Executive education programs grew fast during the 1990s, but companies cut back sharply in the 2001 recession. Since then, spending for executive development has gradually rebounded, but now the prime target market of 35 to 45-year-old managers is shrinking as the Baby Boomers age.
"The days of easy growth are over," says Stephen Burnett, associate dean of executive education at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. "To be successful, you have to be far more strategic, smarter and devote more resources to the business." Schools are competing in this crowded market by offering more courses on timely topics like managing the new work force and understanding Asia. They're also targeting certain niches, such as women reentering the workplace.
"In the past, companies were less worried about the ROI on the learning dollar, but now they're much more concerned about bang for the buck," says Eric Weber, associate dean of IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain.
"We're becoming learning partners with companies and taking on almost a quasi-consulting role," says Anant Sundaram, faculty director for executive education at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business. "With projects, a company ends up with something very actionable. We also can do individual coaching to maximize leadership development and conduct follow-up work with the talent-development folks at companies."
Source: The Wall Street Journal, September 17, 2007