The World’s Best: Five Top EMBA Programs Compared

The business education landscape is dynamic and ever-changing at all levels. New EMBA programs are constantly emerging, while established programs change their focus to cater to the demands of industry and candidates.  

However, this continually developing landscape can provide a challenge to the ambitious prospective EMBA candidate. Which program(s) to consider? How do programs differentiate themselves? And, perhaps most importantly, which programs have a curriculum that will remain relevant in changing economic times?

Executive MBA rankings are perhaps one of the most obvious means of narrowing down program choices, allowing for a comparison of programs over a set of established indicators. The recently-released (December 2014) Financial Times is one of the most-trusted.

So how do the top-five schools in the rankings actually compare?

1. Program: TRIUM Global EMBA

Schools: HEC Paris, London School of Economics (LSE), NYU Stern School of Business

Duration: 17 months

Cost: US$165,900

Leading the list of top EMBA programs is the TRIUM Global EMBA, which positions itself as a truly global EMBA program for senior business executives. Jointly-run by three prestigious institutions, the TRIUM global EMBA takes its students to study in five different countries across the globe. Students study their first module at LSE in London, before moving on to New York. They then complete their third module in China, their fourth in France, and their fifth in India, before returning to Paris for the final module.

The program focuses on global finance and strategy, emerging markets (focusing on Asia), corporate strategy, technology, and innovation and leadership. Unique to the program is the Capstone Project. This project allows executives to realize their innovative ideas and apply their new skills, utilizing TRIUM Global EMBA resources. The project runs throughout the degree and culminates in a presentation to the Capstone’s board of directors, academics and alumni. The projects are implemented as business innovations and have produced many successful business ventures and initiatives to date.

What makes the TRIUM EMBA unique?

TRIUM’s high-profile faculty, high-profile students and high-profile facilities allow this program to deliver superior and highly-relevant business education for senior executives at the top level.

2. Program: Kellogg-HKUST

Schools: Kellogg School of Management, HKUST Business School

Duration: 18 months

Cost: US$155,000

The Kellogg School of Management, has teamed up with Hong Kong’s University of Science and Technology (HKUST) to create the Kellogg-HKUST EMBA – tailored for senior executives in Asia. The program hones in on three specific areas of learning: behavior in learning organizations, international management, and managing groups of cooperating firms for international competitiveness. It is delivered primarily in Hong Kong, with one live-in week at Kellogg in Illinois.

Offering a more traditional range of business education classes, the program’s modules cover finance, strategy, management, marketing operations management, mergers and acquisitions, as well as specialized modules in strategy delivered at Kellogg. Students also have the opportunity to complete at least two global electives at partner schools abroad. Destinations include: Tel Aviv, Miami, Beijing and Toronto, among others.

What makes the Kellogg-HKUST EMBA unique?

Drawing on the expertise of top faculty from both institutions, as well as business leaders from the public and private sectors in both the US and Asia, this program provides executives with the opportunity to become familiar with the business skills, practices and customs essential to business in Asia. It also provides an international outlook relevant to the shifting global business landscape of today.

3. Program: TIEMBA

Schools: Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management, INSEAD

Duration: 18 months

Cost: US$100,000

Another Asia-focused offering, the TIEMBA, offered by the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management’s in partnership with INSEAD, focuses on cultural diversity and is delivered in Beijing, Fontainebleau (France), Singapore and Abu Dhabi.

Together, these two heavyweights of business education offer a program with a focus on managerial competence, developing a global mindset for business, and leadership and personal development. Core courses include corporate finance, financial and managerial accounting, marketing management, as well as investment and strategic talent management. Students can choose from innovative electives including ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’, social entrepreneurship or pricing strategies, among others.

What makes the TIEMBA unique?

A distinctive feature of the TIEMBA program is Key Management Challenges (KMCs), a series of general management courses that deepens students’ understanding of managerial practices.

4. Program: UCLA – NUS EMBA

Schools: University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and National University of Singapore (NUS)

Duration: 15 months

Cost: US$107,828

www.ucla.nus.edu

The UCLA – NUS EMBA is the third of these top EMBA programs to focus on Asia and its links with the West. Global in theory and practice, the program curriculum is enhanced by visits to regional companies, expert local speakers and experiences in relevant business regions outside the classroom. With a specific emphasis on cross-cultural elements, the program combines East-West business perspectives with a close look at business operations as well as the global business environment of today.

The program’s modules comprise traditional subjects like financial accounting, marketing strategy, operations management and logistics, and tailored modules such as a leadership and managerial skills module which pairs Eastern and Western psychological and sociological perspectives on management. The program culminates in the ‘Management Practicum’, in essence, a consultancy project in which EMBA students are able to ‘test-drive’ what they have learned throughout their degree.

What makes the UCLA-NUS EMBA program unique?

The locations in which this EMBA program is delivered – Singapore, Los Angeles, Shanghai and Bangalore – reflect the degree’s global outlook. Students will graduate with two globally recognized degrees, one from each of these top EMBA programs.

5. Program: EMBA Global Americas and Europe

Schools: Columbia Business School and London Business School

Duration: 20 months

Cost: US$166,911

This top-ranking EMBA program is the result of a partnership between two leading schools from the US and the UK (Columbia Business School and London Business School). It allows managers with transnational responsibilities or ambitions to develop general management skills, with a regional focus on the Americas and Europe. This degree reflects a more traditional approach to business education at the executive level.

Core courses are offered on topics such as corporate finance, marketing strategy, financial accounting and strategic management. However, students are able to choose 10 courses from a broad portfolio which will allow them to tailor their degree based on a specific subject or geographical region.

What makes the EMBA Global Americas and Europe program unique?

The distinctiveness of this program is its combination of two top EMBA programs to offer a focus on the Americas and Europe. As with the other jointly-run programs above, by having two top-tier business schools join forces, students receive the benefits of both institutions, and are subsequently able to draw on a wide range of resources, networks, contacts, and alumni.