Along with MBA and BBA there were lot of other options available for fresh graduates or regular students who aspired to gain a degree in management studies. But the options were limited for the working entrepreneurs or managers who wanted to sharpen their skills or upgrade their status in their field or start their own enterprise. Now, they too have an option in the form of Executive MBA or EMBA. 

 

MBA or EMBA are graduate level business degree especially designed for working professionals of the same field. These are post-experience management education programmes that help managers learn to change and grow in their career. They are lot like a regular MBA programmes only that they are primarily designed to educate working executives, managers, entrepreneurs, and other business leaders. 

 

Executive MBA was started in the early 1980s as a response to the need of the post experience education was felt. It was introduced as MBA for working managers, for the people working in managerial sectors who had no MBA backgrounds. It aimed to furbish their managerial performance at their respective institutions. 

 

In Nepal, Ace Institute of Management started the EMBA programme in 1999 under the affiliation of Pokhara University, while Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM) started its EMBA programme in 2000.

 

EMBA and MBA programmes generally attract people of different ages and at points in their career lives. These programmes are somehow similar in content but the EMBA classes are of faster paces, which allow students to receive their degree in two years or less while working full time. EMBA Programme emphasises applied learning, leadership and personal skill development, and a global mindset. 

 

Subas KC, dean at KUSOM shares that the EMBA is more generalist programme while MBA is more specialised programme. “We’ve designed EMBA focusing more on the things like leadership and skills enhancement which is needed for a working professional to enhance their career,” he says, “We are focusing particularly on those skills which are direct and visibly necessary for them.”

 

Similarly, Kumar Thapa, former Associate Director of EMBA programme at Ace Institute of Management also shares same feeling, “EMBA is more fundamental- general class which is elective not specialized and the course is more focused on what working professionals need in the workplace,” he says, “While MBA is more academic and specialized course.” 

 

With that, the cohorts also often turn into a valuable network that students can tap long after they receive their degree. KC shares there have been lot of cases where students from managerial background have switched to start their own enterprises as they develop a strong network from the wider range of opportunities provided by the college.

 

There are various factors people join EMBA. KC shares that “most of the students join the programme to perform better in current job, some to upgrade their current position in their organisation. Basically, all want to develop their ability and skills to choose a better path in their career. Some people want to change their career also, so they join to gain a better perspective and opportunities.”

 

Executive MBA is a good opportunity that is made available for the working people who want to upgrade their career and the attraction towards it is increasing lately. People from various background: corporate sector, public and development sector, entrepreneurship sector, everyone is now willing to join the programme for various reasons. Mostly, senior level executives join the programme but Thapa believes that lately younger people are joining this programme with relatively short working experience.

 

KC believes that the trend has been good so far and believes that it will remain same for some more years but he said that the course needs should be revised and redesigned after some years.