Full-Time MBA or Executive MBA—What’s the deal?
The MBA program is over 125 years old. It was said to have begun at Harvard in 1908. In the early 1900s, the United States of America was going through a period of industrialisation. Smoke stacks mushroomed across the American landscape. Detroit was soon to become the centre for the production of the world’s automobiles. It was against this backdrop that Harvard decided to educate people to be professional managers.
The American workforce at that point in time consisted of workmen who had acquired their skills at the workplace. While technical skills were in abundance, administrative and management skills were hard to find. Thus, the MBA program was designed to fill the gap and impart the required business skills to groom seasoned employees into managers and business leaders.
What Differentiates Full-Time MBA and Executive MBA Programs?
The full-time MBA was designed for young graduates who wished to pursue intensive academic study of the realm of business and management. The Executive MBA, on the other hand, was meant to impart applied knowledge to supplement the knowledge gained from practical experience. Today, the curriculum covered in both courses is almost identical. The only differences are the mode of delivery and the scheduling of the academic inputs.
That brings us to the oft-asked question: Which is better, the full-time MBA or the part-time Executive MBA? The simple answer is that neither is superior or inferior to the other. The choice of program depends entirely on the profile of the prospective student. Both programs have been designed with a specific target group in mind.
Who Should Choose a Full-Time MBA?
The full-time MBA is meant for younger students in the age group of 25-30. Most prospects in this age band would have worked for around 3-7 years after graduating from college. They would have switched between 2-3 jobs in search of the right career path. This, in turn, would have given them valuable exposure to the different functions in an organisation and the nature of jobs available in the domain of their choice. Thus, they would have a firm foundation on which to build their careers. Having chosen their field of work, they would now take a break to immerse themselves in business studies.
The full-time MBA is a great opportunity for young professionals to get “back to school”. The full-time MBA is generally an intensive learning program that demands at least 10-12 hours of study each day. Classroom lectures are followed by personal study done individually or in groups. The mode of learning is mainly through business cases, articles from business publications, and books. Group learning fosters collaboration and helps build a team spirit. Students generally help each other throughout the learning process, and peer learning is at its peak. Most often, this leg of the learning journey is the last leg of formal education. Mature students value this greatly and use the opportunity to build their own character and personality.
The full-time MBA offers students an opportunity to develop their life skills simultaneously with business skills. They deepen their understanding of the world of business through business cases, guest speakers, and faculty drawn from the industry. Most of the faculty at business schools come with vast experience in their respective fields. This experience is a valuable learning input for full-time MBA students.
Who Should Opt for an Executive MBA?
The Executive MBA, on the other hand, is designed for participants with prior work experience. Most come with 5-15 years of work experience and are either in the supervisory or middle-management cadre. One can expect to find people with excellent technical skills and a good understanding of their industry in an Executive MBA classroom. In fact, some Executive MBA students are fairly senior and nearer to the top of their careers. A case in point was a participant in my Executive MBA classroom in Singapore. She was a plant manager with Coca-Cola. After completing the Executive MBA program at SP Jain Global, she is now on the Board of Directors at Coca-Cola USA.
Advantages of an Executive MBA
The Executive MBA is, in a sense, a “passport” to a higher position in the pecking order. Most middle-level executives would have garnered good expertise in their fields. However, the missing piece of the “jigsaw” is business and managerial knowledge and skills. Being a part-time program, executives can continue to work and earn while dedicating their weekends or weeknights to learning. One big advantage that often goes unnoticed is the application of the knowledge gained to real-world situations at work. This completes the learning cycle and makes the learning permanent.
How Technology Is Bridging the Gap
New digital technology has dramatically bridged the gulf between the part-time Executive MBA and the full-time MBA. The virtual classroom offers high-quality interaction between the professor and the student in real time. Breakout rooms facilitate group activity, and other features make the learning almost identical to a physical face-to-face class. The benefits too are immense. Access to an international faculty resource, interaction with a global peer group, and sharing of global experiences make the part-time Executive MBA using online technology an exhilarating learning experience!
Prof Hansel Dsouza is an Adjunct Faculty member at SP Jain School of Global Management. He has been teaching the Management Program since 1994. He teaches a wide range of subjects in General Management. He has over 30 years of industry experience.
