A regular, full-time Masters in Business Administration (MBA) course is conventionally pursued by young and inexperienced students. It is a degree in general management. It does not require the applicants to have prior work experience, they only have to take an entrance test for admission to a MBA school. Full-time MBA students have a rigorous schedule filled with intensive class work, assignments and presentations. Their schedule also includes a variety of extra-curricular electives along with specific classes and clubs dedicated to personality development.
An Executive MBA (EMBA) on the other hand, is a more flexible course that is designed for individuals with some work experience. The work experience required to be eligible for an EMBA, differs from college to college. An Executive MBA in Pune for example requires candidates for have a minimum of three years of work experience.
An EMBA program differs from a regular MBA in the way the courses are structured. Learning in an EMBA program is a combination of weekend classes and online tutorials and seminars. The schedule allows the applicants to work towards earning their degree while still being full-time employees. An EMBA is faster paced than an MBA. Applying principles and best practices of management is easier for the applicants of an EMBA as they have continuous real life experience of the environment to test the same. Focus remains on the core business subjects in this program by eliminating any elective or supplementary courses.
The name Executive MBA might suggest that this course is only aimed at professionals and executives but this is a myth. Anyone who is ambitious, keen to deepen their knowledge of doing business and wants to turbo-charge their career can opt for this course. This degree will accelerate your path to positions of leadership and higher management in an organization.
Apart from employees in a typical corporate set-up, a budding entrepreneur could also benefit from having this degree under their belt as it would sharpen their business acumen and help them be better off at starting their own businesses.
To summarize, doing this course can be quite challenging with the financial as well as time management challenges it brings to your life, but the boost it gives your level of expertise and career are definitely worth the sacrifices.