December 6, 2010
Carey School set to offer Executive MBA
The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School will launch an Executive MBA program for senior-level professionals and fast-track managers looking to develop the skills necessary to succeed in today’s global business environment.
Set to begin in May 2011, the 18-month program combines online distance learning with a series of 10 residencies to be held in Baltimore and abroad.
The structure of the rigorous program was designed to enable working students to continue in their jobs with minimal disruption of professional and personal lives.
Yash Gupta, dean of the Carey Business School, said that the program will help participants develop the knowledge, creativity, critical thinking and ethical grounding required for leadership in a rapidly globalizing economy.
Gupta said that the time was right to offer such a program.
“As the economy recovers, businesses are looking at how to develop human capital,” Gupta said. “Businesses will want to offer placement in this type of program as an incentive for new hires or as a way to train and retain current employees.”
The students, who could be scattered across the country and internationally, will progress as a team, working on both group-based and individual projects. Gupta said that the Carey School wanted to create a shared experience that helps students and faculty members build lasting relationships. Graduates, he said, will be prepared to compete for top positions in a variety of industries, including finance, manufacturing, health care and technology.
The cohort-based program will be small in scale—roughly 30 to 50 students—and will feature interactive learning.
The typical student will have a minimum of seven to 10 years of professional experience and demonstrated management and leadership skills.
The 54-credit program’s residencies include three one-week residencies and five four-day stays in Baltimore, one eight-day international residency and one online residency.
Each residency consists of several courses in the key business disciplines taught by faculty from the Carey School and other Johns Hopkins divisions. Students will receive assignments with pre-module homework, such as case studies and exercises that they must complete for partial credit toward the next residency.
Students will learn, for example, how to bring a new product to market. They will define a brand, develop a marketing strategy and identify channels of distribution. Post-residency work consists of case studies and take-home exams that students must complete to receive full credit for the residency work.
In 2011, Executive MBA candidates will work on an experiential learning project in San Paulo, Brazil, to gain understanding of the economic and business environment of that nation and Latin America. The program includes lectures, case discussions and visits to local companies. The MBA teams will explore the community’s needs within the local context, assess the causes of current conditions and examine the specific roles played by various organizations in addressing the challenges.
Gupta said that the group aspect of the program and the blend of classroom and experiential learning make the JHU program unique. Another distinctive aspect of the program, he said, is the course called Leadership and Professional Development, a series of sessions, workshops and interactive work. The candidates will focus on topics such as personal-brand management, strategic career planning, persuasive communication and running a board meeting.
“It breaks the mold on executive MBA programs,” he said. “Johns Hopkins will blaze a trail and offer something to a segment of the business population hungry for innovation. I’m very optimistic about the success of this program. We think companies will look at this as an investment, a way to develop richer teams and decrease turnover rates.”
The curriculum of the Executive MBA program follows the requirements set by the Maryland Higher Education Commission. The program is equivalent to MBA programs offered at the Carey Business School and leads to the degree of Master of Business Administration.
For details about the program, go to carey.jhu.edu and click on “our programs.”