The defense sector’s change journey in times of growth is a program where participants come from different parts of the defense sector and together with SSE Faculty learn and explore about common challenges. The new Executive Education program is developed by SSE in collaboration with The Swedish Armed Forces, Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) and Saab. The participants are nominated by their employer, and it is possible to choose between studying the program separately or as part of an MBA, then as a Defence Elective.

The sector aspect is a new addition to the SSE Executive Education progam portfolio. The challenges of todays’ society requires increased collaboration and cross boundary cooperation. The increased complexity currently faced by the definse sector requires a whole new artillery and ways of collaborating when solving problems.

“We want to support leaders and managers by providing knowledge as well as new perspectives and tools to execute change – all in an environment where they at the same time get the opportunity to network, build new relationships and collaborate in finding solutions to common challenges faced by the whole sector”, says Pernilla Petrelius Karlberg, Program Director, SSE Executive Education.

Govern, change and build  in times of growth

The program includes three moduls that in different ways approach the change journey; how to govern, how to drive change and how to build an organization in times of growth. This involves topics such as financial management, the economic language, change management and strategic material supply – all stemming from the current context where many countries’ national defense today are focused on growth.

It is no coincidence that the defense sector is the first sector to have this type of program. The whole sector currently faces similar challenges, and it is more important than ever to work together and find new ways of collaborating to ensure future success. This new program offers a unique combination of both education, network, and new possibilities to meet and develop together.

“Given the major changes faced by the defense sector today, developing an education program together with SSE came naturally. SSE has profound experience of developing as well as researching organizations and companies facing massive growth”, says Pernilla Petrelius Karlberg.

External analysis from the academic faculty and SSE students

The program benefits both from the academic faculty and students. Cource Director of the financial track, Associate Professor Martin Carlsson-Wall has performed several research studies of the Swedish Armed Forces and has a deep understanding of the organization. This close relationship to the faculty of the school opened up the opportunity for SSE masters’ students to be involved throughout the program where they collect data for their masters’ thesis. This means that participants of the program will be researched during the process. 

“The participants have been interviewed by masters’ students who then used the data for their essays. This has been a new and exciting way for the participants to get an external analysis of their own business or operation, all in line with the themes and tools addressed during the program”, Pernilla says.

Research about the public sector is a growing field at SSE, and the defense sector is not the only sector that could benefit from collaborations between different actors. SSE Executive Education hopes to be able to offer more bespoke programs and MBA electives to other fields.

“We started with Defence and hope to expand the scope, both from the government and the private sector”, says Pernilla Petrelius Karlberg.