Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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ESI International and Sears, Roebuck and Co. Team Up to Provide Project Management Training for IT/IS Division
(ARLINGTON, VA - July 19, 2001) --ESI International, the leading provider of project management and contract management training services, has combined forces with Sears, Roebuck and Co. to provide expert project management training as part of a Sears competency enhancement initiative for its information technology/information systems division.
Sears Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer Jerry Miller has identified project management as a core competency that must be achieved immediately. Once achieved, Sears has committed to ongoing mentoring programs to maximize the benefit of training. "To create an innovative environment where we can think faster, make decisions faster and deliver faster results, we need to engage in these programs," Miller says.
Recognizing that outpacing the competition cannot happen overnight, Sears turned to the experts at ESI to bring the structure and consistent, repeatable processes of project management to the industry giant. "In less than a year, we have already seen the value of project management training," says Ann Drenovsky, Sears IT Training Manager. "Our associates value the opportunity to be in class; they have seen first-hand how committed Sears is to their professional development. Many of them are already on a career path to become certified as Project Management Professionals."
More than 100 Sears professionals are projected to complete ESI's full project management curriculum, which culminates in a Master's Certificate from The George Washington University. Another 1,700 Sears associates may take related courses as appropriate. Focusing on the unique aspects of managing IT projects from the practitioner's perspective, ESI courses provide practical guidance in this risk-driven area.
"We've seen an increase in morale and enthusiasm as a result of ESI's classes," says Drenovsky. "People are excited to be talking about risk; they're actually having hallway conversations about it! This sort of planning and communication can only enhance Sears' reputation in the marketplace."
Carol Ricchio, the Project Director for Retail Systems, is one of the Sears associates currently in the program, along with several of her staff. "Our CIO charged us to deliver our projects on time and within budget, and without project management, this would have been impossible," Ricchio says. "The ESI classes are giving us the foundation in project management as well as the techniques and concepts we need to succeed. It's nice to be able to have something more than just a set of desktop tools-we have a process and we've already seen the results."
"Sears' forward-thinking approach to project management as a core skill is right on target," says Larry Seeley, ESI President. "Project teams today, particularly in the IT area, are larger and comprise a wider variety of disciplines. In order to be effective, these multidisciplinary teams must have effective leadership, common objectives, a complete scope of work and a means to track progress and stay on course. In short, the successful team needs strong project management processes. That's our business at ESI; we've built our reputation on giving professionals the project management tools they need to be successful."
In a survey conducted last year, 65 percent of professionals who completed ESI's Project Management Professional Development Program and who earned the accompanying Master's Certificate, cited project management's organized approach to formalizing work and skills as enabling them to enhance organization and planning. ESI, the industry leader in project management training for nearly 20 years, continues to train professionals with proven, reliable techniques and methodologies that enable them to succeed.
As head of Sears' Project Management Office, Harry Eng knows how critical it is to have training that is integrated to an associate's job. "It's important to transfer the skills from the classroom to the workplace," Eng says. "Our goal is to give everyone a common lexicon with a common set of practices and procedures based on best practices that they can put to use right away. ESI's material is loaded with best practices, and when coupled with the experience of the instructors, it makes for a rich learning experience."
He points to the structure of the ESI/GW curriculum that allows Sears to set common standards. "Historically, we haven't really practiced cross-functional project management," Eng explains. "Our alignment was more toward a particular application area, and our associates were very proficient in their area. The training we've gotten from ESI makes our managers more interchangeable, since we have a uniform standard across the enterprise. Where we were once singularly focused, we're aligned on the industry standard, we speak a common vocabulary, and we have a common base of knowledge. In order to be most efficient, this is the standard we needed to have in place, and ESI has helped us get there."
Sears, Roebuck and Co. is a leading U.S. retailer of apparel, home and automotive products and services, with annual revenue of more than $40 billion. The company serves families throughout the country through approximately 860 department stores, more than 2,100 specialized retail locations, and a variety of online offerings accessible through the company's Web site.
About ESI International
ESI, a subsidiary of Informa plc (LSE:INF), helps people around the world improve the way they manage projects, contracts, requirements and vendors. In addition to ESI’s more than 100 courses delivered in 18 languages at more than 75 locations worldwide, ESI offers eight certificate programs through our educational partner, The George Washington University in Washington. Founded in 1981, ESI’s worldwide headquarters are in Arlington, Va, USA. To date, ESI’s programs have benefited more than 950,000 professionals worldwide.
For more information visit www.esi-intl.com