B-schools’ neglect of executive education as a way to reinforce their unique identity is a missed opportunity, writes Kühne’s Andreas Kaplan
In many business schools, executive education is treated as a secondary priority, often primarily viewed as a revenue stream to subsidize degree programs. While profitability matters, this narrow view overlooks the broader strategic value, executive education’s true X-factor.
PROMOTE YOUR POSITIONING
Business schools often build their brand around expertise in areas like entrepreneurship, sustainability, or legacy strengths—such as KLU’s leadership in logistics. Yet, many schools focus heavily on degree programs, neglecting the potential of executive education to reinforce their unique identity.
This is a missed opportunity. Executives trained through these programs become immediate brand ambassadors, sharing the school’s positioning across their extensive professional networks. For example, while KLU is well-known for logistics, fewer realize it also delivers general management and leadership programs infused with a distinctive logistics-driven approach: what we call KLU’s Operations Mindset, instilling resilience, data-driven thinking, and action-oriented decision-making. Executive education participants can help amplify this message, acting as highly cost-effective multipliers.
Even more important than showcasing differentiation in executive training is ensuring consistency. A school that promotes, for example, sustainability—yet serves plastic bottles during executive education sessions—risks damaging its credibility and brand equity. This kind of disconnect happens more often than you might think.
CULTIVATE YOUR COMMUNITY
Executive education participants are also valuable for building and strengthening your community—yet they are often overlooked in this regard. Typically, they complete their training and might receive a follow-up email about future courses—nothing more.
However, executives can contribute far beyond their own training. They can offer internships to degree students, engage in career services, or serve as guest lecturers. Just because they spend only a few days at your institution doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in staying connected. From their perspective, they’ve made a significant investment and carefully selected your school over competitors. They may be open to opportunities such as mentoring students or offering industry insights for theses and projects.
Some business schools and universities already recognize this potential, even granting alumni status to executive education participants of advanced certification programs, fostering long-term engagement and loyalty.
FORM YOUR FACULTY
Many professors join business schools directly after earning their PhDs, often without much — if any — corporate experience. Yet they’re expected to teach practical, industry-relevant courses and conduct research with real-world applications — a challenge if they’ve never seen the inside of a company.
Teaching in executive education connects faculty to real-world business challenges. Interacting with executives helps professors understand current industry issues, identify research topics that matter to companies, and develop compelling case studies for undergraduate and master’s courses. In this way, executive education acts as a vital bridge between academia and practice, benefiting both faculty and students.
ORGANIZE YOUR OPERATIONS
Implementing these strategies may be relatively simple — it’s all about aligning operations effectively. To promote your school’s positioning, executive education teams need clear guidance on the key messages to communicate. A simple start could be a brief two-minute introduction at the beginning of every executive training session, highlighting the school’s strengths, which are — hopefully — reinforced throughout the coursework.
Strategic brand building can also be enhanced by giving executive education teams flexibility beyond just generating revenue and profit – often their only and primary objective to reach. For instance, KLU’s recently established Saigon campus partnered with the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam to offer short lectures and training — not for immediate profit, but to build brand awareness and engage stakeholders in a new market.
Community building also requires streamlined communication. Executive education teams often lack the incentive to connect participants with degree students for internships or mentorships. A simple solution could be a standardized email or questionnaire, asking executives if they would like to be contacted for internships, mentorship, or event invitations. Though it sounds simple, many institutions still overlook this.
Finally, for faculty to gain exposure to executives, young professors should be involved in executive education. While senior faculty with corporate ties typically lead these programs, early-career professors also need opportunities to build industry connections. They don’t need to lead entire courses — inviting them to deliver a 90-minute session can be enough. This keeps executives engaged while giving junior faculty valuable exposure to real-world business challenges.
Nearly two decades in higher education leadership have taken Andreas Kaplan from dean of ESCP Business School Paris (part of the Sorbonne Alliance) to his current role as president and managing director of Kühne Logistics University (KLU) in Hamburg. Professor Kaplan has authored seminal articles and books on the evolving landscape of universities and business schools.
