CCL Goes for Growth
An article this week in The Business Journal's online site examined the new strategy that the Center for Creative Leadership is adopting under the direction of its new President, John Ryan, to expand its operations through a more decentralised approach. More autonomy will be given to CCL's satellite campuses. Currently 300 of CCL's employees are based at the Greensboro, NC, headquarters with a similar number spread across the four other sites at Colorado Springs, San Diego, Brussels and Singapore.
Intriguingly for this previously very US-immersed organisation, Colorado Springs and san Diego are soon to get Managing Directors to drive their regional businesses, in the same way that Brussels and Singapore have had for some time. My dealings with Rudi Plettinx - a regular contributor to this blog - and MD of CCL Europe in Brussels, has indicated that the Brussels campus enjoys a great deal of autonomy in how it builds its European operations. There was certainly some concern earlier in the year that this might have been reined in while the new plans were in formulation, but it appears that Ryan has understood the benefits that local approaches can bring. This is especially true of course in terms of the marketing and sales operations - and not in terms of the actual program content that must retain a coherent approach across the organisation.
France, for instance, has been pretty resistant to CCL's charms - this no doubt was partly a reflection over the last 8 years of the Bush effect, which was never a great selling proposition for any US organisation in France. It goes deeper than that, there are cultural barriers that go beyond a dislike of the current resident of the White House that prevent French organisations and managers from embracing star-spangled education programs. CCL Europe has been chipping away at this perception and the recognition from Greensboro that they could do no better (only much worse, in fact) by dictating from the other side of the Atlantic is to be applauded.
Rod Millar
Post a Comment
Reader Comments