Even as businesses try to hold down employee-related costs, many companies -realize that it's worthwhile to spend money on workforce development in the management ranks. A 2005 survey of 270 human resources directors found that most employers were primarily interested in how these programs helped their employees rather than in how they benefited the bottom line. Only 10 percent of those surveyed said they assessed courses' effectiveness by attempting to measure the financial value of any business changes the courses may have incited.

In determining whether a particular university is a good choice for their rising managers, employers should be wary of the scores of Johnny-come-latelies. "It's hard to find a school that's not trying to get into this field," Bersin says, "but enrolling in a newly developed program just because it's nearby can be risky." Because they are so new, these courses have yet to produce many graduates, who could be asked to provide candid feedback.

Bersin also notes that some bosses instinctively endorse executive-education programs at schools where they themselves received degrees. This could be a mistake. "Loyalty to an alma mater is understandable, but in this case it may not be for the right reason," he says.

When choosing programs, employers can give preference to those with professors with real-world business credentials, rather than acclaimed scholars who are removed from the corporate world. "A pure academic may not be the right fit," says Bersin. "Since companies are spending a lot of money on these programs, the smart ones are taking more time to make sure they are signing on with programs that make sense for their people."

Vetting instructors is just the beginning. No longer satisfied to leaf through business-school catalogs to choose so-called open-enrollment programs, more and more companies are partnering directly with schools to tailor curricula to their own strategic needs. If a firm needs to rethink its pricing strategies or jump-start innovation, courses can be developed specifically to -address those issues. Customized programs are now the fastest-growing segment of the executive-education field, which originally was conceived to offer practical, though generic, training for mid- and upper-level managers. Teaming up with big corporations to design specialized classes for executives can be an extremely lucrative move for business schools, one that can reap as much as $500,000 for a tailor-made course.

Such classes make the most economic sense for a company when several dozen workers enroll as a group. But, notes Jim Dean, of the Kenan-Flagler Business School, customization does contain a potential downside: the missed opportunities for interaction with executives from other companies-and possibly other countries-whose varied backgrounds and cultural viewpoints can add breadth to the classroom experience.

Mark Yim, already armed with an M.B.A., had specific goals in mind when he enrolled in a four-day management class at the University of Chicago nearly a decade ago. Yim, then an executive director with Brinson Partners (now part of UBS Global Asset Management), was preparing to transfer from the company's Chicago headquarters to Tokyo, where he would be charged with restructuring the Japanese branch.

"I was looking for help with my people skills and with dealing with people's emotions," says Yim, who anticipated having to lay off several workers at the branch. He says he enjoyed the open-enrollment class, which cost his company about $4,000. "It was worth the money just to step out of the corporate situation and gain a new perspective," he adds. Still, Yim was hard-pressed to recall any lessons that ultimately aided him in his overseas mission, saying, "The class was pretty touchy-feely, as opposed to quantitative or rigorous." For their part, his bosses in Chicago never got the chance to benefit from his newfound interpersonal acumen: Yim ended up resigning from the company once his Tokyo stint was complete a year later.

Yet Susan Schott, the pharmaceuticals executive at Hospira, says she has no doubt that her employer benefited as a result of her class time, in ways both concrete and intangible: "I got a lot of confirmation that our processes involving new-product development were appropriate and made sense."