Executive Education: Developing today’s leaders for tomorrow
Enhancing the community as well as the company is the new African way
Executive education programmes need to keep up to ensure a generation of business leaders who are not only on top of developments, but ahead of the trend. Programmes at graduate-level business schools that cater to executives and managers have had to adapt — not only in programme delivery, but also in educational purpose and learning outcomes. An increased focus, due to the world changing at an exponential rate, is now on making leadership and change management work, as well as facilitating strategic transitions.
In an article published in the Harvard Business Review in 2019, The Future of Leadership Development, Mihnea Moldoveanu and Das Narayandas postulate that “chief learning officers find that traditional programmes no longer adequately prepare executives for the challenges they face today and those they will face tomorrow”.
A successful executive education programme should be defined by its business impact for an organisation; this is the result desired by most top executives. This means that a successful programme is designed with the end goal in mind, and that end goal is business results. Regardless of business type or size, this is a universal goal that all companies and enterprises strive towards. Successful learning is therefore not just about absorbing skills and knowledge and implementing them; it is also about driving impact within the organisation. When we shift this narrative, executive education transitions from being a cost to being an investment.
Education at all levels has had to adjust drastically since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 to incorporate remote learning solutions and virtual platforms. It is evident that things will never revert to the way things were — nor should they. Online learning has progressed far beyond just a shortterm, pandemic-driven necessity. These innovations have led to digital-first, tech-forward teaching modalities and hybrid teaching and learning models that have and will continue to shape the course of executive education going forward.
Executive education for the African context
An MBA (Masters of Business Administration) remains a popular, prestigious and sought-after qualification globally. However, many business students and top executives across the African continent are opting for alternatives — a trend that started long before the arrival of Covid-19 and its disruptions.
Research by the Association of African Business Schools (AABS), as early as 2015, revealed that Africa, with its large, youth- and entrepreneurdriven economies, is seeking a learning experience that is vastly different from the traditional MBA degree. African students were ahead of the trend in demanding short, sharp and blended learning programmes catering specifically to their unique needs.
Increased unemployment has given rise to a generation of business leaders looking to create opportunities rather than just tap into existing structures, and entrepreneurship has shifted from being an add-on or elective to becoming a core offering for most business schools.
The study found that many African students simply do not believe that a traditional MBA is relevant to their desired outcomes or professional needs. Instead, there’s been a sharp increase in the demand for shorter, more modular business courses presented in a hybrid fashion, with a focus on practical implementation of knowledge and components of online learning coupled with in-person sittings.
Values, not value
Businesses must increasingly take more than just profits into consideration. Corporates and their clients are placing an increased importance on environmental sustainability and social responsibility — a value-driven approach to business that executive education programmes have to consider.
African business students are not drawn towards building careers in finance or consulting; they are instead motivated by entrepreneurship
and innovation, with maximum community engagement. Sustainable and ethical business solutions are seen to be a major catalyst for transforming communities, improving living conditions and creating more opportunities for others.
According to a report by Mastercard, the under-35 entrepreneur is more likely to be driven by purpose than profit, with women making up almost half of millennial entrepreneurs. A number of highly sought after business leaders are also electing to stay in Africa and reinvest in their communities and their continent. Rather than seeking greener pastures abroad, they are watering their own fields.
Business schools and executive education programmes have an essential role to play when enabling students to make ethical, meaningful and sustainable changes to the social and economic landscape in Africa, while maintaining operational success and business prosperity.