The most impactful EMBAs for experienced professionals

When you pursue an Executive MBA, these are the kind of people you evolve into: a successful Big Four accountant who returned to her industry and built a boutique deal advisory firm with renewed confidence and purpose. A tech professional who weaved creativity and business analytics to start an innovation consultancy firm. A principal product lead at Microsoft Azure with greater confidence to solve problems, reinvent, and get things done. An executive who bounced back from being laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic to be more resilient and landed a better role in a global firm.

In other words, an Executive MBA is a life- and career-changing experience for those further along in their careers and want to continue working while in school. The EMBA allows you to build a foundation in general management, corporate strategy, organisational behaviour, finance, marketing, and more. Compared to a regular MBA, which is typically designed for early professionals, an Executive MBA is more tailored to the needs and goals of senior, working professionals, such as preparing for leadership roles, expanding networks, pivoting careers, and starting a new company. 

If you’ve been thinking about one or more of these, an EMBA could be right for you. Below are three great options to consider:

The University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Source: The University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Grow faster. Think better. Lead boldly. That’s what senior executives get to do at the best academic business school in the world: The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. It offers a 21-month Executive MBA programme that stands out for its award-winning faculty and global, collaborative community

Chicago Booth is the first American business school to have campuses on three continents and the same Executive MBA programme is offered at each campus: Chicago, London, and Hong Kong. EMBA students take classes at each of its global campuses. You start in Chicago during Kick-Off Week, followed by two international session weeks at the London and Hong Kong campuses in the fall with students from all three locations. In the second half of the programme, you’ll reunite with classmates from Chicago, London, and Hong Kong for two weeks of elective courses in Chicago. Upwards of 46 nationalities are represented, coming from a wide range of industries and functions. Based on September 2023 incoming student data, the top three industries and functions are Technology, Investment Banking/Brokerage, and Investment Management/Research, and General Management, Engineering, and Investment Management/Research respectively.

In the classroom, you’ll be challenged and championed by this diverse group of peers. Guiding you, are faculty members who include Nobel Prize winners and leading researchers in their fields of study who continue to have an enduring impact on the world of business, inside and outside of the classroom. Chicago Booth professors travel to teach across the three campuses so all students get the same courses and top-rated instruction regardless of their home campus or MBA format. They are also the same people that world leaders, media outlets, and top global companies regularly turn to for their expertise and insights. Learn more about their impact and honours as well as EMBA’s innovative curriculum that helps professionals hone analytical skills, delve deep into business foundations, and lead with confidence.

The University of Cambridge Judge Business School

The University of Cambridge hosts two separate EMBA programmes to make it more accessible to students who wish to study the curriculum. Source: University of Cambridge / Facebook

Every year at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, over 100 senior-level executives from more than 32 countries join the #16-ranked Executive MBA programme in the world (QS Executive MBA Rankings – Global 2024). For 20 months, these senior executives apply their knowledge and skills as they learn.

Although schedules fit around the demanding schedules of busy senior executives, the EMBA and Global EMBA programmes ensure every student can make the most of one of two convenient and collaborative formats: weekends or block weeks. There’s no difference between the EMBA and GEMBA programmes except for delivery. The EMBA follows an on-campus weekend schedule, while the GEMBA blends on-campus, outside, and online learning. 

Both let you benefit from a highly customisable curriculum built to advance careers, international study trips, professional and leadership development, as well as a peer network that comes from Europe, the Middle East and East Asia. Much of this is done through experiential learning. Students work with clients during their team consulting project and individual project, both with the goal of finding innovative solutions to real-world organisational challenges. It’s taking the all you’ve learnt through the classroom, and applying them to a sector of your choice — software engineering, human rights, digital media, and more.

If the well-rounded EMBA curriculum at the Cambridge Judge Business School sounds like the next chapter of your career development, then click here to learn more about their programme.

HEC Paris

Source: HEC Paris / Facebook

At HEC Paris — ranked #1 for executive education worldwide by The Financial Times in 2023 — everyone has the chance to grow into an influential leader.  Leadership features a lot in the EMBA curriculum. Built on a “head, hands, and heart” framework, the HEC Paris approach to leadership development focuses on knowledge acquisition, skill development and providing students space to find their unique leadership purpose. It’s designed this way so you grow into a well-rounded individual with the full confidence to make the right decision for your business. 

Spanning 18 months, the programme features four key learning components: Core Courses, Leadership Development, Specialisations, and a Capstone Project. You start by mastering the fundamentals, such as finance, accounting and operations, and current trends and transformation, such as entrepreneurship and social responsibility. Next is Leadership Development, which takes place both in-class and during the dedicated Leadership Seminar. Both are great avenues that give you the ability to inspire, influence and improve performance in the workplace.

As you take on a specialisation — Board Governance, Making Artificial Intelligence Real, Transforming Business for Sustainability, and more — learning remains stimulating through work-like case studies, workshops, and interactive role-plays. 

The final element of the EMBA is the Capstone Project. Carried out over a period of 10 to 12 months during the program, you have to answer a strategic question from a company (either new or existing), write a 35-page report, and present the topic in front of a jury. You can access a dozen dedicated workshops on market, customers, strategic options, and implementation, as well as monthly webinars on specific topics. If you have further questions, one-to-ones are also available at any time to answer any questions you may have. 

Learn more about HEC Paris’s EMBA.