Take Three: Customized Executive Education

It seems that companies are talking and schools are listening.

It seems that companies are talking and schools are listening. In “Universities Tailor Courses for Companies,” universities partnered with companies to create tailored educational programs. We recently covered this topic in CLO magazine’s July issue, “A Customer-Driven Approach to Molding Tomorrow's Leaders.” Just as no two people are alike, no two organizations are alike, and the issues they face are unique to their cultures, their workforces and their circumstances. !@!

When ArcelorMittal, the product of a merger between two large organizations, needed to build a cohesive corporate culture, the organization turned to an executive education program, but not just any program. They looked to Duke University to create custom programs at ArcelorMittal offices, according to The WSJ article. An advantage of this type of program is that executives learn in real-world environments and don’t disrupt their work routines, as the education is brought in-house.

Universities are straying from conventional executive education because there is nothing conventional about executive education. Organizations differ in their needs, and universities are responding to those needs. Have you ever worked with a university to develop a custom education program? If so, what was the result? How did the results differ from a traditional executive education program?