Professionals can now work full time and still be able to pursue graduate studies.
The Executive Education and Lifelong Learning Center (Excell) of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in Makati City is offering evening classes for its Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) program.
The Evening EMBA aims to offer world-class education to working professionals in Metro Manila without any major disruptions to their career.
“Our goal is to teach our students the fundamentals of business and provide them with general management competence to build, manage and lead enterprises that create value in a dynamic, global economy,” said Dr. Gracia S. Ugut, associate dean of Excell.
Global perspective
The Evening EMBA curriculum will enable students to acquire essential business skills and values that include a contemporary, global and real-world perspective; teamwork and leadership skills; cross-functional problem-solving capabilities; business ethics; effective written and oral communication; ability to manage change, risk and crises; ability to manage human resources and diversity; and presentation skills.
“We are adequately preparing our students to take the helm of enterprises in emerging markets, with the hope that they could steer such markets, like the Philippines, into the global economic spotlight,” said Dr. Ricardo A. Lim, AIM dean.
“AIM also offers an international and multicultural experience for its students, and developing this sensitivity to diverse cultures and belief systems is an integral part of managing and growing enterprises in emerging markets,” he added.
The program can be completed in less than two years. It runs for 20 months, with classes scheduled every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6 to 9:30 p.m.
The whole program will have a total of 440 sessions, each lasting 80 minutes. It is divided into three modules, with three weeks of leadership residence at the end of the last module:
Module I, Leading the Enterprise: The Language and Context of Business, covers language of business, qualitative analysis and decision analysis, financial management and policies, global economics and markets, leading organization, business ethics and governance, management communication, and action learning.
Module II, Creating and Sustaining Competitive Advantage, covers operations competitiveness, marketing, human resource management, leading organizations, strategic thinking and action, and action learning.
Module III, Leading in Emerging Market, tackles collaboration, conflict and negotiation; innovation, entrepreneurial thinking; and merger and acquisition.
International study tour
Students also go on a weeklong international study tour in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Mumbai, India. The tour will involve intensive learning about each region’s culture, politics and economics.
Students will tour cultural sites, visit companies and meet with local business leaders, government officials and academics to gain multiple perspectives and get a first-hand glimpse of how business is conducted in those parts of the world.
A unique feature of AIM’s teaching style is its use of interactive discussions and sharing of best practices rather than boring lectures. Case studies or real-life business situations are used so students do not just hear theories.
“The world is rapidly and constantly changing, and we need leaders that can effectively manage, change and steer their enterprises toward creating sustained value to society,” Ugut said. “The Evening EMBA adequately prepares students to take on such realities. We employ highly participative and interactive methods of management training, simulating real-world discussions as opposed to one-way lectures.”
Lim added that in today’s world, “knowledge is cheap” and can easily be obtained through the Internet. Students at AIM are trained instead to have the skills to apply the available knowledge to different business situations.
“We are not selling knowledge; we are good at applying the knowledge,” said professor emeritus Francisco P. Bernardo Jr.
To qualify for the EMBA program, applicants must have the capacity to do outstanding academic work at the graduate level, at least two years of professional experience that classmates can learn and benefit from, and qualities and abilities to assume greater responsibility.
Other requirements include the ability to make and sustain a multiyear commitment to a rigorous EMBA program while still performing at a very high level within their organizations, and robust interpersonal and communication skills that will enable them to be strong and successful contributors to the program.
For more information on the evening EMBA program, contact Anika Paciente at 8924011 ext. 166 or e-mail apaciente@aim.edu.