JEDDAH: A new business management certificate program is being launched next month in the Kingdom. The Xed Learning for Growth, initiated by Xenel, a Jeddah-based diversified company, in partnership with US-based Thunderbird School of Global Management, will commence on March 22 and continue for a year with its programs, according to Noor Fadel, communications officer of Xed Learning for Growth.
The program includes strategy certificate from March to July, leadership certificate from June to November, marketing certificate from December to Jan. 2011 and execution excellence in February 2011.
"We are committed to providing practical management education that is equal in quality to the very best provided elsewhere," Fadel told Arab News on the sidelines of the recently concluded Jeddah Economic Forum where Xed Learning for Growth was one of the exhibitors. "A unique feature is that the program is being carefully adapted to the Saudi, regional and global business needs."
The program will offer modules, both separately and as an integrated set, in Jeddah in collaboration with the US institution, which is widely acknowledged as one of the world's leading providers of business and executive education. It is a private business school and the oldest and largest graduate management school in the US specializing in international business management, he added.
With a faculty including those from Thunderbird, the program will cover basic areas of competency in strategy finance, marketing and leadership. It will blend the best of current academic research with a detailed knowledge of the Kingdom's operating environment, and will mix classroom instruction, Saudi-based case analyses and practitioner-oriented workshops with hands-on involvement in real-world projects.
"The program is designed to serve the needs of managers focused on getting things done," Fadel said, adding that each module will follow a dynamic and interactive format.
Founded in 1946 and located in Glendale, Arizona, Thunderbird is regarded as the world's leading institution in the education of global managers and has operations in the United States, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Russia, Central and South America, Singapore and China. Ranked No. 1 in international business by the Financial Times, U.S. News & World Report and the Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive 2007 Survey of Corporate Recruiters, Thunderbird is dedicated to educating global leaders who create sustainable prosperity worldwide. The school's program facilitates the development of the global mindset, which is critical to managing effectively in different social, economic and political environments. More than 38,000 students have graduated from Thunderbird, and its alumni live and work in more than 140 countries.
The first stream of modules to be offered this year will cover basic issues of strategy, finance, marketing and leadership with the explicit goal for preparing individuals to execute the managerial tasks they currently face, Fadel said, adding that there has been a tremendous response to it going by the registration process.
© Arab News 2010
