Why Choose a Michigan Executive MBA? - Stephen M. Ross School of Business

At the Ross School of Business, the MBA is about management education as well as personal and professional development. The hallmark feature of our program is our intense focus on leadership. Given the years of experience and knowledge of the participants, the Executive MBA curriculum offers a strong foundation in core management disciplines, but is more strategic in focus compared to our full or part-time programs. Our action-based curriculum emphasizes the development of leaders capable of solving real-world challenges in the business environments of today and tomorrow. Faculty members integrate a strategic leadership perspective into the framework and content of their courses, and we offer a unique Professional Development Program (PDP) in conjunction with the more traditional courses.

Professional Development

Unique to Michigan's program is the Professional Development Program which runs parallel to the monthly courses. Over the two-year program, participants will be engaged in a guided process of self-assessment, reflection, and identification of a personal development plan. Participants reflect on their personal strengths, and how they want to grow.

Next-level skill workshops are offered to the class as a way to achieve broad goals and gain exposure to successful leadership styles. Based on current classes, workshops have covered topics ranging from emotional intelligence, media relations, managing relationships with boards of directors, as well as working with Wall Street analysts. Participants lead informal session based on their own experiences in a range of "hot topic" discussions. The program also brings a number of guest speakers to the program, including top corporate executives as well as government officials.

In the recent 2007 BusinessWeek worldwide ranking of Executive MBA programs, Ross EMBA graduates applauded the caliber of their classmates and the instructors' ability to make the most of students' knowledge.

The Executive MBA program brings together a unique group of individuals from a wide variety of businesses, industries, and job functions from across the United States and beyond. It is not only the reputation of our faculty which draws participants to Michigan, but also the individuals who will be your fellow classmates that distinguish the Ross Executive MBA. These classmates will form the basis of your learning community as you work closely together in teams to master the course material.

Using technology to augment the traditional face-to-face learning, participants are able to engage in remote learning activities, including virtual meetings with classmates and faculty, document sharing, and voice conferences. As an Executive MBA participant your curiosity will be challenged through stimulating coursework and engaging group participation, including teamwork on case analyses, presentations, and special projects. In the end, your will emerge with an education for a lifetime, rich in theory and real world relevance to keep you ahead of the perpetually shifting demands of the modern business world.

Many entering EMBA students bring significant experience and responsibility in one particular area of focus, but are now being challenged to grow and expand their responsibilities over broader areas of the organization. For example, someone with strong marketing and sales experience is now being asked to provide oversight in operations and financial controls. For these individuals, the goal of an EMBA is to gain a broader exposure of the various functional areas of business with an eye towards the bigger picture.

To this end, the Executive MBA Program at Ross solidifies students' understanding of broader business challenges with a different perspective - focusing on the interpretation of points of data, and less so on the actual manipulation. As candidates reach and gain experience at the executive level, this broader understanding of business and strategy becomes critical. No longer is it most important for the manager to have the intense depth of experience in a subject area. With all the demands placed on management, the synthesis of these ideas becomes the critical factor for success.

Our flexible, once-a-month format maximizes learning opportunities for a diverse group of working executives. The twenty-month curriculum combines the intensity of on-campus classes with the convenience of distance-learning at home to satisfy the varied requirements of executives and allows you to balance your commitments at work and home. The program has two intensive ten-day residencies in Ann Arbor at the beginning of each academic year, and then, once-a-month you'll spend a two- or three-day residency back on campus, typically from Friday morning to Saturday evening. The program admits two cohorts each year, one class beginning in August, a second class beginning in January. Targeted profile and format of the two cohorts are identical.

The benefits of a Ross Executive MBA at Michigan will endure throughout your career.

You will enjoy lifelong access to the Ross School of Business. In a world of accelerating change, you will treasure this strong link to a center of innovation and up-to-date knowledge of business trends.

You will join the Ross School's alumni, a network that already numbers nearly 40,000 business men and women.

And you will become a valued member of the extended University of Michigan family - nearly a half-million alumni who make up one of the most successful and influential groups of people in the world. The relationships you build among these peers will not only advance your career, but also enrich your life and the life of your family. You, in turn, will inherit the opportunity to enhance the life of the Ross School and the University, helping you business, your community, and succeeding generations.