Excellent academics

Craig M McAllaster, PhD, is the dean of the Roy E Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. McAllaster’s background spans both industry and academia. He spent over a decade in the consumer services and electronics industry in management and executive development positions. He has served on the faculties of Alfred State College, Cornell University and the University of Central Florida.

David A Gautschi is the Dean and Professor at Lally School of Marketing and Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York. He has taught at the University of Washington, Yale University, Fontainebleau France and Cornell University. He has had 21 years industry, management and consulting experience in executive education.

Robert Baer has served as Dean of the Foster College of Business Administration at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois since 2000. He joined Bradley in 1984 as an assistant professor, and he has also served as Chair of the Department of Marketing and as Associate Dean of the Foster College. He has made numerous presentations to professional business organizations and has extensive executive education experience. Dr Baer earned a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University and a doctorate from Miami University (Ohio).

HRM. How important is executive education for companies? Don’t people generally learn on the job?
RB. On-the-job learning is important, but in a relatively short period of time executive programs can deliver wisdom accumulated through the ages. Program participants learn from brilliant faculty that has devoted a lifetime studying cutting-edge business practices. They learn from leading business practitioners who have a wealth of insight, and benefit from interaction with fellow participants who bring experience from multiple industries. Research from the executive MBA Council confirms it takes a company an average of only 17 months to recoup its return on investment in EMBA programs.

DG. People do learn on the job, but therein lie challenges with that executive education should seek to resolve. A well-designed, well-executed curriculum should present opportunities to accelerate learning, translating into faster application on the job. Also the job environment presents few opportunities for the executive to experiment with ideas without putting either the company’s performance or his/her performance at risk. Most executives realize this, and consequently are reluctant to try new ideas on the job. Executive education can provide executives the opportunity to experiment in a way that is not possible or reasonable on the job. Executive education can be very important for companies.

CM. Observation, applied work, mentoring, coaching, computer-based training, self-directed training as well as company-specific training are all ways people can learn on the job. But these types of training do not provide opportunities for students to have education targeted specifically to their individual needs from a credible institution and be taught by instructors at the tops of their fields. They also are not exposed to additional opportunities to gain best practices from their peers who work for other companies and bring those back to their respective companies. Executive education, whether as an open enrollment course for continuing education or as a formal MBA, always benefits the sponsoring company.

HRM. Is it important to give students practical experience to aid the translation of classroom knowledge into corporate action?
DG. Absolutely. One of the key discoveries from recent studies of the human brain is that we learn best in context. Considering that the audience of executive programs is comprised of practitioners the context of their actions must be featured as a design characteristic of any program that seeks to assist them to learn something they will use on the job. This means exercises that induce the executive to think in the abstract, on the one hand, and connect abstraction to the work environment, on the other hand, must be part of any program.

RB. Putting theory into practice is essential for an effective EMBA program. EMBA students bring experience to their program, so are well positioned to apply what they learn to their own situation. Companies expect to see this immediate ROI, and they will continue to support EMBA programs only to the extent that they see a direct impact on their organizations. Almost all of the individual and group student assignments in the Bradley program are designed to have participants directly apply their learning to their own organizations.

CM. It is essential to mix the analytical laboratory with practical field experience. We employ an experiential model including the case study method where students can apply what they have learned to actual business challenges and further evaluate the best strategy to approach the situation. We also invite guest speakers, expert panels and on-site company visits. Additional hands-on opportunities are available through global and domestic projects. Students frequently travel abroad to expand their laboratory by visiting places such as London, Buenos Aries, and Prague. The marketplace changes quickly, so it is imperative that students keep their finger on the pulse of corporate world.

HRM. How are modern MBA programs deviating from the traditional models in terms of student demographic and subject matter? What is driving this?
CM. About 10 years ago, the Crummer School noted a trend that recent college graduates were interested in the option of beginning their MBA directly after graduation, but few full-time programs were available that did not require 3-5 years of work experience. Crummer created the Early Advantage MBA (EAMBA), enabling students to explore their career options, obtain mentors, have MBA-level internships, become active members on area board of directors, and travel internationally on a week-long study trip. Another area the Crummer School has seen growth in is the percentage of women enrolees. We attribute this to the flexibility in which you can achieve a Rollins MBA – at night, on Saturdays or even alternating Fridays and Saturdays.

DG. Diversity is expanding in our programs. On one side of the market for business education, business schools are becoming more accessible to audiences diverse with respect to geographies and cultures, gender, and backgrounds. On the other side of the market for business education, women, generally, and students from all over the globe are looking for opportunities to learn to be participants in the business of this new century. As the composition of the student audiences evolve, it is natural that the range of subjects featured in the curriculum will change, to cover things like how innovation and entrepreneurial processes can be adapted to the non-profit environment

RB. Enrollment in traditional MBA programs is lower today compared to historic highs. Yet, overall enrollment in graduate programs in business remains healthy, because consumers of business degrees are increasingly heterogeneous in what they need, and the number of different programs has proliferated. Like in all markets, one size no longer fits all. Business schools have responded with a variety of different types of programs that have differentiated themselves from the pack. In fact, AACSB International reports that only 24 percent of the students enrolled in US MBA programs at accredited schools attend a traditional, two-year, full-time program. With more choices available, students have more consumer power. This drives even more rapid change.

HRM. What are the benefits of flexible course-structures and distance learning for students and companies alike? Are there any drawbacks?
DG. Flexibility expands the reach of the curriculum. In the aggregate, it presents opportunities for schools to collaborate in ways that permit them to avoid investing in duplication. The challenge is to configure programs that use complementary faculty resources and assure reliable delivery of programs. Business schools collectively have not yet understood the possibilities of distance learning. Pairing virtual teams of students to work on a finance project using internet-based collaboration would allow students also to learn how to get their work done in a manner analogous to the operational and organizational requirements of the modern globally distributed business enterprise.

CM. The MBA market has become very competitive over the last 10 years because employers expect more from their employees. In many instances in order to receive that next promotion, the working professional is finding an advanced degree is a necessity. In response the Crummer School has three part-time programs designed for working professionals – the Professional, Saturday and Corporate MBA. These options allow the flexibility to juggle work, family and school. The Crummer School has chosen not to offer the online MBA because we believe that there is too much value in the face-to-face instruction, discussion and interaction between the students and their professors.

RB. Students benefit from the flexible course schedules that abound today. These creative schedules were designed to meet the needs of different students. Because of the formats that exist today, more students whose work and family schedules were not conducive to a traditional MBA program now have access to a graduate education. As management skills are a core requirement for economic prosperity, both the individual and the US economy benefit from greater access. The only drawback is the greater design and delivery costs that the business school incurs by having to offer different hybrids of the same program. But the benefits far outweigh these costs.

HRM. As the global reach of enterprises is increasing, how is executive education adapting to meet this challenge?
RB. Executive programs are aggressively responding to this challenge. Most programs emphasize an understanding of the forces shaping the global economy. Graduates of executive programs are expected to appreciate their role as global citizens, including the ability to understand the richness of cultural diversity. Most EMBA programs today incorporate an international excursion trip in order to immerse participants in an unfamiliar culture. Bradley has taken all of the students in the last four classes to China. Our eye is on India for the next class. Some of the most remarkable programs recruit students and faculty from across the globe and take students to multiple continents.

CM. Today’s global economy demands successful executives have first-hand experience overseas. The Crummer School has focused on the globalization of its students since the 1970s. Today, students have the option of a concentration in international business and concepts regarding the global marketplace are integrated into each course whether it is marketing, management or finance. In addition, students gain a multidimensional understanding of cultural issues and how these affect business as they participate in the Global Research and Study Project (GRASP). This week-long international study trip is incorporated into the curriculum and tuition for our Early Advantage, Corporate and Saturday MBA students and available as an elective for our Professional MBA students.

DG. The global reach of enterprises is putting pressure on business schools to attract students with greater national and geographic diversity than before. Discussions in business school classrooms worldwide now reflect perspectives that probably were not acknowledged before. The content of the curriculum is evolving, and it must continue to do so. The modern business executive must be considerably more sophisticated than his or her predecessor of only a decade ago in terms of knowing how the new world of inter-locking public (government) and private (business) interests works. Also, co-production and co-distribution of executive program curricula is becoming more prevalent. More academic institutions will to find ways to collaborate as the need for learning expands (especially in Asia).

HRM. Finally, can you really teach qualities like leadership and charisma?
CM. Some people are born leaders, but training can help others to hone their skills and make them more effective leaders. Charisma is not a learned quality, but rather one that comes more naturally to some than others. However, not being naturally charismatic does not mean you cannot be a great leader. It is our goal through our Center for Leadership Development to provide a foundation of effective leadership by equipping the student with the knowledge, character and skills to be contributing and effective managers. Participants also become more aware of their personal leadership qualities and style by using a variety of self-assessment metrics.

RB. Peter Drucker said “there may be such a thing as a born leader, but surely there are too few to depend on. Leadership must be learned”. He is not alone in warning that there is a crisis of leadership. The shortage of leaders is acute in developing countries that have a dearth of middle management talent. Many EMBA programs such as Bradley’s are specifically oriented toward developing leaders. We use the resources of the Center for Creative Leadership to help participants learn about their personal leadership style to help them become more effective in every part of their life. We help students develop their own personal growth plan and assign a certified leadership coach to each student to enhance leadership effectiveness throughout the program.

DG. One can learn to become a leader, and one can learn to improve one’s leadership skills. Some great leaders have emerged as they have applied what they have observed in others – the good and the bad. To lead is to induce others to make choices that they might otherwise not make for or by themselves. Strong leaders have different styles. Some may be autocratic, striking fear in their subordinates as they exploit formal power derived from position. Some may be wily or persuasive, giving others the sense that needed change springs from the minds of others. Techniques of leadership can be taught. Leadership only has meaning in the context of real tests that are administered in context beyond the classroom.