Arab Region Universities Offer EMBAs for Emerging Leaders

For Lebanese student Najee Syriani, the timing was right. The corporate vice president of projects at Rotana Hotel Management Corp. in Abu Dhabi decided to get his Global Executive Master of Business Administration from INSEAD, at its campus in the city. Syriani says the 15-month program will help him "sharpen the saw" and advance his career into a senior leadership role as well as develop a business idea he's been contemplating for a while.

An executive MBA is typically a two-year program, geared toward working business executives in their 30s and early 40s with at least five years of managerial work experience. Syriani says obtaining an EMBA can add an edge to his profile and differentiate him from others.

Last year he researched several schools worldwide and considered EMBA programs at schools in Edinburgh, Scotland; Toronto and Montreal; as well as Beirut, Doha and the UAE.

[See which U.S. schools have the top EMBA programs.]

"I chose INSEAD for being the best business school in all aspects: the diversity, the professors, the peers, the network, the exposure, the program, the experience, the brand," says Syriani. "So far, it has been up to and exceeding my expectations."

While researching schools and comparing programs and curriculums, Syriani says he learned from alumni and general contacts that INSEAD was "far more developed" and ultimately the right choice for his objectives.

"Each school has its forte, but INSEAD has surely managed to master many positive aspects of learning and development of future leaders, that made its value proposition what it is today," says Syriani. "Not to mention the major role the students play, in terms of exchange, wealth of knowledge and experience sharing -- the students who chose INSEAD as much for its educational values as for the environment it sets."

Wafa El Garah, dean of the School of Business Administration at Morocco's Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, says the EMBA "can give one's career a jump." Their EMBA program takes 18-24 months and meets three consecutive days a month in Casablanca.

"An EMBA provides a safe environment where one can experiment and think outside the box," says El Garah, adding that it's especially useful for those seeking to climb the corporate ladder.

Michael Desiderio, executive director of the Executive MBA Council, a worldwide advocate of degreed executive education, calls the degree "a sound investment" for global business leaders in any part of the world.

[Find out which universities around the world are known for economics and business research.]

"The experience helps students build the technical skills in core business functions that senior business leaders need to succeed, such as finance, accounting, marketing and operations, among others," Desiderio says.

An EMBA degree can bring about many more opportunities. Dubai-based Wassim Karkabi, managing partner for executive search firm Stanton Chase, says that 65 percent of the executive search and executive assessment work they do with client organizations in the Middle East and North Africa are in profit and loss.

"When hiring for those roles, employers have an absolute comfort zone with someone who has gone through an executive MBA program, which grounds the leader in the business disciplines required to drive growth or turnaround for their companies," says Karkabi, who has an EMBA from Hult International Business School. The school has several locations, including Dubai.

Karkabi says candidates with an EMBA who are being considered for profit and loss roles "will always come out of the gate stronger." An EMBA can also yield a higher salary.

"Of course, there are no promises, but data shows that on average, salaries of executive MBA graduates do consistently increase, as well as their responsibilities," says Desiderio, based on the council's latest survey results.

Nizar Mahjoubi is a student in the two-year EMBA program at South Mediterranean University in his home country of Tunisia, where students meet once a month for four days. The Coca-Cola Co., where he works as an operations marketing manager, is funding 50 percent of his tuition.

"I am confident that the EMBA degree will help me in my career development and aspirations," says Mahjoubi, who seeks advancement within Coca-Cola and beyond. "All the acquired knowledge will be useful as well, in case if I want to open my own business, which I am considering in the midterm."

[Explore the top universities in the Arab region.]

EMBA programs attract diverse applicants such as Imen Bemri, a dentist and a sales and marketing supervisor at pharmaceutical company 3M North Africa. The Tunisian citizen, also a student in South Mediterranean University's EMBA program, seeks to increase her finance and marketing knowledge and managerial skills.

"More than a degree, I think that this program is a great experience in learning, thinking, challenging and networking," Bemri says.

One of her classes, for example, focused on personality. She learned the role personality holds in leading and managing teams as well as interacting with colleagues and managers, and how to adapt leadership styles with different personalities.

"I think that the EMBA degree is an important step in my journey to reach a senior managerial level or an executive level," she says.

And ultimately, as is Syriani's goal, to "sharpen the saw" -- a maxim he picked up from Steve Covey's self-help book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People." Syriani says the EMBA he is pursuing at INSEAD has already helped shape his daily interaction with colleagues, customers and owners.

"A lot of what we learn from class interactions is affecting our decision-making process, our role play, our team interaction -- in summary the way we deal with work and life challenges," says Syriani. "I am sure that the EMBA will complete the circle of knowledge and play a major role in the next 25 years of my career."

See the complete rankings of the Best Arab Region Universities.

Anayat Durrani is a Los Angeles-based freelance education reporter for U.S. News, covering Arab region universities.