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Members talk about strategies for juggling work and life commitments

Your dean calls and wants to you to attend a late-afternoon meeting with a CEO who has agreed to sponsor Executive MBA students. But if you attend the meeting, you’ll miss you son’s soccer game.

It’s a reality that Executive and Part-Time MBA Program administrators and staff know well. There are no easy answers, but in this article, five council members share their ideas and stories, including the ways in which their programs address this issue for their students.

George Abraham
University of New Hampshire 

“It’s never been a cake walk.”

George Abraham says he finds a successful balance in work/life when he has an “energy level sufficient to perform the tasks that I enjoy doing in both venues, work at the University and life at home.”

As director of executive programs at the University of New Hampshire, he has found no shortage of on-the-job demands, as the school’s executive programs grew throughout the years. He now manages the school’s Executive MBA Program, its full- and part-time MBA programs, and its non-degree offerings for executives.

He initially thought he could make his life more efficient by living close enough to campus to walk to work, but the reverse proved true. “When I lived extremely close to the University, I never got away from it,” he says. “I found it difficult to separate from work.”

Now, he commutes 38 miles and uses the time to make the transition. “If I am driving to work, I am thinking about work. If I am driving home, I’m thinking about home.”

Abraham enjoys the support of his organization and dean and his family. Even though there are plenty of opportunities to work late every night, Abraham commits one night to dinner with his father and another as date night with his wife and sticks by the commitments. He keeps close tabs on his time and sets routines.

Several days a week, he lunches with his dean and/or his staff, but he always leaves one day per week to lunch alone. “I try not to schedule any appointments before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m.,” he says. “I try to eliminate any infringements on my time.”

Students also face the pressures of balancing school, work, and life. To help them, the program sponsors a significant others’ event on a weekend and also brings in alumni to talk with students about the challenges.

Successfully balancing work/life is not an issue that is unique to Executive MBA Program administrators, staff, or students, or to universities, he says. It can help to talk with others and to explore your own values. Abraham knows he missed some opportunities as his daughters were growing up, but overall feels good about his efforts to keep it all in balance.

“It’s never been a cake walk,” he says. “If you enjoy what you are doing in both lives, there is something that will interfere with the other. It’s important that you understand what you want.”

Lyn Hoffman
London Business School 

“My weekends are sacred.”

Eight years ago, Lyn Hoffman was program manager for the MBA in international business at the University of Bristol. She then became director of the Sloan Fellowship at London Business School, and now she runs the school’s Executive MBA and Executive MBA Global Programs in addition to the Sloan Fellowship.

With greater responsibilities came greater challenges.

“When you are in a demanding, challenging, and frankly absorbing job, then it is far too easy to work all the hours on the clock,” says Hoffman. “For me, work is always in danger of taking over from life, never the other way around, so my definition of work/balance is making sure that I spend enough time and effort on life!”

Hoffman prioritizes and uses self-discipline to help maintain her balance. “Although I work all sorts of ridiculous hours during the week, my weekends are sacred…I’m very good at relaxing. I’ve done a lot of yoga and can also meditate. I’m passionate about art and literature, both of which help me focus my mind elsewhere.”

She also is aware of students who struggle with balance issues, and the programs work to ease the challenge in a number of ways, including handling logistics, involving partners and children as appropriate, and offering social opportunities. In one session of an introductory course, students discuss work/life balance and use self-assessment tools to understand themselves and their lifestyles better.

Staff members within the program also use different approaches. “Some of my colleagues who have children leave at a reasonable hour every afternoon, but I know they often spend an hour or so later in the evening doing paperwork or e-mails or writing documents,” she says. “Others regularly spend a half-day during the weekend on work, either at school or at home. I think it’s for each team to get together and understand the situations and performances of individuals and to try and work with that.”

Hoffman knows that she works long hours, but her choice is appropriate for her. “I met someone the other day who said he was a recovering workaholic, which I suppose meant he was taking each day at a time. I think as long as we know ourselves well, and know what both drives us and gives us joy, we can work it out.”

Cheryl Maille
Boise State University

“Assess the situation and choose accordingly.”

Throughout her 18 years in executive education, Cheryl Maille has offered guidance to many students, but she acknowledges when it comes to balancing work and life, “I rarely took my own advice.”

1987, Maille launched the Executive MBA Program for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York. She served as the program’s manager, eventually moving to the position of director of Executive Programs.

Maille raised her daughters while her career responsibilities continued to increase. “I was a single parent for a number of years, and I was determined to provide my daughters with the best I could, including a college education.

“My trade-off primarily came out of sleep, pursuit of personal interests, and time spent with friends,” she says. “Although I did not always spend the quantity of time with my two daughters that I would have preferred, I made a point of making quality time for them. They are now young professionals, and we have traveled in Europe and the U.S. together. I have not only a mother/daughter relationship with them, but I consider them my friends.”

During the years, she saw students who struggled with work/life balance. The program built into the pre-orientation picnic, orientation week, and periodic lunches, coaching sessions about balance. The program also offered social functions that included spouses and families.

Maille’s own intense juggling act took its toll, and her health began to suffer. “After a series of medical procedures and scares over the preceding two years and some serious soul searching, I decided to make a life change.” She chose early retirement from RPI and moved to Boise State University. There, she works part time as director of the newly formed Office of Executive Education, where she will oversee development of a new Executive MBA Program and customized management programs.

In Boise, she enjoys bike riding, long walks on the “Green Belt,” and floating down the Boise River. Maille recommends that program administrators and staff take time for their family and themselves.

“I do hope others can learn from my situation the value of balancing work and life early on,” she says. “One can have both. Just do it. The work will be there tomorrow, but your child’s recital, school play, your mom or dad’s birthday, or whatever family function only happens once this season or year. Assess the situation and choose accordingly.”

Carol Newcomb
The Ohio State University

“I don’t believe there is a simple or universal solution.”

Her sense of guilt is a warning signal for Carol Newcomb that her life might be a bit out of tilt. If she feels guilty either for not finishing enough at work or not paying enough attention to family, she knows it’s time to make adjustments.

“It is challenging because I love what I do and would enjoy being able to follow-up on everything and become involved in a greater number of new initiatives but I can’t,” says Newcomb, executive director of executive education at The Ohio State University. “Part of the challenge is that there is always more work and ideas to follow than there is time.”

Over the years, the on-the-job demands on time have grown, she says. “I know I regularly work 50 to 60 hour weeks – so do most people. As some economists say our economic growth has come at the price of one person doing the work that two people did 10 years ago.”

For Newcomb, the key involves setting and keeping priorities. When possible, she takes an occasional afternoon off to walk, shop, paint, or have fun. “It helps me keep my sanity and escape for short periods, and I find it very revitalizing.”

She continues to work on improving the coordination of her and her spouse’s hectic schedules. She also tries to schedule more regularly planned time to spend with her grandchildren.

The Executive MBA Program raises the issue of balance with students in several ways. They discuss the commitment with students during the interview process and involve spouses in orientation. The program sponsors a family day after six months, and older children may come for lunch or sit on a class session for an hour. The program also works closely with students who have unexpected circumstances.

Balance will remain an issue for program administrators, staff, and students, she says.

“I don’t believe there is a simple or universal solution,” she says. “If job requirements continue or increase, and technology innovation cannot absorb this increase then perhaps looking at more flexible scheduling, more online work that can be done from locations, or at other 8-5 time periods would be helpful. Another helpful option might be added flexibility so individuals could drop into a part-time slot for a period if family responsibilities become too great and then back to a full-time position later.”

Carlos Ruiz
IPADE

“It’s difficult to say ‘stop’ or ‘enough of this’ when you have to focus in giving your best in the other area as well.”

Carlos Ruiz knows that there are sacrifices along the way and that the path involves constant adjustment.

“It’s very difficult, because trying to be successful in both requires a degree of involvement that creates some inertia,” says Ruiz, director of the Executive MBA at Instituto Panamericano De Alta Direccion De Empresa (IPADE).

“It’s difficult to say ‘stop’ or ‘enough of this’ when you have to focus in giving your best in the other area as well. Additionally we tend to give more time to what is giving us the most satisfaction at that moment, and the risk is to leave out the aspects in which we are experiencing difficulties. Paradoxically, that area requires our attention.”

Ruiz defines work/balance as the ability to achieve family and work goals and to maintain equilibrium between both. “Sometimes you will have to sacrifice some activities of an area for the sake of the other,” he says. “However, this will be done according to the priorities and how they contribute to the results.”

As part of his goals, Ruiz is looking to take more vacation with family, save enough time on the weekends for family activities, and spend more time with his children.

Ruiz also takes into account the impact of work/life balance on students and staff. For students, the program doesn't meet on Saturdays, includes sessions with spouses, and delivers case studies on life balance and family issues.

For staff, he shares information about work load as much as possible in advance to help them better organize their time. The program also tries to avoid weekend activities, and the office encourages and respects vacation time.

Along the way, Ruiz knows that he has sacrificed some goals in both work and family. “I have to keep always in mind my objectives and the importance of maintaining the balance.”

How do you define work/life balance? What do you do to maintain balance in your life? What are you working on to improve your work/life balance or that of your students? Send your ideas and stories to darlene@embac.org, and we’ll share them in a future issue of Exchange.

What does it take to develop leaders and managers with global responsibility?

By the end of the last century, business had turned truly global, and companies throughout the world never looked back. Now those same companies are looking for the new generation of globally responsible leaders – and are depending in no small part on Executive MBA Programs to help shape those vital leadership qualities.

A collaboration among worldwide business schools and companies recently was launched to find answers to the question the impacts both parties: How do we best develop a new generation of responsible business leaders who can successfully deal with global challenges?

The Global Compact, which brings together more than 1,500 corporate members, and the European Foundation for Management Development (efmd), which includes more than 470 member organizations from academia, business, and public service in 45 countries, are sponsoring the collaboration, known as The Global Responsibility Initiative.

“Globalization is here to stay,” says Gerald van Schaik, emfd president and former CEO of Heineken. “If you want to make sure that you get globally responsible managers, you start, of course, by the educational element.”

A strategic partner of the Executive MBA Council, efmd understands the world of business schools and Executive and MBA Professional MBA Programs well. The organization runs the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS), which accredits management and business administration programs throughout the world. As a result of its position, efmd can help shape new approaches.

“Somehow managers and business leaders are trained and made aware of what is relevant in the way they run a company,” says van Schaik. “The time to make a lasting impression on future leaders is in the context of their academic education and business training, not at a much later stage as an after thought.”

In June, the Global Compact and emfd launched the initiative, the first time a group of business and academic leaders from all parts of world will address these issues together. The initiative seeks to:

• Play a leadership role in forwarding the practice of building a strong base for the development of a new generation of leaders and managers with global responsibility
  
• Contribute to the overall development of training and education for managers, regarding global responsibility at business schools and in companies by:

--upgrading the participants’ best practices and sharing those with peers on a global basis
--by setting standards and feeding quality improvement accreditation systems for business schools with new dimensions

• Reach tangible results concerning key issues in each participant’s own organization

The initiative already has attracted participants throughout the world, including:

• Aviva ( UK)
• Bordeaux Business School ( France)
• China-Europe International Business School ( China)
• Curtin Business School ( Australia)
• IESE ( Spain)
• ESSEC (France)
• Fundacao Dom Cabral (Brazil)
• Groupe Caisse d'Epargne (France)
• INSEAD (France)
• Instituto de Empresa ( Spain)
• London Business School ( UK)
• IBM ( USA)
• Petrobras ( Brazil)
• Queen's University in Kingston ( Canada)
• Telefonica ( Spain)
• Barloworld ( South Africa)
• University of South Africa Centre for Corporate Citizenship ( South Africa)

In October, participants will meet for the first time to begin their task. The yearlong process involves six work meetings with all participants and a virtual communication platform to facilitate work and communication between meetings.

“So far, pioneering schools and companies from five continents have decided to join this project,” says Eric Cornuel, the director general of efmd. “They will use all their expertise, networks, and strengths to take the important first steps. Our long-term aim through this project is that one day business schools will teach issues in this field just as naturally as they now teach how to make business plans or good accounting practices.”

For additional information, contact Matthew Wood at wood@efmd.be.

ALUMNI SUCCESS

University of Washington
The annual alumni event of the University of Washington Executive MBA Program, the Celebration of Leaders reunites alumni with their classmates and faculty and recognizes outstanding Executive MBA alumni.

In March 2004, the event attracted 135 participants and featured Orin Smith, president and CEO of Starbucks Coffee Company, as the keynote speaker. It also honored the achievements of the following alumni:

• Alice Ray (Community Leadership), ’87, CEO and co-founder of Ripple Effects, a San Francisco company that uses educational technology to prevent violence and social injury
  
• Jens Saakvitne (Community Leadership), ’00, CEO, RTI Donor Services, a Montana non-profit that donates organ tissue
  
• Michael Fancher (Business Leadership), ’86, executive editor and senior vice president, The Seattle Times
  
• Dennis Weston (Entrepreneurial Leadership), ‘87, senior managing director, Fluke Venture Partners, a venture fund that provided early stage financing for Aldus, Coinstar, Eagle Hardware and Garden, Innova, Starbucks, and Tegic Communications

Baruch College
The Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College recently partnered with OnePIN, Inc., to create an online directory and a process to update and maintain better contact information with former students.

Initial results show an almost 35 percent increase in alumni who activated their account and provided information. The college plans a follow-up mail campaign to bring more alumni into the online directory and are considering adding another group of alumni from a previous Executive MBA Program that focused on taxation to the directory.

“What is remarkable is hearing from older alumni and re-connecting with them,” says Chris Koutsoutis, administrative director of executive programs at Baruch College. “The bottom line for our program was to show that Baruch cares about its alumni and wants to include them in our program and not just treat them as alumni in the traditional sense of only a fund-raising source.

CURRICULUM CHANGES

Ashridge Business School, United Kingdom
Ashridge Business School in the United Kingdom has redesigned its full-time MBA to provide an integrated, leadership-based program that incorporates strategy formulation and implementation.

The thematic modules of the MBA address issues such as change, the global business environment, value, business in society, and organizational life cycle. The integrated focus closely resembles the realities and

complexity of business life. The MBA Program builds on the open and custom executive education experience at Ashridge and includes coaching, mentoring, and leadership development.

For additional information, visit www.ashridge.com/mba.

Chapman University
The George L. Argyros School of Business and Economics at Chapman University plans the following initiatives for its Executive MBA Program as the 2004-2005 school year kicks off.

• Once again, Executive MBA students will participate in three residential trips to San Diego/Mexico, China, and Washington, D.C., during their 21-month long course of study. In each case, students will learn about key global business issues related to the location.
  
  
• The Distinguished Speaker Series continues with extraordinary speakers who have made a significant impact in the business world and who will address topics strongly related to the program’s subject matter.
  
  
• The program will introduce other opportunities for students to regularly meet alumni and business leaders this fall. As part of “Dinners for 8,” local business people host eight MBA students for dinner. ‘Business 101s’ involves presentations by alumni, faculty, and friends of the Argyros School who will discuss business topics that concern Orange County.

Rutgers
Each year, Rutgers re-engineers its Executive MBA course materials to reflect changes in the global business environment. Changes for 2005 include:

• In spring 2005, Dean Howard Tuckman, author of seven books and more than 150 publications, will present a three-session course on Topics in Business and Government Policy to the graduating class.
  
• Jacob Mathew, professor and former director of strategy development, worldwide, Proctor and Gamble, will restructure the Executive Leadership course to include cases on leadership to turn companies around in trying times.
  
• Claire Calandra, professor and former deputy attorney general for New Jersey, will co-teach the 10-module business strategy course with Professor Barry Karafin. Calandra previously practiced business law at AT&T in a variety of positions and served as chief of staff for the vice chairman’s office and director of international operations. She subsequently become executive vice president and chief operating officer of TyCom Ltd,
  
• Taught by Professor Suresh Govindaraj, winner of two Paul Nadler Teaching Excellence Awards, the managerial accounting course focuses on financial statement analysis and forensic accounting.
  
• Taught by Professor Terri Kurtzberg, winner of the 2004 Paul Nadler Award, the organizational behavior course will include the role of the internet economy in effective group performance.

University of San Francisco
The Masagung Graduate School of Management at the University of San Francisco will participate in an academic partners program with the Wall Street Journal to include the print and online versions as part of the learning environment.

This summer the Executive Lecture Series of the Professional MBA for Executive Program, welcomed Karen Rose, retired group vice president and CFO of The Clorox Company, and George Pasha III, chair and CEO of the Pasha Group. The series offers students and alumni an opportunity to hear business leaders talk about current issues that impact their organizations and industry.

The University also opened the newly constructed School of Business and Management Building in August. The building houses five business center for research and advanced education: the Gellert Family Foundation Business Center, the Chiuchiarelli New Venture Center, the Telecommunications Management and Policy Program, the Center for Principled Leadership (currently under development), and the Research Publications Center.

GLOBAL INNOVATIONS

St. Mary's University, Canada
When a team from the Executive MBA Class of 2004 at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, traveled to Prague and Budapest, they concluded a several hundred thousand dollars’ business deal.

Each year, Executive MBA students make a 10-day international trip with the aim of selling a Nova Scotia product. In past trips, students opened the doors for companies, who succeeded in obtaining contracts as a result of the groundwork of the students. But in 2004, the students succeeded in closing the deal.

One of the five students on the team heard about Flo N’ Glo, a tool for filling gas tanks made by Scotia Innovators. The company wanted to enter the European market and welcomed the students’ assistance. Scotia already tried to do business in the German market, but had not yet succeeded.

The team researched the product and prepared an export plan. Through Canadian embassies in Prague and Budapest and trade and investment commissions in both countries, the team scheduled a series of meetings with two Hungarian firms and three firms in the Czech Republic.

Mol, a Hungarian gas station operator with 1,000 outlets, liked the team’s presentation and its board of directors quickly approved the proposal. Where it usually takes months to establish a relationship in Europe, the students succeeded in moving it forward in lighting speed.

“I wasn’t optimistic the students would do it (with Mol), but am delighted with them, a really professional team of highly qualified people,” says Ron Chisholm, company vice president. “We still have details to work out but we’re off to a good start.”


Business School São Paulo
Business School São Paulo (BSP) recently announced two new initiatives that support its status as a truly international business school program.

For five years, BSP has welcomed groups from the United States, Canada, and Europe. BSP recently formalized its programs for groups of Executive MBA, MBA, and undergraduate business students who number 15 or more.

BSP can tailor programs for visitors with offerings that include the following:

• Classes in doing business in Brazil and South America, based on the interests and experience of visiting students
  
• Series of company visits, based on the school’s broad range of corporate contacts with a variety of national and multinational companies, which gives students a practical understanding of the unique challenges to managing in the Brazilian economy
  
• Arrangements of leisure time, making sure that visitors see some of beautiful Brazil, including of course, Rio de Janeiro.
  

BSP also offers similar courses to foreign companies interested in exploring the Brazilian market. Visitors also may vary the program length, based on their needs.

BSP also serves as one of the host schools for students in the OMNIUM Global MBA. Students will study in immersion modules. Each module lasts three weeks in countries representing the four main economic regions of the world – Canada, Brazil, Switzerland, and China. This program is run in partnership with the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, Canada, and St. Gallen University, Switzerland.

University of Minnesota
In his first international trade mission, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty visited the Warsaw School of Economics, which partners with the University of Minnesota Carlson School, to speak about economic progress and opportunity.

The Carlson School and the Warsaw School jointly offer the Warsaw Executive MBA (WEMBA), which awards an American MBA through the University of Minnesota. BusinessWeek Polska ranked WEMBA the number one such program in Poland.

The governor delivered a lecture on economic development, spoke with Warsaw School of Economics Rector Marek Rocki and Vice-Rector Marcin Nowakowski, and met with WEMBA program administrators.

In his lecture, Pawlenty emphasized the need for innovative outlooks and entrepreneurial initiative to achieve economic success. Poland needs to develop and attract those types of big thinkers who look for new ways of doing things, he says.

Governor Pawlenty, First Lady Mary Pawlenty, and a party of Minnesota business people arrived in Warsaw on June 20, and spent four days there and in Prague, Czech Republic. As countries of the former Soviet eastern bloc—sometimes referred to as the “New Europe”—they stand on the brink of great economic development and challenges, says Pawlenty, and Minnesota business is eager to help.

University of Southern California
In May, the Marshall Business School at the University of Southern California inaugurated the first class of its Global Executive MBA (GEMBA) in Shanghai.

Based on Marshall’s top-ranked Executive MBA Program in Los Angeles, the GEMBA features the same senior faculty and integrated curriculum, taught in English at Shanghai every six weeks in five-day modules. The program also involves two trips to the U.S., as well as an international trip in Asia.

The first class includes a large number of senior managers, average age 37, from a wide range of companies, such as GE, Johnson & Johnson, Cisco, Northrop-Grumman, and Siemens. The class includes 14 who fly in from Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan, and even two who fly from the U.S. Two German students and four U.S. students live in Shanghai. This diversity enriches the classroom experience, offers a wider Asia focus and contributes to the University’s already strong Pacific Rim alumni network.

The program resulted from planning and a strategic partnership.

Two years ago, the Marshall School set its sights on developing a degree program in Asia to support the university’s overall strategy of becoming an educational leader in the Pacific Rim. Shanghai seemed the obvious choice for location because of its dynamic business environment and large diverse market.

In Shanghai the school formed a partnership with the Antai School of Business at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, one of China’s top 10 universities. Their faculty members help to arrange field visits and provide lectures about applications to China and the region.

 

MILESTONES

University of Alabama
In October, the University of Alabama will celebrate the 20-year anniversary of its Executive MBA Program with a weekend reunion.

The event will involve a formal dinner for alumni and families that features keynote speakers, an all-day tailgating party to prepare for the football game against the University of South Carolina, and reserved block seating for the game.

The weekend reunion is one of many events that will take place before the program’s 20 th Executive MBA class graduates in May 2005.

“We are excited about the recent innovations in our program and the opportunity to continue to share our success stories with many noted alumni,” says Susan Carver West, director, Executive MBA Program–Executive Education at the University of Alabama.

Ashridge Business School, United Kingdom
Ashridge appointed Keith Milmer as program director for the Ashridge Leadership Process, one of the business school’s most sought-after executive education programs.

Milmer has worked 13 years for Ashridge, as intake director for the two-year Executive MBA and program director for the Introduction to Management and Developing Business and Leadership Programs. Before joining Ashridge, he led international product development programs in the pharmaceutical industry.