Future of Executive Education

Updated on: Saturday, December 10, 2011

Spending on Executive Education declined rapidly in many markets in 2009, with business schools often reporting cuts of 20%-30%. However, a new international report, Executive Education Futures, found that just under 60% of purchasers believe spending will grow in the next 24 months.

Although total spend is important, corporate purchasers are focusing on value, often seeking to do more for less. However, value is judged not just on financial measures, but also quality of teaching, fit with the provider and impact.

CarringtonCrisp, who carried out the study, ran an online survey of both those studying and purchasing executive education, and carried out one-to-one interviews with firms currently using executive education programmes. Respondents were drawn from 51 countries.

Demand for executive education is greatest in the fields of strategy, general management and leadership. Least popular are enterprise and business growth and logistics and supply chain management. Key to a successful programme was a connection between teaching and real business issues. Academics with relevant and recent consultancy experience command a premium. One respondent commenting: There is always a risk of tutors not having enough direct business experience to help participants apply academic models to their daily business.

For those studying, cost is not the key to choice of provider, although one student said: Everything about the course was good just thought it was a little bit expensive i.e. felt like we were paying for the facility and not the programme.

While more than half of individuals carefully compare the cost of programmes before deciding where to study and say that value for money is more important than the actual cost of the programme, less than 10% will choose the lowest cost study option. Among corporate interviewees choice of provider is more about the fit with a particular company, understanding the culture and personal relationships, than it is about cost. An employer said: The academics wanted to showcase their tools and models, rather than understand the business and speak their companys language.

Cost may not be key for individuals, but the reputation of the business school/provider is very important. Twice as many individuals (50%) ranked Reputation of the business school/provider as Most Important when choosing where to study compared with any other option.

But where does reputation come from? Other aspects rated as important in making choices include course content, value for money, quality of teaching, personal recommendation and FT rankings of the business school as a whole and specifically its executive education services. Some corporates also reported that they find a number of the second tier business schools more flexible in meeting employers needs; there can be a trade-off between having academic stars deliver a programme and the ease of dealing with particular providers. Employers also dont want to pay bespoke prices and then feel that they are being offered something off the shelf. Several employers commented that some schools spend more time telling them they cant do what the employer wants and trying to shoe-horn them into something else, than trying to meet the purchasers needs.

Measuring the success of programmes will always be tricky. Individuals suggest that nearly 80% have a successful or very successful experience. However, just over a quarter of participants colleagues are keen to learn from them on their return to work.

Many employers use coaching to enhance the value of learning. Coaching can help embed knowledge, along with alumni programmes and tools such as Linkedin. Finding a way to sustain the impact and measure the growth of an individual and benefit to the business would be very valuable for many employers. Increasingly, one of the main requirements of purchasers is a greater focus on personalised learning plans.

Whatever terms are used, the focus for employers in the future will be to drive greater value for money from their spending on executive education. For some this will simply be expressed in money terms, for others as a better connection between content and work and for a further group it will mean being able to show a clearer, demonstrable impact upon staff performance on their return to work.

(The writer is the founder of CarringtonCrisp, specialists in business school strategy, branding and marketing)

Times of India

Future of Executive Education

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