The "Traditional" Benefits of the Executive MBA

What are the traditional benefits of an EMBA? QS TopExecutive speaks with directors of three Executive MBA programs to find out.

From strategic marketing practices to human resource management, financial processes to leadership skills, EMBA students soon become equipped to add further value to their professions.

The Executive MBA may be an expensive financial investment to make, and one that requires a great deal of personal sacrifices throughout the period of study, but more and more candidates are turning to this prestigious business school degree for, among other things, the traditional benefits it brings to them – both personally and professionally.

Dr Claudia Jonczyk, Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour at ESCP Europe says the Executive MBA offers candidates the helicopter perspective. “This means candidates are encouraged to engage in more high level strategic thinking and gain greater perspective on business issues,” she explains.

“The EMBA provides a wider range and more complete management knowledge across different subject areas, and these skills are indispensible for those candidates wishing to aspire to senior management positions.

Networking is also a traditional benefit for candidates according toDr Jonczyk. “Networking with other high potentials from different backgrounds, industries and cultures is certainly a traditional benefit of the EMBA. This leads to a rich exchange and cross-fertilisation of ideas.”

Jon Lees, Executive Director of the Warwick Executive MBA at Warwick Business School in the UK agrees. “The EMBA provides a network that can stimulate thinking on specific business problems with participants from different cultures who work in different sectors and industries,” he says. “And for those candidates whose native language is not English, the groupwork and social interaction of the program provides a rapid, efficient and up-to-date immersion in current business terms and jargon.

Warwick’s Executive MBA program is designed around one week teaching blocks, which combines the flexibility of part-time study with the benefits of interactive learning. “It is perfect for managers whose job demands forward planning,” Lees says. “It also enables immediate application of learning to daily work whilst allowing candidates to focus on studies during modules, and to work and travel internationally between them."

"It’s this connection between the business school classroom and the workforce that is a key traditional benefit of the EMBA", according to Dr. Andy Bailey, Director of the Executive MBA at Lancaster University Management School in the UK.

“The traditional benefits are still for mid-career managers,” he says. “They can increase their skill base without leaving the workforce and the EMBA gives them the opportunity to gain the qualification and learning while maintaining a foothold in the industry. We have seen a number of candidates who would previously have looked at the full-time MBA turn to the EMBA so they can stay in the workforce.”

Candidates may turn to the Executive MBA to equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to truly respond to future opportunities, but they’ll find it’s the traditional elements of this business school degree that stand them in good stead for what’s ahead of them in their professional careers.