The "New" Benefits of the Executive MBA

QS TopExecutive speaks with directors of three Executive MBA programs to find out more about the new benefits emerging from the EMBA classroom.

The true value of the Executive MBA is its relevance to the real world. Candidates entering business school will be able to implement what they have learned in the classroom immediately into their everyday professional work.

As such, business schools have had to respond to the growing demands of employers to ensure the skills their candidates receive while studying for an EMBA, meet the skills employers are looking for in their workforce.

These skills are seen as the new benefits of the Executive MBA, and focus particularly on soft skills. 

Dr Andy Bailey, director of the Executive MBA at Lancaster University Management School in the UK, says there is an increasing focus on leadership occurring in the business school classroom. “Employers want to see candidates developing the soft skills of managers; skills they can take immediately back into the workplace,” he says.

“This allows for more opportunity for sustained ongoing development. The Executive MBA can really focus and hone in on these skills. [At Lancaster] We tie this in with coaching, which allows us to respond to the needs of the individual because we realise one size doesn’t fit all.

” At Lancaster University, EMBA candidates participate in a leadership and personal development stream where candidates can develop these competencies within the group. “We also have one-on-one coaching with individuals,” says Dr Bailey. “This allows us to develop coaching skills with individuals, but we also have co-coaching where they then coach each other on the program.”

Dr Claudia Jonczyk, associate professor of Organizational Behaviour at ESCP Europe, has also seen this growing demand for soft skills emerging. “We have seen an increased awareness from candidates and employers to develop, even more, the soft skills of EMBAs. This includes leadership and coaching elements as well as communication and cross-cultural skills.

“Companies and participants are more and more aware that the workplace, and also their clients, are becoming more diverse, so reflecting this diversity in terms of background, gender, age and nationality in your EMBA cohort is very much appreciated,” Dr Jonczyk says.

ESCP Europe’s EMBA program has responded to these growing demands with two recent innovations: a forum for networking for female EMBAs and alumnae, and scholarships to participants from SMEs as well as coaching modules/sessions for all program participants.

Candidates are also demanding further flexibility from business schools. In addition to core courses, EMBA programs offer a range of modules that allow students to tailor a degree that meets their professional needs and ambitions. Jon Lees, executive director of the Warwick Executive MBA at Warwick Business School in the UK, says the school is continually refreshing and introducing new and innovative modules to respond to the requirements of candidates – and their employers.

“For example, the latest new elective - Envisioning and Enabling Innovation - is already over-subscribed,” explains Lees. “It gives MBAs the chance to work with Warwick University doctoral science and engineering students on aspects such as commercialization of scientific research for profit or for social good, on how the commercial world works, and how the two communities – science and business - can better interact.”

Warwick Business School (WBA) has taken this interaction between different areas of study one step further and utilizes its Learning and Resources Development team to enable EMBA candidates to benefit from leading-edge technology to enhance learning. “We find that significant insight and shared learning is generated in the online discussions between modules on campus,” explains Lees.

“The teaching tool “wbsLive”, for delivering online teaching sessions, allows busy managers to play catch-up or to go back over lectures and group discussions – a benefit not available to sessions delivered in real-time on campus.”

While providing candidates with a solid base of business management practices, business schools are also proving that their Executive MBA programs can set candidates up for a successful management future, demonstrating the value of the new working side-by-side with the old.