'Our executive education relies on the right combination of people'

Educating regular students is a core task of the University. At the same time, so-called executive education is becoming increasingly important. With that type of education, the UG contributes to the continuous development of working people. Thijs Broekhuizen, Scientific Director of  the University of Groningen Business School (UGBS) aims to advance staff members of companies, governments, and societal organizations by linking academic teaching to practice. ‘Noticing which people are a good match. That is a big part of the success.’

_{Text: Riepko Buikema (Communication Office), photos: Henk Veenstra}

Would Broekhuizen like to become executive director of the UGBS? Not in a million years. ‘At first, I didn't like it. I would often have to visit companies a lot, and that’s simply a bit more difficult for me because of my wheelchair. But when the question shifted to the scientific side of the business school, the associate professor of the Master’s programme Innovation Management & Strategy was immediately on board.

‘Yes! I have a lot of experience in setting up academic teaching and quality assurance.  I have always been a unifier, familiar with the ins and outs of several disciplines, and have often tried to bring disciplines together. I have a marketing background, chose the innovation, management, and strategy field after that. I have already worked together a lot with people from the logistics and digital business fields. I understand people from various disciplines and notice who are a good match. This skill helps me immensely.’

Travel guide

And look what happens now: The almost endless stream of posts on his LinkedIn page reads like a travel guide to the lecture halls of working people in the Netherlands. An in-company Executive Energy Programme at Eiffel, the kick-off of the regional Strategic Nursing Leadership learning pathway, a group photo of the second cohort of graduates from the Executive MBA in Energy Transition. ‘Within the University, we often still teach students in a monodisciplinary way. But societal problems, for example in the fields of healthcare, energy transition, or sustainability, call for the combination of disciplines. That is where the UGBS comes into play. The University wants to share its knowledge, and discussions become much more practical in direct contact with the industry or the healthcare sector, because you immediately start talking about how to solve problems.’

Geared for practice

With executive education, the discussion with the participants is usually more important than purely the transfer of knowledge, Broekhuizen says. ‘Take the advisors of Eiffel. They assist local governments whose role is changing enormously.  Municipalities used to be organizations that were mainly on the implementation side of things, but they are now expected to become network players that help realize heat networks. In our programme, under the guidance of Marieke van Genugten, public administration expert and lecturer at Radboud University, the consultants from Eiffel analyse this changing landscape and its consequences for their consultancy work.’ 

Challenging

For lecturers, the target group of professionals is great fun, the Scientific Director states, although the work is intense. He can draw on his own experience, because Broekhuizen also regularly contributes to the UGBS programmes himself. ‘You are challenged and tested: how far does your knowledge reach? The participants want value for money, you have to be well prepared. Instead of giving a two hour lecture to students, at the UGBS you spend the whole day with a group of clients, which makes the learning experience more profound. It also offers the chance to answer questions in co-creation. During such a training day, for instance, I overhear a couple of times that congestion on the electricity grit plays a major role in the participants’ cases. It is great fun to respond to that the next time, and to look for experts on that particular topic who can share their knowledge.’

Look out for another

Within the walls of the University, Broekhuizen’s task is to entice professors and lecturers to also teach for the Business School. This does not always happen automatically. A special experience in the United States helps him to get things done. ‘I went to New York with my father once and forgot to bring cash for bottles of water on a hot day. But the vendor we met did not hesitate one moment and instantly gave them to me. I find this mentality very valuable: Wishing people the best and thinking along with them. How can you use your expertise and network in such a way that we all benefit? That attitude. That makes me happy.’

Besides: teaching working people also benefits UG academics. Broekhuizen: ‘The lecturers are in the spotlight, get in touch with companies, discover new research questions, increase their visibility for grant applications, or earn extra budget for a symposium or temporary residency at another university.’

Moving forward together

This is how Broekhuizen hopes to expand the UGBS in the coming years. He talks proudly of a large teaching programme for Deloitte, for which UGBS and Campus Fryslân are training 300 partners within the national initiative Chapter Zero, and of the tailor-made teaching programme in which Achmea marketers learn to estimate the needs of policyholders based on big data. Of the basic course with the key points of interest for new members of boards of directors. ‘You often notice soon enough whether our lecturers are happy and the participants satisfied. This usually goes hand in hand. When I see that happening, it’s beautiful—time and again.’

More information

• Contact Thijs Broekhuizen
• Website University of Groningen Business School