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The Katz Center for Executive Education Transports the Essentials to Bombardier
Bombardier Inc. is a $17.5 billion company, headquartered in Montréal, Canada with 59,800 employees, a presence in more than 60 countries, and known for innovative transportation solutions. The Center for Executive Education (CEE) of the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh specializes in bringing high-caliber executive education to business professionals. So it is very fitting that Bombardier Transportation's System Division comes to Katz for the essentials. Or, rather CEE transports the essentials to them.
MBA Essentials for Bombardier is an intensive MBA Essentials certificate program tailored to fit the business acumen and needs of Bombardier Transportation's System Division. For 10 weeks, 40 Bombardier participants at the West Mifflin, Pa. site, engaged in weekly three-hour courses on subjects like innovation, leadership and team building, strategic development, entrepreneurship, supply chain management, value creation, and market strategy. The CEE, which was once only operated locally, now offers executive education on four continents: North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. The locations coincide with its top-ranked Executive MBA program. The courses are taught by highly respected Pitt business faculty including: Audrey Murrell, Richard Patton, Nandu Nagarajan, Prakash Mirchandani, John Camillus, Horst Abraham, John Prescott, Rick Winter, and Ken Lehn.
Tailored to Fit
Because the course was tailored to Bombardier's strategic initiatives and competencies, the program addressed specific needs unique to the company. Internal executives from Bombardier participated and further synchronized the program's content to their day-to-day operations. And if that's not enough, the company conducted a weekly quality review of the class to tweak the program even further.
The MBA Essentials is similar to the Neihu Rapid Transit System in Taipei, Taiwan, which Bombardier plans to have fully operational by the end of January 2009. The project consists of re-equipping the existing line and vehicles and constructing a new line with a fleet of new vehicles. Both lines will operate as one system, with the combined fleets operating interchangeably on either line. Like the Neihu system, Bombardier employees brought their existing knowledge to the MBA Essentials course, while gaining new and valuable information. In the rail industry, this is known as a customized solution that benefits all of the stakeholders.
Benefits
Mike Fetsko, Vice President at Bombardier Transportation, Systems Division, sees the program as one that adds insight to innovative leadership and key critical managerial concepts. He sees every MBA Essentials for Bombardier session bringing participants closer to the goal of a work environment where fewer boundaries deter effective working relationships. This tying together of functions adds value as participants are able to focus more on innovation.
"Academic-industry partnerships such as this are extremely powerful. Designing the curriculum with the leadership team of the organization and bringing key executives together with experienced faculty members who are also consultants in organizations, means that strategic initiatives are swiftly and powerfully brought to execution. The Bombardier program is a first-rate example of such a partnership," says Anne Nemer, Assistant Dean and Director of the CEE and EMBA Worldwide program.
Bombardier joins a long line of past participants sharpening their competitive edge with customized programs from the CEE including PPG Industries, UPMC, L.B. Foster Company, FedEx Ground, Bayer Corporation, American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. and Wesco International, Inc., to name a few. Good company to keep.
by Lauren L. Gogal, Communication Manager, MBA Programs
