Poole Dives Into Exec Education

The Poole College of Management is making waves with its new approach to executive education, following a model more typically seen at university teaching hospitals than business schools. At a meeting with business leaders last week, faculty members spelled out the benefits of the new approach, which helps companies – especially in the technology sector – manage innovation.

Dan McGurrin, director of the new Business Collaboratories, said the university’s “amazing array of resources and activities” is at the heart of the program.

Learn More About Business Collaboratories

Business clients will be able to draw on experts and research in the college’s many Centers of Excellence, including the Center for Innovation Management Studies, the BioSciences Management Initiative and the Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization program. Researchers and graduate students from other disciplines across campus, as well as industry partners, can be brought in to work with clients as needed.

Each customized program will feature six components:

1. A focus on solving a current challenge or problem with a planned effect on identified business outcomes.
2. A sense of accomplishment and ownership that is shared across organizational silos.
3. Research-based, industry proven and tested processes and delivery models managed by team leaders with extensive industry experience.
4. Access to a vast network of global partners, industry experts and academic leaders who actively participate in the development and delivery of solutions.
5. Proven and applied assessments and tools that identify actionable areas of improvement.
6. Serious customization that fosters collaboration, real-time problem solving and fine tuning of content.

The Business Collaboratories website was launched last week, providing details about the program.