MEDIA RESOURCES

Cox School Executive Education Offers
Innovative Telecommunications Program

In light of the marketplace confusion precipitated by President Clinton’s signing of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the attendant lack of clarity and direction stimulated in the telecommunications industry, the Executive Education Department of SMU’s Cox School of Business moved into action. By creating and implementing a management and business development needs market survey for the telecommunications industry, the school identified several significant and immediate industry-wide needs. These included:

• techniques to find, hire, and retain the best possible workforce
• strong managerial skills with particular focus on team-building and proactivity
• general managerial skills across all levels: first line, middle, and senior. ( Needs are most critical for first line managers.)
• general managerial skills across all functional areas . ( In rank order, the needs are greatest in operations, marketing, and sales.)

Not unexpectedly, the survey also confirmed that any training must offer immediate demonstrable value to corporate participants. In executing this survey, marketing specialists from the Cox School queried corporations with home or regional in the Dallas metroplex in July and August , 1996. The survey list of participating companies included Alcatel, EDS, Ericsson, GTE, Lucent Technologies, Nortel, MCI, PageMart and Westcott Communications, Inc. The survey included 15 open-ended questions concerning company background, industry concerns and workforce and developmental needs, and how to address industry concerns. The responses were analyzed and clustered.

The result of this analysis has led to the development and presentation of a new program entitled, "Advanced Management Program for Telecommunications Executives: Value Creation in a Competitive Environment" on March 21 – 26, 1999.

The goal of this program is to offer executives and senior managers new perspectives and tools with which to:

• Understand the changing regulatory environment and its impact on competition and technology
• Improve the recruitment, motivation and retention of employees
• Identify and manage the technology trends of key customers
• Capitalize on alliances and partnerships
• Evaluate decisions based on shareholder value
• Identify strengths and weaknesses through competitive business analysis
• Allocate scarce corporate capital in the face of increasing requests for funding

Taught by Cox faculty and industry professionals, the program will include classroom sessions, small group discussions and simulation projects. The program is designed for senior managers and executives in the telecommunications industry with either functional or general management responsibilities. Past participants have included executives from Southwestern Bell Wireless, Ericsson, Inc., GTE Directories, SBC Telecommunications, SPRINT, Nortel, and AirTouch International.

The program will be held at the Cox School on the SMU Campus. The fee of $4,950 includes lodging for five days, tuition, course materials and most meals. Applications and information are available by calling the Cox’s Division of Executive Education and Management Development at 214-768-3890 or 800-768-6699 or via the internet at Executive Education.

The Cox School was recently ranked #30 in the world by the Financial Times among MBA programs