Executive education

Executive education (ExEd or Exec. Ed) refers to academic programs at graduate-level business schools worldwide for executives, business leaders and functional managers. These programs are generally non-credit and non-degree-granting, but sometimes lead to certificates and some offer continuing education units accepted by professional bodies and institutes. Estimates by Business Week magazine suggest that executive education in the United States is approximately an $800 million annual business with approximately 80 percent provided by university-based business schools. Key players in university-based executive education span elite universities, as well as many regional and mid-sized universities and business schools around the world. Executive education (ExEd or Exec. Ed) refers to academic programs at graduate-level business schools worldwide for executives, business leaders and functional managers. These programs are generally non-credit and non-degree-granting, but sometimes lead to certificates and some offer continuing education units accepted by professional bodies and institutes. Estimates by Business Week magazine suggest that executive education in the United States is approximately an $800 million annual business with approximately 80 percent provided by university-based business schools. Key players in university-based executive education span elite universities, as well as many regional and mid-sized universities and business schools around the world. Customized programs, which are tailored for and offered to executives of a single company, represent the fastest growing segment of the market. Customized programs help organizations increase management capability by combining the science of business and performance management into specialized programs that enable executives to develop new knowledge, skills and attitudes. Knowledge translates into the capability an organization applies to the products and services it brings to the marketplace. Research shows that a firm with a clearly articulated and understood business and capability strategy will have a higher market-to-book value than a firm that does not.