Executive MBA programs with an international focus use the world as a global campus. Business schools want to project a global image despite the challenges of a global economic slowdown, international terrorism and major conflicts around the world. Important factors facing business schools and their international EMBA programs include flexible school schedules, use of technology, the desire for schools to gain an international reputation, access to a wider pool of qualified applicants and corporate emphasis on the global economy. Another factor is that a business education with an international component tends to be viewed as a better education experience.
Today, most executive MBA programs have an international component. Some schools, like the prestigious Thunderbird school in Arizona and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, broaden internally without any formal partnerships. Duke’s Global EMBA (GEMBA), established in 1996, requires five study tours during its two years and four meetings a year in Durham. Tuition is $112,000 a year, excluding travel costs, but, with a student body representing 20 countries, the GEMBA may be the best example of how the global community serves as a classroom.
James Cecere, a graduate and former VP of JP Morgan Chase, says: “Special to Duke is the global emphasis in my line of work. There is no traditional MBA program that can address practical business problems and then allow you to experience them in the local environment.”
While Duke goes it alone, the Kellogg School of Northwestern University teams up with business schools in Germany, Canada (Ontario), Hong Kong and the Leon Recanati Business School of Tel Aviv University, giving it and its partners extensive international exposure. The Kellogg-Recanati International EMBA follows a two-year general management degree with an optional specialisation in high-tech management. Classes are taught in English on the Tel Aviv campus and there’s a two-week session in Chicago. The Recanati class comprises mid-level managers with a minimum of eight years’ experience. Almost a quarter of the students are from abroad and include Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians. Two years in KR costs only $42,000.
Launched in 2000, the Global Trium executive MBA is an amalgamation of three programs: NYU which concentrates on finance and accounting; LSE which provides a detailed evaluation of political and social economy; and HEC which addresses marketing and management.
Trium’s mission is to make existing managers with global roles even better. Jane Delbene, Trium’s public relations officer explains: “Trium gives students the skills and knowledge necessary to conduct business anywhere in the word – across borders, continents and cultures. We screen candidates according to the existing degree of international exposure and how that can be brought into the classroom; how they’ll fit the program’s learning structure; and their ability to achieve both the personal and professional investment needed to fulfil coursework.”
Trium is a 16-month program with up to 10 weeks away from the office with graduating classes of up to 50 of whom half are from outside the US. The cost is approximately $92,000.
An international EMBA can add an entirely new dimension to a career. Cultural knowledge can make a significant difference to success or failure when conducting business internationally. As economies become more integrated – reinforced by technology, common currencies, equitable trade laws and unifying global crisis – companies will seek to strengthen the benefits and opportunities of embracing and exploiting global business practices. One of the best ways to capture the experience is through an International EMBA.
About the author
Jason A. Price, MS, MBA, is Director of
EMBA World, a New York City-based organization dedicated to helping employees and employers understand options concerning graduate level business education and in particular the executive MBA. He is author of The Executive MBA: An Insider’s Guide for Working Professionals in Pursuit of Graduate Business Education. He can be reached at
jason@embaworld.com
For information about copying, distributing and displaying this work, contact permissions@spencerstuart.com