Is now a good time for an EMBA?

An EMBA can give you the skills and outlook you need to pivot and succeed in the wake of coronavirus, says Henk Kievit, director of one of the EMBA programs at Nyenrode Business University. The business world has become more complex, and job roles have become more dynamic and flexible. Especially with the Covid-19 virus. To succeed requires taking control, anticipation, building personal development in leadership, and information retrieval. Developing your career in this landscape means no only developing your leadership style, but also learning to base your management decisions on thorough academic rigor with the pursuit for practical relevance. Although the future is unclear, it still involves acting in advance working towards goals before achieving them. Undertaking an executive MBA (EMBA) can be a good way to do this.

EMBAs can help you succeed in the face of disruption

Today, the boundaries of companies are fading, and more of the work done in value chains of entrepreneurial ecosystems is accompanied and supported by digital infrastructures. The world is changing rapidly with digital transformation into smart industries and cities. They are the next thing to serve the core business with all sustainable transitions emerging. Solutions to wicked problems and challenges on the implementation of sustainable development goals remain immanent. In the open economy which the Netherlands operates, for instance, talent building for the next generation leaders is the more urgent. 

The Nyenrode EMBA

These challenges are addressed by the executive MBA programs at Nyenrode Business University. In its 75 years of existence it has weathered many crises as a private business school and also during the pandemic, times are challenging. Nevertheless, we remain focused on our mission to serve society by shaping responsible leaders. As the great leader Winston Churchill once said: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” This is the time for people to reflect on how they want themselves prepared for the future. Business school education, especially an EMBA, will pay off. 

To live through a crisis is the best experience for you to learn how to cope, teaching invaluable lessons for the future. EMBA classes provide a space for reflection and collaboration with your peers, and combine it with academic theory in which generalized study cases on previous crises provide a basis for reflection and learning. That spirit and attitude of togetherness and courage Nyenrode Business University believes its EMBA participants should incorporate into their personal development. By learning to ride the waves of crises with ample business knowledge and personal leadership development to be shaped to the responsible leader of the future and within that serving the society. Crises will forever be part of life and the sooner one prepares and studies it, the more satisfaction and preparation is achieved to overcome threats and challenges in the near future. In challenging times, one must question the accepted reality because things are going wrong, rapid answers are needed and the solution may well be found outside the usual compass.

EMBAs can help you find new opportunities

In the executive MBA setting you have the ample ability to practice with peers in assessing the reality of things going wrong or in assessing opportunities for innovation. Develop the mindset by thinking in scenarios and discuss these in reflection with academic theory and practical relevance on how to implement this in real life business situations. At Nyenrode we do this in different way. For example, the Business & Sustainable Transitions course addresses all kinds of new transitions impacting the current business world. Another course focuses on Business & IT, addressing the pervasive power of digital transformation in businesses. Another course focuses on public-private partnership, where governments and business together try to tackle wicked problems in society with organizing concept with a societal purpose. 

In this EMBA education, we do not shy away from challenging the norm, teaching new leaders to not be satisfied with following procedure and tradition. It takes insight and courage to question current leaders: why are things done the way that they are? Leading companies nowadays recognize this and cultivate a more open, questioning climate within the workplace.

EMBAs help combine theory and practice

Nyenrode offers in its executive MBA a combination of academic theory, practical relevance and personal development. The impact for our participants it to generate sustainable added value for themselves, their organizations, and business sector and society at large. Within our program our core values: Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Stewardship play a pivotal role. Leadership characterizes the proactive and creative spirit needed to achieve results. Entrepreneurship deals with recognizing opportunities, the ability to act upon those and using them to make a meaningful contribution. Stewardship means taking responsibility and recognizing the interests of others and future generations. Nyenrode believes that within these set of core values 21st century skills and thought leadership has to be developed. Learning to overcome the increasing complexity of business decisions to make and do this together.