Executive MBA Blog

Who is the Boss of the MBA in 2010?

Entrepreneurs, home-preneurs, and eco-preneurs are leading the way

(November 2009) President Obama describes recent signs of economic recovery as "Guarded Optimism" but for many unemployed people with MBAs these are just hopeful words. Business school enrollment has not seen a considerable jump as in past recessions and participants at MBA fairs are down, including the major TopMBA Tour this past September in New York City, a 15% decline in prospects than in years past. On a positive note, while job offers these days come slowly fewer are being delayed or rescinded, as was typical in 2008. Will the job market continue to thaw for MBAs in 2010?

Professor Robert Salomon of NYU blogged that due to timing, the 2008 graduates fared far better than if they had graduated after the Lehman and Bear Stearns debacles. He feared for the worse for 2009 graduates and Business Week devoted an entire article on graduating into a recession.

I believe, 2009 will be known as the year in "stablize- ation." Indeed, The Federal Reserves most recent economic survey published in October reports that most states see stabilization in housing and jobs but most report a hold on hiring’s until the new year. The unemployed MBA has few options. So who is outsmarting the economy? Where are most innovators coming from? Many are armed with an MBA, some even have years of experience under their belt. Let's take a look at a few.

It'll take small businesses to jump start new job growth and many entrepreneurs, home-preneurs, and eco-preneurs are leading the way. Growth industries like green and medical are some leading examples where individuals have reinvented themselves. Take Columbia MBA Melissa Stevens and her innovative pizza box design that cuts down on cardboard and paper consumption. How about Mark Cantor, MBA, and former VP of Lehman Brothers who saw his retirement crumble and now supplies cheesecakes to over 40 restaurants in the Big Apple. Alissa Topel, an executive placement specialist says, "Many MBA graduates hold on to the dream job that was expected in a normal world. Those days are over, for now, and use the time and opportunities elsewhere to redefine your career and what it means to have an MBA."

Such stories are common these days. Social capital is critical during these rough times and may be the only capital available for entrepreneurs. Hard times remain for small businesses relying on starter loans, particularly from private banks. But the dream can be real. Certainly main street is lined with family founded businesses. While many successful entrepreneurs have no degree or even an MBA, having the coveted degree enables you to take a company beyond just start up mode but to actual growth.

Jason Price is Director and Founder of EMBA World in New York City. EMBA World is an organization dedicated to helping people understand thier business school options and the role of the executive MBA.

Why an EMBA?

(October 3, 2009) It’s one of the more prestigious degrees around, but you have to admit that the MBA has become too pedestrian for its own good. Too many institutions offer this graduate program in business administration, so much so that an MBA graduate is now worth only a dime a dozen. So if you want to distinguish yourself and stand out from the crowd, you must choose a program that is offered at an institute whose reputation precedes itself, or you could go in for an EMBA.

An Executive Master of Business Administration degree is specially designed for the working executive, someone with enough experience under their belt in the business world. An EMBA degree is often offered part time so that busy professionals are able to find time to balance both work and education, and schedules vary from university to university.

The one drawback of the EMBA is that the fees are usually on the high side, but then, for working professionals who seek higher education options in the hope that it will help them climb further up the career ladder, money is often no objective. Also, when the cost is high, the clientele is exclusive. So only the best students who can really afford this degree get in, and this helps EMBA retain an edge over the more common MBA.

If you are hoping to gain admission to this course, you need to have enough experience and financial wherewithal to be accepted at a school that offers one. You have to also take the GMAT, be proficient in certain extra-curricular activities and have the right references. Some schools also accord importance to community service. It’s wise to get your employer to sponsor your education, but if you’re looking for a new job and hoping to use the EMBA to secure one, it’s better to do it on your own steam.

The duration of the degree varies from school to school – there are one, two and three year programs available. While most colleges require you to have at least 5 years of experience for their one and two year EMBA degrees, you must be a top level executive to qualify for the three year program which is very exclusive and reserved for the highest tier of working professionals in the business world.

Before beginning an EMBA program, you should know that the schedules are demanding and the coursework grueling. So enroll yourself only if you are serious about finishing the course and are willing to make a few sacrifices to give it your best shot. If not, the pursuit of a little knowledge could leave your wallet a whole lot lighter with nothing to show in return.

By-line:

This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of online engineering degrees . Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address:  adrienne.carlson1@gmail.com

Moez’s 11,000km trip to school

"The EMBA is not for the faint-hearted. From the application process to sitting their final exams, students are put through a boot-camp style drill, with course commitments encroaching on all aspects of their lives."

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CNN: Chinese CEO shares secret of his success

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Roberto Lee Jr, 35, is the President of Fresh Bread & Company in Shanghai. He has an MBA from USC Marshall School of Business and an Executive MBA (EMBA) from INSEAD and Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Roberto Lee: "I don't think I'd be as complete a manager as I am today without the EMBA."

Roberto tells CNN how his EMBA has helped his career.

CNN: Tell us about your current role.

Roberto Lee Jr: I'm president of Fresh Bread & Company, in Shanghai, which I started in 2004.

We supply finished products like sandwiches, cakes and desserts for Starbucks, Walmart, Metro AG, Tesco, and a number of franchised restaurants.

We also have a more upscale chain with bakeries, coffee shops and the biggest bread chain in the Shanghai subway system. We currently have 620 employees, 32 shops in Shanghai, and we hope to expand into Eastern China next year.

CNN: You already had an MBA, what made you decide to do an EMBA?

RL: We are hoping to expand Fresh internationally, at least in Asia, and it could become an international company. The Tsinghua/INSEAD EMBA is a really global MBA. We had classes in Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and Fontainebleau (in France) so it gave a very international focus.

...

CNN: What was the biggest difference between the MBA and the EMBA?

RL: A key difference is seniority. The average age on the MBA was 28 and on the EMBA it was 37. On an MBA people are getting ready to move into senior management, whereas much more senior management things being discussed on the EMBA.

The other difference is that for the MBA you take off two years of your life. With the EMBA you still work, so every five to six weeks you meet for a week or two and you go to classes.

With the EMBA you don't get spend as much time on the books, so an MBA is more theoretical and with the EMBA you learn a lot more from your classmates. I had numerous high-level people in my class and they shared how they've done things in the past.

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The News-Star: College of Business sets initiatives By Ron Berry

The University of Louisiana at Monroe College of Business begins the 2009-2010 year with several new initiatives for students and faculty.

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Finally, last month I introduced the executive MBA program that Louisiana Tech University and ULM are partnering to offer in the Monroe area. The colleges of business have formed an alliance to offer the program beginning January 2010.

We’re very excited and appreciative that CenturyLink has agreed to serve as our host for the program. All classes will be taught at its headquarters on U.S. 165 North. You can learn about the program at Tech’s Web page at http://business.latech.edu/emba/.

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Ron Berry is the ULM College of Business dean. Contact him at rberry@ulm.edu or 342-1100.

 

INSEAD Knowledge: The long march to prosperity

Some 20 years ago, many upwardly mobile young men at China’s elite universities became members of the Communist Party. It was the thing to do, and Xiao Zhixing was no exception.

Today, Xiao is Associate Professor of Management at the China-Europe International Business School (Shanghai), with a PhD (2004) from INSEAD in Organisational Behaviour. In-between, the academic learned how to spot oxymorons, conundrums and dichotomies. And he’s found plenty of them in his native land.

Although one of the largest economies in the world, China “is still – in many senses - managed by the political system of another era,” he says. “On the one hand, you have this superficial market mechanism … but, on the other hand, the Party is a father figure, the decision-maker for almost all important issues in China.”

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This project and its funding methods appear outside the norm for Chinese education. “Business education is a monopoly. The Ministry of Education basically has so far given out only two licences for EMBA education outside of the old state university system: one to us and another to a school in Beijing. That is an important reason why we were able to grow very quickly.”

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Executive MBA students get down and dirty to learn about crisis management

(Aug 3, 2009) How do you teach teamwork, crisis management, creative problem solving, communication, and leadership—those soft skills that are essential to any top-level business position? The Texas A&M University Executive MBA Program at Mays Business School has a unique answer to that question: send the students for a day of exercises at Disaster City, the premiere crisis training facility in the nation, located in College Station, Texas.

Disaster City is a full-scale mock community designed to simulate various levels of disaster and wreckage, such as a train derailment and building collapse. Rescue workers from around the world use the facility for training purposes. The A&M Executive MBA students will take part in a specialized day of training that will test their leadership skills instead of their business acumen on August 5, 2009.

Disaster City is a full-scale mock community designed to simulate various levels of disaster and wreckage. In this 2008 photo, MBA students participate in drills designed to test leadership and management skills during a crisis.

Incorporating this exercise into the EMBA curriculum was inspired by the students’ involvement in crisis management for their companies during Hurricane Ike in September 2008. During the exercise, the EMBA students will be divided into teams to complete tasks such as rescuing “victims” from a train wreck, a high speed GPS scavenger hunt, and a “slab drag,” moving a 1,200-pound block of concrete with team effort and pulleys. They will also practice responding to the media and other external audiences during crisis.

As they learn how to respond during a physical crisis, the expectation is that those skills will transfer to a business setting—from natural disasters like Ike, to stock crashes and business take-overs.

“The Disaster City experience is about putting our Executive MBA students in a physically challenging, high stress environment that will test them in every way,” said Julie Orzabal, director of the Executive MBA program. “The lessons they learn through these exercises will translate into how they work together in their teams, how they communicate, and how they lead their organizations.  We are excited about incorporating this unique opportunity into our curriculum.”

Top local and national response experts will instruct and facilitate the EMBA challenge. These instructors have responded to some of the largest disasters in U.S. history, including the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike, and the space shuttle Columbia incident.

The EMBA training at Disaster City will be part of their “Residency Week” program, which introduces the new class of students to the A&M program and campus. After Residency Week, all EMBA classes are held in The Woodlands, near Houston, Texas.

For more information about Disaster City and the Texas A&M University Executive MBA Program at Mays Business School, contact Kristin Cooper at (979) 458-4571 or kristincooper@tamu.edu.

About the Texas A&M Executive MBA Program

The Executive MBA Program equips today’s working leaders with the skills and knowledge they need to excel in a rapidly changing organizational environment. The unique program is built around an ongoing study of how value is created in all aspects of an organization’s operations. Peer discussion and real-world case studies replace the typical lecture-driven classroom format. The result is a highly interactive learning environment that provides each participant with knowledge they can put to work immediately. The 18-month program begins a new class each August. For more information, please contact the Executive MBA office at emba@tamu.edu.

Mays Business School currently enrolls more than 4,000 undergraduate students and 875 graduate students. Mays is nationally ranked among public business schools for the quality of its undergraduate program, MBA program and the faculty scholarship of its 105 professors in five departments.

This article is brought to you by By Chrystal Houston • August 3rd, 2009

A New English-based Executive MBA Program

Merage, Technion join forces in new academic venture

California's Andre and Kathryn Merage Foundation grants $12 million in favor of new Institute for International Business in Tel Aviv. Syllabus set by Israeli Institute for Technology in form of unique, English-based EMBA program

Ynetnews

Published 07.08.09

The Merage Foundations and the Israeli Institute for Technology have announced the forming of the Institute for International Business in Tel Aviv. The joint venture was made possible thanks to a $12 million donation by California's Andre and Kathryn Merage Foundation.

 

The new institute will offer a unique EMBA (executive master of business administration) program aimed at the high-tech executive. Set to be fully operational by 2010, the English-based program aims to train the current and future generation of high-tech business executives, with a specific focus on familiarizing them with the ways and needs of the key US, European and Asian markets.

 

The program will span 18 months and will allow student the opportunity to meet with top instructors, economic policymakers and leading academic figures form around the world. Program graduates will become Merage Foundation Fellows.

 

The future Institute for International Business will also sponsor three centers, dedicated to the research and development of international trade policies, and the training of Israel's future business leaders.

 

First of its kind

The Merage Foundation is an American, family foundation which was founded by Paul Merage in 2004. Its primary mission is to contribute to strengthening Israel's trade ties with the US via improving Israeli business people's familiarity with the ways of the American economy.

 

The Foundation also organizes two annual seminars for Israeli executives and entrepreneurs. So far, over 225 business people and MBA students have participated in the Foundation’s seminars.

 

Professor Yitzhak Apeloig, president of the Israeli Institute for Technology believes that "the EMBA program will quickly become a leading international program which will receive a high international ranking. The program, the first of its kind in Israel, satisfies the need of Israel’s business community for a value-added, strategy focused degree.”

Paul Merage, of the Merage Foundation added: “Considering the size of Israel’s population, the push to establish new startups along with the growth of existing ones will depend upon efficient penetration of key markets like the US, Asia and Europe. This requires the building of top skilled, professional business leadership. We saw in the Technion the most fitting partner to train the new generation of Israeli high-tech leaders.”

This article is credited to and can be seen on Ynetnews.com  

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3743305,00.html

3 Reasons Why MBA Graduates Would Do Well in Academia

EMBA World welcomes contributing authors on various topics related to the MBA, the Executive MBA, and professional and academic options for business people. Below is a recent submission by Kat Sanders. Thank you Kat!

3 Reasons Why MBA Graduates Would Do Well in Academia (June 2009)

There was a time when the financial world ruled the roost and the people with the MBAs in finance made the big bucks and lived the fast life. The situation is very different now, and big dreams have come crashing down with the economy. People have begun to cut their losses and see how they can consolidate their positions, and most of them have turned to an MBA as a way to see the recession through and build on their skills so that they’re able to reenter the job market when the economy starts to look up.

But the problem with applying to B schools at this time is that almost everybody with an eye on the future is doing the same, and if you already have an MBA and are looking to change your specialization, well, it’s a waste of time and money. Instead, you could look at the pedagogy option – with all the B schools in demand among students, there is a need for qualified faculty. And if you’ve been around long enough in the big, bad world of business, here’s why you stand a pretty good chance of making it as an academician: 

• Practical experience is the best teacher: Most business students have no idea of what goes on in the real business world, and sadly, most of their professors are in the same boat too. They may be able to teach them business principles and theory, but when it comes to practical experience, it’s the people with work experience who have the edge. If you’re an MBA who has recently been laid off because of the way the economy is, you could check out opportunities that allow you to teach at a college or B school. If you need an additional degree or diploma, work at it to improve your chances of securing a good teaching position.
• There is a demand for qualified faculty: If you’re able to prove your mettle through a few well-positioned guest lectures, there’s no reason why you cannot ask the institution to consider you for a full-time teaching job. Your expertise in the real world and the fact that you are interested in teaching will work to your advantage.
• Students have the advantage of your connection to the business world: Even though you are out of a job in the finance industry, you can still use your contacts and networks to get the best for your students, both in terms of internships and future job prospects. They can also tap your knowledge and gain valuable insights into the workings of the business world.

This article is written by Kat Sanders, who regularly blogs on the topic of best online engineering degree at her blog The Engineering A Better World Blog. She welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: katsanders25@gmail.com.

MBA Grads From Around the World Struggle to Find Employment

April 21, 2009

From the Chronicle of Higher Education:

Israeli Graduates of U.S. Business Schools Are Stuck With Loan Debts and No Jobs

Jerusalem — Hundreds of Israeli business-school graduates are stuck in the United States with no jobs but huge student loans to repay, the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported today.

According to participants at a gathering of 100 Israeli M.B.A. students and alumni in New York on Sunday, the prospects of getting a job in the dismal economic climate are slim. Meir Stein, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, said many American finance and technology companies, particularly those receiving government money from the economic-stimulus package, will not hire foreigners.

Such support can be contingent on providing local jobs, and handling immigration issues can be a huge hassle for the employer, Haaretz said.

According to today’s Wall Street Journal, many American M.B.A. graduates who had planned to start a new career are being forced to return to their old jobs in order to find work.

The New York Times reported last week that this year’s Wharton graduates were changing direction abruptly as job offers from traditional companies dried up.

The global economic crisis has spared no one, including the Israeli M.B.A.’s, said Aharon Shenrech, who so far has no job and faces debts of $100,000 from his Wharton M.B.A. “I estimate that roughly 60 percent of my acquaintances who finished their M.B.A. studies are getting job offers, but the rest aren’t,” he said.

About 100 Israelis are accepted by M.B.A. programs at American universities each year, but their success depends on finding a good job afterward, even if the student ultimately plans to return to Israel. The whole concept of studying in the United States on a student loan is based on getting a good job, said Haaretz. And today, even if a job can be found, it may not pay well. —Matthew Kalman

Thank you Mathew. EMBA World is pleased to bring timely articles to its readers.

 

 

The Drucker Executive MBA Management Program and EMBA World Press

 

Claremont, CA, April 2, 2009 -- The Executive Management Program (EMP) of the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University was featured in the last issue of the EMBA World Newsletter, a respected independent publication written by EMBA graduates and a prestigious advisory board for the benefit of aspiring working professionals and employers.

The publication focused on the benefits of Drucker’s EMP program – flexibility, personalized curriculum, intimate atmosphere, renowned faculty, diversity, engaging community and global perspective, and referenced the Drucker difference – innovative curriculum designed to train effective managers and leaders on local, national and international levels. The Executive Management Program is one of the school’s Master business programs aimed to create productive and purposeful leaders who are effective managers and ethical leaders in all sectors of society – business, government and non-profit organizations.

About the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management
Named after Professor Peter Drucker in 1974, the Drucker School was established to satisfy the niche of part time executive management education. Today, the school shares its name with one of the world’s most respected entrepreneurs, Masatoshi Ito, combining a thinker (Peter Drucker, the founder of modern management) with a doer (Masatoshi Ito, who built the largest retail network in Japan), and reflecting a decidedly global orientation. Drucker has some 4,400 alumni around the globe, many of whom are leaders in business, government, and the nonprofit sector.

The school is known for its innovative programs, which in addition to the Masters in Arts Management (AM), includes the traditional Master of Business Administration (MBA), the Executive Management Program (EMBA), a Master of Science in Financial Engineering (MSFE), a Master in Politics, and Business and Economics (MAPEB), as well as a variety of certificate programs and customized corporate executive education offerings. The Drucker School’s programs and degrees are unique in their focus on management as a liberal art, rather than specific concentrations on core business functions such as accounting, finance, or marketing.

About Claremont Graduate University
Founded in 1925, Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is an independent institution devoted entirely to graduate study. More than 2,000 students are studying for Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in 22 disciplines. Located 35 miles east of Los Angeles, CGU is part of a liberal arts consortium commonly known as The Claremont Colleges. The Claremont University Consortium (CUC) includes Pomona, Scripps, Harvey Mudd, Claremont McKenna and Pitzer colleges, plus the Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences, and Claremont Graduate University.

EMBA World (www.EMBAWorld.com) is a free online resource for prospective students, hiring managers, corporate managers, and working professionals with detailed information about the Executive MBA. EMBA World offers its services to anyone interested in pursuing a business degree seeking unbiased, real life experience from a panel of distinguished business professionals, Executive MBA graduates, career counselors, hiring professionals, and industry consultants.