EMBA programs come of age
Compressed study plan, once widely panned, now commands respect
When Nanditha Zuckerman started working at Haggar Canada 12 years ago, she was one of three founding employees of the Canadian offshoot of the U.s.-based apparel company.
“I worked in every department, because I was every department when we started the company,” says Zuckerman, who, at 34, is now Haggar Canada’s CEO.
“I had always wanted to do an MBA, but there was never any time to stop.”
Pregnant with her third child, she decided to enrol in the Schulich School of Business’ Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) program in January 2010 and graduated in October 2011. She held down her full-time job the whole time (and just had a fourth child).
“It’s a huge commitment of time, but it was worth it,” Zuckerman says. “I wouldn’t say I was the first or highest in my class, but I did well.”
EMBAS, which were first introduced in Canada in the 1990s, used to be considered abridged versions of MBAS, aimed at people who already had careers who could afford to pay big bucks, but couldn’t afford to take the time off from work.
Because of their cost and the relatively short time they take to complete — they now cost in the $80,000-to-$110,000 range, and can take as little as 13 months of parttime study — some critics have considered them to be primarily cashcows for universities.
“Heralded as a vehicle to allow companies to train selected middle managers for more senior responsibility, the EMBA saw a typical candidate fully company sponsored and supported in these weekend programs,” wrote William Jens, EMBA program director at Stetson University, in a 2008 working paper on American EMBA programs. “The reaction to these programs was based upon comparison to traditional MBA programs and it was frequently unfavourable.”
But the programs, and the students taking them, have evolved over the last decade. EMBAS don’t pretend to teach subjects, such as accounting or statistics, with the same depth as a two-year full-time MBA. They fo- cus more tightly on the executive side of the equation: strategic thinking, corporate governance, global business practices and soft skills such as leadership and teambuilding. For people who have been on a serious career track, EMBAS can be a reality check on how they’ve been doing and how they can do better. In 2000, Trevor van Mierlo founded Evolution Health, a company which creates software to help people become healthy by changing their behaviour. Launching a start-up was a crash course in finance, corporate governance and leadership, but van Mierlo wanted to get a better sense of established practices and also to learn more about doing business internationally. He just finished the 18-month Omnium EMBA at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, which includes twoweek stints in each of Brazil, China, Switzerland and India. “It would have been easier to take some classes here and there, but I was really looking for the global aspect,” says van Mierlo, 38. “I feel I’ve made my money back and then some.” Van Mierlo’s EMBA journey highlights two trends: First, more students are paying their own way. In van Mierlo’s case, it’s because he’s his own boss. In other cases, it’s because of corporate belt-tightening or because students want to avoid the “golden handcuffs” of not being able to change jobs after the program. In Zuckerman’s case, it’s to avoid setting precedents and expectations that the company will pay cash. Although EMBA programs have always claimed they attract the brightest and the best, people who are paying out of their own pocket often have different expectations. For example, in the last few years, most of the major schools have beefed up their career-counselling services for EMBA students as people paying their own way are more likely to be looking for a change. Second, candidates have realized that the other students themselves are a big part of the EMBA package. MBA students, who are typically younger and without much seniorlevel experience, are often coming at things from the same starting point. EMBA students often cite their fellow students as the most important part of their experience. “You’re there with people who aren’t there to make their bosses happy. They’re highly competitive people,” Mierlo says. “The relation- ships I’ve made will pay off well into the future.”
At Rotman, for example, there might be 250 candidates for 50 places.
“One of the things we’ll look at is how coachable are they? That was something that wasn’t in place in the past,” says Beatrix Dart, associate dean and academic director of EMBA programs.
Schulich EMBA academic director, Andre de Carufel, says they have turned down students and been prepared to go ahead with a smaller class, rather than include students who aren’t fully engaged.
“We’ve resisted the temptation to take everybody with a chequebook,” he says.
Gloria Saccon, director of the EMBA program at Queen’s, says employers value EMBAS as much as MBAS, perhaps more.
“In my six years recruiting for this program, the market perception of the EMBA is one of prestige. Part of the prestige may be that we are attracting the right candidate.”
Caroline Rioux, executive vicepresident of Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency, who took her EMBA at Rotman, says learning skills to help her do her job better was the most important thing for her.