By Della Bradshaw
For Sue Lin Heng, there was one criterion that really stood out when she was looking for an executive MBA programme, the qualification for working managers. It was its location.
A native of Singapore, Ms Heng, 31, had already lived on the west coast of the US and had a job based in Singapore with Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, the hotels consultancy group. But she had not worked either on the east coast of the US or in Europe. Consequently, it was this combination that she found appealing in the EMBA Global degree that is offered by Columbia Business School in New York and London Business School.
“The biggest thing was how it [the EMBA Global] was marketed, as a global degree,” she explains.
“There is such a good group of people [on the programme] to connect with.” Because graduates from the programme receive two degrees – one from Columbia, the other from LBS – the “whole networking bit is huge”, says Ms Heng.
She is typical of a growing number of managers who did not study for an MBA when they were in their 20s, but have now decided that the qualification is for them. What they can choose from are some of the most innovative programmes available at business schools, most notably because they teach global business by being one themselves, enabling students to study in different locations and campuses.
Two of the first schools to realise the advantage of this kind of programme were Columbia and LBS. They launched the EMBA Global programme in 2001 and today the two schools are going a step further and bringing a third school, Hong Kong University Business School, into the fold.
