March 21, 2008

117 International Companies, 25 Nationalities,
One Texas Executive Education Program

By Carolina Sanders

High energy and enthusiasm were in abundance during “Leading for Innovation,” the international program organized by Texas Executive Education for the ESCP-EAP European School of Management in France, Feb. 25-29 in Austin. This year’s program featured an executive MBA group of 130 students representing 117 international companies and 25 nationalities.

The program was a success for both the European participants as well as the coordinators who made arrangements for such a large and diverse group.
 
“We had two goals for the program,” said ESCP-EAP Professor and Dean Frédéric Fréry. “The first goal was to expose our executive MBA participants to U.S. innovative practices. The second goal was to make them capture the unique flavor of the American entrepreneurial spirit. We know we can rely on Texas Executive Education to design and conduct a program for demanding executive MBAs. Moreover, when it comes to innovation, Austin is undoubtedly a benchmark.” 

Innovation and Risk Taking

The program explored innovation management through a series of lectures and discussions, corporate speakers and company visits to National Instruments and Dell.
 
“Company visits link the classroom to the business — the day-to-day running of successful American organizations,” said Chantal Delys, director and assistant dean of Texas Executive Education. “And it was very gratifying to have participants report how enthusiastic and positive Americans are about their work and their company.”
 
The participants said a top discovery of the corporate visits included learning the high value companies place in their employees as a critical source for an organization’s success. In fact, at National Instruments, some were shocked to find that the CEO's office is a cubicle.
 
“The group came back enthused about what they saw and having the wish to replicate it in their environment,” Delys said. “They saw the integrity in American business. They saw a business environment which is very customer-focused while also being a nurturing environment for its employees, where risk-taking is encouraged and where failure isn’t terminal.”
 
Program participant Marie Louise Armstrong is based in the United Kingdom and works for Reed Smith Richard Butler, LLP, one of the largest law firms in the world. “It was of great benefit to have a focus on innovation in the U.S., as it strikes me that U.S. business culture inspires and encourages creative lateral thinking more so than in European corporations,” said Armstrong, who reports that since returning from Austin, her firm has done some restructuring in order to break down barriers to innovation.

"The training we are rolling out to support this process includes exploring double-loop learning, internal market validation and building the team brand, all concepts which were explored in Austin," Armstrong said.
 
As to what she liked best about the program, Armstrong said, “The style of instruction, organization, group interaction, site visits, Bill Clinton [who spoke at UT Austin], the sun and Starbucks. Long live the global brands!”

ESCP-EAP is the result of a merger in 2000 of two institutions: ESCP, the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris, and the EAP, the École Européenne des Affaires. ESCP was founded in Paris in 1819 and is the oldest establishment dedicated to business and finance teaching in the world. Currently, the school has five campuses in Europe: Paris, London, Berlin, Madrid and Torino, Italy.  The group visiting Austin also included several Norwegian students from BI Norwegian School of Management, with whom ESCP-EAP offers a joint MBA degree.

The Teachers

University of Texas Distinguished Teaching Professor John Daly enjoyed teaching such a diverse group of students.

“ESCP-EAP was a wonderful group to work with,” Daly said. “It really was the United Nations, with so many nationalities represented among the students. They were very curious about business in Texas and the U.S. and were especially interested in how entrepreneurial the United States is. They were responsive, interesting and enthusiastic.” 

Daly added, “When you think about it we had the future of business in Europe in one room. Students in this group will be running major businesses in Europe and the world for the next 40 years."

University and McCombs faculty who taught in the program were: Michael Brandl, John Daly, Elota Patton, Rob Adams, Meme Drumwright, Gaylen Paulson and Tim Ruefli.

Putting It Together

The behind the scenes work it takes to make the ESCP-EAP program run seamlessly requires extensive planning and organization skills from Texas Executive Education’s program coordinators. Because of its size, the ESCP-EAP group was divided into four sections with four coordinators to manage the 130 students and seven staff members from ESCP-EAP.
 
“For a program this large, I start planning a year ahead,” said Tracey McGuire,  the lead coordinator from McCombs. “The list is long: hotel contracts, transportation, company visits, timing issues, classroom space, dietary preferences, awards and certificates, in-campus recreational and health center options, luncheon varieties and sites, group photo, photos during program, faculty needs, classroom setups and changes. And of course, most importantly, working with faculty schedules and availability to be able to offer participants concurrent and alternating sessions so all can benefit from the same curriculum. These are some of the variables that require careful planning, attention and juggling.” 

Working along with Tracey to ensure the international guests received the utmost in customer service were Cheryl Lane, Jennifer Smith and Tamara Wood.
 
“The same enthusiasm and positive energy program participants saw in American business practices, was also evident in our coordinators,” Delys said. “The logistics are tremendous in the number of things that have to be planned, especially with such a large group. Our coordinators are professional, competent and not hesitant to take initiative to put customers first. It’s definitely a high energy job.”
 
This initiative was put to the test for Jennifer Smith when vegetarian meals ran out before the last vegetarian could be served for lunch one day. Without missing a beat, she just took command of the situation and took the participant to lunch at Jester, much to his gastronomical delight. And during the group’s visit for dinner at Iguana Grill on Lake Travis, it was Cheryl Lane’s turn to put our guests at ease when a transportation glitch required part of the group to stay and wait a while longer. 
 
“Our coordinators are great managers. They find immediate solutions for problems as they arise, they are firm and gracious with our guests, and they embody our values in front of the clients—hard work and customer focus. They have strong organization and are still able to be flexible,” added Delys.
 
How did the ESCP-EAP group feel about the service they received from these four outstanding professionals? They gave the coordinators a standing ovation!