Executive Education Growing and Expanding to New Markets
Executive education is enjoying a surge in growth, due in part to advances in technology. While this field suffered during the recent financial crisis, when corporations cut costs, business is returning and many business schools are expanding into new countries. According to a recent survey by the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, growth in executive programs at 11 top US schools has increased by almost 5% over the past two years.
This growth is not exclusive to the United States. Asia, particularly China, Malaysia, and Indonesia, are popular locations for expansion. As emerging economies grow, companies invest in training their employees. Melbourne Business School has expanded operations to Indonesia and Edinburgh Business School runs programs in Malaysia. According to Teck Ho, faculty director for Haas’ Asia Business Center, UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business has agreed to teach Chinese leaders at an executive leadership center in Shanghai. Courses will cover business, innovation, and public policy.
Some European business schools are expanding to the Middle East. In 2013, London Business School won a $38 million contract to deliver a leadership program to Kuwait Petroleum Company (a subsidiary of the Kuwait Investment Authority, Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund) managers. HEC Paris offers a portfolio of programs in Qatar and has launched an executive master’s degree in Azerbaijan.
Africa is also a popular expansion target. HEC Paris works with state departments and a federation of private companies to lead programs for hundreds of public and private-sector employees on the Ivory Coast. Duke Corporate Education has African clients including banks, natural-resources companies, and telecommunications firms. In 2013, Frankfurt School of Business founded the Central African Business School in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which delivers executive programs.
Technological advances have allowed larger audiences to be reached easily, opening new markets. EdX ran a pilot course on big data in 2014, enrolling 3,500 individuals from more than 2,000 organizations, including Microsoft. Udemy, another online-learning provider, started Udemy for Business in 2013. It now includes more than 350 partners, including Oracle, and licenses content for $29 per user per month. Coursera is working with Yahoo on certificate programs for employees, at $49 per unit.
Albert & Company International, Inc. is a one-stop shop for Executive Development and talent management. Our vision is to help individuals gain the knowledge they need to excel, thereby increasing their efficiency and productivity, leading to better organizational growth. For more information on these and many other courses in our extensive Executive Education database, the most comprehensive and complete of its kind, visit us on the Web at http://albertconsulting.com, or email us at info@albertconsulting.com.