Curriculum
The Ross School of Business Executive MBA
Program at the University of Michigan offers an innovative curriculum
focused on:
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Developing leadership skills, tools, and
vision
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Developing critical thinking ability
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Applying key analytical
concepts and tools
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Creating value
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Leveraging technology
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Competing globally
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Leading organizational change
Because real companies have real issues to contend with, Executive MBA
courses at Michigan are designed around issues and solutions rather than just
functional areas. Therefore, in addition to basic discipline and
functional courses, the Ross Executive MBA program employs a series of
integrated courses focused on developing leadership skills.
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"Unlike other graduate programs where the educational
experience is often a one way street - professor to student - Michigan's
Executive MBA program creates learning environment in which the students
gain knowledge not only from the faculty, but also from one another.
The insights and real life experiences my fellow students bring to the
classroom combine academic theory with real life business practices,
enriching the entire educational experience."
David Mengebier, Class of 2006
Sr. Vice President, Governmental and Public Affairs
CMS Energy
Jackson, MI |
EMBA Curriculum Goals
Rigor
Premise:
A solid grounding in fundamentals and an understanding of how things
work is the best way to prepare for an uncertain future. We want
to provide you with problem-solving and decision-making skills that
will help you assess not only today's business problems, but those of
five, ten, even twenty years from now.
Relevance
Premise:
Focus on significant issues facing management. Many of the
concepts and tools will have immediate application on the job.
Current business challenges can be brought into the classroom for
discussion.
Key program topics include analytical
tools of business leadership, organizational excellence, the strategist's
perspective, leadership development, and an action learning project.
Unique Features of a Ross
EMBA
Action-Based Learning
Learning must pay off in the real world. The Ross School of Business
bridges the gap between the classroom and the executive suite with the
Executive Multidisciplinary Action Projects (ExecMAP), a four-month assignment
between the first and second years of the program that transforms participants into
partners within sponsoring organizations. Projects are
designed to motivate executive decisions upon completion: Should a new
product or project be launched? Should the company enter a new market?
Should new alliances be formed? Should an existing facility be expanded
or relocated? How do you make decisions when the variables change?
How do you lead when things go awry?
For sponsoring companies, ExecMAP
delivers real, data-driven solutions. When selecting projects, we look
for outstanding corporate, entrepreneurial, and nonprofit projects in a
variety of industries both in the United States and abroad. These are
real companies with real business challenges.
Professional Development Program
Parallel to the monthly courses is a Professional Development module that
focuses on your growth as an individual executive. Its aim is to help
you develop and refine your career goals, and then apply what you learn at
Michigan to the achievement of those goals.
Year one of the program will engage participants in a guided process of
self-assessment and of building a professional development plan. Featured
highlights include meeting one-on-one with the PDP Director in helping to outline
plan specifics, a more formal assessment of one's own strengths and
opportunities for improvement, and the identification of a personal
development plan.
Year two of the program will consist of a series of "Next-Level" skill
workshops aimed at working on the skills needed at the next level of an
individual's career. Sessions
may cover topics ranging from emotional intelligence to interactive sessions on
working with the media, managing relationships with board of directors,
designing centers of creativity, managing difficult conversations, and
interacting with Wall Street analysts. Hot Topic lunches are also arranged with fellow
classmates leading discussions based on their expertise and experiences in
situations relating to professional development.
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Global Perspective
 In today's
world, nearly all business is global. In this new world, your next competitor may be from the other side of the world and
is only a click away on the Internet. Physical proximity is less of a
factor. At Ross, this perspective takes a unique approach in the EMBA.
Taking an obligatory ten-day travel experience abroad is not a part of our
curriculum. In working with corporate sponsors, we believe we can add
more to your perspective and experience by keeping you in Ann Arbor and
approaching globalization in every course and in every residency.
Globalization comes from the curriculum, from the faculty, as well as your
from your interaction with the other participants in the classroom.
The typical EMBA cohort is often composed of nearly one-third candidates who
were born outside North America. Global content comes in the various
business cases used as examples in courses ranging from Accounting to
Marketing, not just from the International Business courses. Faculty
teaching in the program bring cultural as well as academic and business
experiences from abroad into the classroom.
The ExecMAP
field projects offer an opportunity to work with businesses throughout the
US as well as abroad. There will often be two to three projects with
an international business and travel component that may be of interest.
This assignment gave us an extraordinary opportunity to
get
hands-on experience in developing a market plan for an Argentine
company's portfolio of outdoor furniture. The most exciting part of
this
assignment has been the opportunity to apply what we learned in a classroom
environment to a real-world situation. Mevaco ExecMAP Team,
2007 - Argentina
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Quantitative
Skills Workshop
A Quantitative Skills Workshop (QSW) is offered
for those participants whose analytical skills need refreshing. A series
of lectures on CD is mailed to admitted participants in the months before beginning
the Executive MBA Program. These lectures review many of
the basic quantitative skills needed for the program, along with solved problems
and exercises. At the beginning of the orientation residency, participants have
the opportunity to attend a one day QSW Program, which covers more advanced
material. A second optional QSW session is held later in the first
semester.
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