It plans to offer executive development programmes from next year, with an MBA following in 2011 and an executive MBA the year after that.
With firms cutting back on both staff and training budgets, there appears little appetite currently for the short, expensive executive-development programmes so important for business schools' balance sheets (see above).
Individual executive leadership development programmes fall outside the scope of traditional team-training initiatives; however, team-training programmes for executive leaders is an area ripe for further research as many healthcare organisations move towards enterprise affiliations and Accountable Care Organization (ACO) models.
Helen Drury, executive director of the mathematics mastery development programme, said the UK remained in "a frustratingly average position" in the Pisa tables but the results were a reminder of what can be learned from high performing countries.
One of the first outcomes of the new talent drive is that Monitor, the NHS Trust Development Authority, NHS Leadership Academy and NHS Providers have launched a year-long accredited development programme for "aspiring chief executives", delivering training which they claim will be world class.
The company is "filling regional roles and developing people much more locally," said Laurie Bevier, an executive development leader at General Electric in Bristol, Connecticut, who helped launch the programme this year.
Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said the company would be taking a "hard look" at its development programme and that there would also be savings from "manpower" across the company, though the "why and where" remained to be worked out.
"We have potential future leaders working alongside the director general and other executives at the very top of the BBC as part of our senior leadership development programme," said the spokesman.
Its neighbour also has an active nuclear weapons development programme.
And we run an extensive learning development programme for staff".
"The UK does not fund Ethiopia's commune development programme.
