By R. L. FROEMKE, '43

The January, 1954, issue of the Mines Magazine carried a short article that should have been noted by all Mines Men who are interested in the administrative as well as the engineering aspects of their careers.

The Executives' Problem: The Executive by William H. Whyte, Jr., called attention to a situation which seems to be receiving considerable thought these days by the Top Management of the more progressive companies throughout the United States. Since that article was so brief, as well as general, it might be worthwhile to consider the subject in a bit more detail.

What is the problem of Executive Development, how did it arise, and what are some of the things that are being done about it?

The problem of Executive Development is not easy to define. On the surface, one might say it is a problem related to an alleged shortage of qualified men (qualified in terms of both education and experience) to fill the present need for executives, presumably executives for corporations. The recent popular and fascinating novel, Executive Suite, (soon to be made into a movie) points up the sort of condition that is supposed to exist in many companies today.

According to the usual argument, because of the low birth rate of the early thirties plus the retarding effects of the recent wars (World War II and the Korean War), men in the age ranges of 30 to 45 are not coming along fast enough nor in adequate numbers to replace the men 40 to 55 who are now approaching the Top Management level. The tremendous expansion of industry in the last 15 years has intensified the problem.

Probably the current interest in Executive Development has its origin in more subtle, less obvious factors than those mentioned above that have been operating in the American economy for the last three decades.

The same conditions, which have led the big corporations to follow more and more the policy of promotion-from-within also, operate to emphasize the need for executive training. The faith that Americans have in education in general cannot be ignored, and even the structure of the income tax laws may be involved.

Actually there is not much point in worrying about what the problem of Executive Development is or how it arose. The point to recognize is that Top Management men the country over are acting as though they thought such a problem existed, and are taking an interest in a wide variety of programs designed to alleviate it.

Programs for Executive Development

These programs fall into two broad categories: those internal to an organization and those external to it. Since most people are familiar with their own company programs plus the fact that such programs take numerous different forms, they will not be discussed here.

The second classification that of external programs constitutes a phenomenon of considerable interest whether viewed from the point of view of the businessman or the educator.

There was a time when the idea of an executive going back to school would have raised the eyebrows of everyone concerned. Not so today, as the trek back to the campus by businessmen of all ages for refresher courses has spread all over the country.

Harvard Advanced Management Program

The first of these courses to receive any degree of publicity was the Harvard Advanced Management Program.

This program was started before World War II and is one of the oldest and most successful. Businessmen-students were sent by their companies to study for thirteen weeks at the Graduate School of Business Administration such subjects as Administrative Practices, Human Relations, Production Control, Current Economic Trends, and so forth.

This particular program has had a profound influence on most of the others that have since sprung up around the country. Beyond that, the Harvard venture more or less broke the ice with Industry, and prepared the way for the other colleges to respond to the needs and interest of management people after the war.

At the present time the most successful and well known university sponsored Executive Development Programs are those held at Harvard, M.I.T., Dartmouth, Columbia, and the University of Pittsburgh in the East; The University of Michigan, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Indiana and Western Ontario in the Mid-west; The University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and the University of Houston in the South; and Stanford and the University of Washington on the West Coast.

Columbia University Program

The most successful of these programs have been organized on what is called the "living-in" basis. A "living-in" program is one in which the businessman and their instructors live, eat, go to class and study together all at one location. The Columbia University programs, for instance, are held in the old Harriman estate in the Catskill Mountains about 50 miles up the Hudson River from New York City.

This estate, now known as the Arden House campus of Columbia University, can comfortably house a class of 45 to 50 businessmen-students and a faculty of 8 to 10 staff members. Ample classroom facilities are available. All meals are taken at the estate. The isolation of the place makes it especially suitable for a month or so of serious study, discussion, and reflection.

Perhaps the physical environment of many of the other programs can not match that of Arden House, yet all programs try to achieve the same sort of thing and most come reasonably close to it.

The main idea of the living-in plan is that students and faculty can maximize their contact both in and out of class, with special emphasis on the out-of-class phase. The rough and tumble matching of wits about business problems by groups of keen minded young potential executives in midnight bull-sessions is as challenging a learning experience as any could want.

One executive stated that he liked to send some of his best non-college timber so they could see that they could hold their own with men of college background.

As far as the formal parts of the programs are concerned almost all follow the non-directive teaching philosophy of Harvard. The case method is popular and role-playing, buzz techniques, the critical incident method and so forth are widely used.

The curriculum usually includes two or three courses taught by senior faculty members of the sponsoring institution. Visiting, speakers, primarily from industry, supplement the formal courses.

Cost of Programs

One can scarcely appreciate the elaborate nature of these Programs without attending or visiting one while in session. The cost gives a clue of sorts.

One of the longer courses such as that given at M.I.T. (twelve months) costs the sponsoring company between $20,000 and $25,000 to send a man. One of the shorter and "inexpensive" courses such as that given at the University of Georgia (four weeks) costs the sponsoring company approximately $2,500 per man in attendance.

These figures include the trainee's salary, which of course, goes on while he is away at school. It is apparent, costs notwithstanding, that Industry has supported these programs in remarkable fashion, especially since 1950. What effect the current threat of recession will have remains to be seen,

Arguments in Favor of Programs

The arguments in favor of a company's sending promising young men to one of these executive development programs seem to rest on three sorts of things:

First. after a man has been out of college for 15 or 20 years (or perhaps never went to college) he needs to be brought up to date on the latest trends in management thinking and theory.

Second, one of the primary benefits a man receives from attending one of these programs is not from the university facilities or faculty at all, but from his association with other businessmen-students. The exchange of ideas in discussion groups, seminars, and especially in the after-hour bull sessions can be invaluable.

A man may listen with polite attention while a professor expounds on modern social communication theory and its relation to administration, but he really becomes interested when he discovers for the first time that a competitor has installed an "administrative communication section" in its organization.

Third, when a man is making the transition from, say, engineer to administrator, he needs a chance to get away from the pressing demands of the day-to-day affairs of the business for a-while in order to reflect on the changes that must take place in his thinking if he is to become a successful executive.

There is no better place to do this than in an academic and intellectual atmosphere. (Incidentally, it is quite a shock for some businessmen to be exposed to the academic atmosphere again after years in industry.

It seems to he difficult for them to comprehend that some people are not in the least concerned with the practical realities of life, but worry instead about ideas, abstractions, theories and the like).

Conclusions

Experience indicates that men who have attended these courses tend to progress faster up the executive ladder than men who have not attended. The obvious reason is that companies send their best men for additional polishing.

It is unlikely that a month or two of such training will do much to improve a man's skills. However, it may change some of his attitudes, especially in the direction of helping him to think in department-wide rather than simply in section-wide terms, or at the next higher level, company-wide instead of department-wide terms. In other words, the idea is to broaden his mental horizons.

What do these "Executive Development Programs" mean to you? Probably not much if you are with a small company, but they could mean a lot if you are with a big corporation.

You might consider these questions: Is your company willing to send you through one of these courses? What kinds of tensions impinging on modern management led to the emergence of these courses? (One thing is abundantly clear; these courses came about as the result of a need in industry rather than as a result of an idea and sales campaign by the universities).

The answers to these two questions may tell you a lot about your future as well as something about the top management of your company. In any event, you should know about the existence of these programs, not the old three-day, weekend institute type, but the modern living-in type. Certainly you will be hearing a lot more about them before you hear less.

From The Mines Magazine
February 1954