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Joining Forces To train a world-class workforce, business schools are forging stronger bonds with the business community. The goal: to make business an active, long- term partner in the educational process. by Tricia Bisoux workforce well-trained, it might enroll its managers in an executive program. Still, there were two distinct worlds at workâacademia and enterprise oper- ated, in large part, independently of one another. Today, the stakes are higher. Companies face mounting global pressures, O complex business problems, and concerns about sustaining the pipeline of top talent; business schools must keep up with swiftly changing business re- alities and bring them into the classroom in real time. Both sides are coming to the same realization: They can't go it alone. "The blend of the corporate sector and the business school curriculum has always been important, but today it's doubly important," says Andy Policano, dean of the Merage School of Business at the University of Cali- fornia, Irvine. "The global context makes the interaction between the busi- ness school and corporations more critical." As many business schools have discovered, the old rules often don't apply in this new world of corporate relations. To build thriving links with the corporate community, b-schools have shifted their focus from fund raising to refining best practices in corporate relationship building. Each new approach is designed to help schools form tighter, more synergistic alliances with top business leaders and bring more corporations into the academic fold. RULE 1: Know What Companies Want Companies essentially have a short list of general concerns when they join forces with a business school: recruitment, branding, training, networking, and discovering the latest innovations in business. Their specific concerns, however, can be as varied as the businesses themselves. One company may need to develop a more entrepreneurial workforce or a more robust IT infrastructure, while another may want to expand into new global markets or manage large-scale change. Understanding and meeting an organization's individual needs are at the heart of a successful corporate connection, says Jean-Marie Hennes. As president of the HEC Foundation, the corporate relations arm of HEC Paris in France, Hennes emphasizes that developing a tailored approach to the needs of individual companies has become an essential way to woo their interest. Some companies may even want to work with a business school to develop programs targeted to their own industries. 48 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007 nce, when a company wanted to hire the best and brightest, it would send recruiters to the b-school campus each spring to meet the latest crop of soon-to-be graduates. To get back to its b-school roots, it might send its executives to visit the dean, speak to a class, or attend a luncheon. And to keep its