McDonough Named a Global Leader in Executive Education
The Financial Times recently ranked the McDonough School of Business’ custom executive education program fourth in the United States and fifteenth in the world.
The ranking placed McDonough’s program higher than many well-established programs at other prestigious business schools such as the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and MIT’s Sloan School of Business.
Personal Connection to Clients
One of the primary metrics for the Financial Times ranking is clients’ perceptions of the quality and delivery of the program—a point of pride for the McDonough executive education team, which strives to deliver individualized programming to every client.
“What differentiates Georgetown McDonough's custom programs team is that we start by listening, not just presenting. We want to understand their business, which may be a not-for-profit or a government agency, the leader’s priorities, and how our program would fit in that larger context,” says Ashley Baker, associate dean for custom programs.
McDonough’s commitment to executive education starts at the top. “The personal connection we build with clients is very important to us,” says Senior Associate Dean for Executive Education and Innovation Paul Almeida. “It enables us to build impactful, customized programs tailored to meet their specific goals.”
At McDonough, Georgetown professors work with a diverse array of organizations that send their top executives to take part in a tailored curriculum. While each program varies, a commitment to enhancing leadership capacity throughout the organization is the common objective.
International organizations in particular choose Georgetown for its expertise in how to conduct business across different cultures. One such client was Rio Tinto, an international mining and metals corporation that employs over 60,000 workers in 40 different countries. Before enrolling its executives in a Georgetown custom program, Rio Tinto had no formal system to engage with stakeholders who often came from varying complex political and socioeconomic environments. The company worked with Georgetown faculty to develop a four-day program to train their executives on a standardized program to successfully engage and communicate with stakeholders from all over the world. More than 820 Rio Tinto employees have participated in the program.
Rewarding Work
Clients aren’t the only stakeholders who benefit from the international character of the executive education program. Sarah Tillotson, the director of program management in the custom programs team, says of her work at McDonough, “Georgetown's emphasis on transformative, global education has given me the opportunity to work with clients and participants from around the world. It is exciting to see the participants in our programs learn and grow as leaders as well as teams.”
A General Trend
McDonough’s ranking for custom programs is part of a general trend for the school. Financial Times ranks the full-time MBA program eighteenth in the United States and ranks the executive MBA fifth in the United States and first for international business.
To learn more about custom programs visit McDonough’s executive education webpage.