FT Executive MBA Ranking 2021: agility amid the pandemic

A French, a Chinese and a joint US-Hong Kong programme have held on to the a few leading spots in the FT’s 2021 Government MBA Ranking, in a calendar year marked by continued pandemic disruption to function and analyze.

HEC’s Paris International EMBA regained leading spot, ahead of — in joint 2nd place — the Kellogg/HKUST EMBA in Hong Kong, which led the 2020 position, and the China Europe International Business enterprise School (Ceibs) Global EMBA in Shanghai.

EMBA alumni a few decades following graduating continued to command large spend at a time of business uncertainty, with modified ordinary salaries sampled in both of those 2020 and 2021 up from $276,655 to $281,089.

The quantity of learners at main business colleges analysed by the FT fell marginally, calendar year-on-calendar year. Among the 88 colleges rated in both of those 2020 and 2021, the determine went from seven,932 to seven,616, and among the total of 123 establishments assessed, it dropped from ten,729 to ten,one hundred eighty.

Though lots of elite business colleges have continued to catch the attention of a solid world wide combine of learners to many campuses that they work on your own or in partnership, some more compact and regional colleges have experienced in the latest months with slipping intakes.

FT Government MBA position 2021: the leading 100

Obtain out which colleges are in our position of EMBA levels. Find out how the table was compiled.

“We’ve received some colleges that have shuttered their doorways and some with programmes on hold,” reported Michael Desiderio, govt director of Embac, a trade body representing a much larger team of practically three hundred EMBA suppliers, such as lots of in the US. “My gut [says], globally, course size is flat or down, but I don’t see demand slipping off a cliff.”

The EMBA usually provides instruction for professionals and executives who have significant prior skilled knowledge and proceed to function whilst studying element-time. The rankings are based mostly on measures this kind of as alumni salaries and how significantly courses aided them reach their aims a few decades following completion, as well as the diversity of college student and training bodies and the high-quality of academic investigation.

The FT’s leading a few rated programmes — and lots of other people among the 100 — are provided at many campuses all over the earth, which has permitted the colleges to deliver a wide selection of encounters and larger flexibility for the duration of limitations on movement.

Both of those HEC Paris and Ceibs work from their personal web pages — in France and Qatar, and in China, Ghana and Switzerland, respectively. Kellogg/HKUST’s EMBA is based mostly in Hong Kong but offers learners the chance to analyze element of the program at other campuses globally.

Yuan Ding, dean of Ceibs, reported pandemic-relevant vacation limitations and political shifts in China’s connection with the west had led to “a huge localisation”. He has observed a tumble in attendance by foreign learners and expatriates, offset by rising demand from nationals for courses taught in Chinese. “We don’t think about globalisation as a fait accompli. You have to offer you content with locally suitable subject areas,” he reported.

Kathy Harvey, affiliate dean for MBA and govt levels at Oxford’s Saïd Business enterprise School, rated twelfth for its EMBA, reported course measurements had been a small more compact in 2020 and 2021 than in advance of the pandemic, but that software volumes and high-quality remained solid. She extra that employers’ willingness to accommodate remote performing had permitted members to vacation to the Uk to go to in-man or woman courses following performing remotely from a resort room initially if matter to quarantine.

“We found as a one-school programme with a large amount of world wide content, we had been not as affected as we imagined,” she reported, incorporating that Saïd launched “owl and lark” periods so that members could join or enjoy recorded conversations at various situations.

The words and phrases for the earlier calendar year had been resilience and agility. We necessary it of our academics, learners and staff.

The rise in on the web understanding has greater the scope for learners and guest speakers to take part in EMBAs. Among FT-rated colleges, the proportion of woman learners greater in 2021 to a 3rd of the total, continuing an enhance from a quarter a decade back. There has been a similar rise in the proportion of woman faculty.

Eight of the dozen highest-rated programmes are run in many international locations, such as the EMBA Global Asia partnership concerning Columbia, London Business enterprise School and the College of Hong Kong, and the Trium Global MBA, a joint diploma provided jointly by HEC Paris, the London School of Economics and New York University’s Stern school.

Alongside North The usa and Europe, China remains one particular of the most preferred locations for EMBAs, despite the fact that rated courses are also provided in locations this kind of as Singapore, South Korea, Russia, Turkey, the Gulf, north Africa and Iran.

“The words and phrases for the earlier calendar year had been resilience and agility,” reported Elizabeth O’Neill, govt director of Trium. “We necessary it of our academics, learners and staff. We had been main and supplying a programme for world wide leaders who understood for the reason that they had been in organisations heading by way of extremely quick change.”

Students want content on digital transformation, management and all the things else. They also want some digital shipping

Educational institutions and alumni described solid curiosity from applicants in understanding about digital capabilities and systems, and seeking to be taught partly on the web to deliver them with larger flexibility to balance analyze, function and vacation.

“The principal pattern has been a demand for all the things digital,” reported Andrew Crisp from CarringtonCrisp, an training consultancy. “Students want content on digital transformation, management and all the things else. They also want some digital shipping — particularly . . . to put together in advance of they get to the classroom, [to] lower the quantity of times absent from function.”

Programs rated by the FT ought to teach at least thirty learners and be hosted by a school accredited by the US-based mostly Affiliation to Advance Collegiate Educational institutions of Business enterprise or the European-based mostly Equis technique.