Newswise — Celebrating a relationship that has been growing for several years, Alliant International University today announced that its California School of Business and Organizational Studies (CSBOS) has been renamed the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management. Dr. Geoffrey Cox, President of Alliant, said, "The Marshall Goldsmith School of Management is built on a single, powerful idea: To be successful in business, you must know how to work effectively with people. That's what our school teaches, and it's also what Marshall teaches when he's coaching Fortune 500 CEOs."
Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, who has been described as "America's pre-eminent executive coach" by Fast Company magazine, and who was today named a University Professor at Alliant, said, "I am delighted to be working with Alliant to create a new approach to management education. My consulting practice has focused on the relationship between personal change and organizational effectiveness. Leaders need to develop insights about themselves and those around them to achieve top performance. The new Marshall Goldsmith School of Management will blend the wisdom of psychology, organizational theory, business skills and practical experience to prepare students to make real, immediate contributions to the organizations in which they work."
Marshall Goldsmith has generously begun to move his online library " a highly trafficked website that has had visitors from 131 different countries and pops up second in a Google search for "executive coaching library" " to the Alliant International University website. The library, which can be entered from the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management website at http://marshallgoldsmith.alliant.edu starting today, offers articles, columns, interviews, webcasts, audios and free videos. The site will soon include the works of many internationally renowned thought leaders in management, coaching, and leadership as well. The library is expected to appeal to audiences ranging from business leaders to consultants and students.
The seeds of the flowering relationship between Goldsmith and the school were planted by students. Andrew Thorn, who received a master's degree from CSBOS in 2005 and is now working on a PhD, sought Goldsmith out several years ago to interview him for a class. Nilofar Ghods, who describes herself as "ABD" " a student who has finished "all but the dissertation" in the school's unique-in-the-nation dual Clinical Psychology and Industrial-Organizational Psychology PhD program " also sought him out. Both wound up working for Goldsmith, cementing a relationship that brought Goldsmith into the school to speak at an annual Leadership Conference and to network with students and alumni.
Noting that the school has been using Goldsmith's texts for years, Ghods says she welcomes an on-going relationship with the man who "wrote the book" for her coaching class. "It's wonderful," she says. "I think students will love the association. From my perspective, he has such a strong pull. I would love to have my degree say the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management!"
Thorn adds, "Instructors who have an outlook like Marshall's are the best." Thorn entered the school at 36 after having sold a financial services company he had founded. "While Marshall is interested in research, he's more interested in practical applications. He gets it done and then figures out why it works."
"Our leadership development classes are application-focused," agrees Ghods. "That's one of the strengths of the school and its approach to industrial-organizational psychology. Our internships are wonderful and practically focused. And that's Marshall's approach too."
Both Thorn and Ghods describe Goldsmith as "different" -- and they agree that the same adjective aptly describes the school. The Marshall Goldsmith School of Management benefits from the resources and programs of the California School of Organizational Studies (CSOS), a pioneer in the fields of organizational psychology, consulting psychology and organizational development and also from the expertise of the United States International College of Business (USICB), one of the first schools to emphasize a global outlook on business. CSOS and USICB merged last fall.
The new school aims to reinvent management education by providing students with skills that will prepare them to work immediately and effectively in complex, globalized organizations.
"While financial and analytic skills provide a foundation, the Marshall Goldsmith School focuses on 'the human side of business,'" explains Interim Dean Dr. Jay Finkelman. "Read the headlines and they underscore the problem with business education as we have known it: Enron, Global Crossing, ImClone " these are all evidence of the need for a curriculum that includes ethics and social responsibility. The Dubai Ports controversy tells us that any competent business person needs to understand globalization, as well as international and multicultural issues in organizations. The balance of our economy has shifted to knowledge industries, which means that for most companies, their most valuable assets are warehoused in the minds of employees. What it all means is that more than ever, business is about people " about understanding how to motivate them and develop human capital. Because of where we came from, that's where we excel."
"Alliant has innovation in its DNA," said President Cox. "Each of Alliant's legacy institutions broke the educational mold for what came before. We revolutionized the way that professional psychologists were prepared. We were pioneers international education. We call ourselves the 'professional practice university' because our focus is on preparing students for professions that solve human problems " problems in business, in organizations, in schools, in families and communities. The measure of how well we have done our job is, ultimately, that we can turn out students like Nilofar Ghods and Andrew Thorn."
About Alliant International University
Alliant International University offers a unique curriculum that combines academics and apprenticeship in all courses of study. With accredited programs at San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno, Los Angeles, Irvine and San Diego, Alliant also hosts accredited programs in Mexico City, Mexico and Tokyo, Japan.
About Marshall Goldsmith
Dr. Marshall Goldsmith has been named one of the 50 most influential thought leaders in business by the American Management Association, and has been an executive coach to more than 70 CEOs around the world. The editor of Global Leadership, the Next Generation, he has written or edited 20 books on effective leadership and management practices. He is among the most sought-after corporate consultants in the world.
For more information:Alliant International University on the web: http://www.alliant.eduhttp://marshallgoldsmith.alliant.edu
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