MSCI Forms Education Alliance with Washington University’s Olin School of Business
May 02, 2004
<p”>MSCI Forms Education Alliance with Washington University’s Olin School of Business
SAN FRANCISCO, May 2, 2004 – The Metals Service Center Institute, in a significant expansion of its educational offerings for the metals industry, has formed an alliance with Washington University’s Olin School of Business.
“Our intent is to augment our successful training programs with educational programs that give our members, especially our industry’s senior leadership, expanded access to Olin’s outstanding resources and intellectual capital,” said M. Robert Weidner, III, MSCI’s president and chief executive officer. “This is consistent with our ongoing efforts to upgrade MSCI programs and to be considered the premier metals trade association. These programs will give our members the knowledge they need to compete and thrive in a highly competitive environment.”
Under the arrangement, Olin’s faculty will provide four or five high-level courses each year covering such areas as manufacturing and operations, marketing, economics, accounting and finance, and strategy. Courses will be offered at Olin’s state-of-the-art Charles F. Knight Executive Education Center in St. Louis. In addition, Olin will provide speakers for MSCI events, research capabilities, a review of the MSCI Foundation for Continuing Education’s existing curriculum, access to additional academic facilities, and direct member access to Olin’s undergraduate and graduate-level students as employees or interns.
“Our relationship with Olin will give all of our members, including producers, processors and distributors, greatly enhanced access to business thought leadership, outstanding business-education programs tailored to fit the metals industry’s needs, and a world-class environment for learning,” said Michael F. Petersen, MSCI’s chairman and president of Petersen Aluminum
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Corporation of Elk Grove Village, Illinois. “This goes well beyond any other educational resource now available to the metals industry, and extends MSCI’s educational programs to clearly include every company in the metals value chain. This is a historic moment for MSCI.”
MSCI’s first activity under the new relationship will be the People, Productivity, and Profits Conference, designed to respond to the interests of metals industry human resources executives and senior officers of smaller member companies, scheduled for November 29-30 at the Knight Center. Plans call for the formal MSCI/Olin courses to begin following content development by the school’s faculty in collaboration with the MSCI Foundation for Continuing Education. Courses in development include “Business Strategies for Accelerating Profit,” “Building and Leading High-Performance Organizations,” “Financial Tools for Creating Value,” “Lean Operations and Supply Chain Management,” and “Strategies for Success: A Program for Smaller MSCI Members.”
“It is a great privilege to work with Bob Weidner and the visionary MSCI in their pursuit of service via education for their formidable membership,” said Dr. Stuart I. Greenbaum, dean of the Olin School. “TheOlin School leads in the provision of customized executive education, and this partnership with MSCI is a unique opportunity for innovation and service.”
“Over the past several years, the educational product offerings developed by the Foundation for Continuing Education have concentrated more on training, particularly in the disciplines of sales and operations,” said J. Craig Horan, chairman of the foundation and vice president for specialty tubing sales for Lone Star Steel Company. “While member training opportunities will continue to be a part of the foundation mandate, the affiliation with Washington University allows MSCI to develop educational opportunities designed to reach a much broader cross-section of our membership. Our access to the world-class faculty at the Olin School of Business has already provided the foundation for the next generation of robust programming that members expect from MSCI.”
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Ann Zastrow, MSCI’s vice president, education, said it was likely that the most popular existing MSCI courses, such as the inside and outside sales training sessions, will be continued in 2005. “Our relationship with Olin represents added value for our members,” she said. “We will continue those courses that, year in and year out, have been supported by our members because of the value they provide.” In addition, MSCI will continue to offer MetalLearn™, the industry’s Internet-based, comprehensive, and authoritative metals product knowledge system.
Founded in 1907, the Metals Service Center Institute has more than 350 members operating from about 1,200 locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and elsewhere around the world. Together, MSCI members constitute the largest single group of metals purchasers in North America, amounting each year to more than 75 million tons of steel, aluminum, and other metals, with about 300,000 manufacturers and fabricators as customers. Metals service centers distribute metals and provide first-stage fabrication services.
Contact: Jon Kalkwarf, 773-867-1300 x105, or (773) 835-6108 (mobile)
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