Bütikofer appointed full Professor at NHH
Aline Bütikofer at The Department of Economics and FAIR has been appointed full Professor at NHH.
NHH launches module-based education
Erna Solberg want workers to constantly update their skills in order to meet the labour market's need of expertise in the future. NHH believes ‘shopping for courses’ can be the solution.
Prime Minister Erna Solberg wants to ensure that businesses and industries have access to the expertise they need in the future. At the Norwegian Conservative Party’s annual congress last week, she called for workers to continuously upgrade their education during their working life.
‘Expertise can go out of date, and it will do so even more often going forward. For this reason, we must update our knowledge so that no one in our employment sector goes out of date,’ the Prime Minister said in her speech.
A new survey conducted by the committee Kompetansebehovsutvalget shows that too few Norwegians improve their expertise throughout their working life. According to the committee, all Norwegians must acquire new knowledge, regardless of their age.
‘The Norwegian labour market is rapidly changing. Some jobs are disappearing while others emerge. Our work is also constantly changing as a consequence of new technology, for example. This leads to an increased need of learning,’ says NHH professor and member of Kompetansebehovsutvalget Kjetil Bjorvatn.
Quick, relevant knowledge
About Business Upgrade
- Business Upgrade started as a pilot project at NHH in 2018. It is developed in cooperation with Econa.
- 25 students have signed up in 2019.
- The programme includes recent research and practice in the fields of finance, economics, innovation, strategy and management.
- It is designed especially for business graduates with management responsibility who wishes to update their expertise without being committed to a more demanding MBA.
- As the participants can choose freely between nine different modules, the program is very flexible. The introduction module on strategy is the only mandatory. Examples of other modules by choice are: Strategic analysis and technological change, Innovation and new business models, Finance in a digital world and digital marketing. These can be taken in the order and at what pace the student prefers.
- The program is exams and does not provide credits.
- Each module includes two days of lectures, and the students must also do work in advance. The program has no time limit, but by signing up for a module the student has to complete it, in order to obtain a course certificate.
For more than fifty years, the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) has offered various executive education programmes to Norwegian and foreign employees.
‘If "everyone" is to update their expertise going forward, Norwegian universities and colleges need to executive education accessible, relevant and attractive,’ he says.
‘Like the Prime Minister, we believe that Norwegian employees must continuously update their knowledge. This strengthens both the employee and the business sector,’ says NHH Rector Øystein Thøgersen.
Launches module Education
NHH is therefore launching a module-based education – Business Upgrade. The profile has been developed in close cooperation with the special interest organisation Econa, and is aimed at business graduates who need up-to-date and relevant knowledge – quickly.
CEO of BNP Paribas Cardif Skadeforsikring Dag Mevold participated in the programme last year when it was still a pilot project. Rapid changes in the labour market affects his work and he saw the need to renew his knowledge.
‘I took the programme because I needed to get up to speed quickly. With Business Upgrade I was offered high flexibility and quality. I also got the freedom to choose relevant subjects that matter to my position,’ says Mevold.
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'Shopping' for modules
The programme makes it possible to ‘shop’ for individual modules. The profile has different modules with particular emphasis on technological developments. Participants must take a compulsory introductory module but are then free to pick and choose among the other courses. The programme is in this way adapted to each person’s needs, thereby providing flexibility and freedom of choice.
‘The participants are not obliged to take a long course of education and are instead able to upgrade their expertise with the knowledge they need. This makes it easier to take executive programmes,’ says Thøgersen.