Building a Curriculum for Executives
Professor Raymond Krizek explains how the EMDC course offerings came to be.
By Professor Raymond Krizek
The Executive Management for Design and Construction (EMDC) program at Northwestern Engineering had a rather unusual, but fundamentally sound, origin.
Several years ago, I appointed a committee of eight industry professionals to evaluate our Master of Project Management (MPM) program and tell me how we could improve the program. The group reviewed data from the preceding 20 years and ultimately determined that the program was in great shape. Their recommendation was that we should keep doing what we were doing.
That being said, they also suggested that, if we truly wanted to go to the next level, we should launch an executive program aimed at aspiring young professionals with eight to 10 years of experience. This is what the profession needs, they said.
With that, EMDC was born.
We created EMDC to help talented individuals expedite their move into senior leadership positions in the architecture, engineering, construction, or real estate development industries. To succeed at this level clearly requires more than just technical skills, so the program was designed to impart real-world business insight and an awareness of competitive strategies.
This goal was achieved by establishing a required core of six courses supplemented by six elective courses to allow each student the flexibility to satisfy their particular career objectives.
The six required core courses are:
- Finance and Accounting for Executives
- Construction Law and Risk Management
- Communication and Negotiation
- Leadership and Organization
- Advanced Business Strategy
- Human Resource Management
No matter what our students want to accomplish in their career, we think these core courses will be foundational in helping move them forward. And while each of our students has their own unique background and experience, we do see some common goals and ambitions. These aspirations range from preparing for a promotion or embarking on a new business to advancing in a military career or developing succession planning for a family business.
A major feature of the program is that it can be completed online, where courses are interactive in a simulated classroom environment.
We believe there is no other online executive management program with a similar curriculum that focuses on design and construction. If you are interested or simply want to learn more about the program, please contact us and we’ll be happy to answer any of your questions.
