Officials at N.C. State University's business school have spent the past year testing a new type of executive education program with local companies such as IBM, BASF and Eisai.

This morning in Raleigh, the university's Poole College of Management will unveil the new name for its executive education programs: Business Collaboratories. The clinics are designed to help business leaders solve challenging problems using a cross-disciplinary group of faculty.

"After three years of downsizing and with the rise of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC nations) as major players in the business landscape, companies are feeling the pressure to refocus their business models and re-invest in their key people," said Paul Mugge, executive director of the program.

For N.C. State's Poole College, the program is an effort to attract more corporate executives amid increasing competition from a wide range of traditional and online business schools, including at local rivals UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University.

Duke Corporate Education, which provides custom classes and training for about 10,000 managers and executives worldwide each year, has a new boss.

Michael Canning, 51, will take over as CEO on July 1. He succeeds Kim Taylor-Thompson, who has been CEO for three years.

She is returning to her job as a New York University law professor because personal family needs require her to travel less.

Canning joined Duke CE in 2001 and is now executive vice president of client relations. In his new role, he will oversee an annual budget of about $55 million.