Business Forum • 19 March, 2024 at 10:16 AM
EXEC-EDU, the leader of the executive education market in Romania, the top segment of the training industry, launches the fourth edition of the EXEC-EDU scholarship program, dedicated to entrepreneurs and managers from entrepreneurial companies, but also for those from non-governmental organizations. EXEC-EDU will offer this year four partial scholarships, with a total value of over €5,000, addressed especially to the entrepreneurs who plan to scale up.
The courses that can be accessed through these scholarships are Leadership 360 and Management 360, two complex training programs, with a tradition of over 18 years, which will help entrepreneurs develop two sets of skills, equally important: strategic thinking and leadership. For this year's edition the entrepreneurs with businesses in logistics, IT, constructions, real-estate, retail, medical services, legal services, mass-media etc, but also those active in social entrepreneurship are welcome to apply.
Scholarship applications can be made between 11th March and 5th April 2024 on www.exec-edu.ro, and the winners will be announced on 8th April 2024.
“The scholarships dedicated to business owners or managers in entrepreneurial companies have been a constant practice after the pandemic. We offer them because, as our graduates have told us, our classes help them navigate more easily the new context full of challenges but also of opportunities and also help them sustainably grow the businesses they run. The challenges are even greater when we are dealing with companies that want to develop – a critical moment when entrepreneurs need a different mindset and new skills to maintain success”, declares Oana Scarlat, CEO EXEC-EDU.
According to the most recent studies, only 16% of companies manage to scale. Reasons for failure include the founder resistance to change, unclear vision and strategy, micro-management, lack of resources and processes.
“As for a successful scaling of an entrepreneurial business, this requires a daring strategy to increase sales but means also securing the necessary internal resources for this growth – from financial resources to systems and processes and, of course, dedicated and competent people. The scaling strategy must also take into account barriers such as legislative changes, fierce competition and market volatility. Often the founders must reinvent themselves so that they can successfully deal with all these changes. Management and leadership courses prepare them for the transition from managing a small team to leading a company of 100 or 200 employees. We will discuss all these challenges during the event dedicated to scaling up that we organize at the beginning of April”, declares Oana Scarlat, CEO EXEC-EDU.
The live online sessions introduced by EXEC-EDU in recent years complement face-to-face interactions and team projects or individual development plans. One of the benefits of the chosen methods is the interaction between students with different profiles, managers and entrepreneurs from all over the country, who exchange ideas, gain new perspectives, network, meet potential clients or suppliers. The average age of participants is 35 years. The experts teaching the programs are entrepreneurs and top executives from well-known companies, who are joined by high-caliber speakers from the business environment.
To this date, nearly 70 students have benefited from the EXEC-EDU scholarship program, and most of them have returned for other courses.