Getting value from executive MBA programs: select candidates and programs wisely for the best return on investment

HR Magazine, July, 2004 by Kathryn Tyler

"Whatever academic standards are enforced in the regular day programs, there are few academic standards enforced in the EMBA programs [at some schools]," says Stanford's Pfeffer. "That does not mean that no one works hard or learns anything. It means it is possible to sell--and buy--a credential. Not everyone is doing this, but clearly some are. Neither Stanford nor Harvard has an EMBA program. In our case, we believe it would 'dilute the brand' of our full-time MBA program."

The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, which does offer an EMBA, also staunchly protects its standards. "Our philosophy is that [the EMBA] is the same as an MBA. We have the same admissions standards, same number of contact [classroom] hours and the same faculty," says Catherine Molony, director of admissions and senior associate director of the MBA program for executives.

Not all programs are as rigorous, however. Some schools shorten the number of credit hours required for an EMBA, with the rationale that EMBA students have "life experience" that counts toward the degree.

"[Many] EMBA programs are closer to executive development programs than MBA programs," says Allan Conway, a professor at the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary in Alberta. "EMBAs and MBAs are not necessarily the same degree."

Conway, director of the MBA Roundtable, an international organization of business schools--encompassing both MBA and EMBA programs--says: "Many people who enroll in executive MBA programs have demanding jobs. They don't want to make time concessions and can't take a rigorous program. The schools have a choice: Keep this program similar to a traditional 800-contact-hour MBA program with certain requirements for individual performance, or cut those things back. There is real pressure to provide what the customer wants."

Organizations such as the Association of MBAs and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accredit business schools but not the EMBA programs within those schools. Consequently, observers say, there can be significant differences between an accredited school's EMBA program and its full-time MBA program. However, the EMBA program would have to meet some minimum standard for the business school to be reaccredited.

Employers should compare the required classroom hours in an EMBA program with the requirements for the regular full-time MBA program at the same school. If there is a huge discrepancy, the EMBA may not be as valuable. (See "Another Option: Corporate EMBA Programs" with the online version of this article at www.shrm.org/hrmagazine.)

Kalnitz strongly disagrees with this characterization of EMBA programs. "The EMBAs are degreed programs. The product is the same, even if the process by which it is delivered is different. Contact hours are not the only criteria [of a program's value]." He adds that "an EMBA is as rigorous as the regular MBA program. Any program offered from an accredited school requires at least the number of contact hours" dictated by the accrediting body.