February 10, 2014 • An Advertising Supplement to the San Fernando Valley Business Journal

ExecutiveEducation

Responding to changing industry dynamicsand student expectations, more ExecutiveMBA (EMBA) programs are using digital

materials. The percentage of course materials thatprograms deliver electronically has tripled since2010, the first year data on electronic delivery wasgathered, according to results of the 2013Membership Program Survey of the ExecutiveMBA Council.

“Many EMBA students travel during the pro-gram, and delivering course materials electronical-ly lightens the load for them,” said MichaelDesiderio, executive director of the EMBA Council.“As one application of technology, electronicmaterials offer all time-strapped EMBA studentsconvenient access to course materials. EMBA pro-grams will continue to explore ways that technol-ogy can enhance the student experience.”

The EMBA Council sponsors its MembershipProgram Survey each year to help track industrydevelopments. The survey offers a comprehensiveoverview of worldwide member programs. In2013, 314 member programs – or 96 percent – par-ticipated in the survey.

Program structure and delivery

• The number of EMBA programs that reportedchanging program delivery, such as offering newelectives, program format or services, tripled overthe past five years. Leadership, innovation/entre-preneurship and law are the top three new non-elective courses offered by programs.• Nearly two-thirds of EMBA programs offer careerservices, and alumni networking is the most com-mon and fastest growing service.• Over the past five years, there has been a shifttoward less frequent class meetings. • Nearly 66 percent of programs require a globaltrip. China continues to be the most populardestination, followed by Brazil. • Average class size is once again 43, and the aver-age program length continues to be 20 months.

Program costs and tuition reimbursement

• The average program cost is $73,401, up 1 per-cent from previous year. • More EMBA students are paying their own waythan ever before. Forty-one (41) percent of EMBAstudents are fully self-funded, up from 34 percentin 2009. Twenty-four (24) percent of students

receive full financial sponsorship. In response to the increasing the number of

students self-funded, 53 percent of programs offerscholarships and fellowships

About the students

The average years of management experience is8.5 and the average years of work experience is13.7, two findings that have changed minimallyover the past five years.

The percentage of female students during thepast five years has fluctuated between 25 and 26

percent. In 2013, 25.3 percent of EMBA studentsare female. Programs outside the U.S. and Canadahave a lower percentage of females in their cur-rent classes.

The EMBA Council provides a place for programs toshare best practices and gathers industry data.Currently the council includes more than 200 educa-tional institutions that administer 300 plus EMBAPrograms worldwide. For additional information, visitwww.embac.org. To learn more about the EMBA expe-rience, visit www.executivemba.org.

Executive MBA Council Reports Five-Year Trendsfrom Annual Membership Program Survey

The percentage of course materials that programs deliverelectronically has tripled since 2010, the first year data onelectronic delivery was gathered, according to results of the2013 Membership Program Survey of the Executive MBA Council

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36 AN ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL FEBRUARY 10, 2014

Global Network of MBAs Light a Path toValues-Based Corporate Leadership

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

Collaboration and responsible lead-ership were the themes to emergefrom the Association of MBAs’

(AMBA) Global Leadership Conferenceheld at the University of StellenboschBusiness School in South Africa last year.

Speakers from NASA, CNN and theDistill Foundation alongside social entre-preneurs and business school Deansdemonstrated and discussed the roleMBAs and management education canplay in changing the world of business.

The conference was attended by MBAgraduates and alumni from AMBA-accredited business schools chosen to beGlobal AMBAssadors. The 33 GlobalAMBAssadors are from accredited busi-ness schools across the world, includingthe US, Australia, China, New Zealand,South Africa, Italy, France and UK andnationalities including Vietnamese, Swiss,Pakistani and Indian.

“Together the Global AMBAssadorswill create a platform for collaboration,knowledge sharing and engagement withMBAs, business leaders, entrepreneursand innovators across the world,” saidVanessa Harwood-Whitcher, ChiefOperating Officer, the Association ofMBAs. “They also represent the benefit ofquality education and accredited MBAs.”

John Powell, Director of the Universityof Stellenbosch who hosted the confer-ence and spoke on leadership said:“Events like this are crucial in champi-

oning ethical and innovative leadership,as well as building networks among theglobal MBA communities.”

In his opening keynote address,Vernon de Vries, Director of CorporateAffairs, Distell Foundation said, “…valuesare at the core of humanity and values-based leadership needs to permeate thewhole company.”

In a discussion on values and ethics,Kim Norgaard of CNN said, “To stayahead of the game, don’t wander fromyour core principles.”

NASA’s Nicholas Skytland told theaudience of MBA alumni and students:“We have a responsibility as leaders to

think differently about our role in socie-ty.” The NASA Project Manager overseesinnovation through mass collaboration,by encouraging new partnershipsbetween government, industry, academiaand the general public.

Social entrepreneur Sameer Hajee said“innovation is about incentivising every-one – from the customer to the employeeand the entrepreneurs.”

The CEO of Nuru Energy, founded hiscompany on the simple recognition thatthe poorest in the world have least accessto electricity. He created an alternativeelectricity source powered by humanenergy, which is now distributed inRwanda and Kenya.

In a survey conducted by AMBA dur-ing the conference, the MBA delegatessaid that the top three topics to beincluded in the MBA curricula over thenext five years should be global business,responsible management and strategy.The survey also revealed the AMBAssa-dors’ global outlook with each MBA grad-uate expecting to work in four differentcountries during the next five years.

“Our goal is to link the MBA pioneersof accredited, quality business schools allover the world to develop a strong globalnetwork that shares the same vision andvalues,” said Global AMBAssador, AncaMandruleanu, an MBA student fromKingston Business School. “The confer-ence has revealed the Global

AMBAssadors’ commitment towardsresponsible, values based leadership andour common engagement to make achange in the business environmentacross every country.”

The Global AMBAssador Programme isa service offered by AMBA to all accredit-ed business schools to help improve theirengagement with alumni, MBA seekersand employers. The aim of the program,which launched in 2012, is to create aworldwide accredited MBA alumni net-work championed by the AMBAssadors.

During the year the first group ofAMBAssadors have held networkingevents in their countries and connectedonline with the MBA and business com-munities.

The Association of MBAs is the internationalimpartial authority on postgraduate businesseducation. Established in 1967, it sets theglobal standard for accrediting MBA, DBAand MBM programs. The Association cur-rently accredits more than 800 MBA, DBAand MBM programs at 201 business schoolsin 70 countries worldwide. The Associationof MBAs is also a professional membershipassociation connecting MBA students andgraduates, accredited business schools andMBA employers in more than 110 countries.It provides research on postgraduate manage-ment education and offers pre-MBA studentsan online guide to choosing an MBA atwww.ambaguide.com.

‘Our goal is to link theMBA pioneers ofaccredited, qualitybusiness schools all overthe world to develop astrong global networkthat shares the samevision and values.’ANCA MANDRULEANU,

Global AMBAssador

Nearly half of all American adults– 90 million people – have diffi-culty understanding and using

health information, and there is a higherrate of hospitalization and use of emer-gency services among patients with limit-ed health literacy, says a new report fromthe Institute of Medicine of the NationalAcademies. Limited health literacy maylead to billions of dollars in avoidablehealth care costs.

More than a measurement of readingskills, health literacy also includes writ-ing, listening, speaking, arithmetic, andconceptual knowledge. Health literacy isdefined as the degree to which individu-als have the capacity to obtain, process,and understand basic information andservices needed to make appropriate deci-sions regarding their health.

“Health literacy is fundamental toquality care,” said committee chair DavidA. Kindig, professor emeritus of popula-tion health sciences, University of Wis-consin, Madison. “The public’s ability tounderstand and make informed decisionsabout their health is a frequently ignoredproblem that can have a profound impacton individuals’ health and the health caresystem. Most professionals and policy-makers have little understanding of theextent and effects of this problem.”

A concerted effort by the public healthand health care systems, the educationsystem, the media, and health care con-

sumers is needed to improve the nation’shealth literacy, the report says. If patientscannot comprehend needed health infor-mation, attempts to improve the qualityof care and reduce health care costs anddisparities may fail.

Limited health literacy affects morethan just the uneducated and poor, thereport says. At some point, most individ-uals will encounter health informationthey cannot understand. Even well edu-cated people with strong reading andwriting skills may have trouble compre-hending a medical form or doctor’s in-structions regarding a drug or procedure.

Health literacy skills are needed fordiscussing care with health professionals;reading and understanding patient infor-mation sheets, consent forms, and adver-tising; and using medical tools such as athermometer. Over 300 studies indicatethat health-related materials cannot beunderstood by most of the people forwhom they are intended.

Individuals are increasingly responsi-ble for managing their own health care,the committee noted. They are assumingnew roles in seeking information, meas-uring and monitoring their own health,and making decisions about insuranceand options for care. Patients’ healthoften depends on their ability and will-ingness to carry out a set of activitiesneeded to manage and treat their disease.This self-management is essential to suc-

cessful care of chronic diseases such asdiabetes, HIV, and hypertension. Patientswith chronic illness who have limitedhealth literacy are less knowledgeableabout disease management and less likelyto use preventive measures.

Limited health literacy is not a prob-lem that starts and ends with patients,the committee added. Health systems arebecoming increasingly complex, involv-ing new technologies, scientific jargon,and complicated medical procedures andforms. All of these aspects of the healthsystem can be confusing to patients.Moreover, care providers frequently needto communicate with patients who havedifferent language and cultural back-grounds. Culture and ethnicity mayinfluence patients’ perceptions of health,illness, and the risks and benefits of treat-ments. Differing cultural and educationalbackgrounds between a patient andprovider also contribute to problems inthe patient’s comprehension.

Health care systems should developand support programs to reduce the neg-ative effects of limited health literacy.Responsibility for improving health liter-acy must be borne not only by the healthsystem, but also by educators, employers,community organizations, and othergroups with social and cultural influence.

The report recommends that healthknowledge and skills be incorporatedinto the existing curricula of kindergarten

through 12th grade classes, as well as intoadult education and community pro-grams. Furthermore, programs to pro-mote health literacy, health education,and health promotion programs shouldbe developed with involvement from thepeople who will use them. And all suchefforts must be sensitive to cultural andlanguage preferences.

The extent and consequences of limit-ed health literacy in the United States aredifficult to define because of limited data.The U.S. Department of Health and Hu-man Services and other government andprivate funding agencies should supportmultidisciplinary research in this area,the committee said. Furthermore, publicand private funders should develop andtest new methods of measurement thatcan establish baseline levels of health lit-eracy and monitor change over time.

The study was sponsored by the Ameri-can Academy of Family Physicians Foun-dation, California HealthCare Foundation,Commonwealth Fund, W.K. KelloggFoundation, MetLife Foundation, NationalCancer Institute, Pfizer Corp., and the Rob-ert Wood Johnson Foundation. The In-stitute of Medicine is a private, nonprofitinstitution that provides health policy ad-vice under a congressional charter grantedto the National Academy of Science.

Information for this article was provided bythe National Academy of Sciences.

Health Literacy: One of the MostImportant Topics in Adult Education

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FEBRUARY 10, 2014 AN ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL 37

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38 AN ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL FEBRUARY 10, 2014

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

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The MBA Roundtable, a nonprofitorganization focused on MBA cur-ricular design and innovation, last

year released the results of its MBACurricular Innovation Study. The trienni-al study indicates that MBA curricularchanges in the past three years havefocused on adding more choices, in theform of new concentrations and elec-tives, as well as program flexibility, suchas accelerated degree completion options.

Among the findings:

• 94% made some change to their elec-tive content in the past three years, with63% indicating it was a moderate orgreater change.• The most common elective additionswere entrepreneurship (51%), interna-tional business (40%), leadership (39%),and corporate responsibility (36%).• Common additions to concentrationofferings included healthcare, entrepre-neurship, and business analytics.• Programs outside the U.S. were mak-ing deeper changes, with 26 percentmaking significant or greater changesand none reporting that no changeshad been made.

Action-based learning was the most common

change to core or required content.

• The most common type of change wasincreasing applied and action-basedlearning (60%). Other common changesincluded an increase in global content(48%), program flexibility (41%), and

interdisciplinary courses (33%).• The most common subject matter addi-tions were corporate responsibility (63%),entrepreneurship (49%),geoeconomical/geostrategy (47%), ethics(40%), and leadership (40%). The mostsignificant subject matter reduction wasin information technology (11%).

Structural flexibility provided additional

options for students.

• Part-time programs were most likely toinstitute program structure changes, with25% adopting a new delivery mode and21% reducing the length of their pro-gram through such means as additionalweekend and summer course delivery.• Executive MBA programs were mostlikely to remain a lock-step program (90%vs. 55% of all respondents), but weremuch more likely to deliver a blended(online and face-to-face) program (30%)than full-time MBA programs (8%).

“Three years ago we saw significantchanges in many MBA programs,” saidSarah Gardial, president of the MBARoundtable and dean of the University ofIowa’s Henry B.TippieCollege of Business.“It’s not surprising that this year’s surveyshows fewer dramatic changes. This hasbeen a period of implementing corechanges and modifying the elective port-folio and other program areas to ensureour programs remain relevant and coverthe subject areas most important to stu-dents and employers. The study showedthat MBA programs have been successfulat adding new topics and skills withoutreducing existing content. The primarymeans have been integration, more elec-tive choices, and co-curricular additions,such as career development and consult-ing projects.”

One of the primary objectives of thestudy was to provide MBA Roundtablemembers with a comparative assessment

tool that would support their curricularmanagement and change efforts. Thestudy was sponsored in part by theUniversity of Tennessee-Knoxville MBAProgram and the George MasonUniversity School of Management, whereMBA Roundtable board member RoyHinton serves as associate dean of execu-tive programs and director of theExecutive MBA program.

“It’s imperative that MBA programscontinually explore new content and deliv-ery methods, or we risk our relevance intoday’s dynamic business environment,”said Hinton. “The MBA CurricularInnovation Study and the MBARoundtable as a whole are invaluableresources for recognizing trends and shar-ing best practices. We were pleased to beable to support the research study and helpcontribute to that body of knowledge.”

Founded in 1995, the MBA Roundtable is aglobal association of business schools work-ing together to inform and inspire MBA cur-ricular and programmatic innovation. TheMBA Roundtable seeks to improve MBA edu-cation and the practice of management bycreating forums to challenge, debate, andshape the future of MBA curricular design;Equipping business school faculty andadministrators with the knowledge andresources needed to advance MBA curricularand programmatic innovation; and Promot-ing and recognizing MBA curricular achieve-ment, change, and innovation. For moreinformation, visit www.mbaroundtable.org.

MBA Programs of Today Add More Choice and Flexibility

‘It’s imperative that MBA programs continually explore newcontent and delivery methods, or we risk our relevance in today’sdynamic business environment. The MBA Curricular InnovationStudy and the MBA Roundtable as a whole are invaluableresources for recognizing trends and sharing best practices.’

ROY HINTON, MBA Roundtable board member

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FEBRUARY 10, 2014 AN ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL 39

Quality MBA degrees are especially valuable, but they’re expensive. Iknow. My MBA helped me immensely in my career, but today tuition aloneis well over $100,000 not including the cost of textbooks or anything else.Moreover, most top level schools take about two years to complete theirprograms unless they’re taught online. Those two years mean additionaltime away from both job and family. Online degrees are great fordisseminating theory and facts, but they’re not fully accepted by all employers because they are not very effective for learning group interaction,learning practical leadership or evaluation of hands-on managementperformance and consulting.

Some years ago I met a very successful entrepreneur from China. Heowned more than 20 companies and foundations all over the world and hadbeen an intimate of my doctoral professor and friend, Peter F. Drucker, “thefather of modern management.” One of his corporations was the PeterDrucker Academies of China and Hong Kong which had over 50,000graduates and which teaches in 33 cities. After several years’ research and input from academics, entrepreneurs, and corporate executives, we foundedthe nonprofit California Institute of Advanced Management (CIAM). CIAMoffers an MBA in executive management and entrepreneurship. It isintended for those who have the ability and drive to become seniormanagers or entrepreneurs. We’ve been teaching for 1½ years and had ourfirst graduation summer of 2013. One of our graduates was selected as one of five finalists out of 256 “rising stars” by the Los Angeles Business Journal.She’s now a vice president. In both 2012 and 2013, CIAM was named“Favorite MBA” and “Best Value” by local newspapers. And CIAM hasreceived awards and recognition from both local institutions and foreigngraduate schools. When you see what we offer you’ll understand why.

� Outstanding guest professors from top universities from USC, UCLA,UC Berkeley, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Cornell, and MITconverse and interact with students live through the Internet in everycourse. That way, students learn not only from our professors, all withdoctorates, but from the best professors at other top institutions aswell.

� Students meet executives from different industries and entrepreneurswho give short lectures in every course. In this way not only arestudents never very far from “the real world,” but they are exposed tomany operations outside their own industry.

� All students learn to conduct professional consulting for smallbusinesses, corporations, startups, or nonprofits in teams of foursupervised by a consultant-experienced professor. By graduation theyhave a large portfolio of accomplishments from 12 consultingengagements in different organizations.

� Students receive all textbooks free. These textbooks include not onlytextual material, but Power Points, dictionaries, videos, and more.They are developed for CIAM under contract by academic expertsfrom around the country. Each is equivalent to printed textbooks of 500pages or more. Students need not worry about additional expenses oroutdated material as these textbooks are updated every time thecourse is taught and are always current.

� Over 50% of the instruction is in the classroom, but this is blended withthe latest technology and online lessons in each course to enable allstudents to complete the MBA in about 11 months. No student everhas trouble getting the courses needed to graduate and no class everhas more than 20 students.

� All classes are taught at convenient times in the evening or onweekends. This minimizes conflicts at work or with family. Nor dostudents need to wait six months or a year to begin. New students areadmitted to CIAM every 6-8 weeks.

� There are no tests. Student evaluation is actual managementperformance based on the application of theory using position papers,class exercises, ad hoc and formal presentations, consulting, andconsulting presentations.

I want you to be 100% certain before you spend even a penny for yourdegree. So I came up with a plan in which CIAM assumes all risk. Take onecourse without investing a cent for tuition. At the end of the term (about 6weeks), if you like the program you can either pay for the course andcontinue a monthly amount for the entire MBA program, or opt out and paynothing at all. You can view our website at www.GOCIAM.org. You can getmore information or schedule an appointment for complete informationabout our MBA program by calling Jennie Ta, our VP of Administration at(626) 618-7794. Come visit our facilities at any time. We are right next to theSan Bernardino Freeway in El Monte. Our address is 9550 Flair Dr., Suite500, El Monte, CA 91731. My personal web site is atwww.stuffofheroes.com.

How We Began Offering a Unique MBAin the Classroom

CIAM’s Unique Program

Now a “Try Before Buy” Program!

CIAM wants students who are ambitious “rising stars” - students whohave the drive and ambition to be highly successful in their careers and arewilling to work hard to get there. You might expect that an MBA program likethis would cost $100,000 or more. You don’t sell a Rolls-Royce cheaply; you price it according to the high value that its worth as well as the cost of its highquality components. However, as a new school, we are not yet well knownand have an additional problem to overcome.

In 2012 the California Bureau for Private Post-Secondary Education examined our plans, qualifications and financing and licensed CIAM to offerits unique program. In this day and age, most educators agree that schoolsof higher education should be accredited. That is, they should be examinedand meet the standards of a U.S. government-approved accreditor. Anunaccredited school is not recognized by some employers and if theemployer has an educational reimbursement program, it may not reimburse the cost of educational courses. However, no new school can becomeaccredited until AFTER it teaches for some period of time. One accreditor,probably the oldest government approved accreditor in the U.S., requires a minimum of two years of teaching students before a new school can applyfor accreditation. No matter how high the quality, or what standards are met,the school cannot become accredited until this initial record of teaching.

Any new school faces this problem. Some new schools affiliate with analready accredited school to use its accreditation. However, this requiresturning over academic control to the accredited school which must approvethe new school’s programs and courses and how they are taught. Becauseof this some innovative ideas of the new school which have nothing to dowith quality may not fit in with the accredited school’s policies and must bediscarded. For example, the accredited school may insist on an MBAprogram being longer than 11 months, or tuition being higher to be in linewith the school’s programs.

CIAM decided not to affiliate. To attract good students while maintainingits independence, we decided to offer our full MBA with all the extras, not at$100,000 or $70,000, or even $30,000, but only half that amount. Thismeans that you can earn CIAM’s degree for only $15,000 complete,including textbooks and everything else. This price is only valid while we areunaccredited. If you begin as a student now you’ve received an amazing bargain. To further help out we have a “pay as you go” program with no interest, and tuition financing at lower than government rates.

How CIAM Can Offer So Much for So Little

HOW TO STEAL A

$100,000 MBA FOR $15,000

About the President: Dr. Bill Cohen is a retired Air Force general and you can “Google” him as “Major General William A. Cohen.” He graduated from West Point and has an MBA from the University of Chicago and an MA in Management and PhD in Executive Management from the Peter Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. He has written more than 50 books on business and management which have been published in 23 languages.

William A. Cohen, PhD, President

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