Ashridge Business School Media pack
About Ashridge Established in 1959, Ashridge is one of the world s leading business schools, with an international reputation for world-class executive education and management development. Activities include open and custom executive education programmes, graduate programmes, organisation consulting, virtual learning and applied research. Its approach is practical and results-driven, underpinned by insight and internationally-renowned research and teaching based firmly in the real world. Ashridge credentials Rankings 7th in global top 20 Business Schools (Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 2013) Top 1% of global Business Schools (Financial Times, 2014) Awards Winner Talent Development (EFMD Awards 2014) Winner Best Practice in Learning Transfer (Training Journal Awards, 2013) Finalist Leadership Development (EFMD Awards, 2013) Winner Organisation Development (EFMD Awards, 2010) Learning Technologies Award (The Learning Awards 2014) Accreditations One of the few business schools worldwide to be accredited by all three main international education bodies, placing Ashridge among the top 1% of global business schools. AMBA the UK Association of MBAs EQUIS the European Quality Improvement System AACSB the US Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Degree Awarding Powers Ashridge is the only UK specialist business school with Degree Awarding Powers, giving it the equivalent status to a university in awarding its degrees. Ashridge Academic Accreditation Ashridge s Academic Accreditation service provides a route for other educational institutions to work with Ashridge in offering degree-level qualifications in business and management. Partnership with Ashridge in this way benefits the institution by being associated with a world-ranked business school. Location Ashridge works globally from its base near Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, located 50 km northwest of London, within easy reach of its international airports and the main rail and motorway networks. Its campus is centred on an 18th century mansion house, sensitively extended to provide state-of-the-art teaching facilities and modern residential areas. Ashridge delivers its services all over the world and has representatives in many locations including Germany, Denmark, Benelux, Turkey, Sweden, the Middle East, India and China. It has also established partnerships with several business schools for global programme delivery. Key facts 150 customised programme clients the highest of any UK business school. 300 customised programmes in 2013. Client retention is high at 72%, with over 200 repeat programmes in 2013. 100 programmes delivered overseas in 2013. Over 60% of clients are headquartered outside the UK. 90 full-time faculty and an additional 100 associate faculty. 25% of faculty are non-uk nationals, from 21 countries. 45% of staff teaching on graduate programmes hold a doctoral degree. Over a third of faculty are women. Around 6,500 participants each year attend Ashridge programmes. Over 50% come from overseas. Over 850 corporate clients a year use Ashridge to make their organisations and people more effective. Ashridge works with 66% of FTSE 100 companies. Around 150 corporate clients subscribe to Virtual Ashridge, and one million participants are connected virtually.
Faculty Ashridge employs approximately 90 full time faculty and has a further 100 associate faculty members. Ashridge faculty are not traditional academics together with significant academic qualifications, the majority have extensive international business experience, enabling them to become fully involved with the issues and challenges faced by clients and individual participants. Faculty regularly serve on the councils of international educational and advisory bodies, including the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and Association of MBAs (AMBA). They also share their expertise as visiting professors at many international business schools and universities. Faculty have worked at the top of organisations around the world. With around 25% of faculty having origins outside the UK, they provide a global perspective on organisation trends and developments. Our faculty are established and respected authors and commentators, featuring in the media, contributing to leading academic journals, producing research reports, and publishing papers and books spanning a broad range of topics. Executive education Ashridge s extensive range of programmes help individuals and organisations address a wide range of management and organisational development challenges. Open enrolment programmes Ashridge currently offers over 30 different open programmes that run several times each year, all designed to develop effective managers through strengthening knowledge, skills and confidence. Mostly of two to five days duration, they offer intensive learning to minimise managers time out of the office. The programmes cover a number of subjects in the following areas: General Management and Leadership Development, Business Skills and Commercial Acumen, People Skills and Leadership Excellence, Strategy and Change Management. Advanced Management Programme One key open programme is the Advanced Management Programme, which enables managers to accelerate their career progression and equips participants for general management and leadership responsibilities. Its modular design is flexible, which allows participants to schedule their participation to fit their diary. Custom programmes Ashridge has a commanding position in the field of custom programmes, with 150 regular clients, the highest of any UK business school. Each custom programme is unique it is devised after close client consultation to fully understand their precise requirements and desired outcome. As many clients are internationally based, a programme can be held in several locations, with some modules based on virtual learning. Depending on client requirements, Ashridge uses diverse activities to deliver learning. These range from large group interventions to one-to-one executive coaching, from traditional tutor-led input sessions to facilitation using our consultancy expertise, as well as live projects and business simulations. Ashridge delivers customised programmes to over 100 international clients, including the Foreign and Commonwealth office, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Electrolux, Alfa Laval, Daimler, TimeWarner and Swarovski. Fast Track Advanced Management Programme Ashridge offers a short form of the Advanced Management Programme (AMP) for those with less time to invest. The Fast-Track AMP covers the core components of the AMP in two 5-day modules. It gives participants the essential learning and development needed to become high-performing general managers, and covers the key general management topics.
Graduate programmes Ashridge s graduate programmes portfolio includes full-time and part-time MBAs; Masters programmes in Management, Sustainability and Responsibility, and Executive Coaching; and a Masters and Doctorate in Organisational Change. Ashridge Consulting Ashridge Consulting is a thriving organisation development and cutting edge change consultancy. It has an international client base and works collaboratively with its clients, involving them in creating and developing a participative process to bring about real change. It carries out consultancy projects and interventions using its expertise from its specialist practice groups in leadership, strategy, talent management, change, sustainability and virtual working. Ashridge is one of only a few business schools in the world to have an organisation development consulting practice. Executive coaching Ashridge Consulting also offers executive coaching, which is increasingly seen as a significant way of contributing to an organisation s change and management development agenda. In recognition of the different ways that leaders work within organisations, the executive coaching offering is focused in three areas: for individuals; for teams; and developing leaders coaching skills. MBA The Ashridge MBA is one programme that offers managers two different pathways to achieving their MBA the one-year Full-time MBA and the two-year Executive MBA. This programme is aimed at experienced managers from around the world and offers a combination of learning, consultation, facilitation and research that is directly applied to the challenges faced by organisations. The MBA focuses on developing leadership skills, and four key business themes run through all modules Creating Customer Value, Sustainable Business, Global Context and Organisational Change. Optional master classes are run in partnership with industry experts covering topics such as organisation design, entrepreneurship, family business, leadership in the public sector, managing in the City, digital marketing, corporate governance, social enterprise, business law and women in leadership. Ashridge s MBA is a general management programme that develops well-rounded individuals who can progress to be effective leaders of teams and organisations in a rapidly changing global environment. Participants benefit from a programme of personal development and the opportunity to gain a thorough grounding in all management subject areas, as well as to study subjects closely aligned to their particular interests. Flexibility, relevance, applicability, global perspectives, and a focus on practical approaches are central to the Ashridge approach. MBA and international focus An international study visit provides hands-on experience of different cultures and business environments. Visits in previous years have been to China, Brazil, and Argentina, where students take part in a live consultancy project with a global focus. We also offer a specialist module on Sustainable Business for those who wish to explore this topic in even greater depth. This module provides the tools and frameworks to integrate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) into mainstream business practice. In doing so, participants come face-to-face with local, national and international organisations and learn how they define and address the CSR agenda.
Learning methods We use classrooms, facilitated discussion, experiential learning, psychometric instruments, one-to-one coaching, e-learning, live cases, simulations, consultation assignments, guest speakers, self-managed learning and visits to organisations. How can an Ashridge MBA/EMBA change someone s career and life in general? Increased knowledge, confidence, and business acumen Enhanced personal and professional development Confidence to talk across disciplines and to challenge the thinking of others Open eyes to new career opportunities Potential to increase salary. Scholarships Scholarships are awarded to candidates who demonstrate the greatest potential or would benefit most from doing an MBA. The scholarship categories include: Women in Leadership Emerging Markets Responsible Leadership Managing Globally Entrepreneurship Armed Forces Finance and Financial Services. MBA Scholarship applicants are asked to complete an essay in their application for the award. Masters in Management With the Masters in Management, all the learning is conducted virtually, rather than lecture-room based. Learning materials can be accessed from anywhere in the world, at any time. It is built around a series of assignments which are related to the participant s own organisation, delivering immediate benefits to the individual and their organisation. Masters in Sustainability and Responsibility The Masters in Sustainability and Responsibility is a two-year part-time programme for people who want to play a part in helping organisations become both responsible and successful. It is intended for those working in businesses, consultants, activists, public sector managers and NGO professionals. The programme addresses the environmental and social challenges facing us in coming decades, and explores the practices and management approaches being developed in leading organisations to address sustainability and responsibility. Masters in Executive Coaching The Masters in Executive Coaching has been designed for coaches and consultants who, as part of their practice, work in intensive one-to-one coaching relationships. This two-year, part-time programme focuses on helping participants to integrate theory and skills from existing coaching practice, organisational development and psychotherapy, through workshops and reflective practice. Ashridge Masters in Organisational Change The Ashridge Masters in Organisational Change is a two-year, part-time programme developed by practising consultants to address the unique challenges faced by professionals leading change in increasingly complex organisational contexts. Participants who complete the programme can proceed further to study for the Ashridge Doctorate in Organisational Change. Ashridge Postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Coaching and Organisation Development Supervision For experienced organisation development consultants and executive coaches, this ten-day programme offers participants an opportunity to be supervised on any aspect of their work and to qualify as a supervisor of other consultants and coaches.
Research Virtual Ashridge Available to corporate subscribers and programme participants, Virtual Ashridge is a web-based learning resource that gives access to the research and expertise of Ashridge through video, audio and text-based resources at work, at home or on the move. The virtual format allows knowledge to be customised to organisational learning frameworks, and to respond to individual learning styles and needs. Virtual Ashridge develops customised portals that give an organisation s staff access to resources mapped to their core competencies and Ashridge learning materials. It supports the learning of over one million individuals across 150 private and public sector organisations, in the UK and internationally. For developing international teams, virtual learning has a much smaller carbon footprint than actual classroom situations, and offers tangible savings in flight and accommodation costs, together with executive time. Ashridge s research makes a positive impact on both management practice and management learning. Research outputs include leading-edge management tools and techniques, case studies illustrating best practice, and a wide range of research papers, publications and research reports. By conducting relevant and rigorous quantitative and qualitative research, faculty generate knowledge, insights and distinctive points of view that translate into delivery of a top-quality client experience. Ashridge s research creates value by enhancing the relevance and quality of teaching materials and providing thoughtful, challenging and innovative ideas to improve management practice. We also deliver commissioned research and work in partnership with organisations where we have mutual research interests. Research Centres Ashridge has six Research Centres that carry out specialist research in learning, action research, strategic management, leadership, business and sustainability and coaching. Ashridge Strategic Management Centre Based in London, the Centre is a recognised authority on strategic management issues within large companies. Ashridge Centre for Business and Sustainability The Centre for Business and Sustainability is Ashridge s in-house think tank on sustainable development and the implications for leadership, strategy and change in organisations.
Biographical note Kai Peters, CEO Ashridge Business School BA (Hons), MBA, Companion of the Chartered Management Institute (CCMI) Ashridge Leadership Centre The Leadership Centre acts as a catalyst for creative thinking, dialogue, research and writing about leadership the leadership needed in these times of complexity, uncertainty and change. It provides insights into the challenges that face leaders in both the private and public sectors. Ashridge Centre for Coaching The Centre for Coaching, an internationally recognised centre of excellence, works with coaches and client organisations to develop coaching skills and culture. Centre for Research in Executive Development The Centre for Research in Executive Development improves executive development by researching processes important to learning including transfer of learning back to the workplace, evaluation of learning and return on investment. Kai Peters is Chief Executive of Ashridge Business School. Previously he was Dean of the Rotterdam School of Management of Erasmus University in the Netherlands. He has worked with both IBM in Canada and Volkswagen in Germany in management development. Peters serves on supervisory and advisory boards for a number of organisations in the education and healthcare sectors. He also serves in various capacities for educational associations including AACSB, AMBA, EFMD and GMAC. He writes widely on cognitive sciences and leadership and strategy for government, business and academic audiences. He holds degrees from York University, Toronto and the University of Quebec (Canada), and Erasmus University (Netherlands). Kai is frequently called on as an expert commentator on a diverse range of executive education and business issues including sustainability, leadership, Generation Y, coaching, neuroscience and learning, wellness at work and global talent management. Ashridge Centre for Action Research The Centre for Action Research acts as a hub for and generator of participatory action research ideas and practices. Research projects Recent and current business and management research projects carried out by Ashridge faculty include Chinese leadership, women in business, Generation Y, sustainable development, sleep and resilience, ethical leadership, wellbeing at work, mobile learning and neuroscience in executive development.
Designed by Ashridge Design Studio 08/14 Media contacts Jenny Murray, Corporate Communications Manager +44 (0) 1442 841388 jenny.murray@ashridge.org.uk Chris Johnson, PR Manager +44 (0) 1442 841429 chris.johnson@ashridge.org.uk Ashridge Business School Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire HP4 1NS, United Kingdom www.ashridge.org.uk Printed on paper from sustainable sources. We are committed to sustainable development. www.ashridge.org.uk/sustainability Registered as Ashridge (Bonar Law Memorial) Trust. Charity number 311096.