Back to B-school: CEOs are turning to custom-designed programs at top schools to educate the senior ranks

Chief Executive, The, July, 2004 by Jodi Schneider

Home-Schooling Execs

These custom, on-site corporate programs can be more affordable, and often are sought by companies when there is a specific management need or logistical application. Many enterprises work with business schools to set up such programs when they are facing a shift--say, in a product or service line--and want to educate their management quickly, and then pass along the information to others in the company. One of the benefits of such programs, says Feld of the Smith School, is that they're replicable. "Companies get a program that's exactly what they have defined, and they can do it again and again."

With in-house programs, companies tend to use more of their senior executives in training, which can be a plus, business school executives say. And it's usually easier to bring together teams of employees from different disciplines--sales, marketing, the technical side, human resources--for broad-based issues.

Many firms seek specific training from business schools when they are in transition, following a consolidation, for example, or after a significant shift in focus in the business. Centini recalls one Darden client, a large bank that had been on an acquisition binge, buying small community banks. The training focused on bringing the smaller banks into the fold while ensuring as smooth a cultural transition as possible. "A lot of it is very strategic," he says.

While it's natural for companies to seek custom training when they are at a critical transition point, several business school executives warned against this tendency. "Generally, we hear from companies when they are in crisis," says Feld, who, before joining the faculty at the Smith School three years ago, was on the faculty of Wharton's executive education program. "That's actually the worst time to do it; the best time is when you're not in chaos, because that's when you can best plan for the company's future."

Learning in a Global Setting

Increasingly, as U.S. companies become more globally oriented, they are seeking training in international locales, and business schools are happy to help set up these customized programs. Custom programs work particularly well for bringing together diverse groups of employees from around the globe who seldom interact because of their geographic distance but who are working on common programs or strategies. Some firms that seek custom training on campus often branch into international training for overseas managers. United Technologies, the multinational technology firm, runs programs through the Darden School in Europe and Asia, as well as at the company's headquarters in Connecticut.

Centini of the Darden School says that United Technologies was hoping to improve its management bench-strength through the global program, and to further identify future leaders for international sites. The two main reasons that companies turn to business schools for help in global training, he notes, are because they want to highlight a global dimension or strategy or they want to bring together a "critical mass" of managers in various European and Asian locales. Germany, he says--a popular site for such sessions--makes more sense than Charlottesville, Va.