executive mba ranking, 2013 - the economist

Executive MBA ranking, 2013

2 Which MBA? Executive MBA ranking, 2013

Editor:Bill Ridgers

Contributors:Jessica DoyleLewis PrebbleBrian Donahue

Copy editor:Penny Williams

Design:Mike Kenny

Ranking co-ordinator:Nick Parsons

Ranking administrator:Will Shallcross, F1 Research

Publisher:Isaac Showman

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Contents

3 Introduction

4 Class distinction EMBAs are not cheap, but students think they are a

good investment

6 Payback time Fulfilling though the academic experience may be,

most EMBA students expect something a bit more

tangible for their investment

7 EMBA diary: Crossing continents An American student spends two weeks immersing

himself in Europe

8 EMBA diary: A case to answer The virtues of the live case study

9 Onward, with iPad The novelty of online learning has worn off. Now

EMBAs are starting to ask the harder questions

11 Ranking results

14 Methodology

15 Programme profiles and rankings


From the editor

WELCOME to this report on executive

MBAs (EMBAs), which includes our

first ranking of these pricey part-time

degrees aimed at senior managers. Given that The

Economist has been ranking full-time MBAs for a

decade, why has it never before tried to rate their

swanky cousins? EMBAs can no longer be ignored

for several reasons. One is that they have proliferated

so much in recent years. What was once a niche

market has become mainstream. Whereas they used

to be the preserve of a few top business

schools, such as Kellogg and Chicago,

they are now offered across the full

range of institutions. As more start to

label their MBAs “executive”, and add

a premium to the price accordingly, it

seems reasonable to compare how they

really stack up against one another.

This is particularly important because

whereas it used to be companies that

footed the bill for sending their top managers on

EMBAs, today it is predominantly the managers

themselves that pay the fees.

It is not just the proliferation of programmes

that has increased students’ choice. Applicants used

to be restricted to schools within easy reach of their

home or office. Now, with the increasing use of

distance-learning technology, they can look further

afield, perhaps even overseas.

As with all business-school rankings, our list

should be handled with care. We have selected the

criteria we consider to be most important, based on

consultation with students and business schools.

But these will not be the same for everyone. It

is essential, therefore, that prospective students

take time to understand our methodology before

deciding whether our list has any relevance for them.

We have, for example, placed some emphasis on the

internationalism of a programme, but not everyone

sees this as important. Likewise, career progression

and increasing salary account for half of our

ranking. Some students will think this is too much.

But I suspect that most will not. Our survey of

over 8,000 EMBA alumni found the overwhelming

majority believed their degree had helped them

fulfil their career goals. While many managers

certainly enjoy the academic exercise of returning to

university after so many years out of the classroom,

the EMBA is, at heart, a professional qualification.

It is about sharing business experiences among a

group of similarly senior participants. Students pay

handsomely for that exclusivity, so they must choose

carefully. I hope this report, to some degree, helps. ■

Bill Ridgers

Editor, Which MBA?


Executive MBAs are not cheap, but students think they are a good investment

MANY think of the executive MBA as a newfangled invention. But it is older than you might think. The first MBA for

executives was offered by the University of Chicago in 1948, meaning that it predates the arrival of the traditional MBA in Europe. What is true is that its popularity has soared in the past ten years. Most of the top schools in North America now have MBAs labelled “executive”, although a few, such as Harvard and Stanford, are still refusing to follow the crowd.

One of the problems in ranking executive MBAs is that they are difficult to define. Schools agree that participants on such programmes should have significantly more management experience than those on other MBA programmes. But there is no generally accepted rule as to exactly how much. Indeed, the average work experience of the students on the programmes ranked by The Economist varies significantly. EMBA students at the Texas Christian University have, on average, 19 years’ work experience, of which 12 are in a managerial position; whereas at Columbia Business School, students have, on average, just nine years’ experience, of which five are managerial.

In Europe, students on some full-time MBA programmes have a lot of work experience too. For example, in 2012 students on the full-time MBA at Henley Business School in Britain had an average of 12 years’ experience. So why is this not considered to be an executive MBA? Herein lies the second defining characteristic: EMBAs are part-time. They are designed for working executives. What is more, these are often executives in senior positions. The average basic salary of a participant on the EMBAs in our ranking is $123,000. Participants on the joint programme run by Kellogg School of Management and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) earn double that.

Joining the jet setHigh salaries are one reason EMBA students, even in today’s tight market, can expect to pay eye-watering tuition fees. At Columbia, for example, tuition

costs $161,000. This does not include travel to its international seminar, which might be in such a far-flung place as Shanghai, Istanbul or Rio de Janeiro. Indeed, this is another reason the programmes are so expensive. Nearly all now include extensive international exposure. At the University of Chicago, students spend time on each of its campuses in America, London and Singapore (soon to be moved to Hong Kong). Other universities have taken a different route to ensure their programmes have an international flavour. Many now offer joint degrees with prestigious institutions overseas. Kellogg, for example, has four EMBA programmes in our top ten. This includes not only its standalone programme, but also joint programmes with York University in Canada, HKUST in Hong Kong and WHU in Germany. The Kellogg-HKUST EMBA, for example, lasts for 18 months, with students spending two weekends a month living and studying on the Hong Kong campus, interspersed with weekend residences in Illinois. In addition, electives can be taken in Israel, Canada, Germany and Miami.

Clearly, such a schedule is not for those wanting a quiet life. Busy executives in important positions put themselves through a punishing schedule on top of their day jobs. EMBA participants will at the very least need an understanding boss. To accommodate study, deadlines may have to be changed, projects rejigged and business trips postponed. In the past, companies often offered to pay for an executive MBA, believing it to be a useful retention tool. But that was before budgets tightened. Nowadays executives are more likely to pay for the programmes themselves (see page 9). But even if the company has not literally bought into the MBA, it will need to do so figuratively.

Class distinction

Average basic salary of students on entering the executive MBA programme (last graduating class)

Top five schools

Northwestern (Kellogg)/Hong Kong University 261,285of Science and Technology*

IMD 227,381

UCLA Anderson/National University of Singapore* 182,500

Northwestern (Kellogg) 175,054

ESADE/Georgetown* 171,000

*Joint programmeSource: The Economist, Which MBA?


Families, too, need patience. Ilona Simpson, who took an EMBA at IESE business school in Spain, commuted to classes first from Germany and then from London. She says she briefed all those who would be affected well in advance about the likely disruption. Even so, most students go through periods in which it all seems a bit much. At such times it helps that the rest of the cohort are in the same boat; many describe their classmates as an understanding support group.

Given that it is such a draining experience, why do executives put themselves through it? There are two basic reasons. The first is that they want a new challenge; they like the idea of stretching themselves intellectually. For most it will have been many years since they studied at such a high level. But the type of intellectual stimulus is different from, say, a full-time MBA. Participants on executive MBAs, with their many years of management experience, are less concerned with the functional knowledge imparted on such programmes. Instead, they are seeking to develop their leadership skills. They are also keen to share their business experiences with the other senior managers in the class. This is why it is important that their classmates’ CVs are as impressive as their own. As the table shows, most are deeply impressed by the quality of those sitting next to them.

Students’ rating of classmates (out of five)

Top five schools

1 Northwestern (Kellogg)/York (Schulich)* 4.89

2 Oxford (Saïd) 4.86

3 Texas at Austin (McCombs) 4.86

4 Northwestern (Kellogg)/Hong Kong 4.86 University of Science and Technology*

5 UCLA Anderson 4.85


As well as intellectual stimulus, students want something tangible in return for their investment. Most expect their salaries to rise significantly in the years following the degree. They hope that having an EMBA from a top institution will give them extra bargaining power when it comes to salary negotiation. As the box on the next page shows, most are right in this assumption.

But it is not just financial benefits that graduates expect from an EMBA; they also believe the qualification to be useful to their careers. The Economist asked over 8,000 EMBA graduates to rate the extent to which their programme helped them fulfil the career goals they had set themselves before enrolling. The average rating was 4.6 out of five, meaning they seemed convinced of its efficacy. Those at the top-ranked

programme, Kellogg-York, awarded it 4.9 out of 5 (see table below). Even the lowest score—given by students at University College Dublin—rated this question at a creditable 4.2.

Students’ rating of the extent to which the programme has helped fulfil pre-EMBA goals

1 Northwestern (Kellogg)/York (Schulich)* 4.90

2 Purdue (Krannert Graduate) 4.84

3 Oxford (Saïd) 4.84

4 Texas Christian (Neeley) 4.79

5 Northwestern (Kellogg)/WHU (Otto Beisheim)* 4.79


Their faith seems well founded. The Economist survey found that 64% of the EMBA students who graduated in 2012, and to whom the question applied, had already been promoted within their own companies since leaving business school. For those who graduated two years earlier the figure rises to 80% (see table below). Among those who had changed firms, the numbers are even more impressive, with 83% saying they had moved to a more senior position. Of course, given that EMBA students are drawn from a pool of high-flying executives, one might expect them to have risen in their careers whether or not they attended business school; our survey did not compare them with a control group. But what is clear is that they at least attribute their success, in some part, to their new qualification.

If you stayed at your company, have you been promoted within your company since leaving business school?*

Year of graduation Yes No

2012 64% 36%

2011 75% 25%

2010 80% 20%

*Applicable students onlySource: The Economist, Which MBA?

If you moved companies, was it to a more senior, similar or less senior role?*

More senior 83%

Similar 16%

Less senior 1%

*Applicable students only; all graduating yearsSource: The Economist, Which MBA?

It is as important to schools as it is to students that the EMBA is perceived to be good value for money. Many business schools in Europe and North America are struggling financially. Domestic demand for full-time MBAs is dwindling, and few schools show any


signs of keeping their costs under control. They are desperate to find new sources of revenue, so offering a pricey executive MBA is an alluring prospect. But as more schools do so, the market will become crowded. Some will have to either cut fees to attract students or slacken their entrance criteria. Yet the only reason an EMBA can command a premium is the calibre of

the executives it can attract. It is therefore an exclusive market and not everyone can expect to play in it. For EMBA students, the simple truth is this: if you look around and find that you are the brightest and most experienced executive in the class, you have chosen the wrong programme. ■Bill Ridgers is the editor of Which MBA?

Payback time

EMBA students pay a high price for their degrees—not just in tuition fees, which can be well over $100,000, but also in the stress

of balancing the programme with family and work. An EMBA can consume weekends, and students can expect to be sent on overseas assignments lasting a week or more. And then there are long evenings of homework and preparation for the next class. So, fulfilling though the academic experience may be, most EMBA students expect something a bit more tangible for their investment.

They are unlikely to be disappointed. The most recent graduates who responded to our survey reported that their salaries had increased by 28% on average over the length of the course. Those who graduated a year earlier now earn 37% more; and alumni who graduated a year before that reported a 45% average increase on their pre-EMBA salary. At some schools, such as IE in Spain, salaries more

than doubled in that time. It does not seem to matter how much students were earning before enrolling; nearly all will receive a handsome pay rise after graduation. Students at Grenoble in France earned a “mere” $73,500 on entering the programme but can expect this to increase by 62% within two years. Those at Oxford’s Saïd Business School earned around double that, but can still expect to see their salary go up by 58% in the same period. What is more, these figures are for base salary only; they do not include share options, bonuses, pensions and the like. Total remuneration will be significantly higher than indicated. Such returns make the EMBA an attractive investment (although it must be borne in mind that students’ pay might have gone up even if they had not taken the degree). The very lucky—or very persuasive—might even convince their employers to pay for their EMBA retrospectively, but this is much rarer than it once was. Even so, just in case, it is probably worth paying particular attention during classes on negotiation. ■

Increase in salary*, selected schools

Business school Increase on pre-EMBA salary on graduation, %

Increase on pre-EMBA salary one year after graduation, %

Increase on pre-EMBA salary two years after graduation, %

Average salary on graduation, $

IE 52 104 126 154,281

Oxford (Saïd) 43 78 58 204,181

Grenoble 38 85 94 101,697

ESADE/Georgetown McDonough** 48 23 56 224,529

Chicago (Booth) 39 34 54 213,637

Cranfield 60 44 62 111,552

Northwestern (Kellogg) 41 39 34 235,725

National University of Singapore 44 35 61 164,140

*Base salary only. As reported by students from the last three graduating classes responding to Which MBA? questionnaire**Joint programmeSource: The Economist, Which MBA?


Lewis Prebble, an executive MBA student at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, spends two weeks immersing himself in Europe

ARRIVING in class in Paris directly off a red-eye flight from Montreal is not the ideal start to a two-week course. It’s Saturday morning,

I’m still wearing Friday’s work attire, and I’m late. Despite my effort to enter the room quietly, I get a round of laughter and applause from my classmates, who enjoy the diversion. I scan the small but functional conference room for coffee and see it is well-stocked. Everything is going to be fine.

Thus begins two solid weeks in Paris and Berlin. I arrive during an introductory briefing from the four professors who have travelled with our cohort on our third international trip of the year. We have already been to Brazil and China. We get reshuffled into new learning teams, with which I will conduct group projects and class preparation for the remainder of the two-year executive MBA programme. The session ends with a discussion about our expectations—preconceptions of Europe, the lessons we expect to learn and our initial impressions. We are all looking forward to it.

The first couple of days’ classes are the foundation for the coming two weeks, which will be structured

around Darden’s case-method teaching. I enjoy this style of teaching—well-facilitated discussion about real business situations—and we begin with a couple of pre-read ethics and marketing cases. But the reprieve from spreadsheets only lasts a day as our Sunday is dominated by challenging cases on currency hedging and mergers and acquisitions.

With all this to absorb, free time is at a premium, but as we are all active self-explorers, the finer points of the city have to be squeezed in. A few of us go running to see some central Paris landmarks, in a half-hearted nod to maintaining a healthy mind and body.

Our first field trip on Monday morning is to the Four Seasons George V hotel for a joint marketing and leadership case. After discussing the case that morning, we walk round the impressive premises while management explain the challenges of transposing this North American brand to Europe. The brand has made the transition well but the case throws up enough issues to generate weighty learning points. These are light in comparison with our trip later in the week to Disneyland Paris. The Disney experience is very different from the Four Seasons one. Here, discussions about operations, human resources, finance and marketing are profound. We speak to the local and expat managers who have led the firm’s difficult entry into Europe. The vice-president of finance is our

EMBA diary: Crossing continents


host on the day it announces a big refinancing to the markets—a milestone for a company that has had its fair share of difficulties.

Berlin boundDespite the intense schedule of preparation, classes and field trips, we are given a series of opportunities to experience local culture. A cooking class in a Parisian basement kitchen is every bit as educational as a tour of the city by night on bicycles, and with all this the week flies by. It is intense, and for some of us Monday to Friday also entails the added disruption of calls from the office. Reaching Saturday evening and the short flight to Berlin is a relief. Sunday is a chance to reboot and spend a quiet day reading for the week ahead.

The diversity of the material is maintained in Germany. A typical day in Berlin goes like this: in the morning a strategist from DDB Tribal, an advertising firm, explains how the internet continues to transform the industry. We then change gear to run a complex cross-border valuation case on Jaguar. After that there is an in-depth business ethics case on GE Healthcare’s challenges with ultrasound in India. Lastly, the division

head of the German government’s G8/OECD external economic policy team goes head to head with our Greek finance professor. Darden’s course structure begins to feel very thought out—the economics studied while in America and China gain new meaning when examined through a European lens.

An aspect I have loved about Darden’s approach to the Global Executive MBA is the international classroom format. This means that travelling professors can construct multi-disciplinary cases. Darden is a special place, and the character of the school has travelled well. There is a certain naivety that opens doors that should otherwise be shut, but there are friends everywhere, be it the American ambassador to Germany, who receives us at the embassy, or the large alumni network, whose involvement in the programme is evident at several levels. As I finish the two weeks and fly home, I feel lucky to be part of such a broad and enriching programme. I am also exhausted and ready for a few more weeks of regular routine, and even the rigour of the upcoming exams. But the respite will be short-lived; our next trip to India is already firmly in my mind. ■

EMBA diary: A case to answer

Brian Donahue, an executive MBA student at Kellogg School of Management, extols the virtues of the live case study

Can a case study be an effective way to learn when it is discussed thousands of miles away from the boardroom from which it originated? With a little imagination, there’s no doubt it is possible. In any case, in a traditional classroom, there are not many alternatives. But nothing can beat a live case study: meeting the business decision-makers and discussing scenarios, plans and results in person, as they happen. In early 2013, I witnessed first-hand why this is so beneficial.

Second-year executive MBA students at the Kellogg School of Management may take electives at its four international partner schools. I enrolled in two such courses at WHU, a business school in Dusseldorf, Germany. As a marketing and sales executive at CareerBuilder, which has a presence in more than 60 countries, I wanted my graduate education to reflect the global nature of our business and broaden my core areas of expertise. It could not have done so more effectively.

The two-week, highly rigorous coursework

combined Kellogg’s team-focused learning with immersion in the regional economy. There were many highlights, not the least of which was WHU’s dynamic faculty. In one course, Martin Fassnacht, a marketing professor, supplemented his instruction by inviting executives of several leading global luxury brands—including Lamborghini, a sports-car maker and, Miele, which makes domestic appliances—to present their current challenges. We were then told to pitch solutions the following day.

Live case studies were the foundation of coursework at Kellogg-WHU. In a separate class about the contemporary euro-zone business climate, a member of the European Commission talked us through his recent decision to block a significant corporate merger. His presentation came as a surprise to the class, which earlier in the day had dissected and debated the issue, entirely unaware that he was in attendance.

However, moments like these were only enhanced by the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with fellow executive MBA students from around the world, in a setting unfamiliar to us all. This was as unique as it was enlightening. The programme was an academic and personal milestone, and a fitting compliment to the core curriculum. ■


The novelty of online learning has worn off. Now EMBA programmes are starting to ask the harder questions

A DECADE ago the standard measurement of an executive MBA programme’s prestige was the number of times it required participants

to cross an ocean. “Global” executive programmes, often involving alliances between multiple schools in multiple countries, popped up in droves.

Since then the EMBA market has seen two significant shifts. One is who pays the tuition fees. Prices have continued to rise, but the global financial slowdown means fewer students now get company backing. Jonathan Darsey, associate dean for executive MBA programmes at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in Atlanta, says that a few years ago two-thirds of his EMBA students were sponsored by their firms; now two-thirds are funding themselves.

The other shift is technological. Although EMBAs have been incorporating online tools for a while, they now have more options for delivering content to busy

executives-turned-students. The trend is towards “asynchronous” learning, such as e-mail, blogs and discussion boards, which means students are under less pressure to be on campus at a certain date and time—or even to be reading the assigned material at the same time as classmates.

All on the same page, er, screenMore online elements can mean more work for schools, particularly beleaguered IT departments. They must make sure that students get the material even if they do not congregate in a classroom. A common approach is simply to hand every student a tablet computer with course material and discussion-facilitating apps pre-loaded. Wharton has had iPads ready for its last three executive MBA cohorts; Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business started giving out iPads last year; Goizueta is planning tablet distribution for the next set of students in its “modular” EMBA, 30% of which is taught online.

Howard University, based in Washington, DC, took things a step further by putting an executive

Onward, with iPad


MBA programme entirely online two years ago. Students connect with each other through Google Hangouts set up by the school and with faculty during designated online “office hours”. A capstone week requires everyone to come to campus together before graduation.

But online-only EMBA programmes are still relatively rare. They are frequently aimed at audiences underserved by traditional EMBAs. Howard, for example, has a long history of educating black students. It plans to start advertising in the Caribbean soon, as well as in Britain and France. Nearby George Mason University offers an online EMBA specifically for military veterans and defence contractors. Such targeting allows universities to differentiate themselves when wooing students who are considering the virtues of different computer screens rather than different classrooms.

In general, EMBA programmes might be a better place to experiment with online learning than, say, undergraduate education. Mr Darsey notes that EMBA students, often with more than a dozen years’ management experience, are used to absorbing information on the fly, at unexpected times and from far-flung colleagues. Furthermore, the cost of an online EMBA—$96,000 at Goizueta—tends to focus the mind, making it less likely that students will spend too much time distracted by Facebook.

In the midst of disruptionBut online education has not disrupted the sector completely. The most prestigious programmes still attract more high-powered executives. They therefore compete less on price and can offer an array of fancy technological approaches. Less-vaunted schools, however, will use online components to drive prices down. The Jack Welch Executive MBA, an online-only programme offered by the for-profit Strayer University, which is not accredited by a major agency, costs just $36,000.

Figuring out how to put courses online, while a hassle, is the easy part. More than anything, distance learning challenges faculty, who must learn to teach and evaluate students with less face-to-face interaction. Yet the shift to online learning also introduces new measures that can be used to grade students and course content alike. With e-books, for example, it is possible to track whether one student failed to complete the assignment or if everyone stopped reading at the same page of a particularly boring case.

Of late the debates around online education have focused on the massive open online courses (MOOCs). Executive MBA teaching will not be that public any time soon; given the value of close contact with peers and teachers, the programmes will remain relatively self-contained. But the changes, as technology becomes more and more integrated into the programmes, will still be extensive. ■Jessica Doyle is a freelance management writer


ONE business school emerges as the clear winner in The Economist’s first ranking of executive MBA programmes. The Kellogg

School of Management at Northwestern University near Chicago has four programmes in the top ten. Number one is its joint programme with Schulich School of Business at York University, just across the border in Ontario, Canada. Programmes run in conjunction with the National University of Singapore and WHU in Germany also make the top ten, and Kellogg’s standalone EMBA is number eight.

Our ranking measures business schools on two broad criteria: personal development/educational experience and career development. Within these categories, we look at 27 criteria, including the quality and diversity of students, the quality of the faculty, the percentage of students who receive a promotion after they graduate and the average salary increase graduates can expect. The data are a mixture of student-reported figures, student ratings and data provided by the schools (see methodology, page 14).

Joint programmes seem to be a particular hit with students. Participants on the Kellogg-Schulich programme gave the highest marks for the quality of their classmates as well as for faculty and facilities. It also came top when alumni were asked the extent to which the programme helped them achieve their pre-MBA career goals. The joint MBA offered by Kellogg and the Hong University of Science of Technology, meanwhile, got the top rank for the overall quality of its students. Students who enrol on this programme are particularly high-powered, earning on average $261,000 with 15 years’ work experience.

It is interesting to note that a school’s joint EMBA will often rank higher than its standalone programme. Kellogg’s single-campus programme, although ranked a creditable eighth, lags behind those offered with partners. The UCLA-National University of Singapore joint EMBA, ranked third, fares better than the standalone programmes at UCLA (13th) or the NUS (43rd). The ESADE-Georgetown EMBA is 12th, whereas the one offered solely at Georgetown is 27th.

One reason for this is that joint programmes are generally more international. The UCLA-NUS EMBA, for example, insists that students take at least four one-

week assignments overseas during the programme. Joint programmes also enrol more experienced students. Those on the UCLA-NUS programme will have, on average, three years’ more work experience and earn close to $40,000 more than the UCLA single-campus alternative.

Y viva EspañaAmerican programmes dominate the ranking. Well over half the programmes on our list are based—solely or partly—in America. But two Spanish schools also perform well. This may come as a surprise, given the travails of that country’s economy. But students on these programmes are often not Spanish residents. The EMBA at IE Business School, ranked second, makes extensive use of distance learning, and face-to-face classes take place in Spain, China and Brazil, so it is not essential for students to be too near at hand. Its programme performs particularly well in the salary category, which is the most heavily weighted in the ranking. IE students reported that their basic salaries had risen by 52% by the time they graduated, from $101,569 to $154,281. Within two years they could expect their salaries to have increased by 125%, more than those of students at any other school. Career advancement is also a big selling point at neighbouring IESE, ranked fifth—88% of its students said that they had either been promoted or grown their company since graduation.

While EMBA students are recruited from around the world and come from a wide variety of industries—18 of the programmes surveyed comprised students from at least 11 different industry sectors—one criterion on which all schools fare badly is the percentage of women students in their classes. None of the schools on our list enrol more women than men. The highest ranked in this regard is Concordia in Canada where 41% of students are women. At IMD in Switzerland it is a pitiful 12%. For a degree in which students are said to learn more from their classmates’ experiences than their lecturers’ pontifications, EMBA programmes fall woefully short in this regard. The Economist plans to run this ranking every two years. In this area, at least, we very much hope to report improvement. ■

Ranking results


Ranking of executive MBA programmes, 2013

Rank Business school Programme Country Band*

1 Northwestern (Kellogg)/York (Schulich) Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA US/Canada A

2 IE Global Executive MBA Spain A

3 UCLA (Anderson)/National University of Singapore UCLA-NUS Executive MBA US/Singapore A

4 Oxford (Saïd) Executive MBA UK B

5 IESE Global Executive MBA Spain B

6 Northwestern (Kellogg)/Hong Kong UST Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA US/Hong Kong B

7 Northwestern (Kellogg)/WHU Otto Beisheim Kellogg-WHU Executive MBA US/Germany B

8 Northwestern (Kellogg) Executive MBA US B

9 Chicago (Booth) Executive MBA US B

10 IMD Executive MBA Switzerland B

11 Bath Executive MBA UK B

12 Georgetown (McDonough)/ESADE Global Executive MBA US/Spain B

13 UCLA (Anderson) Executive MBA US B

14 Florida (Hough) Executive MBA US B

15 Notre Dame (Mendoza) Executive MBA US C

16 ESSEC/Mannheim Executive MBA France/Germany C

17 Texas at Austin (McCombs) Executive MBA US C

18 Southern Methodist (Cox) Executive MBA US C

19 Columbia Executive MBA US C

20 Cranfield Executive MBA UK C

21 Texas Christian (Neeley) Executive MBA US C

22 Georgia (Terry) Executive MBA US C

23 City (Cass) Executive MBA UK C

24 Michigan (Ross) Executive MBA US C

25 Cornell (Johnson) Executive MBA US C

26 Maryland (Smith) Executive MBA US C

27 Georgetown (McDonough) Executive MBA US C

28 Strathclyde MBA-International UK C

29 McGill/HEC Montréal EMBA McGill-HEC Montréal Canada C

30 Purdue (Krannert) Executive MBA US C

31 Washington University in St Louis (Olin) Executive MBA US C

32 ESADE Executive MBA Spain C

33 Rice (Jones) MBA for Executives US C

34 Case Western Reserve(Weatherhead) Executive MBA US C

35 Toronto (Rotman)/St Gallen Omnium Global Executive MBA Canada/Switzerland

C

36 Boston Executive MBA US C

37 Ohio State (Fisher) Executive MBA US C

38 Miami Executive MBA US C

39 Temple (Fox) Executive MBA US C

40 Nottingham Executive MBA UK C

41 Leeds Executive MBA UK C


42 Arizona State (Carey) Executive MBA US C

43 National University of Singapore Asia Pacific Executive MBA Singapore C

44 Vanderbilt (Owen) Executive MBA US C

45 Henley Executive MBA UK C

46 Grenoble International Executive MBA France C

47 Concordia (Molson) Executive MBA Canada C

48 Rochester (Simon) Executive MBA US D

49 Durham Executive MBA UK D

50 Toronto (Rotman) One-Year Executive MBA Canada D

51 Emory (Goizueta) Weekend Executive MBA US D

52 EMLYON Executive MBA France D

53 Pittsburgh (Katz) Executive MBA US D

54 Lancaster Global Executive MBA UK D

55 Wisconsin Executive MBA US D

56 EGADE Executive MBA Mexico D

57 University College Dublin (Smurfit) Executive MBA Ireland D

58 Macquarie MBA Australia D

59 Cape Town Executive South Africa E

60 Iowa (Tippie) Executive MBA US E

61 TiasNimbas Executive MBA Netherlands E

62 Ashridge Executive MBA UK E

*See methodology

Source: The Economist, Which MBA?

Ranking of executive MBA programmes, 2013

Rank Business school Programme Country Band*


THIS is The Economist’s first ranking of executive MBA programmes. We invited all the schools that are included in our annual full-time

ranking to take part. Joint degrees that are separate to schools’ standalone EMBAs are ranked individually. Schools that operate a single EMBA across several of their own campuses (such as Chicago’s EMBA, which is taken in Chicago, London and Singapore) are treated as a single programme.

There is some difficulty in defining exactly what constitutes an EMBA. We therefore allowed the schools themselves to classify their programmes. As long as the programme was part-time and enrolled students with significantly more work experience than those on their full-time MBAs, they could declare it an EMBA and take part in the ranking.

The Economist collected data using two web-based questionnaires between February and May 2013. One questionnaire was filled out by business schools

and included more quantitative measures, such as details of students and faculty, the number of overseas assignments required and statistics on alumni. The second questionnaire was circulated to current students and alumni from schools’ last three graduating classes. Over 8,400 of these questionnaires were completed, and from them we gleaned the more quantitative measures, such as a rating of classmates, faculty, facilities and the like. Alumni also reported their pre-EMBA and current salaries, from which average increases could be calculated.

Programmes are ranked on two broad measures: personal development/educational experience and career development. Both categories are equally weighted. Within each category are several subcategories, which are detailed in the table below. Rankings are calculated using z-scores, a statistical technique that measures the number of standard deviations from the mean. This method gives each school an individual rank (it does not allow for equally placed schools). Nonetheless, it means that the difference between schools can sometimes be slight. Hence, we have also placed schools into bands of those whose z-scores are statistically quite close. ■

Methodology

1 Personal development and educational experience 50%

1.1 Quality of students 25%

Pre-MBA salary (latest graduating class) 33.3%

Work experience 16.7%

Managerial work experience 16.7%

Student rating of culture and classmates 33.3%

1.2 Student diversity 25%

Number of industry sectors from which students applied 33.3%

Percentage of women students 33.3%

Geographical spread of students 33.3%

1.3 Quality of faculty 25%

Student rating of faculty 25%

Percentage of EMBA faculty with a PhD 25%

Ratio of full-time faculty to EMBA students 25%

Student rating of teaching quality 25%

1.4 Programme quality 25%

Student rating of facilities 20%

Student rating of programme content 20%

Student rating of the relevance of the programme 20%

Number of compulsory overseas assignments lasting one week or more

20%

Students rating of the ability to keep in contact with students/faculty when off campus

20%

2 Career development 50%

2.1 Career progression 30%

Rating of the extent to which the programme has helped alumni fulfil pre-EMBA goals

50%

Percentage of alumni who have been promoted or grown their company since graduation

50%

2.2 Salary 55%

Percentage increase on pre-EMBA salary on graduation 25%

Percentage increase on pre-EMBA salary after one year 25%

Percentage increase on pre-EMBA salary after two years 25%

Average salary of EMBA graduates, most recent graduating class

25%

2.3 Networking 15%

Number of overseas MBA alumni branches 50%

Student rating of the helpfulness of EMBA alumni 50%

Methodology


Programme profiles and rankings

Northwestern (Kellogg)/York (Schulich)Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA US/Canada

Rank

OVERALL RANK 1

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE 2

QUALITY OF STUDENTS 13

Pre-MBA salary of students, $ 156,125 8

Work experience, years 12 48

Managerial work experience, years 8 31

Rating of culture and classmates, out of five 4.89 1

STUDENT DIVERSITY 8

Number of industry sectors from which students applied 9 40

Percentage of women students 79 17

Geographical spread of students, rating out of 100 63 4

QUALITY OF FACULTY 2

Rating of faculty by students, out of five 4.92 2

Percentage of full-time EMBA faculty with a PhD 97 27

Ratio of full-time EMBA faculty to EMBA students 71 12

Student rating of teaching quality, out of five 4.86 13

PROGRAMME QUALITY 1

Student assessment of facilities, out of five 4.93 1

Student assessment of programme content and electives, out of five

4.97 1

Student rating of relevance, out of five 4.91 1

Number of compulsory overseas assignments lasting more than one week

3 8

Rating of the ease to which students can keep in contact with fellow students/faculty when off campus, out of five

4.97 2

CAREER DEVELOPMENT 6

CAREER PROGRESSION 3

Rating of the extent to which the programme has helped students fulfil pre-EMBA goals, out of five

4.90 1

Percentage of students who have been promoted or grown their own company since graduation

82 10

SALARY 22

Percentage increase on pre-EMBA salary for alumni, on leaving the programme

19 41

Percentage increase on pre-EMBA salary for alumni, after one year

n/a n/a

Percentage increase on pre-EMBA salary for alumni, after two years

54 18

Base salary of EMBA graduates, $, 2012 186,149 12

NETWORKING 1

Number of overseas MBA alumni branches 65 1

Student assessment of the helpfulness of EMBA alumni 4.93 1

Programme details

Website: www.emba.schulich.yorku.caE-mail: [email protected]: +1 416 736 5486

Duration: 18 months

DetailsAlternating weekends at Schulich, first and second years, plus two weeks at Kellogg in the first year and alternating weekends at Kellogg from January to March in second year

Tuition fee for international students: $110,000

Latest intake: 42

Admission requirements

Degree Yes

Details (if applicable) –

Work experience, years 8

GMAT No

Minimum score (if applicable) –

GRE No


TOEFL (if first language not English) Yes

References 2

Essays 5

Interview Yes

Band A


IE Business SchoolGlobal Executive MBA Spain

Rank

OVERALL RANK 2







STUDENT DIVERSITY 13







Ratio of full-time EMBA faculty to EMBA students 0.21 48


PROGRAMME QUALITY 27



4.47 34



4 1


4.69 44




4.63 32


85 6

SALARY 1


52 6


104 1


126 1


NETWORKING 8



Band A

Programme details

Website: www.ie.eduE-mail: [email protected]: +34 91 568 96 10

Duration: 13 months

DetailsOnline interactive learning with face-to-face periods in Spain, China, US and Brazil


Latest intake: 111


Degree Yes



GMAT –


GRE –


TOEFL (if first language not English) –

References 2

Essays 3

Interview Yes


UCLA (Anderson)/National University of SingaporeUCLA-NUS Executive MBAUS/Singapore

Rank

OVERALL RANK 3







STUDENT DIVERSITY 7









PROGRAMME QUALITY 7



4.40 43



4 1


4.88 10




4.77 7


79 18

SALARY 7


n/a n/a


58 7


58 12


NETWORKING 24



Band A

Programme details

Website: www.ucla.nus.eduE-mail: [email protected]: +65 651 68763

Duration: 15 months

DetailsMay: Singapore; August: Los Angeles; November: Shanghai; February/March: Bangalore


Latest intake: 44


Degree Yes



GMAT No


GRE No



References 3

Essays 3

Interview Yes


University of Oxford—Saïd Business SchoolExecutive MBABritain

Rank

OVERALL RANK 4



















4.72 5



2 13


4.75 33




4.84 3


78 20

SALARY 4


43.1 14


78 3


58 13


NETWORKING 23



Band B

Programme details

Website: www.sbs.oxford.edu/embaE-mail: [email protected]: +44 1865 278 801

Duration: 21 months

DetailsSeventeen one-week modules (Sunday to Saturday) over 21 months starting in January and concluding in September. Two modules take place overseas


Latest intake: 45


Degree Yes



GMAT Yes


GRE No


TOEFL (if first language not English) Yes. IELTS also accepted

References 2

Essays 3

Interview Yes


IESE Business School—University of NavarraGlobal Executive MBASpain

Rank

OVERALL RANK 5







STUDENT DIVERSITY 3









PROGRAMME QUALITY 2



4.71 7



4 1


4.88 11




4.73 16


88 2

SALARY 35


27.8 26


23 53


37 37


NETWORKING 16



Band B

Programme details

Website: www.iese.edu/en/MBAPrograms/programs/GlobalExecutiveMBA/home/home.aspE-mail: [email protected]: +34 93 602 44 28

Duration: 16 months

DetailsFirst year: two weeks every two months for residential modules in Barcelona, New York, Shanghai and Silicon Valley. Last four months: two electives and one residential week in Barcelona, São Paulo, New York or Silicon Valley


Latest intake: 20


Degree Yes



GMAT Yes


GRE No


TOEFL (if first language not English) Yes. PTE, TOEIC, Cambridge Certificate, IELTS also accepted

References 2

Essays 5

Interview Yes


Northwestern (Kellogg)/Hong Kong University of Science and TechnologyKellogg-HKUST Executive MBAUS/Hong Kong

Rank

OVERALL RANK 6



















4.72 6



1 17


4.74 34




4.74 13


78 19

SALARY 11


24 33


35 28


n/a n/a


NETWORKING 9



Band B

Programme details

Website: www.bm.ust.hk/emba/E-mail: [email protected]: +852 235 84180

Duration: 18 months

DetailsTwo weekends a month Friday to Sunday. Three residential weeks (one in Hong Kong and two at Kellogg)


Latest intake: 42


Degree Yes



GMAT No


GRE No



References 2

Essays 3

Interview Yes


Northwestern (Kellogg)/WHU Otto Beisheim Kellogg-WHU Executive MBAUS/Germany

Rank

OVERALL RANK 7
















PROGRAMME QUALITY 9



4.74 3



2 13


4.79 23




4.79 5


86 5

SALARY 8


33 21


67 5


n/a n/a


NETWORKING 2



Band B

Programme details

Website: www.kellogg.whu.eduE-mail: [email protected]: +49 261 6509 186

Duration: 24 months

DetailsResidential weeks in Germany and Chicago; international modules and weekend courses in Germany


Latest intake: 54


Degree Yes


Work experience, years –

GMAT No


GRE No



References 2

Essays No

Interview Yes


Northwestern University—Kellogg School of ManagementExecutive MBAUS

Rank

OVERALL RANK 8







STUDENT DIVERSITY 9












4.76 2



0 50


4.85 16




4.71 20


73 34

SALARY 14


41 15


39 20


34 42


NETWORKING 4



Band B

Programme details

Website: kellogg.northwestern.edu/programs/EMBA.aspxE-mail: [email protected] Telephone: +1 847 491 3622

Duration: 22 months

DetailsEither every other week from Friday to Sunday in Evanston or once a month from Thursday afternoon to Sunday noon in Miami


Latest intake: 195


Degree Yes


Work experience, years Yes

GMAT No


GRE No



References Yes

Essays Yes

Interview Yes


University of Chicago—Booth School of BusinessExecutive MBAUS

Rank

OVERALL RANK 9
















PROGRAMME QUALITY 3



4.56 19



4 1


4.79 25




4.74 14


75 29

SALARY 12


39 17


34 32


54 17


NETWORKING 5



Band B

Programme details

Website: www.ChicagoBooth.edu/programs/exec-mbaE-mail: [email protected]: +1 312 464 8750

Duration: 21 months

DetailsChicago runs executive MBA programmes on three campuses. In Chicago students attend classes on Fridays and Saturdays every other week and residential weeks in Chicago, London and Singapore (moving to Hong Kong in 2014). In London and Singapore, students attend classes in 16 one-week sessions. All students spend time studying at all three campuses

Tuition fee for international students, Chicago $154,000; London $133,333; Singapore $148,000

Latest intake: 265


Degree No


Work experience, years Yes

GMAT Yes


GRE No



References 3

Essays 2

Interview Yes


IMD Executive MBASwitzerland

Rank

OVERALL RANK 10



















4.48 32



3 8


4.72 37




4.64 29


79 16

SALARY 18


16 46


28 41


54 16


NETWORKING 12



Band B

Programme details

Website: www.imd.org/executive-mba/E-mail: [email protected]: +41 21 618 0407

Duration: 16 months

DetailsStage one: four weeks on campus plus a five-week distance-learning module. Stage two: six-and-a-half weeks of face-to-face classes throughout the year; one week on campus in January, ten days in India in January/February, one week in Shanghai in April, one week on campus in June, one week in Silicon Valley in September, one week on campus in November. All modules are compulsory


Latest intake: 66


Degree Yes



GMAT No


GRE No


TOEFL (if first language not English) No

References 3

Essays 3

Interview No


Bath Executive MBABritain

Rank

OVERALL RANK 11



















4.45 36



0 50


4.71 41




4.58 40


84 7

SALARY 5


67 3


57 8


n/a n/a


NETWORKING 18



Band B

Programme details

Website: www.bathmba.comE-mail: [email protected]: +44 1225 383431

Duration: 26-60 months

DetailsThe EMBA has the same course content as the full-time programme and is mostly taught in five-day modules (Monday to Friday) on campus at Bath. The degree must be completed within 2-5 years


Latest intake: 23


Degree Yes

Details (if applicable) Second class


GMAT No


GRE No


TOEFL (if first language not English) Yes. IELTS also accepted

References 2

Essays No

Interview Yes


Georgetown (McDonough)/ESADEGlobal Executive MBAUS/Spain

Rank

OVERALL RANK 12







STUDENT DIVERSITY 4












4.24 55



4 1


4.72 39




4.41 55


69 42

SALARY 10


48 9


23 51


56 15


NETWORKING 20



Band B

Programme details

Website: www.globalexecmba.comE-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]: +1 202 687 2691 or +34 93 554 3531

Duration: 13 months

DetailsModular format including residencies in Washington, DC, Barcelona, Madrid, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Bangalore, Shanghai, Beijing and New York, split into six modules of two weeks, over 13 months


Latest intake: 38


Degree Yes



GMAT No


GRE No


TOEFL (if first language not English) No

References 3

Essays 1

Interview Yes


UCLA Anderson School of ManagementExecutive MBAUS

Rank

OVERALL RANK 13
















PROGRAMME QUALITY 4



4.74 4



1 17


4.90 7




4.72 19


72 36

SALARY 31


24 35


28 42


33 47


NETWORKING 15



Band B

Programme details

Website: www.anderson.ucla.edu/emba.xmlE-mail: [email protected]: +1 310 825 2032

Duration: 22 months

DetailsClasses meet on campus every other weekend (Friday and Saturday) from September to June. In addition, there are four residential sessions that range in length from four days to one week


Latest intake: 75


Degree Yes



GMAT Yes


GRE Yes



References 2

Essays 3

Interview Yes


University of Florida—Hough Graduate School of BusinessExecutive MBAUS

Rank

OVERALL RANK 14



















4.31 50



1 17


4.83 19




4.61 36


75 30

SALARY 16


47 10


35 27


52 20


NETWORKING 25



Band B

Programme details

Website: floridamba.ufl.edu/admissionsE-mail: [email protected]: +1 352 392 7992

Duration: 20 months

DetailsClasses meet Friday to Sunday once a month on campus


Latest intake: 34


Degree Yes



GMAT Yes


GRE Yes


TOEFL (if first language not English) Yes. IELTS and MELAB also accepted

References 2

Essays 1

Interview Yes


Band C

15. University of Notre Dame—Mendoza College of Business, US

Rank

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE

21




PROGRAMME QUALITY 8



SALARY 33

NETWORKING 3

16. Mannheim/ESSEC Joint Executive MBA, Germany/France

Rank


31







SALARY 20

NETWORKING 34

17. University of Texas at Austin—McCombs School of Business, US

Rank


14







SALARY 49

NETWORKING 21

18. Southern Methodist University—Cox School of Business, US

Rank


13




PROGRAMME QUALITY 6



SALARY 51

NETWORKING 13

19. Columbia Business School, US

Rank


28







SALARY 27

NETWORKING 6

20. Cranfield School of Management, Britain

Rank


38







SALARY 13

NETWORKING 19

21. Texas Christian University—Neeley School of Business, US

Rank


6




PROGRAMME QUALITY 5



SALARY 53

NETWORKING 38

22. University of Georgia—Terry College of Business, US

Rank


27







SALARY 28

NETWORKING 28

23. City University—Cass Business School, Britain

Rank


41







SALARY 17

NETWORKING 7


24. University of Michigan—Stephen M Ross School of Business, US

Rank


9







SALARY 55

NETWORKING 14

25. Cornell University—Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, US

Rank


24







SALARY 32

NETWORKING 17

26. University of Maryland—Robert H Smith School of Business, US

Rank


19







SALARY 30

NETWORKING 57

27. Georgetown University—Robert Emmett McDonough School of Business, US

Rank


16







SALARY 36

NETWORKING 22

28. University of Strathclyde Business School, Britain

Rank


46


STUDENT DIVERSITY 1





SALARY 24

NETWORKING 54

29. McGill-HEC Montréal Joint Executive MBA, Canada

Rank


8







SALARY 46

NETWORKING 42

30. Purdue University—Krannert Graduate School of Management, US

Rank


37







SALARY 40

NETWORKING 46

31. Washington University in St Louis—Olin Business School, US

Rank


18







SALARY 34

NETWORKING 33

32. ESADE Business School, Spain

Rank


35







SALARY 39

NETWORKING 11

Band C


33. Rice University—Jesse H Jones Graduate School of Business, US

Rank


15







SALARY 54

NETWORKING 40

34. Case Western Reserve University—Weatherhead School of Management, US

Rank


32







SALARY 29

NETWORKING 43

35. Toronto (Rotman)/St Gallen Omnium Global Executive MBA, Canada/Switzerland

Rank


39







SALARY 21

NETWORKING 30

36. Boston University School of Management, US

Rank


20







SALARY 45

NETWORKING 36

37. Ohio State University—Fisher College of Business, US

Rank


36







SALARY 44

NETWORKING 41

38. University of Miami School of Business Administration, US

Rank


29







SALARY 23

NETWORKING 56

39. Temple University—Fox School of Business, US

Rank


33


STUDENT DIVERSITY 5





SALARY 41

NETWORKING 51

40. Nottingham University Business School, Britain

Rank


55







SALARY 2

NETWORKING 37

41. Leeds University Business School, Britain

Rank


50







SALARY 3

NETWORKING 39

Band C


42. Arizona State University—W P Carey School of Business, US

Rank


25







SALARY 47

NETWORKING 45

43. National University of Singapore Business School, Singapore

Rank


48







SALARY 15

NETWORKING 49

44. Vanderbilt University—Owen Graduate School of Management, US

Rank


40







SALARY 42

NETWORKING 35

45. Henley Business School, Britain

Rank


52







SALARY 19

NETWORKING 10

46. Grenoble Graduate School of Business, France

Rank


59







SALARY 6

NETWORKING 52

47. Concordia University—John Molson School of Business, Canada

Rank


43







SALARY 26

NETWORKING 55

Band C



CAREER DEVELOPMENT

48 University of Rochester—William E Simon Graduate School of Business, US

44 50

49 Durham University Business School, Britain 51 36

50 University of Toronto—Joseph L Rotman School of Management, Canada

30 54

51 Emory University—Goizueta Business School, US 26 55

52 EMLYON, France 56 37

53 University of Pittsburgh—Katz Graduate School of Business, US 47 53

54 Lancaster University Management School, Britain 54 51

55 Wisconsin School of Business, US 42 57

56 EGADE Business School—Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico 60 38

57 University College Dublin—Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business, Ireland

49 56

58 Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Australia 53 59


CAREER DEVELOPMENT

59 University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, South Africa 57 60

60 University of Iowa—Henry B Tippie School of Management, US 58 61

61 Tilburg University—TiasNimbas Business School, Netherlands 62 58

62 Ashridge, Britain 61 62

Band D

Band E

executive mba ranking, 2013 - the economist

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