Terry College of Business - Spring 2009 - (Page 46)
terr ymemo Office of Executive Programs Strategic partnerships develop talent By Chris Starrs (ABJ ’82) he Atlanta corporations that Dan Stotz calls on are totally committed to continuing education and talent development. “But given the economic downturn, companies know they have to go about things differently,” says Stotz, who designs customized executive programs and workshops for corporate clients in such areas as leadership, business process improvement, talent management, resource management, and business development. Terry’s Executive Education Center in Buckhead is an ideal setting, both technologically and geographically, for budgetconscious business executives to ratchet up their own game or that of their employees, T Stotz (at left with Peter Bakke at Terry Third Thursday) designs programs that range in size and scope from one day to several weeks, including the new Business Acumen series, which focuses on ethical decision-making and strategy execution. either through in-person workshops or webbased and distance learning programs. “Over the years, I have developed customized programs for General Electric, NASA, Lockheed Martin, McKesson, and the FBI,” says Stotz, who came to the Terry College in October 2008 after five years in a similar position at Georgia Tech. “What I’m doing for Terry is working with both large and small companies to create customized executive development programs in business acumen, leadership, strategy, and innovation — areas where a person really needs to excel 46 • Spring 2009 in order to develop into a capable senior executive.” Stotz designs programs and workshops that range in size and scope from one day to several weeks, including a new series of one-day, open-enrollment workshops called The Business Acumen Series, which focuses on two of the hottest boardroom topics of the day: ethical decision-making and strategy execution. “Ethical decision making is a very powerful subject in terms of the financial market and what’s going on there,” says Stotz. “We also offer a workshop on teamwork essentials, which is important because many corporations are in a matrix organizational structure that involves cross-functional teamwork. To be an effective team member involves self-awareness, understanding your “hard-wired” personality type — and how it relates to others’ personality types.” Change management is another hot topic. “Terry College Dean Robert Sumichrast has said many times that ‘a crisis is a terrible thing to waste,’” says Stotz, “and a lot of people are saying that now is the time to perhaps reinvent our whole business model. At Terry’s recent southeastern banking conference, Synovus Chairman and CEO Richard Anthony talked about how a leader has to create a sense of urgency for change, which in turn leads to a bottom-up approach for generating ideas.” Stotz has also played a role in designing more intensive certificate programs in project management and business analysis, both of which consist of a series of three- and four-day workshops that are taken several weeks apart. Both programs are presented in conjunction with Advanced Strategies, Inc. While the Business Acumen Series focuses primarily on soft management skills, Terry offers a number of certificate programs on hard skills, including understanding business analysis, process improvement, and finance. “Our Business Analysis programs are taught by seasoned pros from Advanced Strategies — people with 20-plus years of experience in the trenches,” says Stotz. “They’re a fountain of information on business analysis and how you identify problems, gather and analyze data, and improve processes that relate to customer satisfaction.” One of the recent participants of the Business Analysis certificate program was a senior manager for the Minnesota Supreme Court, who said, “The positive energy and excitement this training generated can’t be bought — and was, in large part, due to the facilitators and how the classes were taught.” Stotz is also working with the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and with the Society of Human Resource Managers to create custom programs that enable corporations to respond to a variety of challenges and opportunities. “The Michigan program allows us to take our existing programs, contacts, facilities, and staff and blend them with a top tier business school that can complement our world-class faculty with their own,” says Sumichrast. “The opportunity to co-brand custom programs with the University of Michigan is a very positive thing for Terry.” ■ Terry College of Bert MCDonolD BuSineSS
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