EMBA Versus MBA – Which One Will You Choose?

Different for different prospects: The EMBA course is aimed at experienced executives who prefer not to take a career break to take a full-time MBA and typically require significant business experience to gain admission. The regular MBA course is generally taken by candidates with relatively lesser work experience. On the other hand the EMBA course is generally taken up by experienced people who want to augment other skills/knowledge areas.

The Course Content: Courses offered in an EMBA program are normally the same as those taught in traditional MBA programs – accounting, finance, statistics, and management, marketing and information systems. However, EMBA courses are enhanced by the extensive professional experience of the participants and are uniquely structured to cover management principles at a much higher level of enterprise complexity. MBA courses groom managers and EMBA are geared towards preparation for the Vice President/President/CEO/COO role. In addition, senior faculty experienced in teaching and consulting are employed as principal instructors.

The Duration of the courses: Regular MBA is a full time course spread around 2 years. There is a specialization to be chosen at the end of one year. The course content contains exhaustive subjects about the management career. The EMBA course is spread around 18-21 months which includes regular contact points which allow students to attend the classroom coaching as well as complete the various projects and assignments.

Advantages of the programs: In terms of advantages the regular MBA program helps to you to broaden your horizons with respect to purposeful core areas whereas the EMBA program helps you to take advantage of promotions in the existing firm or accomplish value additions in your career. If you want to choose the right management career path, it is necessary to decide whether you want to plunge yourself totally into the functional aspects of management or want to partly acquire the knowledge keeping your core area constant.
How will you solve the Dilemma: If you are still in two minds you might as well take up employment after graduation and decide in a year or two. You could then choose to continue with your existing employment and pursue an EMBA or diversify from your field and take up a full time MBA.

The Funding Aspect: A unique aspect of an EMBA program is that the funding can be done from your pocket. The high quality of faculty, facilities and support staff required to provide a successful EMBA program dictates that such programs include an investment by the participant’s sponsoring organization. Program costs are modest in comparison to the benefits yielded. In the majority of cases, students are sponsored fully, or in part, by their employers. Employers understand the competitive advantage they gain from having an employee whose management skills have been brought to the highest possible level. Students who are not sponsored by their companies often qualify for loans, scholarships, and/or other financial aid.