Executive training refers to particular instructional and educational activities aimed at honing job skills to enhance executives' professional and personal productivity. On the other hand, executive development is a much broader concept and refers to companies' efforts towards furthering the growth of their executives.

Executive training and executive development are two faces of the same coin: Executive education. These two aspects of executive education are different, and knowing the difference between these two instructional modes is important to address the particular needs of business organizations.

Executive training refers to particular instructional and educational activities aimed at honing job skills to enhance executives' professional and personal productivity. On the other hand, executive development is a much broader concept and refers to companies' efforts towards furthering the growth of their executives. Executive development is not only concerned with the enhancement of particular job skills, but with the development of executives' character, experience, professional assertiveness, career and even psychological readiness for career challenges and opportunities. Executive development uses training as a method for executive learning, but it is not restricted to it.

Modern companies understand the importance of investing in executive education, which manifests in a growing tendency to buy more educational services for their executives. Business Week reported in 1999 that executive education providers' revenues grew 97% between 1994 and 1999. A survey conducted by Schneider and Hindo in 2001 revealed that industry-wide revenues from executive education reached US$800 mn in the US. These figures indicate how important executive education has become for modern companies that want to increase effectiveness and competitiveness.

Effective Executive Magazine, Executive Education, Business Executives, Business Organizations, Executive Development, Decision-Making Process, Training and Development, Global Business Environment, Organizational Environment, Merger/Acquisition, Total Quality Management, TQM, International Coach Federation, ICF, Business Skills, Global Leadership and Entrepreneurship, GLE.