Executive MBA Programs
They may seem like a brainchild of the 1980s, but executive MBA (EMBA) programs were actually born during World War II; the first was launched at the University of Chicago in 1943. And according to survey results released by the Executive MBA Council in October 2009, the programs have actually increased in popularity during the economic downturn. An announcement made by the organization stated that the average number of applications to its members' EMBA programs rose from 83.8 in 2008 to 92.6 in 2009. The acceptance rate was unchanged at 63%.
Like standard MBA programs, EMBAs include a core curriculum of finance, accounting, and marketing. "It's quite heavy," says Michael Desiderio, executive director of the EMBA Council, whose members include more than 200 educational institutions that administer 300 EMBA programs worldwide. "There's going to be a lot of qualitative analysis, finance, and accounting, and on the operations side, as well, that you're going to either need to be comfortable with coming in or get comfortable with along the way."
But the EMBA course of study places a stronger focus on leadership, communications, people management, organizational behavior, and ethics, Desiderio says. "That soft stuff is really the hard stuff. EMBA programs try to give you what I call a strategic view of the enterprise. If you go into an EMBA program, there's no way you'll come out thinking the same."
The programs are designed to challenge participants' thinking by exposing them to peers with diverse backgrounds and business experiences, he adds. "It's the richness of the discussions in the classrooms. Sometimes you can get very narrow in your view of how you solve problems, because that's the business you're in, it's the industry you're in. You learn to think about and solve business problems differently."
That focus on peer exchange also translates to a more selective application screening process. An applicant who has an undergraduate degree and has been in the workforce for three years would have to demonstrate exceptional qualifications to gain entry. "There are exceptions: you've started your own company, you're generating all kinds of revenue, or you're managing a business," Desiderio says, but without that kind of track record, "most programs won't look at you." Executive MBAs are designed for managers, executives or aspiring executives who have substantive work experience and substantive work responsibilities.
The EMBA has a search function linked from its home page that's designed to help prospective candidates research and select the EMBA programs best suited to their specifications. The website also features a directory of EMBA programs.
