Just when business school deans thought it was safe to step back into the executive education market, they are discovering demand for these short, non-degree programmes is not as straightforward as they had believed.

Strategy consultancies such as Bain and Boston Consulting Group have long been executive education providers, but now publishing companies, technology start-ups and recruitment consultancies are circling in an attempt to land chunks of a global market worth in excess of $70bn a year.

In some cases, the new entrants have arrived through acquisitions — LinkedIn, the professional networking site, for example, recently bought Lynda.com, the training company. Others have arisen through alliances, such as the Financial Times’ partnership with Spain’s IE Business School to deliver corporate programmes.