operations and conducted long term planning studies to support planning and operational reliability standards. Specializing in Smart Grids, Operational flexibilities, Renewable generation, Reliability, Financial Engineering, Energy Markets and Power System Integration, she was recently engaged by the Inter-American Development Bank/MHI in Guyana. She was the Operations Expert in the regulatory assessment in Oman. She is a registered member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario, Canada. She is also a contributing member to the IEEE Standards Association, WG Blockchain P2418.5. With over 25 years with Ontario Power Generation (Revenue $1.2 Billion CAD, I/S 16 GW), she served as Canadian representative in CIGRE, committee member in NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada), and Senior Member IEEE and Elsevier since the 90ties. Our key expert chaired international conferences, lectured on several continents, published a book on Reliability and Security of Nuclear Power Plants, contributed to IEEE and PMAPS and published in the Ontario Journal for Public Policy, Canada. She delivered seminars organized by the Power Engineering Society, IEEE plus seminars to power companies worldwide, including Oman, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Portugal, South Africa, Japan, Romania, and Guyana. Our Key expert delivered over 60 specialized seminars to executives and engineers from Canada, Europe, South and North America, Middle East, South East Asia and Japan. Few examples are: Modern Power System in Digital Utilities - The Energy Commission, Malaysia and utilities in the Middle East, GCCIA, June 2020 Assessment of OETC Control Centre, Oman, December 2019 Demand Side management, Load Forecasting in a Smart Grid, Oman, 2019 Renewable Resources in a Smart Grid (Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, GCCIA, Saudi Arabia) The Modern Power System: Impact of the Power Electronics on the Power System The Digital Utility, AI and Blockchain Smart Grid and Reliability of Distribution Systems, Cyme, Montreal, Canada Economic Dispatch in the context of an Energy Market (TNB, Sarawak Energy, Malaysia) Energy Markets, Risk Assessment and Financial Management, PES, IEEE: Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Portugal, South Africa, Japan. Provided training at CEO and CRO level. Enterprise Risk methodology, EDP, Portugal Energy Markets: Saudi Electricity Company, Tenaga National Berhad, Malaysia Reliability Centre Maintenance (South East Asia, Saudi Electricity Company, KSA) EUSN, ENERGY & UTILITIES SECTOR NETWORK, Government of Canada, 2016 Connected+, IOT, Toronto, Canada September 2016 and 2015 Smart Grid, Smart Home HomeConnect, Toronto, Canada November 2014 Wind Power: a Cautionary Tale, Ontario Centre for Public Policy, 2010 POST TRAINING COACHING SUPPORT (OPTIONAL) To further optimise your learning experience from our courses, we also offer individualized 'One to One' coaching support for 2 hours post training. We can help improve your competence in your chosen area of interest, based on your learning needs and available hours. This is a great opportunity to improve your capability and confidence in a particular area of expertise. It will be delivered over a secure video conference call by one of our senior trainers. They will work with you to create a tailor-made coaching program that will help you achieve your goals faster. Request for further information about post training coaching support and fees applicable for this. Accreditions And Affliations

Remote working is on the increase. However, managing a remote team is not always the same as managing a traditional, single-site office-based team.

UNIX Virtualization and High Availability course description This course covers administering UNIX enterprise-wide with an emphasis on virtualization and high availability. What will you learn Manage Virtual Machines. Manage containers. Manage HA clusters. Manage HA cluster storage. UNIX Virtualization and High Availability course details Who will benefit: Enterprise-level UNIX professional. UNIX professionals working with virtualization and/or High availability. Prerequisites: Linux network administration 2 (LPIC-2) Duration 5 days UNIX Virtualization and High Availability course contents VIRTUALIZATION Virtualization concepts and theory Terminology, Pros and Cons of virtualization, variations of Virtual Machine monitors, migration of physical to VMs, migration of VMs between host systems, cloud computing. Xen Xen architecture, networking and storage, Xen configuration, Xen utilities, troubleshooting Xen installations, XAPI, XenStore, Xen Boot Parameters, the xm utility. KVM KVM architecture, networking and storage, KVM configuration, KVM utilities, troubleshooting KVM installations. Other virtualization solutions OpenVZ and LXC, other virtualization technologies, virtualization provisioning tools. Libvirt and Related Tools libvirt architecture, networking and storage, basic technical knowledge of libvirt and virsh, oVirt. Cloud Management Tools Basic feature knowledge of OpenStack and CloudStack, awareness of Eucalyptus and OpenNebula. Containers Containers versus VMs, Docker, Kubernetes. Load balanced clusters of LVS/IPVS, VRRP, configuration of keepalived, configuration of ldirectord, backend server network configuration. HAProxy, configuration of HAProxy. Failover clusters Pacemaker architecture and components (CIB, CRMd, PEngine, LRMd, DC, STONITHd), Pacemaker cluster configuration, Resource classes (OCF, LSB, Systemd, Upstart, Service, STONITH, Nagios), Resource rules and constraints (location, order, colocation), Advanced resource features (templates, groups, clone resources, multi-state resources), Pacemaker management using pcs, Pacemaker management using crmsh, configuration and management of corosync in conjunction with Pacemaker, other cluster engines (OpenAIS, Heartbeat, CMAN). HIGH AVAILABILITY CLUSTER STORAGE DRBD/cLVM DRBD resources, states and replication modes, configuration of DRBD resources, networking, disks and devices, configuration of DRBD automatic recovery and error handling, management of DRBD using drbdadm. drbdsetup and drbdmeta, Integration of DRBD with Pacemaker, cLVM, integration of cLVM with Pacemaker. Clustered File Systems Principles of cluster file systems. Create, maintain and troubleshoot GFS2 file systems in a cluster, create, maintain and troubleshoot OCFS2 file systems in a cluster, Integration of GFS2 and OCFS2 with Pacemaker, the O2CB cluster stack, other commonly used clustered file systems.

This Strategy Challenge workshop is designed to provide an opportunity for senior management teams to practice and develop their strategic thinking skills - individually and collectively. It gives a 'safe space' and uses examples designed to 'stretch the strategic thinking muscles'