HBS and Stanford University explore e-Learning partnership

Stanford University and Harvard Business School (HBS) have announced their intention to jointly explore a project to develop and deliver online executive and management training.

The two institutions have proposed the creation of a distribution platform for nondegree courses, saying they expect it to become the world’s premier source of online management education.

“The worldwide need for management skills has never been greater, and the demand for innovative approaches to management education is high,” said Robert Joss, Dean of Stanford’s Business School. “We believe partnership with Harvard Business School offers good prospects for developing new models in both educational content and delivery.”

Harvard Business School Dean Kim Clark said that “Stanford and HBS share a common mission: to educate leaders around the world. We also share a commitment to using technology in management education. Over the last several months, as we have explored the advantages of working together, we have become enthusiastic about the opportunity to deliver online an unparalleled management education portfolio to executives and leaders around the world.”

The collaborative program would involve the Harvard Business School, Harvard Business School Interactive (HBSi), and the e-Learning Division of Harvard Business School Publishing (HBSP). Stanford’s participants would include the Graduate School of Business, the School of Engineering, and Stanford’s Learning Technologies organization.

HBS will provide articles, course materials, and other content from HBSP, HBSi, and the School’s Baker Library. For several years, HBSP’s e-Learning Division has offered comprehensive sets of personalized, practical multimedia courses and desktop performance support, including Harvard ManageMentor and customized corporate intranet sites of HBR reprints for some 80 corporations. HBSP recently completed two of three modules of “Building E-Businesses” and an “Essential Skills for Managers” suite of courses, including accounting and finance basics courses, as well as a negotiating skills course based on the Getting to Yes principles. These courses are accessible through the HBSP Web site at http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu.