BEP is designed to provide NASA leaders with a basic knowledge of business strategy, finance and alliance management and a familiarity with NASA’s business environment. Through a combination of lecture and hands-on instruction, participants are presented fundamental business concepts and the opportunity to apply these concepts to NASA related issues. Business School Professors provide the basic principles and other speakers apply these principles to NASA and the Government environment. Extensive use of case studies, group activities and the Class Project give participants an active learning experience.

Schedule for BEP

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Who Should Attend
NASA employees and managers at all levels. Greater benefit is gained when an individual attends with one or more colleagues from their work unit, or employees from different organizational units who work together on a NASA

Length of Course
5.5 days.

Location
Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

Travel information
Meals and lodging provided; travel cost paid for by your Center.

Who is Eligible
NASA leaders at the GS 14-15 or SES level.

Major Topics
The primary instructors are faculty from the Darden Business School at the University of Virginia. They assure that the Program's material is grounded in accepted business principles and that it is academically rigorous. To adapt business school material to the government, the Darden faculty is augmented with instructors from government organizations and with case studies drawn from NASA. The Program includes a discussion of articles to be read before the Program commences, lecture, in-class casework, and exercises to apply the material to the NASA environment. Four major areas are emphasized:

Strategy - Strategy applies both to the organization as a whole and the individual organization components. A full day is spent on the role of strategy in organizations including definitions, the meaning of competitive advantage, and the importance of internal strategic alignment.

Partnership Formation - Much of NASA’s work is conducted outside the Agency though contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, and international partnerships. In the private sector, companies successful in alliance formation develop specialized processes and skills. One day is spent on building and managing alliances and partnerships. These sessions define alliances; identify the reasons for success and failure, the steps of alliance formation, management of alliances, and the importance of trust.

Environmental Perspective - Speakers are selected to provide a historical perspective of NASA’s evolution and to illuminate key business environments such as Congress and the international and commercial space sectors.

Finance - With the implementation of full cost accounting, NASA is changing its internal financial practices to become more like industry. In a four-hour session, attendees are given a summary course on commercial finance and accounting in lecture and case study format. NASA speakers discuss the evolving role of finance in the Agency.

Class Project - A current Agency business related issue is the topic of the class project. Participants work in small teams and present their results to a panel of interested leaders. The project is designed as both a learning experience and to inform NASA Leaders regarding real business issues.