The Best EMBA Program in India

An ideal EMBA program is one that takes care of transitions and assists business executives navigate them with insights and confidence. The word transition used here is multifaceted and refers to personal, professional, social, cultural and global transitions. The best executive MBAs in India understand the perceptions and experiences of EMBA students and customize their programs accordingly to take their learning trajectory ahead. Let’s look at what makes an EMBA a winner.

Education professionals have always advocated that EMBA programs should address the total learning needs of its students as people rather than as mere professionals. It is an accepted fact that good EMBA programs help business managers in developing critical competencies, including self-reflexivity and self-awareness. In addition to this such EMBAs incorporate integrated learning experiences, such as introducing multiple perspectives to facilitate searching for personal meaning and self-identity. Such programs are well researched and they base their leadership curriculum on the holistic understanding of the needs of participants who are most likely at a transitional stage in their professional lives.

The second aspect is the understanding that these programs have with respect to the needs of EMBA student-managers vis-a-vis MBA students. They understand that the learning experiences of EMBA students need to be very different from those of regular MBA students. They appreciate the fact that participants in Executive MBA programs are those who have increasingly broad responsibilities and play multiple roles, both inside and outside their workplaces. They are middle-aged people at a transitional stage who are most likely experiencing multiple challenges as well opportunities in their professional as well as in their personal lives. The basis of thought-through EMBAs is in the understanding that the personal lives of managers affect their careers and vice-versa. The spectrum of coaching at these programs includes talking to managers not only about understanding the professional task and its environment but also their own personal, emotional and spiritual capabilities. This is in the background of them being in the cross-roads of a career, family and ambition. Such programs encourage professionals to take a look at their self-efficacy and self-esteem and their need for control.

The third and one of the most important aspects is that the best EMBA programs take care of the perspectives in a developing economy compared to that of a developed nation. They understand the learning experiences of past EMBA participants in developing economies like India. Dated programs have limited their scope of learning to the experiences of EMBA students in the developed nations. Insufficient or no weightage has been given to understanding the needs of participants in large developing economies. In contrast to such programs, the topmost executive MBA programs in India understand that the link between personal development and managerial competency is not universal but fairly contextual. The social, cultural and economic characteristics of a growing economy will have high levels of influence and hence the need for curriculum-based customization.

Over the past few decades India has dramatically transformed socially and economically. These changes have in-turn transformed many traditional values and deep-rooted social norms. Indian managers may experience conflicting duties and responsibilities and feel torn by competing interests. For example, according to Indian principles and the business and social conduct of age old India corporates, leaders are supposed to set moral standards for their employees and care about collective growth. However they may find that their western counterparts emphasize on personal growth and success as much and this could create an internal conflict in the minds of India managers. The best business schools take care of this by creating and designing inside and outside classroom experiences that help a participant internalize and integrate occupational and personal ambitions.

The best EMBA programs in India develop a curriculum that fosters transformational learning and meets various developmental needs. The earlier programs were based on points-of-view of researchers and teachers. The best programs today draw from the understanding they have about the lives of their target group and curate a customized curriculum. Add to that their time-friendly modules, their expert faculty who have immense experience as researchers and business managers, their unique methods of immersion, the participant and alumni profiles and their world-class infrastructure.