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In the recently published Financial Times Executive Education: Open-Enrollment Programs Ranking 2020, the open continuing education program for managers at WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management has achieved an excellent second place in Germany. In Europe, WHU is one of the 25 best executive education providers and ranks 37th in a global comparison.

This ranking is of great interest to managers who would like to take advantage of the high-quality offerings of higher education without participating in a full EMBA degree program. An open executive education program offers the opportunity to acquire specific management skills and methodological knowledge. Networking with other program participants is also an important factor for many. However, there is a wide range of offers on the further education market and they often differ significantly in quality. The Financial Times Executive Education Ranking is therefore an important orientation aid for interested managers.

WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management is one of the top addresses in Germany for the continuing education of experienced managers. The portfolio includes customized programs for individual companies, open programs for individual participants or small groups of companies and the Certified-in-Programs, a further education option at MBA level. In May 2020, WHU expanded the Executive Education portfolio to include online formats in the areas of negotiation, design thinking and coaching. In the "Open Programs", WHU offers seminars on digitization, entrepreneurship, finance, leadership and negotiation strategies, among others.

In this year's FT Ranking, the business school was able to improve its ranking by a further eight places compared to last year's result. "The ranking confirms that WHU has established itself in international competition with its executive education programs," says Professor Dr. Markus Rudolf, Dean of WHU. "It reflects not only the high quality of the program, but also the commitment and hard work we put into the continuous improvement of our teaching".

For the third time, WHU is now participating in the Financial Times Executive Education Ranking. In 2018, it reached 60th place, and by 2020 it is already among the top 40 executive education providers worldwide. This advancement was achieved in particular through improvements in the categories "Preparation" (rank 25), "Course Design" (rank 27), "Teaching" (rank 31) and "Faculty" (rank 34). WHU also scored particularly well in terms of the internationality of its participants (25th place). The FT Executive Education Ranking lists the 75 best international continuing education programs in the category "Open Programs". They are ranked according to the quality of teaching, the course structure and the diversity of participants. The evaluation is based on information from the universities as well as on surveys of program graduates. "We are pleased that our participants are so satisfied with the course design, the faculty and the diversity of the program," says Dr. Rebecca Winkelmann, Managing Director Executive Education, enthusiastically. "They recognize that we offer an excellent further education for executives on an international level with our Executive Education programs."

In January, WHU's MBA program already achieved an excellent position in the Financial Times MBA Ranking 2020, once again taking first place among German universities. In a European comparison, WHU is one of the top 15 MBA providers, worldwide it ranks 64th.

The Executive Education Program of WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management is adapting to the current changes and is expanding the portfolio with new online formats in the areas of negotiation, design thinking, and coaching.

"The coronavirus has not only challenged schools, universities, and business schools to digitalize learning within a very short timeframe. It has also introduced a major change among development programs for executives by bringing new digital formats", says Professor Dr. Markus Rudolf, Dean of WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management. WHU Executive Education faculty is now also offering online formats workshops for managers.

"WHU is one of the first business schools in Germany offering Executive Education Programs in digital formats," reports Dr. Rebecca Winkelmann, Managing Director Executive Education. The new online workshops currently cover three topics that are becoming increasingly important, especially in times of crisis: Negotiations, Design Thinking and other agile methods, and Coaching as a Leadership Style. Further online programs on various management topics are being planned and will continue to be an integral part of the Executive Education portfolio in the long term.

Participants with several years of professional experience and leadership responsibilities can now enhance their skills through video conferences, online group work, and live coaching. The workshops and online sessions are specifically designed to fit into the busy schedules of professionals. The workshops take place on several days so that participants can practice the newly acquired knowledge in between the modules. Next to learning new skills and tools from renowned faculty, networking, and learning with and from another plays an important role in these online programs.

Please visit the website on the Executive Education online formats for more information. 

The Corona-crisis affects the whole world. Many people feel insecure, unsure about how long the crisis will stay, and what the world "after the crisis" will look like. WHU will launch a webinar series on Monday, April 6, 2020, to discuss these topics.

In this webinar series, WHU professors will discuss the implications of the Corona-crisis on businesses, the economy, and society and will propose a glimpse into the world "after Corona".

Professor Dr. Markus Rudolf, Dean at WHU, will start with the topic "How long will the coronavirus lock-down last OR: Should we protect our health care system or our economies?" on Monday, April 6, 2020.

In the following weeks, we will offer several webinars on, among others, the following topics: Leveraging innovation opportunities in times of corona, the implications for Corporate Finance and Investments, and B2B-Sales. The webinars are free of charge.

WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management and Leadership Choices now offer a new coaching program for managers. Participants will learn what their current leadership portfolio looks like and will further check – using the XLNC Leadership Assessment – which styles they actively use and how comfortable they feel with them. In addition, the program covers topics such as leadership maturity and intention, which are necessary when coaching others effectively.

The four-month, part-time program consists of two in-class modules (2 x 3 days) and virtual calls. Participants will primarily learn coaching from a practical perspective, for example, they will learn to apply coaching methods that have previously been proven successful in a leadership context. Practical coaching exercises are an essential part of the program. Moreover, participants will work with three coachees, i.e. internal coaching clients. “I am pleased to offer this new and condensed coaching program together with Leadership Choices. The coaching-methods in the program could be applied right away”, says Dr. Rebecca Winkelmann, Managing Director WHU Executive Education, who has co-designed the program.

The new program format is not only targeted at experienced managers who would like to reflect and improve their leadership repertoire, but at those who would like to prepare themselves for upcoming challenges in a leadership position. Karsten Drath, Managing Director of Leadership Choices: In today's world, hierarchies are becoming flatter, more fluid and in some cases even irrelevant. Employees are increasingly transforming into collaborators who want to be heard. Coaching is an important and strong style of leadership for people who want to participate and further develop themselves at the same time. It has the potential to unleash creativity and create real accountability and strong emotional connections. Yet, like any powerful tool, it must be handled responsibly and with great care."

Creating a coaching culture

Moreover, the program is designed for HR managers, who want to promote the further development of their managers and who would like to create a coaching culture within the company. Both managers, as well as their companies, will benefit from participating in the program: the program helps executives become more effective, increases their job satisfaction and sense of purpose and will further help create a healthier leadership culture in the organization.

Innovation is key when it comes to staying relevant to customers and keeping ahead of the competition, but can innovation be learned? Our renowned faculty of the new Winning with Innovation Program (February 12 – 14, 2019) provides valuable insights about the triggers of innovation, innovative thinking and its connection to new technologies.

The Winning with Innovation Program equips professionals with the best practice guidelines and tools they need to meet disruptive challenges and initiate and lead innovation-driven organizational transformation. Under the leadership of faculty director Professor Dr. Serden Ozcan, Associate Dean for Corporate Connections, Otto Beisheim Endowed Chair of Innovation and Corporate Transformation at WHU, these Professors will prepare participants to master the challenges of innovation:

• Professor Dr. Holger Ernst, Chair for Technology and Innovation Management at WHU
• Professor Dr. Stefan Spinler, Director of the Kühne Institute for Logistics Management at WHU
• Professor Dr. Arnd Huchzermeier, Chair of Production Management and Director of the Center for Collaborative Commerce at WHU
• Professor Dr. Dries Faems, Chair of Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technological Transformation at WHU

Can innovative thinking be learned?

Professor Ernst: Sure, there are established best practices of innovation management that can be learned and implemented in any organization. Companies with excellent innovation management grow faster and have a higher contribution to their profit than companies with poor innovation management.

Professor Spinler: Yes, but it requires not only creativity, but also recognizing unmet customer needs to be disruptive and successful in creating innovations. Especially short-lived technology solutions require devotion and a strategic focus within the process of innovation.

Professor Huchzermeier: Definitely, but you need a total quality management philosophy in your organization or else you will fail. Typically, innovation is a learning and search process by many people, which needs to be coordinated well.

Professor Faems: Yes, but it is important to make a clear distinction between "inventions" and "innovations". Although inventions can be an important input for innovation, we speak of innovation only if companies are able to translate such inventions into concrete products or services that bring added value in the form of financial and/or social benefits.

What is the trigger for innovation? Is there a trigger at all?

Professor Ernst: In some companies, a crisis can trigger innovation. Innovation leaders, however, have a culture and strategy in place that makes innovation an on-going priority. These firms know how to continuously reinvent themselves, stay on top of the competition, and avoid a crisis.

Professor Spinler: In my view, the trigger really is fulfilling customers’ needs through leveraging technology.

Professor Huchzermeier: A customer interface that monitors a business unit’s strategy success and allows market or customer feedback to be continuously channeled back into the organization are prerequisites for a strong innovation process.

Professor Faems: It is important for companies to anticipate or react to disruptive changes in their environment. This requires investment in innovation projects that enable research into new resources and capabilities.

Is innovation always connected to new (digital) technologies?

Professor Ernst: Not always, but digital technologies are and will continue to strongly affect all facets of innovation. Innovation leaders embrace the opportunities of digital technologies to create new products, services, and business models pro-actively.

Professor Spinler: Digital technologies can mostly be easily adapted and scaled fast which makes them prime candidates. In addition, they help to better understand the customer and their needs through uncovering patterns in customer data.

Professor Huchzermeier: Digitalization is here to stay and drives firms’ productivity. While automatization is on the rise in almost any industry and globally, humans are the scarce resource to develop smart products and services for the future.

Professor Faems: The emerging variety of digital technologies is affecting many industries. To survive, it is important that existing industry players respond to such disruptive trends.