Rice launches enhanced MBA for Executives

Rice University’s Master of Business Administration for Executives (EMBA) will launch a new curriculum and program delivery this fall to better meet the needs of executive students and the changing demands of the business education marketplace.

The centerpiece of the new Jones Graduate School of Business program is a series of leadership and strategy executive forums to foster the development of the executive mindset needed in the global economy. These five-day experiential intensives forums open and close each academic year and focus on personal leadership foundations; principles of strategy formulation; critical decision-making, enterprise-level strategy formulation and execution; and organizational change leadership. The final semester of the program focuses on managing the global firm and on understanding global markets and institutions. An international management experience provides a capstone to the program.

The centerpiece of the new EMBA program is a series of leadership and strategy executive forums to foster the development of the executive mindset needed in the global economy.

In addition, executive seminars will run throughout the program to provide a channel for integrating concepts across the disciplines and developing executive skills such as negotiations and communications, and to facilitate custom programming, such as executive coaching and career coaching.

The final executive seminar will provide students with a “C-Suite View,” addressing issues revolving around a firm’s major stakeholders. The students’ coursework can be tilted toward finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, energy or health care through third-semester elective offerings.

The calendar format of the new program facilitates participation by executives with busy travel schedules as well as those traveling to Houston to earn their degree. The enhancements were developed based on feedback from students and a study of marketplace demands.

“The new program design is exciting for the faculty and it will be exciting for the students,” said Barbara Ostdiek, senior associate dean of degree programs and associate professor of finance. “We are leveraging our faculty portfolio to provide an educational experience that not only delivers foundational business knowledge and discipline skills but also facilitates transformation as a leader, a strategist and a critical thinker.”

The enhanced EMBA program is designed for business leaders with 10 or more years of experience and allows students to focus on enhancing their management, leadership and strategy skills without interrupting their careers. The 22-month program features innovative classes, expert faculty and a diverse group of top-talent classmates. Students entering the Rice EMBA program are employed in diverse industries, including energy, finance and health care, as well as the legal and military sectors, according to the Jones School.

According to the most recent Financial Times rankings, the program ranked No. 8 in the U.S. in 2013 (up from No. 11 the previous year). The program was ranked No. 1 in Texas and the Southwest. Globally, the Financial Times ranked the Rice EMBA 39th, up seven spots from 46th in 2012. In the specialty categories, the Rice EMBA program was also recognized by Financial Times as No. 1 globally in entrepreneurship, as rated by 2010 graduates.

For more information on the enhanced Rice EMBA program, visit http://business.rice.edu/MBAE.aspx.