While you might not think of
executive MBA courses as an opportunity to address real problems in real time
at your own company, students taking Wharton's Management of People at Work are required to do just that. Working
in learning teams, each group selects a real issue being faced by one of the
team member's companies and then works to develop the best possible solution.
Perhaps you need to figure out how to bridge the divide between clashing cultures following an acquisition. Or maybe you need to redesign compensation or career paths to retain top talent in
a company facing low morale. Or maybe you have the classic start-up issue of a
charismatic leader who just can't delegate or let go. This course — through the Field Application
Project — is just the place to not only analyze those issues, but also to find
solutions.
As a Wharton EMBA student, your first-year learning team essentially becomes a consulting group on behalf of the corporate
sponsor, framing the specific problem, identifying issues and figuring out the
best tools and concepts to provide solutions. At the end of the project, your group
presents its findings and recommendations to company executives. It's not just
a great learning experience, but it's also a great value to the company.
In
addition to the Management of People at
Work course, the first-year core curriculum covers key business
concepts including economics, finance, financial and cost accounting,
management science, marketing, operations management, the governmental and
legal environment of business, statistics, and strategy. By the end of the first year,
students are ready to pick from a wide range of electives — one of the largest
selections of any business school. Past elective choices have ranged from new
product development and international finance to marketing research and venture
initiation.
And of
course, given today's global business environment, an International Seminar
is a required part of the program. The International Seminar marks the
culmination of two core courses: Competitive
Strategy and Global Strategic
Management. Students and faculty choose the destination and then research
and plan an intensive week of corporate visits. Past seminars have taken place
around the world in countries such as Argentina, China, Germany, India and
South Africa.
Related Post:
EMBA Student's Team Project – Immediate Benefit at Work