10 Returns On Your EMBA Investment 10 Years On

An Executive MBA offers the ambitious professional many benefits, but how long can you feel the return on investment? A decade after graduation, does this prestigious business school degree still have an impact on a salary increase, leadership capabilities, or global connections?

Return on investment, or ROI for short, is an important measure for students, particularly those embarking on an Executive MBA. With company sponsorship of EMBA programs waning in recent years, the question of a return on investment of the time, effort and money in an EMBA degree is understandably one business school candidates want answered.
So, here’s the answer, in the form of 10 benefits of the Executive MBA you can still expect to be enjoying a decade after graduation.

1. Salary increase

On average, EMBA students see a return on their financial investment from a salary increase within three-and-a-half to five years of completing the degree. Furthermore, EMBA graduates enjoy a salary increase of, on average, 14% after graduation – and this is only the beginning. With financial remuneration expected to continue throughout a graduate’s career, a financial return on your EMBA investment is one thing you can be sure of.

2. Better leadership capabilities

Oxford Saïd Business School conducted a survey among its EMBA alumni to assess the impact of the degree 10 years after graduation. The majority of respondents to the survey (61%) indicated the greatest impact came not merely from financial gains, but in the shape of ‘better leadership capabilities and self-awareness’.

3. Refined change management

A lot can happen in a decade; take the last 10 years for example. Many executives have been impacted by the global financial crisis, rapid technological advancements, the rise of the BRIC economies, changing demographics and environmental challenges. Understanding change management and being able to identify new ways of tackling today’s global business challenges are highly valuable skills you will learn in the business school classroom and have with you as you embark on subsequent career paths.

4. Innovative solutions

EMBA graduates are renowned for being able to find flexible and innovative solutions in order to maximize an organization’s operations, performance and effectiveness. But it’s not just a candidate’s organization that reaps the rewards of these innovative solutions. Figures from Oxford Saïd’s survey revealed one in five EMBA alumni had started their own company since graduating, illustrating the extent to which innovation is cultivated in the classroom.

5. Greater value

With better leadership capabilities, a more international outlook and the skills to identify innovative solutions, the value of an EMBA graduate to an organization increases exponentially. By passing your new-found knowledge on to your colleagues and peers, you will personally reap the reward of your value as you progress up the management ladder within your organization, facing further challenges and responsibilities that will continue to allow you to add to your repertoire.

6. Boosted confidence

Embarking on an Executive MBA is a challenge like no other, so it’s understandable that at the end of the program candidates have a sense of significant achievement and excitement bordering on euphoria. This is where many students gain the greatest long-term return on investment from their EMBA. Knowing they have survived the EMBA experience gives them the confidence to tackle further challenges head-on and overcome their own limitations.

7. Applying what you learnt

Among all of the skills an Executive MBA will teach you, understanding how to bridge theory and practice in the business world will stand you in good stead for the rest of your professional career. What’s more, as an EMBA graduate you will be privy to additional short courses and training which will allow you to stay up to date with latest business practices enabling you to continually apply what you learn.

8. Self-reflection

As a busy executive, it can be all too easy to get caught up in everyday tasks, but true success comes from making the time and having the ability to step back and reflect on your activities. This is one of the many skills an EMBA will teach you that you will continue to find value from, not only throughout your professional life but your personal life too.

9. Speak the language of business

‘The language of business’ can be rather daunting, even for the most ambitious of executive professionals, but an Executive MBA will put paid to that. Not only will you be able to understand what is being discussed around the boardroom table, you will be able to participate, add value and provide more senior managers with food for thought. While new buzzwords will no doubt appear during the decade post-EMBA, you’ll have the initial grounding in the language of business to enable you to approach any business conversation with confidence.

10. Global connections

One of the greatest long-term values of an EMBA is something no price tag can be placed on: lasting global connections of relationships and friendships. As all business school candidates will tell you, the alumni network you immediately become a part of when you step into the classroom is invaluable. Whether you use it to share knowledge, complete business deals, change jobs or to simply keep in touch with your peers, the global connections you will find in your alumni network will keep you connected for many decades to come.