Sharpening the executive mind: the continuing education of top executives has become a priority for Latin American corporations as they grow in the global marketplace. A review of top programs

Latin CEO: Executive Strategies for the Americas, July, 2001 by Rochelle Broder-Singer

Despite reports of the demise of Internet-based training, many of the world's top executive education programs use it as an integral part of the learning process. The trend towards Internet usage stems from the current business buzzword: globalization. As our survey of some of the top programs for Latin American executives shows, a global audience and an education in global business practices are the focus of many universities. While English is still the favored language, a few programs (including one in the US) are taught in Spanish.

Universidad Austral IAE Graduate School of Business (Pilar, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina)

The Financial Times ranks IAE No. 24 worldwide on its executive education list, and executives from companies such as Perez Companc, Carrefour, American Express and The Exxel Group have attended its degree and non-degree programs. One of the most interesting is the PAD-Top Management Program (US$17,000), designed for CEOs and company presidents. Over a period of sixteen weeks, 45 students attend two full weeks of classes and one full day of classes each week in between, and do about twelve hours of self-directed work weekly Learning is applied and intense -- executives are asked to think about the long-term future of their companies and, eventually to identify their own leadership strengths and weaknesses as they relate to that goal. Forty percent of students in the course are CEOs, and nearly 15 percent come from outside Argentina. IAE also offers its PIDE program, specifically targeted to Mercosur executives. It follows much the same curriculum, meeting for one full week each month. Custom programs round o ut IAE's offerings. IAE has taken advantage of its regional position, says Dean Fernando Fraguerio. "[We teach companies] to adapt from the global perspective to the regional characteristics," he says. "And, in the opposite, to the regional companies, we offer them the global and the international perspective."

Instituto de Empresa (Madrid, Spain)

IE offers a bilingual (Spanish and English) International Executive MBA, as well as a Senior Management Program that focuses on the relationships between Europe and Latin American companies. The 13-month MBA program involves two, two-week, residential periods in Madrid and one in Miami, with 1520 hours per week of online work in between. Tuition for the program is US$22,000, and no more than 25 students are enrolled in each class. Using case analysis studies, the program aims for outcomes identical to the school's face-to-face program. The Financial Times rates IE's executive education No. 11 in the world, and No. 1 in the Spanish- and Portuguese-language market. The median professional experience of the first International Executive MBA class, which began in January, is 6.5 years, with nearly 40 percent in top management positions. Half come from outside Spain, from countries including Colombia, Costa Rica and Argentina. Director Manuel Villalta says the program's strongest feature is" the bilinguality and t he high level of the students in terms of executive experience and geographic distribution." Says Dean Angel Cabrera, "We are at a cross-roads. We are in Europe, and, at the same time, we are part of the Spanish-speaking world."

Duke University FUQUA School

(Durham, North Carolina, US)

Duke University offers two executive MBA programs: the Duke MBA-Cross-Continent and the Duke MBA-Global Executive. Both combine in-classroom residencies with Internet-enabled discussions, classwork, team projects and research. The Cross-Continent, which has two 55-student sections, consists of eight one-week residencies in North Carolina or in Frankfurt, Germany, with six weeks of Internet learning in between. Participants in the US$75,000 program are typically marketing or engineering specialists who want to move into management positions. The MBA-Global Executive is a traveling curriculum. Students meet for five two-week "residencies" in North Carolina and rotating cities in Europe, Asia and South America, with computer-based work in between. The US$95,000 tuition includes stays at 5-star hotels. The "residencies" around the world combine academic training with corporate meetings, social and cultural experiences and team-building. The Global program has no entry examinations, but participants average 14 yea rs of international professional experience. Duke feels the combination of what Assistant Dean for the Cross-Continent Program Donna Spinella calls "place, space and experience" means that "students get to work both sides of their brain: the speedy rabbit and the slower tortoise that often wins the race."

Emory University Goizueta Business School (Atlanta, Georgia, US)

While Goizueta offers an 18-month alternate-weekends executive MBA (US$21,000), its non-degree programs, ranked No. 19 in the world by The Wall Street Journal, are probably more appealing to executives who cannot be away from their business. Goizueta's marketing management savvy is well-known, says Dr. Peter Topping, the school's Executive Director of Executive Education, and Goizueta offers a Certificate in Strategic Marketing. Classes meet in Atlanta one week a month for three months. Students run a telecommunications company simulation, involving manufacturing, service and high-technology components. Between classes in Atlanta, students use the Internet for self-directed learning as well as for online meetings. Companies such as Coca-Cola, Xerox, Equifax and BellSouth have sent executives from their Latin American divisions to the program, where the average age is 40 and students are typically directors, vice presidents and general managers with low technological savvy (Goizueta's program changes that). Go izueta has also designed custom programs for companies such as Germany's Dresdner Bank. The next frontier? "Improving our knowledge of how managers and executives learn," Topping says.