1. business and industrial

Executive Education: Current Practices and Future Trends
By: Jagjit Singh Maan, and Dr. Sunil Maheshwari
1. What is Executive Education?
Executive education usually refers to programs and courses targeted at professionals working in managerial
and executive roles, or those who aspire to. Most of these executive education programs (EEPs) offered by
business schools last between two and six days, but some can take over a year to complete part-time.
Content-wise, executive education focuses on improving the knowledge and skills needed to become an
effective leader. Most executive programs - unlike management degrees like an MBA, MSc, or Master in
Management - focus on sharpening specific aspects of an executive's toolkit, such as accounting, finance,
strategy, or negotiation. Some executive programs - like modular general management or Executive MBA
programs - do provide more broad training for current and future managers and executives.
Sometimes, specialized executive programs are designed for professionals working in certain industries (like
healthcare or IT), or those working in or transitioning to specific managerial or executive roles.
Executive programs are usually offered on the campuses of business schools, though they can sometimes
take place at other venues like resorts or conference centers. Some providers - particularly those offering
global-oriented programs - take advantage of the short format and international partnerships to offer their
programs in one or more different locations.
In most cases, executive education does not lead to a formal degree (except for an Executive MBA). Some
institutions, however, will offer professional certifications or "certificates of completion." (Next Executive)
The executive education programs are offered in two categories; the first as open-enrolment programs, and
the second as customized programs. Institutions may offer one, or both the categories depending on their
pedigree in education and business philosophy.
Customized programmes are tailored to the specific needs of commissioning organisations. Open-Enrollment
programs are offered to employees of any company and address a specific topic or managerial level.
Illustrated below are the rankings of some eminent institutions around the world that offer executive education.
The two tables separately illustrate the rankings of customized as well as open enrollment programs that is
based on the evaluation criteria like program design, teaching, faculty, skills, aims achieved etc.
Source: (THE FINANCIAL TIMES LTD, 2012)
Source: (THE FINANCIAL TIMES LTD, 2012)
In India, demand for executive programmes is growing rapidly, says Deepak Chandra, deputy dean of the
Indian School of Business in Hyderabad. “The rate of economic growth requires high-quality talent. The
availability of quality education in the past was not adequate.”
Even in the US, where executive programmes have traditionally been delivered locally, it is a similar story.
Mike Malefakis, associate dean for executive education at Columbia Business School, reports that up to 65
per cent of the school’s executive business is from outside the US, with growth driven by countries such as
Brazil and China. “I think there was a period when the larger US schools were a little behind the game. We
were adapting MBA teaching for executive education. Now we understand we have to be much more
proactive. The challenge is how we get ahead of the game.” (Bradshaw, 2012)
2. Other Instructional
Education
Approaches
Towards
Executive
The increasing importance of training and development for enhancing organisational effectiveness has led to
proliferation of training interventions to develop core competencies as well as job specific knowledge and
skills. First, interventions can be directed toward employee and improving individual effectiveness. Thus,
training interventions have been developed to build individual effectiveness by helping individuals accomplish
assigned job duties in an efficient and effective manner, develop interpersonal skills, and revise personal goals
as the organisation changes. Second, the move to team-based work systems and the increasing emphasis on
cooperation and coordination of efforts across functions and departments within an organisation has led to a
number of training interventions to enhance team effectiveness. Interventions have been created to build team
based knowledge and skills such as how to accomplish team goals, how to enhance the internal dynamics of
the team, and how the team can go beyond the status-co to improve systems and processes within the
organisation. Third, there has been a concerted effort in many organisations to increase their emphasis on
building the expertise of their leaders to meet the challenges of the changing workplace and workforce and the
realities of the increasingly global economy. Interventions to enhance leadership effectiveness focus on
building skills such as ensuring that workgroup activities meet organisational goals and objectives, facilitating
the growth and development of effective workgroups, and improving organisational processes, products,
services and resource allocations (Goldstein & Ford, 2007).
2.1 Building Employee Capabilities
This section focuses on training methods and structured learning experiences that develop employees from
initial entry into the organisation (e.g. on-the-job training) and throughout the course of an individual’s career
(e.g. career management / enterprise training). As individuals employees move from new comer status to
established insider in the organisation, employees are often asked to enlarge their knowledge their skill base
and more fully utilize their talents for productive employment. Thus the training goals are usually targeted to
improving technical proficiency as well as developing more general competencies that lead to a more well
rounded individual who can succeed in the workplace over the course of a career (Goldstein & Ford, 2007).
2.1.1 On-The-Job Training (OJT)
On-The-Job Training (OJT) involves assigning trainees to jobs and encouraging them to observe and learn
from experienced job incumbents (Baldwin, 1997). What distinguishes OJT from other instructional methods is
that it is carried out at the workplace, delivered while the learner is engaged in performing work tasks, and
conducted one on one between the trainer and the learner (Rothwell, 1999).
2.2 Building Team Effectiveness (BTE)
Teams consist of a small group of people “with complimentary skills who are committed to a common purpose,
goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable” (Katzenbach & Smith, 1993). Team
members must have clearly defined, differentiated roles and responsibilities and yet must rely on one another
to accomplish goals. To perform effectively, team members must develop an understanding of how their
actions affect and are affected by others (Kozlowski, J., S.M., E.R, & Smith, 1999).
In particular, research has highlighted three key factors that distinguish effective from less effective teams.
First, effective teams have members who are highly skilled and who can effectively complete various tasks
that the team must perform. Individuals must be competent in their roles if they are to become effective team
players. This development of technical competencies of team members has been called taskwork skills (Salas,
T., S.A. &, & Tannenbaum, 1992). To build taskwork skills, individual team members must be trained to be
proficient relevant to their major job duties. Within teams, individuals must also have a large range of skills
than specific technical proficiency to help the team perform to its fullest.
Second, effective teams have highly developed team working skills in which individual members understand
what it takes for a team to work together well as a unit. Teamwork skills are those related to functioning
effectively as a team member. The skills focus on the interaction among team members independent of tasks
to be performed. To mention a few they are skills of adaptability, leadership and team management,
interpersonal relations, coordination, communication, decision making etc.
Third, effective teams develop process improvement skills that allow team members to address pressing
issues that place constraints on team performance. A core competency for performance improvement is
problem-solving skills so that team members can identify key problems, analyze root causes, and develop
solutions to improve the way the team operates within the organisation. Rather than being satisfied with
maintaining the status quo, effective teams become drivers for change in an organisation (Goldstein & Ford,
2007).
Training methods developed to enhance taskwork, teamwork, and process improvement skills are described
next.
2.2.1 Cross Training (CT)
The goal of cross training (CT) is for all individuals on a team to learn two or more of the jobs that must be
performed by the team. With CT, team members acquire knowledge and skills beyond those previously
required so that they can successfully perform the work duties of other members of the workteam. CT is
typically implemented by organisations to increase flexibility in staff positions, to prevent employee
obsolescence, and to allow teams to become self-managed and autonomous.
Cross training usually involves the development of train-the-trainer systems in which an experienced team
member trains the others to become proficient in a variety of job tasks (Goldstein & Ford, 2007).
2.2.2 Interpositional Training (IPT)
One method for enhancing cooperation and coordination of efforts in a team is to facilitate the development of
what has been called interpositional knowledge. The goal of IPT is not for members to become cross-trained.
Although on may acquire a great deal of knowledge of their teammates duties, the goal of interpositional
training is for individuals to acquire working knowledge of the tasks performed by one’s teammates and the
interconnections among them in this way, the training can lead to the building of a shared mental model
among team members as to how the team operates and thus what type of cooperation and coordination is
needed to be an effective team. With IPT the goal is to facilitate implicit coordination among team members
and foster greater team adaptability.
2.2.3 Challenge Education and Adventure Learning (CEAL)
This learning perspective involves the use of intact teams exposed to difficult or unfamiliar physical and mental
challenges in an outdoor (and sometimes indoor) environment. The focus is on individual and team problemsolving challenges. The goals of these activities are for a team of participants to explore strategies for
enhancing teamwork, building trust, developing support networks, and incorporating risk management
strategies into team decision-making. At a personal level, the courses can help individuals acquire skills in
taking initiative, making decisions, and setting personal improvement goals. The interventions include such
activities as ropes courses, rock climbing, rappelling, sailing, rafting, and wilderness exploration.
2.2.4 Action Learning (AL)
Adult learning theory highlights the important role of learners as active participants in their own learning
process. Action learning approaches have been developed to allow participants to reflect, experiment, and
learn from experiences that have implications for enhancing team effectiveness. The AL approach emphasizes
that much learning occurs by dealing directly with work-related issues during a formal training session. The
focus of the training is to understand and solve complex, real-life problems (Goldstein & Ford, 2007).
2.3 Experience-Centered Learning (ECL)
Experience-Centered Learning focuses on the importance of job activities that evoke continuous learning and
improvement. ECL is based on the assumption that challenges in the job itself can stimulate learning. From
this perspective, opportunities for ECL must be created for individuals in their job assignments to develop
critical competencies for success. Leaders who have been questioned as to what factors had the greatest
impact on developing their managerial competencies most often pointed to direct work experience followed by
mentoring or tutoring by more senior leaders. Learning from formal training programs was seen as having
much less impact on developing leadership competencies (McCall, Lombardo, & & Morrison, 1988). This
section focuses on the research on job challenge and development through coaching and mentoring.
2.3.1 Job Assignment and Challenges (JAC)
According to (London, 1989), there are two types of learning situations: incremental and frame breaking.
Incremental learning situations are those that provide time to clarify role expectations and flexibility for selfpaced learning. Fundamental competencies are thus gained in a fairly linear fashion. Frame-breaking learning
experiences place individuals in difficult positions without many initial preparations. Such situations require the
acquisition of a large number of new skills in order to be successful. Frame breaking requires individual
investment with a high potential for learning, but also a high risk of failure.
2.3.2 Coaching & Mentoring (C&M)
Individuals can also gain enhanced leadership competencies from learning partners (tutors) or mentors whose
role is to work with and coach less experienced leaders. These mentors are at an organisational level above
the less experienced leader or protégé but are not their supervisor. The goal of the C&M process is to
enhance skills in a focused, effective, and efficient manner so as to shorten the time it takes to become
proficient and avoid costly trial-and-error approaches to learning (Murray, 1999).
Mentors typically fill three roles for a protégé. One role is to create a supportive environment where the
protégé feels comfortable talking about work related issues or problems (Noe, 1988). In this role, the mentor
can help the protégé not to become discouraged when things go wrong and can offer counseling about how to
handle difficult situations. Mentors can also provide the protégé with insights, encouragement, and recognition
for success in order to build the protégé’s sense of competence.
A second role is one of being improvement-oriented. The mentor provides feedback to the protégé as to how
learn and improve his or her performance on the job (McCauley & Douglas, 1998). A third role is more career
focused in which the mentor provides the protégé with challenging work assignments and increases the
protégé’s exposure and visibility to top management (Yulk, 1998). In this way, the mentor helps the protégé to
be better prepared to handle future promotions and assignments.
Research supports the conventional wisdom of linking individuals with mentors who are interested in
developing others and have the coaching skills needed to affect change in others. Quality mentoring relations
facilitate career advancement and job satisfaction of protégés and may also have a positive impact on the
mentors who learn new skills or competencies from the experience.
2.4 Global Leader Development (GLD)
Future leaders will have to be very skilled individuals. Not only will they have to deal with the traditional issues
of managing others, but they will also have to perform these activities at a time when jobs are becoming
increasingly complex. The workforce is becoming more diverse. In addition, national and international
competition is becoming increasingly intense. More and more organisations are crossing international lines.
The increase in multinational companies requires leaders to coordinate efforts with leaders in other countries.
The teams may be made up of employees located anywhere in the world. In addition to working with people in
other cultures, many leaders must also have the competencies to succeed in overseas work assignments. In
all of these cases organisations need to develop leaders who can (1) enhance the contribution of a diverse
workforce, (2) adapt to the demands of international assignments, and (3) address the new reality of global
roles and responsibilities.
3. Research Objective & Method
Samatvam Academy conducted a field research in order to meet the following objectives:
1. To tap the various instructional approaches of training and development, which organisations found
relevant and best for their executives in the past.
2. To learn the emerging trends that organisations foresee with respect to executive education, especially
when the landscape of business is changing very fast.
In order to meet the research objectives, our target
population was senior executives who are honoring
roles either in the HR function or are leading the
organisations as CEOs.
Further in order to assimilate comprehensive data, a
total sample size of 25 executives was considered appropriate. Amongst this sample size of 25 executives, 7
are corner office executives (CEOs) and 18 are HR Heads of leading development friendly organisations. The
average professional experience of the sample population is 20 years. Therefore they are patrons who have
been testing the waters of executive education practices in their organisations. The professional details of the
respondents and their companies’ are mentioned below.
Since the research objectives are clear and crisp, the interview approach taken was semi-structured, as we
wanted to receive focused answers that would help analyze the critical incidents pertinently. Following the
semi-structured approach of interviewing, an interview guide was formulated that mentioned two-focused
questions.
Q1. What is the best training that you have ever personally experienced, and how did this influence
your development as a professional?
Q2. What trends do you foresee with respect to executive education worldwide?
The respondents were allowed to spend, as much time they wanted in answering each of these questions.
Their responses were digitally recorded and transcribed later. After a final transcribed copy was ready, the
document was sent to the respective respondents for review and authentication.
Professional Details of Sample Population
4. Coding Responses for Question 1
The first question - the best training(s) that the executives ever experienced, and its impact on their
development – was meant to generate data around the following:
•
Different instructional approaches or training methods organisations found best to train their executives.
•
How effective have the executives found those trainings to be?
•
Draw a conclusion on what is the most prevalent instructional approach or training method in the in the
present dynamic business environment.
With the process of coding, the answers of all the 25 executives to this particular question were broken down
into component parts, and labels (names) were assigned to those that seemed to be of potential theoretical
significance and/or that appear to be particularly salient within the social worlds of those being studied.
Mentioned below is the Coded Chart for the responses of first question that shows the broken down, carefully
examined, compared, conceptualized and categorized data.
Coded Chart for Question 1
5. Interpretation and Analysis of answers to Question 1
56% of the total sample population reports EEPs as their best training experience:
The matrix above reveals that 14 out of 25 respondents (about 56%) have converged on Executive Education
Programs (EEPs) as the most prevalent training intervention when it comes to organisations taking training
decisions for their executives.
Mr. Mahesh Madhavan, President & CEO (South Asia), and Area Director (South East Asia), for Bacardi,
vividly remember the Bacardi Leadership Seminar from the year 2000. He reveals, Bacardi had nominated 50
executives to the university of Virginia. He categorically says, “The high point was not what we learnt in the
class. Rather, it was the bonding that developed amongst the fifty colleagues coming from different parts of the
Bacardi world. After that seminar together, we could effortlessly pick up the phone and seek help from one
another informally.” The other program that had tremendously influenced his perception was titled as “Being
the Powerhouse of Your Life”. It taught positive thinking, by demonstrating how one can change actual on-theground situations with the aid of constructive thinking. He further says, “I have personally seen situations
change for the better when we approach them with a positive manner and intent. We take all our employees
through such training programs so that a positive environment is built throughout the company, and everybody
is aligned in the same direction.”
“With respect to structured learning programs, I have attended two of them that were particularly remarkable”,
adds Mr. Jehangir Ardeshir, President and Managing Director, Terex India. One was the General Management
Program (GMP) conducted by CEDEP at Fontainebleau, and the other by Prof. Manfred Kets de Vries at
INSEAD, which was a Personal Development Program (PDP). He values the formal inputs given, and the
opportunity to network informally during the GMP program, and considers the PDP learning opportunity not
meant for those whose constitution was not strong enough to withstand it. “Basically, you managed to get a
look at yourself through the eyes of some 15 other people belonging to cultures mostly very different from your
own. Personally, it was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. It was almost like being naked in front
of the crowd”, he says.
For Mr. Srikant Lonikar, Joint President – HR, Adani Power, an opportunity to learn in a structured manner is
one of the finest treasures that can land into the learners lap. The program that really gave him the functional
edge was the Strategic HR workshop that he attended at the University of Michigan - Ross School of
Business. Emphasizing on the quality of learning that occurs through idea sharing and interacting with fellow
learners, he says, “the class comprised largely of HR Heads of global companies, the opportunity to interact
closely with these stalwarts was an immense learning by itself. We were tasked with a lot of project work that
involved the analysis of case studies. This helped us glean insights from every organisation's experience. Both
the content and the process of learning at that program were so powerful that I am able to practice it even
today.”
Recalling a gusto team development and influential skills program conducted in UK by one of his erstwhile
organisations named Ciba Geigy, Mr. Sangram Tambey, the former Director – Group HR of Piramal Group,
feels that the program marked the beginning of his professional evolution. It offered him precious opportunity
to mingle and interact with a multi- cultural, cross-functional set of professionals who had come from different
parts of the globe.
The other ten respondents who have confirmed successful professional development through executive
education programs (EEPs) are former Chief Operating Officer of SAP India Pvt. Ltd., Mr. Alok Goyal, who
attended a personal leadership development program. He liked the insightful journey in the program where
other twenty co-learners provided feedback to him as the part of the course curriculum, in the presence of the
coach. Mr. Piyush Upadhyay, the former Executive Director – Human Resource & Administration, at
Volkswagen India, explains the functional depth of the ‘Advanced Human Resource Executive Program’ that
he attended at the University of Michigan, which was conducted by the Ross School of Business. The unique
principles learnt at an HR program conducted by CII have fascinated Mr. Roopak Vasistha, who is the Vice
President of HR of Dr. Lal Path Labs. Mr. Deodutta Kurane, who is the Group President – Human Capital
management at Yes Bank, very dotingly remembers the lecture on Toyota Production System (TPS). He had
read about TPS earlier, but the unique insights that emerged from the training were mind-boggling, he
confirms. Mr. Yashwant Mahadik, who leads Philips India, as Vice President HR, reports one such landmark
learning experience. During his stint at Johnson & Johnson he attended a weeklong ‘Corporate Athlete
Program’ at Singapore that opened new horizons for him when he learnt how managing and improving health
and vitality can contribute towards attainment of ones life vision. “It was one of the most wonderful weeks of
my life, and I practice those lessons till date”, he says. The former Executive Director HR of Xerox India, Mr.
Manmohan Kalsy, also confirms honing his recruiting skills by employing “Targeted Selection” tool that he
learnt in one of the DDI workshops. He recommends, “The tool has been really beneficial in selecting talent
very accurately”. The HR veteran, Mr. Arun Sehgal, who leads Glaxo Smith Kline (Consumer Healthcare) as
Executive Vice President HR, considers himself fortunate to have attended one of the Steven Covey’s training
programs. He affirms that the program has helped him significantly in managing his work, empowering himself,
taking ownership of his work, and in keeping himself inspired.
“Attending a series of Human Process Labs with Somnath Chattopadhyay and Dipankar Roy have deeply
shaped my thinking and approach towards life and human behaviour”, so says the former Chief Human
Resource Officer of Tata Chemicals, Mr. B. Sudhakar. Two structured learning opportunities were really
valuable for Mr. Anil J Gole, who is the Executive Vice President and Head HR of Greaves Cotton; One was a
training program on “Building Trust” by Khursheed Merchant, and the second by Homi Mulla on “Relationship
Management” (‘Nine by Nine Managers’). The former had taught him the importance of trust and how one
must learn to trust people, and the latter built his capability as a manager and educated him on how to score
high on people as well as the decision making side simultaneously. Mr. V.J Rao, the former Country Head –
HR at Suzlon had a wide-ranging learning exposure through executive education programs. He had attended
various training programs designed by professors from Harvard Business School, London Business School,
University of Michigen and even some personal growth labs that increased his sensitivity to people and
organisations. Attending the program by Prof. Wayne Brockbank around linking HR strategy with business
strategy was a memorable exposure, he confirms.
Thus we saw how a variety of EEPs have contributed towards the professional development of these fourteen
executives. Four out of these fourteen respondents (about 29%) further reveal how having experienced and
multinational Co-Learners in Class simulates learning. They positively influence the learning process through
close knit relations (bonding), are formal network of connections that can be called upon during times of need
in the future, are sources of ideation that encourage looking at a problem through multiple lenses, and are
those who create a multicultural, cross-functional and informal learning environment.
48% of the total sample population reports OJT as their best training experience:
The second most sought after training method for executive development is found to be ‘On-The-Job Training’
(OJT). Respondents who have reported OJT to be their best learning experience ever are 12 out of the sample
population of 25 (48% of the total sample population). Let us see what do respondents have to say about this
method of development.
Mr. Madhvan axiomatically admits that his best training experiences have been on the job, and in the field.
Hindustan Lever has been a fine training ground for Mr. Rajat Jain. As per him, every new job has been an
automatic on the job training, and diving into the deep end normally has been a highly learning experience for
him most of the times. Mr. Jehangir Ardeshir has learnt much by working with excellent leaders. The first was
Dr. J.J. Irani, the then Managing Director at Tata Steel. Under his stewardship, Tata Steel became rated as
one of the world’s most competitive steel plants. The second was Mr. B. Muthuraman, who succeeded Dr.
Irani as the MD. And the third would be Mr. S.A. Sabavala the Vice-Chairman of Tata Steel for many years in
the JRD Tata era and one of the grand old men of Tatas. He further adds that all three of them were
extraordinary personalities in their own unique ways, and it was a huge opportunity to just watch them and
soak things up as they went about executing their responsibilities. Dr. Rajiv Kumar (former Secretary General,
FICCI) remembers developing intellectual heights and the analytical rigor during his five-year stint at the
Oxford University. His second formidable learning experience was the five-year “on-the-job” apprenticeship
with Dr. K.B Lal at ICRIER. He further adds humbly, “I learnt a whole array of qualities and perspectives from
him. Much of what I am today, I owe to him.” Dr. Om Manchanda (CEO, Dr. Lal Path Labs) convincingly says
that much of his skills in decision making, and running operations profitably, come from his earlier stint at
Hindustan Unilever. He further comments that it was at Monsanto – another former organisation – where he
learnt how team approach helps an organisation to realize its potential. Remembering his laborious days at
Lintas as a trainee in client servicing, Mr. Sanjeev Bikhchandani (Vice Chairman – Infoedge India Ltd., and
Founder – Naukri.com) advocates hard work. He talks of sailing through tough situations by successfully
building relationships, a skill that he learnt with experience at Lintas. Thanking his bosses from the previous
organisations Mr. Deodutta Khurane vividly remembers his first job in the factory’s canteen. Though initially
hesitant, he soon got to know how important it was to learn canteen operations to gain perspective on
Industrial Relations. However undignified it may sound to modern day management graduates, this
experience, provided him invaluable ‘hands-on’ management education about operations management,
material management, cost control and finance. It oriented him to understand issues at a ground level and
come up with solutions. Mr. P.K. Gupta (Executive Director – HR & Training, GAIL India) considers all those
interactions a valuable learning experience that took place with his parents, friends, teachers and colleagues
till date. Mr. N.S. Rajan (Partner at Ernst & Young) anecdotally conveys his point by saying that one may
either put somebody into a great amount of training to prepare him/her for a war, or may actually send him/her
to the battle ground and may be cover up for the person instead. Out of the two learning methods, what
worked for him is the latter one. Learning to sail through worst markets in the sales assignments was a
tremendous training ground for him. He thus assures that adversity can be a great teacher. Mr. Anil Sharma
(Vice President – HR, ITC – Hotels Division) fondly remembers his best learning experience that was a
yearlong stint as an Executive Assistant to Mr. Deveshwar, who is the current chairman of ITC. When he tried
to put himself into Mr. Deveshwar’s shoes he realized the enormity of the vision. He admits that for the first
time he realized his inadequacies but also learnt more in the process of confronting them. Mr. P Dwarkanath
(Director – Group Human Capital, Max India) invariably mentions that on the job is the best training. He recalls
starting his career in employee relations, and later getting involved in merger and acquisition projects. Mr.
Ronald Sequeira (Executive Director – HR, GSK Pharmaceuticals (South Asia)) applies a 70-20-10 principle
towards learning. He says 70% of the professional learning happens on the job. He considers himself blessed
to have got a rich learning opportunity as a management trainee with Union Carbide. As a result of such
rigorous training, he says, even now, his decisions tend to be more real, more pragmatic, and help deliver
what needs to be done at the ground level.
28% of the respondents report ECL as their best training experience:
The third very important and significant finding is about Experience Centered Learning that may happen either
through Job Assignment & Challenge (JAC) or by Coaching & Mentoring (C&M) on the job. A total of 7 out of
25 (28%) respondents reported ECL as their best learning experience. Out of these 7; 6 respondents vouch for
Job Assignment & Challenge method as the best learning method and 1 respondent shared C&M as his best
learning experience.
Dr. Om Manchanda reports a unique experience from his stint at Monsanto. He feels, responsibility of his own
development was pushed down to him, as he had to periodically report about the steps he had taken towards
developing his sub-ordinates – a skill that he himself was not sure of and was in the process of learning.
“Experiential Learning is the only true learning”, says Mr. Girish Johar (Vice President – HR & Organization,
Ericsson India). When he was running the administration function in Erricson, he was entrusted with the
responsibility to lead the developing of the Ericsson office in Cyber City, Gurgaon. Though without any prior
knowledge about developing infrastructure and building facilities, he still solved the puzzle by sitting with the
experts in this area to learn many technical things about the real estate business. From this experience he
recommends that an open mind is needed to become knowledgeable in any area, which helps in grasping the
concept and practice quickly. Confirming the old adage that failures are the pillars of success, Mr. Rajeev
Dubey (President – Group HR & After markets, and Member of the Group Executive Board, Mahindra &
Mahindra) humbly admits that some of his failures have been great teachers for him. Such moments have
helped him connect with the strengths of his own self. He says, he assumes a questioning bent of mind upon
encounter with failures - "What have I learnt form this? What have I learnt about myself? What have I learnt
about the situation? What have I learnt about other people? In what way can I come back to life with renewed
rigor and resilience?” – He reports, if he could come out of any failure without being depressed, and without
being bitter, then there was a great power or learning that came to him. Mr. P. Dwarakanath says, though he
had started his career handling employee relations, he could learn all about Mergers and Acquisitions only
when he availed a different opportunity that came his way. Mr. Ronald Sequeira’s 70-20-10 formula of learning
has 20% weightage assigned to those projects or assignments that one handles being on the job. Mr. V.J Rao
says, “my career assignments have held out tremendous learning lessons for me”. After graduating from Tata
Institute of Social Sciences most of his jobs were in big organisations where he had to lead and be responsible
for entire gamut of the HR Functions. He recalls an incident from his first stint at Crompton Greaves Ltd. where
the highly unionized culture led him to face confrontational situations at a very young age.
Talking about coaching and mentoring (C&M) as his second best learning that has personally been of
immense benefit to Mr. P Dwarakanath, he fondly remembers two of his erstwhile bosses. He recollects, one
of the bosses was the International HR Director of Glaxo Smith Kline who had taught him the art of “tough
love” - softness and firmness at the same time – and also mentored him; how to differentiate between one's
personal and professional interests / influences.
12% of the respondents consider GLD as their best training experience:
Out of 25 the 3 respondents (12%) mention about Global Leader Development (GLD) Programs as their best
learning experience. Mr. Alok Goyal talks about the Sustainable Leadership Program, in which, the facilitators
encouraged the participants of the program to meet with a bunch of leaders in a different sphere of life. The
achievement of those leaders were outstanding he says. These people have delivered highly uncommon acts
from very common people and created large pools of leaders where one never imagined they existed. Meeting
people who have accomplished some meaningful things for the society without any budgets or infrastructure
was a real eye opener for Mr. Goyal. Mr. Sangram Tambe had a precious opportunity to mingle and interact
with a multi-cultural, cross-functional set of people who had come from different parts of the globe, when he
attended a team development and influencing skills workshop at UK. Mr. B. Sudhakar who attended the
International Consortium Program (ICP) found it to be exceedingly useful. This program that conducted by the
Tata Group HR, helped him to learn about how different economies and diverse cultures work. It really helped
transform his mindset from the typical Indian manager to that of a global leader.
8% of the respondents report BTE as their best training experience:
The 2 respondents who talk of their best experience in the category of Building Team Effectiveness (BTE) are
Mr. Sangram Tambe and Mr. Anil J Gole (Executive Vice President and Head HR, Greaves Cotton). The team
development and influential skills workshop that Mr. Tambe attended in the UK was an event of immense
personal reflection and self-analysis that helped him immensely. Thus it was an Action Learning (AL)
experience for Mr. Tambe. As a part of his third best learning experience, Mr. Anil J. Gole illustrates an
outbound training program, where he had done rappelling. That program built his resolve to live up to his
commitments, come what may. It also helped him develop the daring to face difficult situations, when required.
Thus it was a Challenge Education and Adventure Learning (CEAL) program under the BTE category.
6. Coding Responses for Question 2
Upon asking the second question – What trends do you foresee with respect to executive education
worldwide? – Many executives converged on particular methods of training & development while others
focused on different types of skills that will become important in times to come. With the help of coding
technique the responses are tabulated below.
Coded Chart for Question 2
7. Interpretation and Analysis of answers to Question 2
32% of the respondents converge on ECL based training trends:
Unequivocally, the respondents who advocate that Experience-Centered Learning (ECL) will increase in the
future are also 8 in number, out of 25. Among these 8 respondents, 4 talk about Coaching & Mentoring (C&M)
practice and the remaining 4 about Job Assignment & Challenge (JAC) based learning.
Mr. Mahesh Madhavan believes that coaching and mentoring are the finest tools for leadership education.
Leaders who have previously been chastened by the fire can really help their colleagues gain quick- wins, and
enable swift learning. In the view of Mr. Alok Goyal, leadership training of the future would include coaching
and mentoring coming from a leader other than one’s direct manager. He recommends that each one of us
select a mentor for ourselves. In turn, we should also pick out a colleague and act as a mentor to him / her.
Such experience sharing with a protégé can be a mutually beneficial leadership development practice.
Pointing towards more individual-centric training practices, Mr. Manmohan Kalsy says that the learning
intervention of the future shall fully take into account the learning style of each participating individual. The
learning curriculum as well as the development plan shall be co-created between the executive and the
facilitator. Executive coaching is on top priority for Mr. Anil Sharma, and he says it is the first thing that India
needs to look at. Mentioning the name of a few elite executive coaches, he says that it is important to interface
with thought leaders in ones own field.
Talking about JAC based learning trends Mr. Arun Sehgal says that experience-centered learning will be
favoured over classroom-based learning. Transformational education will overpower informational-based
learning practices. Mr. Sudhakar firmly believes that adult learning happens through experiential approach.
According to him a good leader is one who understands the nuances of people and processes - not just
conceptually, but also experientially. Mr. Girish Johar says that executive education of the future would add
value to managers only when it is perceived to be practically helping in addressing the challenges at hand.
They may develop further interest only when they are in a position to employ their learning in the service of
managing their issues uniquely. He says that executive education offerings of the future would need to be
extremely practical, credible, of good quality and be able to address the individual as a whole, in a nutshell.
Mr. Ronald Sequeira very encouragingly says that executive education of the future must focus on providing
people with leadership experiences, which can't come about purely by classroom exercises. According to him,
executive education has to deliver value in terms of creating "live" learning environments. This can be done by
taking people out from their comfort zone, and helping them learn to manage in unstructured environments. It
might mean that executives would be guided through corporate social responsibility projects lasting a year or
eighteen months. Here, they will not have access to the larger organizational infrastructure, and would need to
manage with limited resources. The executives would be required to take decisions on the spot, and manage
like entrepreneurs. Somebody who goes through that kind of a process is bound to have a completely different
perspective of the world, and on how different situations should be approached, he says.
28% of the respondents agree that EEP will be preferred in the future:
7 out of 25 respondents agreed that Executive Education Programs would continue to be in vogue, even in the
future. Mr. Rajat Jain, emphasis the point that executives are ready to invest in education beyond their postgraduation. He says, they don’t mind taking a career break after having worked for say, ten years and
attending the Executive Development Program, either at Harvard or at Wharton. “Corporations are realizing
the worth of their key managers, and are willing to pay any price to develop them optimally - even developing
long-term alliances with best universities across the world to get their leaders trained”, says Mr. Sanjeev
Bikhchandani. According to Mr. Roopak Vasishtha executive education is fast gaining popularity, and may BSchools are now getting better known for their executive education programs than for post-graduate degree
education. “The best part of executive education is that the faculty members who teach in such programs also
carry immense industry experience with them”, he says. Mr. Deodutta Kurane propounds that executive
education will bloom in the future to the extent that it can deliver on providing cross functional education by
way of broadening the leadership syllabus. He further adds that mingling of disciplines will become more
important in the future, and the emerging business roles would require multidisciplinary knowledge. Mentioning
about the customized learning, Mr. Yashwant Mahadik says that top ranking B-Schools like IIM-A and Wharton
have started customizing their programs to suit a particular corporation’s unique and specific organizational
need. Mr. Shrikant Lonikar says that business schools like IIMs, or the Wharton School, or AIM Manila, are the
favourites when companies want to enter into long-term executive education tie-up(s). Apart from this,
consulting firms are also employed to help manage certain niche areas of learning, he adds. He also
categorically mentions that executive education is most required by executives at times of career transition, for
the competencies that help a person to succeed as a General Manager may not be sufficient or adequate to
help one perform well as a Vice-President. Mr. Anil J Gole makes us remember that the world’s first university
was the one at Nalanda, in India. He predicts that modern Indian educational institutions like IIMs will keep
progressing to eventually become world class. Thus, executive education will have a tremendous scope
worldwide.
24% of the respondents agree that GLD will be the way forward:
Mr. Rajiv Kumar says that any leadership development curriculum must necessarily place a much greater
emphasis on the ability of the leader to form, nurture and leverage social networks. He also says that since the
scope of business canvas has changed globally in the last few years, it is important for Indian leaders to think
internationally, and make all their decisions bearing the global context in mind. Dr. Om Manchanda specifically
says that executive education of the future must become highly culture-specific. Mr. Alok Goyal expresses the
need to rotate people across functions and geographies so as to diversify the skill-sets of people. This will
expose them to the thought process of leaders other than their own, especially if the leaders have been
instrumental in creating the organization’s success. Mr. Deodutta Kurane says that in today’s global business
context, the ability to manage business across boundaries will be a key requirement. This means professionals
will need to have sufficient knowledge of cultural differences besides the technical aspects such as Legal,
compliance/regulatory guidelines in different countries. Mr. Arun Sehgal also concedes that executive
education is becoming less local and more global. This makes perfect sense, as it is very cost effective. As the
business is becoming more global, the boundaries are going away, the countries are getting closer, the
cultures are kind of becoming similar, and the differences are no more. Thus, there are going to be more and
more global schools for teaching executives. Mr. Sudhakar foresees that organizations will introduce more
structured processes of exposing their leaders to diverse cultures, different countries and various economies.
Less and less programs will be held in just one geographical location. Instead, different modules of a program
will be conducted in different cultural settings. Thus 6 out of 25 respondents predict that global leadership
development (GLD) is fast becoming mandatory for leaders of dynamic organisations.
Other responses regarding future of Executive Education:
Many respondents directly or indirectly converged on the need to develop soft skills of the executives. Like,
Mr. Mahesh Madhavan says, that there is no doubt that the technical side of the work is important. However,
leadership is perhaps more a matter of the heart. When people go too heavy on intellect, we find aggression,
anger and greed emerging. He hopes that leadership education of the future gives a little more emphasis to
the heart, so as to create that balance of intuition and intellect within the leader’s self. In terms of content, Mr.
Rajat Jain says that soft skills are relatively more important for leaders. Dr. Rajv Kumar has clearly indicated
that leaders who think narrowly in purely profit maximization terms will no longer make a mark. One has to
think in terms of maximizing the social capital, which actually yields responsible profitability in a fairly
automatic manner. He also says that it is high time business houses must start giving due importance to soft
and elusive concepts like ethics. In the same vain Mr. P.K Gupta says that today, the meaning and purpose of
"education" in our country is shifting towards the provisioning of vocational training. It is giving you the
knowledge and skills, but not the values. He look upon true education as a discipline that helps prepare a
"complete" human being. Being very hopeful he says that people will slowly start realizing that purely monetary
gain is not sufficient for satisfaction in life. Mr. B. Sudhakar very confidently says that five years from now one
of the key criteria for CEO selection will be the individual's ability to manage human processes. Social
sciences will receive due recognition for their critical role in executive education, at last. Mr. Rajeev Dubey has
started noticing that all executive programs are now beginning with introspection and with an understanding of
the self. He adds that there will be much change, complexity and uncertainty in the business environment of
the future. Thus, one's sense of purpose and connectedness - to who one is as an individual, and as an
organization - is going to become critical to navigate the changing tides and the shifting sands of the brave
new world.
8. Conclusion
The answers to the two basic questions have provided
meaningful data to meet the purpose of this study. For
both the questions, the answers were categorized
under specific instructional approaches or training
methods employed by modern day organisations. After
analyzing the responses, a refined picture on best
practices and future trends of executive education has
emerged. Upon comparing the two we may now draw
the following conclusion.
The most prevalent method of training executives is
through Executive Education Programs (EEP) with
global universities like Wharton or Harvard. As reported by the respondents themselves, learning for the sake
of knowledge was not the only motive behind attending such programs. There were other significant benefits
that apparently got roped-in. Those benefits are opportunity to network with other global executives of either
the same or other multinational organizations. Apart from one’s own perspective, leaders learnt how to view
and analyze the same problem from different dimensions. One also would get aware of the contemporary
global practices in management and leadership. Not to underestimate that the convenience of getting in touch
with the fellow alumnus to seek advice or help on frozen challenging situations is a great perk that EEP could
offer. However, while this method of training will still remain prevalent in times to come, it will soon be
overtaken by the rising demand of ECL based practices. This is because many respondents in a nutshell
believe that the greatest impact on developing their managerial and leadership competencies is most often
related directly to the challenging job assignments that they are entrusted with, and also the coaching and
mentoring received from more senior leaders in the system.
It is also very striking to see GLD based practices pacing very fast, and almost standing close to EEP method
of learning. One may question why? The answer lies in the interviews that respondents have given. In totality,
they say, the world is shrinking as the marketplace is becoming increasingly global in scope. Global leadership
practices are becoming increasingly viewed as a key competitive advantage for firms as they enter the
international markets. Thus the role demands for leaders in global organization like Glaxo Smith Kline, and
SAP are increasingly becoming multifaceted. Their roles in the future may include motivating multicultural
teams, managing information across multiple time zones, maintaining a variety of relationships across
countries that have different laws and standards, finding ways to customize products and services to meet the
needs of a variety of markets and customers, and negotiating in different business environments and cultures.
Thus, this study meets its two-fold objective. First, by being able to show what are the developmental practices
or training methods that organisations found best for educating their executives all this while. And second,
through the eyes of the respondents, we could take a leap into the future and deduce what training methods
will boom or burst in the future, specially when the business landscape is changing at the speed of
imagination.
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