Bringing an entrepreneurial spirit to the workplace
In business, where areas such as pricing, services and products are in line with one's competitors, it is often the intangibles that can make the difference. Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan recognises this and has been offering intensive executive education courses for managers and company leaders for more than 20 years.
Initially working from the US for the first 10 years, the school secured its own premises in Hong Kong in 1997, servicing the Asia-Pacific region. However, rather than join the ranks of MBA-offering business schools, it has focused on providing senior management with intensive courses over a few days to upgrade their skills and knowledge.
John Chen, director of executive education for the business school, said the courses brought an entrepreneurial spirit to the workplace, helping companies distinguish themselves from the competition.
'We have found in our discussions with companies that they are looking for leadership, but looking beyond the average leader to someone who has business savvy and is willing to treat the company they work for as if it was their own company. That's why many of our courses focus on the psychology of how to run a business,' he said.
The school targets multinational companies which have regional offices in the Asia-Pacific and local companies which have a regional presence. While companies' internal training programmes can only go so far, even senior management need refresher courses, and the school fills this gap with its courses which are offered predominately in Hong Kong.