Executive MBA

Lead your company to industry-defining success

As your career progress, it becomes apparent that the skills required to be successful in business are very different from the skills required to be a successful leader. The reason is that leadership demands more than management knowledge or skills; it demands a will to evolve. In business, leaders must transform their companies or organizations in order to redefine how success can be achieved.

Our EMBA program, led by experienced practitioner faculty members, has nurtured more than 1,000 next-generation leaders through intensive lectures that make the most of their weekends. These lectures hone leadership sensitivity by simulating management decisions through case studies of as many as 200 companies in an academic year. In addition, through participant-centered class discussions in the case method, course participants learn the business ethics required of leaders in order to maintain trust, loyalty, and drive towards a unifying vision.

About the Executive MBA

The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business was the first school in the world to introduce the Executive MBA (EMBA), which was launched in 1943 as an MBA program for professionals with extensive work experience. Since then, the EMBA is often used in the U.S. and Europe to distinguish programs for seasoned veterans of business from standard MBA programs. While admission to MBA programs does not necessarily require working experience at some institutions, the EMBA, by definition, must.

Following the lead of other top business schools around the world, we debuted our own EMBA program in 2003: the first of its kind in Japan. The program is designed for professionals who aim to become core members of their companies and who have at least 8 years of work experience (recommended 15 years). Since our school is a weekend graduate school for professionals, even the busiest of C-suite level executives and managers are able to participate in this program.

A path to further growth

In the EMBA program, students will acquire management/administrative skills based on a company-wide perspective. Students will improve their leadership skills by acquiring the ability to logically analyze the current situation, identify problems, provide solutions and formulate management strategies. As a result, businesspeople who have studied in our EMBA program have not only been promoted to management positions, but have also grown to play a central role in their companies by changing their careers from sales to marketing. In addition, the leaders who are currently working in management positions have become true general managers who can lead not only their companies, but also entire industries.

Executive MBA Ranking

Our school is the first in Japan to be ranked (1st in Japan, 18th in Asia Pacific) in the Financial Times Business School Rankings (commonly known as "FT Rankings"), the most trusted and influential business school rankings in the world. The FT ranking is characterized by the fact that 70% of the total evaluations are related to post-graduation outcomes and internationalization. In the world of business schools, the FT Ranking is considered as a "cost-benefit ranking" of MBAs as an educational investment, so to speak, where the increase in salary after graduation is questioned. With this prestigious recognition, we are committed to international education and research activities in order to further improve the quality of our programs.

Expanding business networks

The importance of global management and diversity management give new value to exposure to new perspectives. The opening of channels for the exchange of information and the strong human network that results are enduring benefits of study at our school. The bonds forged through rigorous discussions and collaborative learning have developed into new businesses that transcend the boundaries between cultures, generations, and industries.

The majority of our EMBA students are in their late 30s or early 40s, and half of them have 10 to 20 years of work experience. The collection of individuals from various backgrounds strengthens discussion through examination from all angles. The classroom is an environment where frank exchanges can take place on a level field, and the viewpoints of peers with extensive experience will convey valuable lessons that cannot be learned from textbooks.