Blair Sheppard, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, considered customized executive education the key to a strong financial future for the institution. Duke Corporate Education, Inc., a new for-profit corporation that was Sheppard's brainchild, was an innovative “one-stop shop” that sought to become a leading provider of customized corporate education. However, the project’s path was paved with many obstacles – most notably, overcoming resistance to creation of a for-profit corporation by Duke faculty and administrators, and finding appropriate investment capital from outside sources to fund initial start-up costs. The difficulty of accommodating the requirements of both University and private investors was evident throughout the process. The case provides a compelling story of coping with the challenges of creating a “for-profit” entity within a larger non-profit higher education institution.

Subjects: For-profit education, Leadership, Institutional Change
Setting: Private University, Large