Globalization has had a fair bit of impact on the Indian market and the related dynamics. More aware and demanding customers, cost and price competitiveness, reduced product lifecycles, evolving technologies and resultant processes and competition from Indian as well as global players, are just some of the factors that impact each member of the workforce today. The biggest impact is felt by the people in the middle and higher management cadre, who are expected to define the strategy or execute it successfully.

A few trends that have emerged in the executive education space, both at the customer as well as the institution level are:
Increased demand amongst individuals: Education has been a big boon to the professionals who through their sheer grit, intelligence and on-the-job learning have moved or are planning to move further, on the corporate ladder. These executives seek programs that can equip them with necessary inputs to tackle challenges and also help them achieve their career objectives, ranging from a promotion to change in the role or the industry itself.

Enhanced demand amongst companies: Some companies see this as one key initiative to enhance skills of identified leaders, while some companies may see this as a key initiative to enhance the retention of key talent. Further, there are also some that see this as an incentive for their top performers.

Greater use of technology: The demanding work conditions have left limited time in hand for pure campus-based inputs. Thus, technology is assuming a greater role in enabling executive education, where more classroom based sessions are being aided by VC or V-Sat based lectures, webcast, etc.

Diminishing geographical barriers: For professionals operating in far flung areas, the distance, travel time and cost prevented many from access to quality executive education. Well-designed programs and use of technology has substantially increased the demand for executive education even from traditionally unmarked clusters.

While there is a clear increase in the demand for executive education, the area of ROI on executive education has not found a single formula to answer this question. However, some of the ways that it can be gauged are in terms of success in the lateral movement, impact on promotion or compensation, change of role or enhancement in responsibilities and span of control. This measure would depend largely on the key objective that was desired to be achieved by the individual or the company from such an intervention.