A much-anticipated executive training   program for leaders in the public and private sector was hosted by Harvard University from November 5 through November 10, 2004, in Athens, Greece. Entitled “Managing and Shaping Change in the Information Age”, the 5-day program was the first of its kind to take place in Europe and was held at Athens Information Technology’s (AIT) state of the art facilities in Peania. The executive program was the joint effort of AIT, Harvard University, the Kokkalis Program on Southeastern European Studies at Harvard University and the Kokkalis Foundation.

The total 55 participants who completed the program represented 11 countries (Albania, Egypt, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Greece, Jordan, FYROM, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey and Finland) and included deputy ministers, Members of Parliament, business leaders and executives from the public, private and non-profit sectors. Conducted by faculty from both Harvard University and AIT, the program focused on leadership, negotiation, scenario planning, strategic management, and technology policy. The program also featured a teleconference discussing the outcome of the American presidential elections with Harvard Professor Roger Porter, a leading electoral analyst. Porter attributed president Bush’s victory to his ability to leverage political capital on three clusters of issues: national and homeland security, the state of the economy, and the values question.

The following Harvard faculty conducted the program: Hugh O’Doherty (Leadership), Steve Kelman (Strategic Management), Brain Mandell (Negotiation), Eric Berger (Scenario Planning). AIT faculty Christos Halkias, Grigoris Yavonof, Lazaros Polimenakos and Ioannis Tomkos lectured on Technology Policy.

Harvard's executive education programs provide a forum to extend and exchange knowledge and aim to empower high-potential individuals by strengthening the impact and practical effectiveness of their undertakings. As part of this mission, Managing and Shaping Change in the Information Age was designed to offer participants the innovative analytical, leadership and management tools critical for advancing important individual and organizational goals in an era when global competencies are essential, and where technology affects policymaking and business at an unprecedented pace.

As new members of the Kokkalis Leadership Network (KLN), the alumni association of the Kokkalis Program, the participants are now actively engaged in long-term, cross-regional communication and sustained collaboration with their fellow KLN colleagues for the benefit of their nations and the region as a whole and are kept continually connected to Kennedy School and Kokkalis Program initiatives such as educational refreshers, symposia and special events at Harvard and in the region.


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