[September 15, 2014]

Kellogg School of Management Launches New Brand Strategy Focused on Inspiring Growth

The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University announced today key milestones in its Envision Kellogg plan for transformation, including a new brand strategy focused on "inspiring growth." This theme encapsulates what Kellogg has accomplished over the past four years and provides a beacon for where the school is headed.

"Growth has long been the imperative and continues to be the biggest challenge that every organization faces," said Kellogg Dean Sally Blount. "But the rules have changed since 2000. Bigger is not always better. Sometimes growth means pulling back to attain greater clarity and focus. Our 'inspiring growth' brand strategy highlights the important dual meaning of the English word 'growth' - both in terms of increasing economic value and increasing self-knowledge and insight."

The new brand strategy, "brave leaders inspire growth in people, organizations and markets," sharpens how the school articulates the Kellogg difference in developing growth-minded leaders, and is grounded in a rigorous, research-intensive process that incorporated input from thousands of stakeholders including faculty, current and prospective students, alumni, employers and administrators.

A pioneer in management education, Kellogg has a history of innovation that uniquely equips it to adapt and evolve to the needs of this century. The school has made significant recent changes to its curriculum, degree portfolio and global programs.

Curricular & Research Innovation

A core tenet of the Kellogg strategic plan is its distinctive approach to thought leadership that integrates foundational departments with four cross-disciplinary initiatives.

"Recognizing that business challenges aren't always confined to particular functions, we've organized our thought leadership in a matrixed fashion around both traditional departments and our four strateic initiatives: Markets and Customers; Architectures of Collaboration; Innovation and Entrepreneurship; and Public-Private Interface," said Thomas Hubbard, senior associate dean of strategic initiatives and professor of strategy at Kellogg School of Management. "This thought leadership translates directly into what and how we teach."

In three years, Kellogg has launched more than 55 new courses, focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, growth and scaling, and data analytics, comprising 25 percent of its total curriculum. This includes six new courses focused on growth and scaling, ranging from scaling operations to personnel management in a rapidly growing organization, as well as three new courses in data analytics. Kellogg today offers 11 elective courses in data analytics across six foundational departments, the most robust curriculum in the industry.

Dynamic Degree Portfolio

Kellogg's portfolio approach makes it uniquely equipped to respond to market demand by evolving its degree programs to meet the needs of various students.

Specifically, Kellogg today announced that it will expand the offering of its M.S. in Management Studies (MSMS) degree beyond Northwestern University undergraduates beginning with the class that commences in summer 2015. The MSMS program, a Master of Science program for undergraduates, equips liberal arts students with specialized management and business skills in less than one year, and is now accepting applications for next fall.

In addition, in response to significant market demand, Kellogg has increased the size of its One-Year MBA Program by nearly 20 percent over the past two years and will continue to evolve with the market. Launched 50 years ago, Kellogg was the first top-tier business school to offer a One-Year MBA Program designed for students who have both a business-related degree and several years of work experience, allowing them to bypass core classes and immediately dive into advanced studies customized to their career goals.

Market-Leading Global Programs

Long recognized for its unique Executive MBA (EMBA) global network, Kellogg has the largest integrated global footprint that also includes an unparalleled selection of 37 exchange programs across 20 countries. This provides unmatched immersion opportunities and rich cross-cultural experiences for students, faculty and alumni.

Additionally, Kellogg announced today a new global experiential learning program entitled International Growth Lab, a course where students from Kellogg and a network school will collaborate remotely and on the ground to develop international growth strategies for global companies. This program provides the opportunity to gain real-world experience managing diverse teams across geographic boundaries and time zones.

Record Fundraising

All of these milestones in Kellogg's strategic plan have been enabled, at least in part, by its campaign. During the 2013-2014 academic year, Kellogg raised $47 million, bringing the capital campaign to $215 million under Dean Blount's leadership that began in 2010. The Kellogg campaign is focused on enhancing thought leadership, increasing scholarships, expanding global connectivity and building our lakefront global hub.

Kellogg will use the new logo and tagline "inspiring growth" across all new materials and on the website. It will be woven throughout Kellogg's advertising, in publications and on Kellogg's social media channels. The new logo and tagline are currently visible on the Kellogg website, kellogg.northwestern.edu; the brand video can be accessed at kellogg.northwestern.edu/About/Kellogg-Difference.aspx.

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