Este artículo habla sobre cómo se debe administrar una empresa, de acuerdo a lo que le corresponde a cada departamento gerencial en el organigrama

1. EXECUTIVE
DECISIONS
Executive education is rapidly evolving to offer
shorter, closer, and more focused programs
that deliver real solutions to today's companies.
BYTRICIABISOUX
E
xecutive education programs have long been the vehicle of choice for
corporations that want to train their most promising talent. Dedi-
cated, short-term courses are designed to help executives develop
their individual skill sets and better understand the realities of their
industries. But now that companies are operating in the shadow of a reces-
sion, they want their investment in executive training to translate into tan-
gible value for their organizations.
Christine Poon, dean of The Ohio State University's Fisher College of Busi-
ness in Columbus, has seen that transition firsthand. She came to the dean's
office in 2009 at the height of the recession, after 30 years in the healthcare
industry, including a post as worldwide chairwoman at Johnson &c Johnson.
During her time at Johnson & Johnson, she says, the company used exec ed
to help broaden and diversify the skills of high-potential executives. "But if I
were back in corporate America today," she adds, "I would also want them
to be trained to deal with topics relevant to my company. That would be an
added value."
Business educators are hearing that sentiment from an increasing number
of corporate leaders. With budgets tight and expectations high, employers
want today's executive education programs to be faster, more customized,
more local, and more accessible to their employees around the world. And
they want more than better trained employees—they want their people to
come back to work with solutions that have immediate and measurable ROI
for their companies.
18 July/August 2012 BizEd

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3. "More
companies are
saying, 'We'd
like you to run
this program for education in the workplace,
Fast and Focused
According to Mike Stan- us, but we want Eiter and Woll continue.
"Providing a stellar class-
ford, executive director of
the Partnership Program
you to run room experience is no lon-
at IMD in Lausanne, Swit- it on our site ger sufficient," they write.
zerland, corporate clients "Companies seek learning
want executive education
or at venues that is transferable to the
programs to achieve two closer to us.'" workplace. Executives want
important objectives: effi- to learn concepts and frame-
ciency and impact. works that can be put into
"Our clients want to - Bill Shedden of practice and contribute to
focus on how our program Cranfield University real-world solutions."
will help them get where Duke Corporate Educa-
they need to go most effi- tion (Duke CE), the execu-
ciently. They want experi- tive education arm of Duke
ences that add value to the University in Durham,
company, and not those that North Carolina, recently
are simply fun or interest- released its report "Learning
ing," says Stanford. and Development in 2011:
The impact of executive A Focus on the Euture."
education has been top of Duke CE asked 142 of its
mind for employers for at corporate clients to share
least 15 or 20 years, Stan- their biggest concerns about
ford adds. But the big dif- executive training. Improved
ference today is how they technological delivery, less
define impact in their conversations concepts that are not applied to travel, reduced cost, and measur-
with IMD faculty. real businesses," she says. "Cor- able value all made their lists.
"Ten or 15 years ago, when com- porations want to see obvious out- The report quotes Cathryn
panies talked about impact, they comes for their businesses." Klassen, vice president of leader-
asked about return on investment. Although exec ed has been mov- ship and talent development for
But it can be difficult to measure ing in this direction for years, the Sun Life Financial, who notes that
return on investment for a learning financial crisis has accelerated its company leadership is under more
activity," he says. "But now we ask evolution considerably, accord- pressure to demonstrate the value
them, 'What's your objective?' If ing to researchers at the Interna- of executive development. "This
your objective is to change behavior, tional University Consortium for might not mean that budgets are
we have tools to measure that. If Executive Education (UNICON). In cut—in fact, we made additional
your objective is to spark cultural UNICON's November 2011 report investments," she says. "It does
change, we can measure that. Our "Breaking the Mold on Blended mean there is a spotlight focused
conversations about impact are now Learning," Marie Eiter and Toby on real business value. ... Devel-
more specific. They're much smarter Woll write that "the recent financial opment must be tied to the actual
conversations to have." crisis has forced companies not only organizational capabilities your
Evgenia Ovasapyan, director of to scrutinize the costs of executive company needs to build."
executive education programs at development, but also the time that
Russia's Moscow School of Man- executives and upper management Closer to Home
agement Skolkovo, agrees. "We're are away from the office." As part of their emphasis on
seeing a decline of interest in open Chief learning officers are impact and value, corporations
programs that focus on individual placing greater emphasis on the also want programs that are
skill development and theoretical immediate application of executive "shorter, cheaper, and with as
20 July/August 2012 BizEd

4. much payoff as possible," says Bill ative work online—or even access parts of those programs for that
Shedden, director of the Centre content designed for the company's company," he says. "We're no lon-
for Customized Development at own technologies and systems. ger making the distinction that an
Cranfield University in the United The iPad has become an espe- open enrollment program is off the
Kingdom, and UNICON's execu- cially useful learning tool, says shelf, and therefore 'bad,' or a cus-
tive director. "That means they Stanford. IMD began piloting the tom program is just for that com-
want courses linked to whatever use of the iPad in its longtime pany, and therefore 'good.' We're
they're working on right now. They five-day exec ed offering, "Orches- finding that everything we have can
want business schools to integrate trating Winning Performance," in be put together in ways that are
their biggest problems into the pro- June 2010. Since then, the school meaningful to the organization."
grams, through mentoring, coach- has developed several iPad apps He points to changes that have
ing, and any other career develop- to encourage executive students occurred in the "Orchestrating
ment initiatives they're pursuing." to converse and learn even when Winning Performance" program,
But as their budgets shrink and they're not face-to-face. which is designed to allow individu-
their expectations rise, companies "The iPad takes away the feel- als and teams to work on an issue
have made the items on their execu- ing that they're learning only when they're currently facing on the job.
tive education wish lists even more they're in the classroom," he says. Most recently, the school has seen
defined and highly targeted, Shed- "Even when our students are on the an increase in the number of large
den adds. For instance, to keep street or at the coffee shop, they're groups of executives being sent
costs down and minimize their always in a learning mode, shar- through the program. Companies
employees' time away from the ing what they're seeing via blogs or now see a program like this as an
office, more companies are asking social media. Their everyday experi- opportunity to build individual
for shorter programs offered much ence becomes their classroom." skills sets and effect large-scale
closer to home—sometimes on com- behavioral change in their organiza-
pany premises. "More companies Not Quite Customized tions, says Stanford. "That gives a
are saying, 'We'd like you to run With customization quickly becom- whole new energy to what an open
this program for us, but we want ing the norm in executive educa- enrollment program can achieve."
you to run it on our site or at ven- tion, more business schools are For some schools, packaging
ues closer to us,'" says Shedden. facing a dilemma: Should they try their offerings effectively means
They're also asking for more to serve all companies? Or target targeting clients whose objectives
content to be delivered online. those in a specific area or industry? best align with the strengths of their
Business schools are offering more Schools may no longer have to faculty. For example, the University
content via course management make that choice, says Stanford of Miami School of Business directs
systems, video conferencing, online of IMD. He notes that what was most of its exec ed offerings to the
formats such as Webinars and sim- once thought of as customization needs of multinational Latin Ameri-
ulations, mobile devices, and tablet has transformed into what really is can companies headquartered in its
computers, says Shedden. "It's defined as good customer service. home state of Florida. That decision
not necessarily 'e-learning,'" says That is, business schools can assess emerged after close discussions with
Shedden. "At Cranfield, we call it a corporate client's needs and pack- the school's exec ed clients, says
'networked learning.'" That could age or adjust their existing offer- Amelia McGuire, the school's associ-
mean that course introductions and ings accordingly. ate dean of external affairs and head
static content that repeats from "When a client comes to us with of its executive education program.
one run of the course to the next a development issue, our solution "We had to look at content—
are offered in online formats that might include individual coaching what professors did we have,
employees can access from their and mentoring. It might include cus- what could we realistically deploy,
desks. Employers also appreciate tomized modules. It might include and how could we build it?" says
when their employees can attend
strategic use of our open enrollment McGuire. "Then we looked at
Webinars and do some of their cre-
programs, in which we customize the existing market here in south
BizEd July/August 2012 21

5. Florida. We realized that the sweet At the beginning of each course, school has partnered with GE Capi-
spot for us was the Fortune 1000 the company's CEO or country tal to create exec ed programs that
companies here that were based or manager comes in to speak to the specifically serve the needs of middle
doing business in Latin America." group and outline expectations. market companies—^those compa-
UM customizes almost all of its Over the next five days, students nies with annual revenues between
executive education courses to each discuss topics and work on projects US$10 million and $1 billion. Much
corporate client. Once a company to meet those expectations. On the of this training is offered through
approaches UM to design a training last day, the school holds a recep- the school's National Center for the
program, faculty visit with company tion where students mingle with Middle Market. (See "Eye on the
representatives to leam their objec- corporate leadership and present Middle Market" on p. 27.)
tives, then they design a tailored five- what they've learned. "We'll be offering executive edu-
day course. The courses are taught Fisher College takes a slightly dif- cation that emphasizes the themes
jointly by faculty and company ferent approach to executive educa- that are highly relevant to this seg-
executives and are based solely on tion—it has focused not on a region, ment: innovation, customer focus,
projects pulled from the workplace. but on a segment of the market. The and human capital," says Poon of
A Look Inside Deloitte University
Most companies meet their indi- talk about the power of listening.
The Deloitte
vidual training needs by turning to Learning to step back and listen
University campus.
business schools for both open to a group can be very powerful in
enroliment and customized exec ed effecting transformational change."
programs. But when a company's The curriculum was designed
strategy becomes so complex-its with the input of Deloitte's senior
problems so unique to its corporate leadership, academics, and clients.
environment-it may decide to take Courses range from "Welcome to
control of its own executive training. Deloitte," which offers new hires
That may mean building its own an overview of the company, to
corporate university, with a curricu- the "New Manager Program," a
lum infused with its most integrated weeklong program for the recently
and ongoing strategic needs. promoted. "The Art of Empathy"
Deloitte Consulting, headquartered in DU features 800 guest rooms and 35 teaches students to set aside their per-
New York City, recently became one of classrooms, as well as a fitness center, sonal agendas to see issues from their
the newest entrants in the community of running trails, amphitheater, and ballroom. clients' points of view, while "The Art of
companies with their own corporate uni- Deloitte expects the university to deliver up Inquiry" helps them think about how to
versities. Last October, the company offi- to 3 million hours of instruction to 35,000 ask the right questions. "Mastering the
cially opened Deloitte University (DU), its employees each year. C-Suite" helps upper-level leaders further
US$300 million, 700,000-square-foot lead- The company's leaders made the large develop the listening and communication
ership development center. DU is built on investment because they felt the company skills they need to sustain client relation-
a 107-acre plot of land in the small town of needed to develop courses that reflected ships. "Anatomy of a Train Wreck" walks
Westlake, Texas, just outside of Dallas. The its specialized focus on client services, students through real examples from the
company is currently pursuing LEED Gold explains Diana O'Brien, a managing prin- company where client sen/ice went terribly
certification for the facility, which uses sus- cipal of Deloitte University. "We rely heav- wrong and explores how things might have
tainable design principles and incorporates ily on telling stories—our own stories-of been done differently.
renewable and recycled materials. success and failure," she says. "We also Tom Hodson has been involved in
24 July/August 2012 BizEd

6. Fisher. Courses will be taught by says Poon. On the one hand, all the industry. And by having students
faculty from Fisher and subject mat- students experience a set curriculum, apply their training to real projects,
ter experts from GE. After students which makes the program easily we can keep the program relevant to
are armed with classroom theory, scalable. But by targeting a specific their companies."
they identify issues in their com- market and importing real-world
panies in one of these areas. Then, projects, the curriculum offers the Exec Ed á la Carte
they return to their companies to training these students find most Collaboration is a big and grow-
work on those issues, with the help relevant. "We're still experiment- ing part of the executive education
of faculty mentors. In four months, ing. We're trying to find the balance experience. In a recent survey by
they come back to Fisher to present between creating a program that's AACSB International, 230 insti-
their project outcomes and receive neither completely customized, nor tutions representing 50 different
additional coaching. completely 'off-the-shelf,'" says countries were named as part-
By focusing on the middle mar- Poon. "By working with GE Capital, ners in collaborative agreements
ket. Fisher College can offer pro- we can keep the topics we're intro- involving non-degree/executive
grams that are "semi-customized," ducing in the classroom relevant to education. In addition, 34 schools
executive training at the company since he people. You'd be surprised
was made a principal in 2005. This year, how diverse our community
he has been teaching in the New Manager is, even though we all work
program. "It's really a milestone for our under the same umbrella.
people," Hodson says. "During the week, Deloitte University helps
they attend plenary sessions on leadership, our people foster relation-
one of which I deliver, and they go through ships with others they
business simulations that involve how they normally wouldn't run into
can better manage things iike client meet- and learn about services
ings and staff problems." we provide that they may
Hodson and O'Brien are quick to not otherwise know about,"
emphasize the value of academic business says Hodson.
training, but note that DU is designed to Perhaps most impor-
pick up where their employees' past edu- tant, the leadership center An interactive touchscreen media wall at the center
cations leave off. "Business schools don't will serve as a living labora- of DU's lobby displays information about activities
have access to our culture. They don't tory, where the company at the university, as weii as curated content from
know the specific leadership behaviors that social media channels.
can identify and measure
differentiate us. They don't have access the training approaches want to gather robust data on a regular
to how we implement strategy or deal that are most effective. Deloitte will sur- basis to track the correlation between
with the intricacies of the tax code," says vey selected groups of employees after the learning in the classroom and the
Hodson. "Those aren't topics available in a they've attended classes at DU to see quality of our services. DU gives us the
broad-based MBA program." whether they changed behaviors as a ability to measure whether our training
It also would be difficult for a busi- result of what they learned. drives business results."
ness school to replicate the sense of The information these surveys pro-
community that Deloitte sought to create vide will be more valuable than what the A video tour of Deloitte University
at DU, he adds. company could acquire from twice-yearly is available at www.youtube.com/
"Deloitte has a workforce of 50,000 employee reviews, says Hodson. "We watoh ?v=3hSUIamRLDI.
BizEd July/August 2012 25

7. representing ten different countries
indicated that they desired to initi-
ate more collaborative partner-
ships. They're particularly inter-
ested in looking for partners in
the Asia-Pacific region, according
to 36.7 percent of respondents.
Smaller but significant numbers
of respondents would like to col- business school's exec ed program on employers' needs, and employers
laborate with schools in Europe from another's are fading, in favor of advance the skills of their workforce
(18.3 percent) and the Americas more collaborative delivery models. based on our scholarship."
(15 percent). "So much of executive education Poon and other educators
Shedden of UNICON notes today is driven by business needs," emphasize that many companies
that these collaborations are often he says. "The days when execu- still view executive education as a
driven by the companies themselves. tives go to Harvard to receive what way to reward talent and cultivate
Rather than choosing a single busi- only Harvard faculty can deliver, loyalty. But after the recession, its
ness school to meet all of their exec or to INSEAD for only INSEAD purpose has expanded significantly.
ed needs, many employers are invit- faculty, or to IMD for only IMD Eor employers, it's also a tool that
ing different schools to work with faculty, could soon be ovei;" he says. will help them improve their opera-
them based on different criteria. "Today, we partner with consultants, tions and do more with less, says
"Many of us mistakenly view behavior coaches, and other business McGuire of UM.
all business schools as a homoge- schools so that we can deliver what's "Companies can no longer
neous unit because we're all in the right for the client." give big raises or extraordinary
same market," says Shedden. "But bonuses, even as they're add-
companies often combine executive Virtuous Partnerships ing more to job descriptions and
education programs from differ- That recognition—that no business stretching their people across more
ent schools based on their research school has all the answers—is lead- responsibilities. Even so, they still
skills and reputations." ing business and business schools want to retain their talent," she
He points to a program for execu- alike to forge deeper partnerships to says. Investment in executive edu-
tives for software company Oracle inject exec ed programs with both cation is a way for companies to
that Cranfield offers jointly with academic and industry perspectives. show their best people how much
IESE in Barcelona, Spain. In that Companies are becoming more they are valued, she adds. But by
case, says Shedden, Oracle wanted involved in the design of executive tying executive education directly
to combine Cranfield's strength in education courses, as advisors, men- to their objectives, companies also
program customization with IESE's tors, and even instructors. (See "Cor- receive tangible dividends for that
strength in strategy. "Today's corpo- porations on Campus" on p. 28.) investment, in the form of employ-
rations are sophisticated purchasers. That level of involvement may ees equipped with the bolder inno-
They know the strengths of the vari- produce programs that respond vations and smarter solutions their
ous business schools. They might to the needs of the market today organizations need to thrive. @
turn to different schools because they and better anticipate its needs five
want a different disciplinary focus, or even ten years from now, says UNICON's report on blended
or they might want to expose their Poon of Eisher College. "When learning is at uniconexed.org/2011/
executives to different cultural expe- you partner with the business com- research/Blended_Learning_Report-
riences," says Shedden. "Business munity, your faculty can immerse Eiter-Woll-Nov-2011.pdf. Duke
schools have to recognize that they themselves in the issues companies CE's report on learning and develop-
don't necessarily know everything." are struggling with. This creates ment can be found at www.dukece.
Stanford of IMD agrees that the a virtuous relationship where our com/papers-reports/documents/
"old boundaries" that separate one faculty rethink the curriculum based FocusFuture.pdf.
26 July/August 2012 BizEd

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