Executive Development Program

Are you looking to realize your potential for assuming senior general management roles? Join us on this intense and interactive learning journey with a signature program designed to enhance general management capabilities beyond a skills-focus.

 


60+ hours of immersive and interactive sessions
15+ leading academics & successful practitioners
15+ leading academics & successful practitioners
Join a global network of Executive Education alumni
Earn a certificate of professional achievement
Expand personal capacity to meet professional challenges

You are someone:

  • Who is currently a high-performing mid-level or a senior management executive, a functional senior leader, principal of a small or medium firm or an entrepreneur on a path to becoming a general manager
  • Who understands that merely focusing on a skills-based change does not lead to sustained professional growth
  • Who appreciates and values diverse business perspectives and discussions

The Blended Experience


  • A blend of live virtual and in-person delivery
  • Rigorous & Interactive curriculum
  • In-person capstone week
  • Distinctive workshop integrating design and business thinking to create an actionable plan
  • Delivered across two months to suit the busy executive's schedule
  • Modular in design; each week aligns with a core theme
  • Digital-first collaboration and group work tools
  • Managed by a dedicated Virtual Delivery Support Team

Flexible ● Accessible ● Collaborative ● Enhanced Learning ● Multiple Channel Delivery

In-Person Experience


  • Three-week in-person immersive experience
  • Rigorous & Interactive curriculum
  • Week 3 in our downtown Chicago Kellogg campus
  • Meaningful peer-to-peer interactions in the evenings
  • Group outings to build networks
  • Access to Northwestern University campus sports and gym facilities
  • Managed by a dedicated Program Manager



Invigorating ● Challenging ● Immersive ● Personalized ● Hospitable ● All Inclusive

 

Academic Director Julie Hennessy talks about why people come to our Executive Development Program.

 

VIDEO: Jenny Echevarria talks about the takeaways she has from our Executive Development Program.

 

VIDEO: Martin Molinari talks about learning from both faculty and peers during the program.

 

VIDEO: Tony Isidro talks about his experience with the cohort in the program.

 

Live info session


This multi-modular program will enrich you with fresh ideas while empowering you to gain a broader perspective and increased confidence. Over 15 top Kellogg faculty teach in this program.

Curriculum

Diverse Modes of Engagement

A typical live virtual session features a blend of experiential activities to make the session more engaging and draw students into the content.


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Organization and Leadership Foundations

Equip yourself with a common language to reflect on your organization and your role as a leader.


Core Business Linkages

Emphasizes the foundational business skills needed by general managers to understand and lead the workforce. Topics include:


Accounting

You’ll learn strategies for evaluating and linking earnings and cash flow to value creation, developing a clearer understanding of corporate disclosures and non-disclosures and how companies take advantage of allowable income-increasing strategies.


Finance

You’ll explore cash flow analysis, capital budgeting allocation decisions and capital structure analysis, as well as models for evaluating investment alternatives and the ranking of investment projects.


Marketing

Through case studies and classroom exercises, you’ll explore the impact of decision-driven marketing, design thinking and digital tools on the marketing function.


Operations

You’ll take a systemic view of organizations as collections of business flows and supply chains and identify key metrics for targeting improvement. This module also emphasizes the linkage of operational and financial flows as part of daily management and examines strategic capacity investment and operational hedging.


Strategy

Whether performing a competitive analysis, focusing on growth or creating a system of metrics to drive performance, this module will encourage you to ask if your organizational structures support your strategy and provide tools to drive alignment.


Managing Into the Future

Sessions focus on preparing for a return to the workplace with skills ready to make a difference.


Motivating Your Team

You will explore your own unit’s alignment to company values, identify your organization’s motivation culture and discover how it impacts performance. And while organizational structures can drive operations, we will delve into the power of informal networks and how to leverage their role in your team’s success.


Leveraging Data for Business Decisions

Our faculty explore the underlying structures designed to exploit data and create relevant classroom exercises to help you critically analyze decisions around embedding intelligent automation throughout the enterprise.


Communications Essentials for Leaders

These sessions are designed to build your expertise in reading your audience, crafting your message and delivering it with confidence. Engage in interactive exercises to practice techniques for enhancing your executive presence and effectiveness as a leader.


Cross-Cultural Negotiations

You’ll learn practical frameworks for negotiating in a globalized marketplace and new ideas and techniques from the field of dispute resolution. Although you can use what you learn here in virtually any situation, this module emphasizes negotiation within organizations and group decision-making.


Program Director Leads

Julie Hennessy - Academic Director; Clinical Professor of Marketing

Gretchen Baker - Academic Leadership Team, Program Director

Incentives available for groups and teams of four or more attending open enrollment programs. Learn more



Upcoming Sessions

In-Person Sessions

October 12 - 31, 2025

Start: October 12 at 5:00 PM

End: October 31 at 11:45 AM



Format: In-Person at Global Hub on Evanston Campus

In-Person fee includes lodging and most meals

$37,350

This Approval Program is limited to individuals with specific business experience. All applications will be subject to review and approval from the program’s Academic Director.

Blended Session

April 7 - May 18, 2025

Start: April 7 at 8:30 AM

End: May 18 at 12:00 PM



Live Virtual Zoom Half-Days
April 7-11: Faculty Sessions (Required) at 8:30 AM CT
April 21-25: Faculty Sessions (Required) at 8:30 AM CT

In-Person Full Days
May 8: Welcome Dinner Reception (Optional) at 6:30 PM CT
May 9-18: Faculty Sessions (Required) at 8:30 AM CT


Click here for Executive Education's COVID-19 health and safety protocols

In-Person fee includes lodging and most meals.

$33,550



This Approval Program is limited to individuals with specific business experience. All applications will be subject to review and approval from the program’s Academic Director.

Admissions Criteria

Admission Criteria

An admissions committee thoroughly reviews each application and considers the nature and scope of the applicant’s responsibilities. For the benefit of class members, sponsoring organizations and the integrity of the program, the committee seeks to admit individuals with diverse skills and experiences and who meet the qualification criteria as described above under 'You are someone/Who Should Attend'.

Kellogg expects that participants will attend all sessions, immerse themselves completely in the experience and free themselves of all other obligations while the program is in session.


Sponsorship

To enroll in the Executive Development Program, you must have a sponsor from your organization, someone familiar with your background and motivations for attending. This could be the person to whom you report, your organization’s chief human resources officer or the person responsible for management development in your organization.

Should you be interested in self-funding your participation, please reach out to Kellogg’s Academic Development Advisor for this program to discuss options.


Language

This program is taught in English and there is a considerable amount of reading material (e.g., case studies and articles) given in advance and during the program. Strong English language skills are essential in order to comprehend the reading materials and contribute meaningfully to classroom and study group discussions. Proficiency in reading, writing and speaking English is required for a successful educational experience.


Admissions Process

Class size is limited to maximize classroom and study group participation, so early application is encouraged. EDP applications are accepted on a rolling basis and are reviewed upon submission until the program fills.


Certificate

The Kellogg School of Management awards a certificate upon the successful completion of the EDP program.


Cost

The fee for EDP is payable in U.S. dollars. The fee covers tuition, class materials, accommodations, and most meals. Enrollment is not confirmed until full payment is received. Payment may accompany the application or an invoice may be requested. Full payment is due within 30 days of the invoice date. If the participant is enrolling within 30 days of the program’s start date, full payment is due immediately. Enrollments in Kellogg programs are highly competitive, and places will not be guaranteed until your payment is received. It is expected that applicants have their own health insurance valid in the United States. The University is not responsible for medical expenses incurred by participants during the program.


There is an additional fee of $3000 for the optional coaching program, which covers all individual coaching sessions (during and after the program). This will be invoiced separately.


Cancellation Policy

Because attendance at a Kellogg School executive program requires significant advance preparation and demand often exceeds capacity, it is important that you contact us in a timely manner if you must cancel or defer your attendance. To receive a full refund of tuition, notice of cancellation must be received more than 30 days in advance of the program start date. Participants who cancel less than 30 days in advance will not receive a refund but may nominate an acceptable substitute or attend a future session of the same program within one year.



Do you still have questions about the Executive Development Program? Please contact us at 847.467.6018 or execed@kellogg.northwestern.edu.

Kellogg School of Management

James L. Allen Center
2169 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208
Directions
847.467.6018