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The walls of a kremlin, or citadel, within the Russian city of Kazan. Image credit.

WDI’s Education Initiative continues to expand global programming and partnerships with a new certificate course for mid- to senior-level managers in the southwest Russian city of Kazan.

The Executive Intensive Learning (EIL) course, delivered in conjunction with Kazan National Research Technical University and TISBI University of Management, is modeled off WDI’s highly successful Strategic Management Program (SMP). The 10-day course, structured as a “mini MBA,” will be held May 22-June 2 at TISBI in Kazan.

The program’s announcement follows the news in February that WDI would deliver the SMP in June in Tbilisi, Georgia for the first time. This program format has been run successfully in Latvia, Croatia and Slovakia for years.

“We’re excited to enter the Russian republic of Tatarstan,” says Amy Gillett, vice president of the Education Initiative at WDI. “This program is coming at an ideal time, as the economy in Kazan is growing, fueled by growth in the IT, banking, and manufacturing sectors. Bringing fresh thinking in leadership and management, and upgrading business skills will help managers grow their organizations and ultimately drive economic growth in the region. Kazan has been growing in prominence in the last decade and in 2009 was officially branded the ‘Third Capital of Russia.’”

The EIL is built on an integrative strategic framework and has modules in strategy, finance, government relations, and human resource management. Featuring lectures, discussions, cases, and exercises, each module session highlights the latest business management theory and fundamental general management principles. Attendees also participate in group work to help their critical thinking, decision-making, and teamwork skills.

Before the course, attendees will participate in an e-learning module on corporate finance designed by WDI to introduce general concepts in order to maximize classroom time at the program.

Additionally, the EIL will use the ExtendEd Portal, the customized online learning management platform developed by WDI, for participants to use before, during, and after the program.

The program will be conducted in English.

The WDI Faculty Affiliates teaching the EIL course are:

• Finance: Fritz Burkhardt, associate professor of Finance at Champlain College
• Strategy: John Branch, clinical assistant professor of Business Administration at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business

They will be joined by two faculty members from Kazan National Research Technical University who will teach government relations and human resource management.

More information please contact Nathan Rauh-Bieri, program coordinator for WDI’s Education Initiative.