Welcome by the Director

The CMA has now moved into its third stage of development. When I first joined the CMA in 1988, having just completed my Executive MBA, the CMA was a very different body to what it is today. We were very UK focused, the only means of communication was ‘snail’ mail and we had two or three events a year - yet the unique ‘Cranfield experience’ bonded us together. Following my appointment as Director in 2000 we moved to the second stage. We developed our interactive website, CMAWorld, to deliver a range of online networking, career management and lifelong learning services. This has served us well but the School has grown and changed significantly in the last few years, serving an infinitely more diverse set of constituencies.

In order to achieve our vision of becoming ‘a leading international alumni network promoting excellence in professional management’ the CMA plans to grow its membership and provide higher valued services. It intends to grow its membership through a strategic and structured programme to promote the benefits of CMA membership to senior managers from our executive development programmes.

In addition we want to ensure that our membership services are relevant and of real value to our professional managers. We now have CMA Premium Membership which includes access to the new Cranfield Knowledge Interchange Online enabling premium members to have the latest management thinking and business intelligence at their fingertips. We are the first business school to have negotiated access to commercial electronic databases for our alumni.

The CMA has entered into a partnership with CCED (Centre for Customised Executive Education) to offer the Cranfield Knowledge Interchange Online to its premium members. CCED’s capability in networked learning is a key element in attracting new clients to the School. The Centre continues to explore innovative ways of using technology to enhance learning and currently offers dedicated portals to facilitate learning, a portfolio of 20 minute e-learning modules, webcasts, virtual discussion forums, moderated online learning and online business and publication databases. These exciting developments are now available to CMA premium members and will enable the CMA to offer outstanding lifelong learning services to our alumni.

2010 is a challenging and exciting year. We have our vision, our plans, a solid foundation and above all we have a dynamic alumni body continually providing support.

Vivien Harrington EMBA 1988
Director of Alumni Relations