Delivering a benefit to company bottom line

By Ian Grayson for CNN

Employers need to be convinced executive courses will deliver a real benefit.

FT's Executive MBA Rankings
1. Wharton, U.S.
2. Kellogg, U.S.
3. Chicago GSB, U.S.
4. Stern, NY, U.S.
5. Fuqua, Duke, U.S.
6. Hong Kong UST, China
7. Columbia, U.S.
8. Instituto de Empresa, Spain
9. London Business School, UK
10. Tanaka, Imperial College, UK
Source: Financial Times 2005

EMBA SNAPSHOT

Executives taking the top EMBA courses in the U.S., Europe and Asia have average salaries of around $130,000 to $200,000.

A typical EMBA student is likely to be aged in the early 30s, with 6-10 years of working experience.

A top EMBA course can cost $100,000. Customized courses start at a few thousand dollars.

(CNN) -- Business schools go to great lengths to attract students, but also spend considerable time working closely with another important audience: employers.

While course participants are attracted to the idea of executive eduction by the promise of a better career or fatter pay cheque, employers need to be convinced that courses will deliver a real benefit to the company bottom line.

While many students believe that having an MBA on their resume will automatically unlock doors and fast-track them to a corner office, companies are a little more reticent.

Although acknowledging that an MBA is a significant achievement, many look for other indications of future potential and skills.

Shell International's manager of global attraction and recruitment, David Pappie, says large firms tend to make a broad assessment of prospective employees, with academic qualifications being just one factor.

Pappie says Shell uses the three key criteria of "capability, achievement and relationships" when evaluating a potential new staff member.

"There's no doubt an individual pursuing an MBA degree has initiative, drive, leadership, and an interest in developing management skills," he told CNN. "However, we look for specific evidence of these skills being demonstrated."

This desire for evidence of achievement is high on the list of many companies. They realise that, while an individual may have excelled in the classroom, this means little unless that success can be transferred to the working world. The best way to ensure this is the case is to evaluate previous achievements and assess what they mean for future success.

Pappie says the fact that a candidate has achieved an MBA or EMBA degree will not necessarily give the person an advantage over others who have not.

"However it does provide individuals with more holistic approaches, and as such often enables them to demonstrate effective leadership and decision making which we have seen progresses their career in the company more rapidly," he says.

Many companies see MBA course graduates as a way of strengthening their management talent pool for the future. Unless there is an active program to attract and retain young managers, large organisations can find themselves facing a shortage of suitable people in the future.

Refreshed skills

Pappie says Shell has experienced positive results after hiring MBA graduates, as they have brought new insights, leadership, initiative and refreshed business skills to the company.

As well as hiring qualified new recruits, companies are increasingly eyeing their existing executive teams as prospective participants in ongoing education.

But rather than enrolling them in standard courses, they're working with business schools to construct targeted custom courses to get the job done. Indeed many companies tend to be more enthusiastic about investing in custom courses rather than paying for their executives to study for an EMBA.

"Companies are coming to us with a very clear vision of what they want to achieve and they're seeking active and ongoing executive programs to meet their goals," says Australian Graduate School of Management's director of executive programs John Urbano. "They want to see a real impact on their business."

Urbano says much of the benefit for larger companies comes from having executives from different divisions or areas attending a course together. Such cross pollination can result in new ideas and initiatives.

Shell's Pappie says his company works closely with a number of business schools around the world to develop custom programs for executives.

"For example, we have run the Group Business Leadership Programme (GBLP) with IMD since April 2002," he says. "Since then, IMD has run 15 programs training 482 Shell Leaders."

Companies such as Shell see their relationships with business schools as being long-term and strategic. They believe the value delivered by the resulting courses more than justifies the necessary investments in time and money.

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