Customized executive learning: a business model for the twenty‐first century

Purpose – This paper seeks to elaborate on the drivers underpinning the rise of the Platform Model in customized executive learning and to explain the guiding philosophy underpinning this model. Design/methodology/approach – The study followed directives for case‐based research, and was based on multiple sources of evidence: extant literature, archival data, industry publications, interviews and direct observation. Common issues were identified and used to build theory and make the concepts generic enough to be communicated to executive education professionals. Findings were shared and validated with professionals, and with managers within the human resource and organizational development departments of corporate firms. Findings – The emergence of the Platform Model for executive education has been driven by four key developments –an explosion in the number of intellectual free agents who work outside or beyond the permeable organizational boundaries of academic institutions; the increasing recognition of open collaboration as an engine of customization and innovation; the pervasive spread of information and communication technologies that are enabling virtual teams to deliver integrated educational offerings; and the demand of clients that educational offerings should deliver outcomes by matching intellectual resources with their needs, and not vice versa. Originality/value – The paper describes a recent trend in the ongoing evolution of approaches towards the design and delivery of executive learning. The Platform Model for executive learning is based on the existence of what has become a two‐sided network, entailing a triangular set of market relationships. On one side of this network are the individuals and firms that possess specialist skills and expertise, and on the other side are organizational clients seeking learning solutions. The need for these two groups – the network's “sides” – to interact with each other efficiently has created the opportunity for the emergence of Platform Intermediaries.