Why the QS Executive MBA Ranking Can't Tell You Everything

By David Simmons

Change your life, become the real you, add value (whatever that is), invest in yourself, grow your career, build your network, become the leader you aspire to be…

If the marketing messages are to be believed, the riches that an executive MBA (EMBA) can offer seem to be almost limitless. And, it’s all true – to the extent that I have yet to meet anyone who has regretted taking this major step in their career.

Indeed, in many ways, given the more mature profile and greater experience of most candidates, an EMBA can be even more transformative than a full-time program, helping experienced people anchor their practice in theory, explore new skills, find meaning and equilibrium in their lives, deepen their professional expertise, and set the course for the rest of their career.

However, like dogs, EMBAs come in different sizes, shapes and breeds, making it more vital than ever than ever that you do your homework.

By comparison with the EMBA world, the full-time MBA environment is relatively homogenous – true, some programs may take one year while others take two or anywhere in between, and some programs may insist on higher GMAT scores than others, but they – and you – start from a common premise.

You have decided to devote yourself to study for an intensive, uninterrupted period, giving up work for an international, immersive experience alongside others from a range of different backgrounds but with a similar age and professional profile to your own. Within this shared framework, it is (almost) legitimate to classify full-time programs into league tables, as endless rankings set out to do.

The EMBA world is far more complex, diverse and segmented – and it’s vital that you take this into account when considering your options. To use a football analogy, the top-rated full-time MBAs resemble the Champions League – all are winning teams in their own domestic leagues, albeit some with deeper pockets, greater prestige and more resources than others.

However, the EMBA market is more akin to the World Cup with qualifiers drawn from different regions, with different expectations, histories, contexts, objectives and aspirations, placed in groups that pitch the giants against the minnows (no disrespect intended).

So, typically, in an EMBA ranking you can find programs that cost up to US$200,000 classified alongside programs costing one-fifth of that. At one end of the scale are programs for the elite few, senior business leaders willing to pay a premium for a multi-continent experience in a small cohort, while the other end of the scale caters to early to mid-career managers who want to study intensively, close to home, in a national or regional context.

Different programs also have different formats, ranging from evening classes to weekly or fortnightly teaching, or even dedicated weeks over a period of months or years. Increasingly, schools are also incorporating an element of off-site, blended learning alongside face-to-face interactions.

Some programs may follow a single provider model, others may adopt a shared or consortium approach. Some students may be company-sponsored, others (the majority) will be self-funded. The permutations are as numerous as the programs and their price points.

All of this just shows that no one program is “better” than another. Like oranges and kumquats, they’re different and equally valid in their own way and on their own terms. It comes down to a matter of taste, which is something more complex and more nuanced than anything that can be captured in statistics around absolute salary or earnings growth or research output.

What matters is that candidates – you – feel comfortable about your choice, having reflected long and hard about fundamentals: why you want to do an EMBA, how you see your future, and where you want to end up.

Begin at the end: ask yourself, when I reach my destination, when I graduate after all the effort and the sacrifices, the late-nights and the early-mornings, the juggling of work with life, the multiple highs and the occasional lows, what would “success” look like? What would be different about me as a person and a professional?  

If you can even begin to answer these questions, you will have done your due diligence and can move forward, ready to take the plunge and embark on an experience you will never forget and never regret. Good luck!