Mr. Civil Servant Goes to B-School

Executive education programs are increasingly bringing private-sector techniques to public workers

by Francesca Di Meglio

What do fixing potholes and updating zoning plans have to do with interest rates, social entrepreneurship, and case studies?

More than you might imagine, which is why several hundred officials of the Canadian city of London, Ont., have been participating in a three-year executive education course at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.

The more than 350 municipal employees taking part in the program are part of a continuing trend of B-schools reaching out from their core constituency into other areas, including government, primarily with executive education courses. And while there are no exact numbers as to how many public-sector workers are filling B-school classrooms, admissions officials say that in recent years B-schools are trying more and more to tap into the government market as private companies reduce spending on executive education.

Increasing Cooperation

The Ivey program was conceived by Jeff Fielding, London's chief administrative officer, who wanted to get his colleagues thinking about ways to create a more supportive workplace and change the city's strategic direction and long-term goals. But getting hundreds of people in different divisions with different agendas and political motivations to change their culture does not happen overnight or without help. His solution: sending the officials to B-school.

The program, which is offered in three to five separate modules annually over the course of three years, includes simulations and case studies that directly relate to the city and has increased cooperation between various departments.

Unifying people working across the government—from the sanitation department to strategic planning—is the most significant change since the program began about a year ago, say participants. "We all have strong technical skills in our areas of expertise, but this brings us out of those silos to consider the entire organization," says John Fleming, manager of land-use planning implementation for the city.

Others Got There First

Jennifer Kirkham, chief strategic planning officer for the city, says she is already implementing the things she learned in the course back at the office. For example, she and her team built a playhouse for Habitat for Humanity and organized a city clean-up day as a response to the module on corporate social responsibility. The government workers are hoping to make such volunteer opportunities a regular occurrence, Kirkham says.

In the past, local, state, and federal workers were either trained on the job, at seminars run by such organizations as the Brookings Institution, Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, or the Federal Executive Institute, an educational center for U.S. government employees that has been around for more than 30 years. But B-schools began pushing more strongly into the public sector after the dot-com bust, when private-sector enrollments began to flag.

Mary Ellen Joyce, director of executive programs at Brookings Insttitution, says that while B-schools can teach management and finance well, they'll have a hard time competing with her group when it comes to pricing. Government entities rarely have the budget for pricey, customized executive education programs, which can cost anything from $4,000 to $750,000 per program. depending on the school, the length of the program, and the level of customization and content. Open-enrollment programs at the Brookings Institute and the Federal Executive Institute run about $2,000 per participant.

Adopting Private-Sector Techniques

Part of the reason B-schools are able to accommodate government workers is the increasing trend toward customized executive education. Business-school administrators are aware of this trend—and are well on their way to developing relationships with government groups. About 10 years ago, Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management began working with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the largest public power provider in the U.S., to offer customized courses to midlevel to senior managers who show potential and are nominated by superiors to participate. A public utility, the TVA recently hired a CEO and operates much like a private-sector business.

Over the years, the Vanderbilt faculty has learned a lot about the TVA, the regulations it must follow, and its unique needs as a public utility, which has allowed the professors to further customize the coursework and make the experience even more worthwhile for participants, says Hermano Rocha, director of executive education at Vanderbilt.

Meanwhile, the single biggest user of executive education at theDarden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia is the U.S. military, says David Newkirk, CEO of executive education at Darden. His goal is to develop classic management programs that help military men and women bridge the gap between them and the civilians with whom they frequently work. The school also develops programs for civil servants focusing on leadership and teamwork and for state legislators seeking lessons in developing vision and values.

Leadership Goes a Long Way

B-school administrators say that that the dichotomy between the public and private sectors isn't as wide as some might imagaine. "Everyone confuses B-schools with schools of commerce, but 30% of the curriculum is about leadership," says Newkirk. "We're not the only place to learn [leadership] but we have good experience." He adds that if politicians better understood corporations it could help improve the regulatory process.

Newkirk sees even more relationships developing between governments and B-schools in the coming years. The trend makes sense, he says. "Most of what we teach is how to lead large human enterprises, and most of government activity is large human enterprises," says Newkirk. And the question of how to manage people effectively is one that crosses the boundary between the public and private sectors.

Di Meglio is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com in Fort Lee, N.J.