ELM is the acronym for Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Management. It reflects our understanding of the multifaceted role of both individuals and organisations that at any one time the trinity role of entrepreneurship, leadership and management interplays to create, manage and sustain a business over different phases of its life.

The ELM schema integrates the role of mindset transformation with process competency development for the three vectors of ELM. We term this the mindset-based competency approach to understand and use ELM in strategic business thinking and operational management. The ELM Framework underlies our philosophy of the ELM Graduate School executive education and the way we teach and learn business in the HELP Group. The ELM Framework (above) synthesises relevant theoretical constructs and integrates them into a practical system of decision making process concerning ELM. It is a useful tool for facilitating thinking out the right business model and strategy execution.The ELM Framework starts with the end: that is, it is outcome based rather than problem based. VOW is the final goal. It comprises values, opportunities and wealth. Wealth in Chinese is cai, which has two meanings in written form: knowledge and material wealth. VOW can be defined in whatever way one wants to. But they must be worthy of our talents, reflective of the ethics of our personal life, and society or other centered perspectives. What is crucial is that ELM is the powerful driving force of the CAAAC mindsets, [CAAAC standing for the Contemplative, Analytic, Adaptive and Actualization and Consequential.] These specific mindsets must be interpreted as the transformative growth mindset, and not just any mindset change. The growth mindset grows the competencies of each of the ELM to a higher level in order to lead every growth phase of a business. Thus, for entrepreneurship CAAAC helps to develop competencies to focus on the 4 As and 4 Ss: from ideation to actualization and beyond. For leadership, CAAAC focuses on competencies for personal leadership mastery to alliance leadership. For management, it focuses on developing higher order competencies for global business and mega projects.

The mindset based competencies thus facilitate strategic decision making . What matters in business is that over time the leadership of the organization would innovate expansion (growth), differentiation and internationalisation (I-EDI). We use the verb ‘innovate’ rather than the noun ‘innovation’ as it reflects a conscious choice to act to improve. With I-EDI we thus define our Direction and our Destiny, which is governed by VOW.

The ELM Framework is comprehensive and embracing, and it allows for any particular business model to be fitted in. It recognises that the phenomenon of elm is emergent, relational and contextual. ELM is a conceptual framework that is underpinned by an iterative process of systems thinking, reflection and reframing. It is thus a universal tool as it provides a guidance system for interactions, interrelationships and interdependencies. It helps to redefine and reframe the logic system of ideation, managing and leading. Besides being a conceptual framework it is also a model of modus operandi.

To the entrepreneur, ELM provides the mindset based competencies for entrepreneurial foresight and resourcefulness capability. To the leader, ELM provides the mindset based competencies for visionary leadership and global business perspective. To the manager, ELM provides the mindset based competency for business intelligence and strategic sustainability. The ELM framework is a paradigm change in that it moves away from the problem based mindset to the outcome based mindset and the growth mindset.

The ELM approach is used in our teaching and learning both in the ELM Graduate School and in the undergraduate business courses.ELM is also the spirit in the culture of the HELP Group. This is the multi perspective lens that we use to identify, respond and adapt to the new world of business.