Building a Talent Pipeline: Development of the ‘Alltech Mini-MBA’

By the time Alltech had reached its twentieth anniversary, the Company’s growth had surpassed even the ambitious goals of its founder, Pearse Lyons. This success, however, has led to a dilemma faced by many corporate leaders – a need to create a new cadre of managers who can take the company forward. After analyzing how best to fill this gap, a commitment was made to build a highly customized, internal education program using lecture, case study and project-based learning processes. Developing staff management skills, increasing loyalty and empowering complex decision-making have been some of the rewards realized from this commitment. Backed by senior management, Alltech has used lessons learned from the mini-MBA to shape its future strategy. This paper examines the options Alltech explored, the model it chose, and the costs and benefits of adopting an executive education program in agribusiness.