The Evolution of the Executive MBA

TopMBA.com looks at the Executive MBA's evolution from a small, highly-specialized degree to one of the most popular courses available. 

When the Executive MBA was first dreamed up by the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago in 1943, some within the industry expressed concerns that the part-time program could detract from the value of the traditional MBA qualification. The EMBA was at risk of being thought of as an "MBA lite", a pseudo-qualification that offered professionals the chance to propel themselves to boardroom level, but without spending the two years in the classroom that were traditionally required.

Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge, for example, has attracted a significant proportion of non-traditional students, including an equine vet, a member of the US Air Force and a celebrity party planner, by developing an ethos built around learning from the diversity of other students’ experiences.

Other EMBA programs are focusing on developing the cross-cultural skills and contacts necessary to succeed in the global market. A leading advocate of this approach is the OneMBA, a collaboration of resources from top business schools in Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and the USA. Although students are based at their home university, attending classes every four to six weeks, they also undertake four global ‘residencies’ at business hubs around the world.

Seventy years on, the EMBA is going from strength to strength. In 2010, 59% of schools surveyed by GMAC reported a sharp increase in applications, the highest increase among all variants of the MBA programme.

Something that may have contributed to this is the recent effort business schools have made to distinguish the Executive MBA from the traditional full-time program. Whereas the class of 1943 would have learned straightforward business strategy, marketing and finance, many of today’s leading EMBA classes take a far more innovative approach to teaching the leaders of tomorrow.

Diversity and globalisation

Diversity and globalisation are two buzzwords that are hard to get away from in today’s business world. But just as companies are learning lessons of a more homogenized international marketplace, so are business schools.

The EMBA offered by the Keith Mahoney, says: “I wanted more than just a field trip with US professors offering the same courses overseas. What I learned from being able to hear local professors and executives describe what it’s like to do business in Europe, Asia and Latin America has proved truly invaluable.”

To the extreme

Some schools are taking their teaching techniques to new extremes. Literally. HEC Paris, a prestigious French Grande Ecole and one of Europe’s highest ranked schools, has been ahead of the curve for a while with its EMBA boot camp, run by actual instructors from the French navy’s elite commando unit.

Nicolas Lemoine, AT&T vice president, participated in a somewhat unorthodox challenge – one he won’t be forgetting in a hurry.

“They really put us through our paces,” says Lemoine. “We had to crawl through sewer pipes, kayak in the sea at night, learn unarmed combat techniques, undertake hikes in the pitch dark without maps or compasses – you name it, they threw it at us. By the end of the course we were all so tired that we were just dropping to the floor and passing out.”

Although that doesn’t sound like a particularly shining endorsement of an experience that would, realistically, be a nightmare scenario for many, Lemoine has no regrets about participating and reflects upon the course as a fun chapter of his career that helped him in his personal and professional development.

“It taught me what I am capable of when I am really pushed and that my physical and mental limits are a lot more robust than I thought. It also brought home just how important teamwork can be. What we were able to achieve as a group under very difficult conditions was much more than any individual could have.”

The hardcore approach taken by HEC Paris may not appeal to everyone. If you prefer TLC to TNT, then the Executive MBA at New York’s Fordham University is probably more for you.

Operating under the premise that its just as important for business education to address holistic needs, as it is to teach students to read a balance sheet or manage a marketing campaign, the University includes a ‘Wellness Program’, a course designed to enhance body, mind and soul.

In a move that many have hailed as ahead of its time, finance and management classes are interspersed with sessions on yoga, meditation, nutrition and self-awareness.

The art of leadership

EMBA candidates with a dramatic flair might prefer the approach of the UK’s Warwick Business School, which employs drama as an unconventional teaching method, although some stage-shy professionals may well prefer to be in the hands of the military than a theatre director.

A joint venture with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the CAPITAL Centre, uses theatre workshop techniques to improve so-called soft skills, such as the students’ verbal and non-verbal communication techniques, teamwork, sociability, self-esteem, and self-management.

Dr Nicholas Monk of the CAPITAL centre admits that for some students being asked to act out a concept like leadership can be something of a challenge.

“Because this is such a different approach to what students are used to, we always have some participants who think we are just messing around,” he says. “But then others say that this is exactly why they came to business school in the first place, to look at things from a new perspective. Although a small percentage may hate the whole idea, the majority really benefit from the experience.”

At the Desautels Faculty of McGill University in Canada, students are also getting in touch with their inner artists – through painting, rather than theatre.

Dr Nancy Adler uses painting as a technique to get students thinking outside the box. A highly-respected and widely-collected artist, Adler encourages creative approaches to commercial problems by introducing business professionals to revolutionary art movements such as cubism, taking them out of their comfort zone and encouraging them to look at the world through a whole new lens.

“It goes without saying that art isn’t an instant solution to specific business problems,” says Adler. “But it does get you to take a step back to reflect and come up with your own solutions, and artistic thinkers often go beyond the confines of accepted practice.”

In a world where innovative solutions are sought for problems ranging from political and economic turmoil to the future of energy, it could be argued that being able to look beyond the confines of accepted practice is a useful skill to have. If this is so, the next generation of corporate leaders should look very carefully at what an EMBA today can offer.