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Beth Cliff reveals how Northeasten University is competing in the increasingly crowded executive education marketplace.

How did you get involved in the field of executive education?

Beth Cliff. It was one of those serendipitous things - a professor friend of mine from business school was working for a great executive education consulting firm in Boston - sadly, no longer in existence - and I ended up there. It was nothing I had planned, but it was perfect. I come from a long line of educators, but I went to business school. So I became an educator, but of business people rather than high-school students.

What do you think is the biggest challenge that executive education faces in the next few years? How can you overcome it? 

BC. This industry is getting saturated, fast: lots of new entrants seeking to capitalize on traditionally fat margins and seemingly-endless demand. At the same time, open enrollment programs have become expensive relative to other learning alternatives - especially when travel is included - and they are not customized enough. Focusing on a few strategic partners and getting to know them very well, as Northeastern is doing, can be a key differentiator. Custom solutions using real work in the classroom is a natural progression of this tight relationship: our client's success is our success. 

This is a new business model that asks faculty to participate in ways they haven't had to before. Not everyone will want to do it; not everyone will be able to do it. The emphasis on relationships will require a different kind of staff, too - those who come from the business world and know what heavy pressures businesses are under, and what responsive, reliable client service looks like.

Northeastern is a fairly new entrant into the executive education space. How do you compete in such a crowded marketplace, especially in Boston, where there are so many business schools?

BC.  It isn't easy, that's for sure. But we have a terrific reputation for experiential learning - Business Week has ranked us number one in internships for a number of years running - and this sets us apart. We have a solid, well-earned reputation for delivering programs that help employees get their existing work done smarter, better, faster, and that build pipelines of talent who can roll up their sleeves and produce results. And because of our strong corporate relationships driven out of 100 years of co-operative education, companies in the area know us and love us. Our students have delivered for them for years, and they have no reason to doubt that our professors won't deliver for them too.

What are the most successful programs that you've been a part of, and why are they so successful?

BC. Success for us is that we deliver against the articulated needs of our clients. This could mean a half-day workshop in finance co-developed and taught with the CFO; or a 4.5 day off-site working session that generates new businesses resulting in millions of incremental revenue. Or it could mean delivering an accounting certificate program on a corporate campus, at lunchtime, so that employees don't have to take much time away from the job but are still learning concepts and skills that will help them do their job better - and retain them longer - while they earn credits towards a potential MBA degree.

These programs are successful because they involve a relationship with a buyer who has shared with us his/her problems - and opportunities - and we've been able to create a learning solution that addresses them head-on. This requires a level of innovation in the classroom and in the design process that is, perhaps, uncharacteristic of the more traditional open-enrollment programs. And it requires both faculty and staff that are willing to try new things, to build and create, and to track and report back results. My own experience is that this kind of innovation, flexibility and responsiveness can be rare in university-sponsored executive education, but I'm pleased to report that it's what drives Northeastern's success, for sure.