Innovative MBA for Executives designed to prepare great leaders; business briefing is 7/17

Purdue University Calumet is poised to prepare leaders who want to be great through an innovative curriculum being introduced this fall within its Saturday MBA for Executives (MBAE) program.

A traditional MBAE curriculum, which emphasized technical knowledge, is giving way to a program that combines hard, technical skill development with the soft, savvy skills of leading people effectively.

“In addition to concrete factual knowledge, today’s global organizations value powerful leadership developed through effective interpersonal competencies,” Director of Purdue Calumet’s MBAE Program and Professor of Marketing Lori Feldman said. “So we have merged the best of traditional MBA programs with the interpersonal skills that characterize great 21st century leadership.”

Along with such traditional MBA staples as accounting, marketing, finance, statistics, business law and economics, fast track leaders will gain insight into such 21st century topics as international business, ethics and corporate governance, organizational behavior and leadership, supply chain management, decision analytics, negotiation and risk management.

To help shape and bolster their leadership skills, all enrollees will receive two hours of personal executive coaching, directed by 20-year, Lore International Institute executive coaching veteran Gary Myszkowski. A former visiting scholar to Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Myszkowski also has coached BP Amoco executives.

The revised curriculum for the 18-month Saturday program will be introduced in September with a 35-student cohort class. Less than 10 openings remain. The program features two concurrent classes at a time—one in the morning and the other in the afternoon—each for five or 10 weeks. All classes are held on the Purdue Calumet campus in a face-to-face format to maximize interaction and development of communication skills.

A Business Briefing (open house) for anyone interested in learning more about the program will take place Thursday (7/17), from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at The Calumet Conference Center on campus.

“In today’s global business world, interpersonal, communication, negotiation, team building and entrepreneurial skills have become just as valuable as technical and analytical skills,” Dean of Purdue Calumet’s School of Management Martine Duchatelet said. “Busy, fast-track executives will gain all of those from our enhanced MBAE program.”

Purdue Calumet tapped into the expertise of successful business alumni, School of Management advisory board business leaders and other business professionals to update a program that debuted in 1998.

“Enriching our core curriculum in a way that integrates hard and soft skill development is vital for enabling current and aspiring executives to become outstanding 21st century leaders,” Feldman said.

Other information can be obtained by phoning 219/989-3150; 800/HI-PURDUE, ext. 3150; or visiting on line www.calumet.purdue.edu/mbae.

News Release Date: July 11, 2008