Stevens partners with Amway in China to provide leadership training

HOBOKEN , N.J. ― In a unique partnership to build a cadre of global leaders, Stevens Institute of Technology and Amway, the $7-billion worldwide direct-selling company, agreed this month to collaborate on providing key Amway personnel with 21st century leadership skills. To be launched next month in the US and China simultaneously, instructor-led online modules will be delivered over 18 months by Stevens faculty.

“Our job is to develop future leaders across different functions and geographies,” said Kee Meng Yeo, who heads Amway’s global Talent Development effort. “With Stevens, we are entering the first phase of intentionally accelerated leadership development.”

Before entering online classrooms—where they will be divided into virtual leadership teams—Amway employees will complete a series of web-based assessment tools to provide insight into how their personalities and behavior align with the company’s goals and their own development.

Armed with personality and other self-assessments, employees will participate in seven online modules in the US and eight in China . Starting with how to build self-awareness, followed by how to lead innovation and change, as well as modules on decision-making, coaching and mentoring, and strategic leadership, among others, the program concludes in China with an intensive module on “Leading in Hypergrowth Economies.” Along the way, Stevens’ faculty will coach participants in how to assume a path to attain leadership positions at Amway. (For details about Stevens’ leadership program, see www.stevens. edu /leadership.)

Stevens’ engagement with Amway follows nearly six years of providing edu cation and training in China . In partnership with key Chinese universities, Stevens offers graduate degrees in management and technology in Beijing . The school has also delivered edu cation and training to IBM’s China personnel as well as employees at the China Development Bank, financial backer of the Three Gorges Dam and the Beijing Olympics, among other major infrastructure projects. In China and elsewhere, online teaching and learning is provided by Stevens’ award-winning unit, WebCampus.

About Amway

With more than three million independent business owners in more than 80 countries and territories around the world, Amway is a global leader in direct selling. Known for brands such as the Nutrilite line of nutritional supplements and the high end Art istry line of cosmetics in addition to its household cleaning products, such as SA8 Laundry Detergent and L.O.C. Liquid Organic Concentrate, Amway now offers more than 450 health, home and beauty care products.

Amway generates worldwide sales of more than $7 billion. Amway’s headquarters in Ada , Michigan , is coupled with the company’s mile-long R&D laboratories, housing 300 scientists, product development teams, and global business support personnel. Ada is also one of four global manufacturing centers, along with Buena Park and Lakeview in California and Guangzhou in China . Alongside the manufacturing facility at Lakeview is one of four farms that use organic and natural practices to grow ingredients for the company’s Nutrilite health and wellness products. Other farms are in Washington , Mexico , and Brazil .

About WebCampus

Since it was launched almost a decade ago, WebCampus has enrolled nearly 20,000 students. It offers more than 160 courses, with 17 online Master’s degrees and an MBA, as well as 37 graduate certificates in science, technology and management. Students from 47 states and 44 countries have taken WebCampus courses. In 2003, the Sloan Foundation named WebCampus the “ Best Online University ” in the nation. Last year, the school’s blended learning China program received Sloan’s award as best teaching and learning program internationally. In 2005 and again this year, the US Distance Learning Association (USDLA) presented WebCampus with its “21st Century Best Practices Award.” For details, see www.webcampus.stevens. edu .

 

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,040 undergraduate and 3,085 graduate students, and a worldwide online enrollment of 2,250, with a full-time tenured/tenure-track faculty of 140 and more than 200 full-time special faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

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