Redesigned CEMBA Curriculum Focuses on Leadership
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
A renewed emphasis on leadership development highlights a redesigned curriculum for the Carlson School’s Executive MBA (CEMBA) program.
Launching next fall (2022), four new courses are added to the curriculum while the number of credit hours on two important topics—executive leadership and corporate strategy— increased.
“At its heart, the Executive MBA is meant to prepare leaders,” says Robyn Wick, director of the CEMBA program. “Our students are already in leadership and management roles and need to know not just how to manage people, but how to manage people who manage people.”
In-depth interviews with alumni and corporate partners in high-level leadership positions revealed an opportunity to go further than the existing curriculum and develop an industry-leading new curriculum. There was a need expressed in developing stronger leaders (of leaders) with a more holistic view of the enterprise and its strategy.
“At its heart, the Executive MBA is meant to prepare leaders.”
The senior faculty and staff working on the curriculum translated these opportunities into new and significantly revised courses. New courses in Business Law, Human Capital Management, and Executive Perspectives will highlight crucial areas for leaders and be taught or co-taught by current practitioners who bring applied experience to the table. Existing courses such as Executive Leadership Insights, Managing Groups, and Corporate Strategy have been expanded to deepen students’ learning in those areas. Enhanced diversity, equity, and inclusion programming supplements these curricular changes. Foundational elements of the curriculum will remain the same, though each instructor reviews content often to ensure the latest trends and examples are used.
“This audience needs a foundational understanding of business tools, not as the functional expert but as the person who needs to make strategic business decisions by utilizing information from across functional areas and ultimately driving the direction of the organization as a whole,” Wick says.
The next deadline is May 15 but applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Apply now.