Santa Clara University

Custom, In-Company Programs

The Executive Development Center offers uniquely tailored business educational programs for companies.

Our custom programs meet the interests and needs of executive and senior management teams, both technical and non-technical, and are congruent with the client company's aspirations, concerns and practices. The University's close ties to Silicon Valley also ensure that our high quality business faculty members have a solid understanding of the unique issues faced by technology-based companies. In our 40 years of executive education experience, we have discovered the best learning environment is away from the hectic, distraction-prone environment of the participant's office. Thus, the majority of these programs are offered on the campus of Santa Clara University.

Examples of custom programs delivered by  SCU's Executive Development Center:

• New management in the San Jose office of a Taiwan-based technology company wanted to push decision making farther down into the organization and closer to the customer. In order to do this, company leadership felt that people needed greater understanding in terms of gathering and procession customer information, finance, and marketing. A program was implemented with these areas in mind.

• A leading Silicon Valley technology company approached the EDC when one of their business units was attempting to change its operating model. Their goal was to have their people think in terms of "value add" for the customer, as opposed to time/materials/markup when pricing their services. Given this, the EDC built a program around systems/executive thinking, finance, and customer focused visits.

• The westcoast office of a global transportation company saw the need to build a more cohesive executive team. Based upon interviews of the executive team by a SCU faculty member, a program was designed around the findings from the discussions. In addition, the faculty member attended and helped facilitate an off-site for the group.

The process in all of the EDC's custom programs involves coming to an understanding of what the company is trying to accomplish and who is their target audience. Once this is done, faculty resources are identified and a program outline is developed in conjunction with the faculty to best meet the needs of the client organization.

Programs can include a combination of highly interactive classroom sessions, case discussions, small group exercises, and intensive study groups to encourage participants to think strategically and effectively manage change in their organizations.

Sample Topics for Custom Programs:

• Systems-thinking
• Leadership challenges and skills
• Marketing strategy: delivering customer value
• Financial strategy: tools for strategic analysis
• Building, leading and maintaining a team
• Implementing strategy: creating a high performing organization
• Managing across Functional Boundaries
• Building and Sustaining Corporate Culture
• Product Development

Review a custom program sample curriculum.

Clients have included Cadence Design, Litton Applied Technologies, Gap Inc., Lockheed Martin, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, Logitec, Cypress Semiconductor, and Trimble Navigation.

For further information, please contact:
Larry Robertson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean, Executive Education
Executive Development Center
Leavey School of Business
Santa Clara University
e-mail: lrobertson@scu.edu
tel: 408-554-4681