Why SMU EMBA?

The SMU EMBA Distinction
Shaping tomorrow’s outstanding senior global leaders​​​​​​​

Modelled after The Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania), SMU is Singapore's national business university renowned for delivering world-class business management education.

Joining the SMU Executive MBA Programme presents distinctive advantages for you, including:

1. Study stints with three other world-class universities globally

   In addition to spending about six weeks at SMU in Singapore, you will spend a week each at NYU Stern School of Business, Sasin School of Management, and Antai School of Economics & Management (Shanghai Jiao Tong University) for a truly global curriculum.

   You will have the opportunity to be immersed in the business, political, social and legal issues of four separate countries as you study the problems, challenges and issues unique to each of these business environments.

   Throughout the Programme, you will interact with world-class professors and leading world thinkers. You can also look forward to be trained at some of the world's best academic institutions. Along with their international research and consultancy experiences, your lecturers will bring their rich real-world experiences from both Eastern and Western perspectives and shape your understanding of the contours of global business.

2. Accelerated programme: 8 Segments over 12 months

   Our Programme is structured to fit the busy schedule of senior executives and allow them to complete their studies within a reasonable period of 8 segments over a 12-month period with minimal disruption to their work. You can continue to pursue your career aspirations while completing your degree.

3. The most senior EMBA class profile in the world

   Our EMBA Programme has been attracting senior leaders from across Asia, Europe and the Middle East. With nearly six in ten students of each cohort being C-suite executives with an average of 20 years of corporate experience from a wide variety of geographies, industries and roles, your learning experience will encompass vibrant interactions and robust discussions.

4. Innovative curriculum co-designed with over 100 corporate leaders in Asia

   Our EMBA curriculum is designed with inputs from more than 100 corporate leaders across Asia to prepare future leaders for the challenges of leading organisations in the rapidly growing regional markets. These inputs have resulted in distinctive modules that are unique to the SMU EMBA such as Executing Strategy, Crisis Management and Communication, Innovation & Growth Management, Leadership in Digital Transformation.

   Our Strategic Initiative Project module will also give you the opportunity to have hands-on experience in investigating an issue of strategic importance to your company over the duration of the Programme.

5. Globalising Asian business, Asianising global business

   Focused on Asian businesses, our case studies are a distinctive feature in our curriculum. They will provide you with an in-depth understanding of doing business in Asia and integrate a global perspective along with it. Our Centre of Management Practice produces case studies focusing on Asian companies and these supplement your case studies written on Western companies.

6. World-class University and excellent city location

   QS Stars objectively ranks universities based on 11 key pillars of what makes a world-class university. These key pillars account for a number of factors that are often overlooked in other university rankings and assessments, including research, teaching, employability, internationalisation, facilities, online/distance learning, social responsibility, innovation, arts & culture, inclusiveness, and specialisation.

   For 2016, our university received a QS five-star rating for the following categories:

   1. Overall Excellence
   2. Employability
   3. Internationalisation
   4. Facilities
   5. Inclusiveness
   6. Specialisation: Social Sciences and Management

   Our university has 27 specialised research centres and institutes. These centres that include The Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, The Centre for Marketing Excellence, The BNP Paribas Hedge Fund Centre, The International Trading Institute and The Institute of Service Excellence, amongst others, are designed to foster cutting-edge cross-functional and multi-disciplinary research that is highly relevant to the ambit of business.

   Based on research contributions over the period 2012 to 2019, our Lee Kong Chian School of Business was ranked 2nd in Asia and 33rd globally in the University of Texas at Dallas Top 100 Worldwide Business School Research Rankings

   In the area of finance research, our university achieved the top spot in Asia and ranked 13th worldwide, in Arizona State University's top 100 rankings, based on the number of research articles published in top international finance journals in 2009.

   In the area of accountancy, SMU has been ranked 1st in Asia and 6th globally for Archival Research (all topics) in the Brigham Young University Accounting Research Rankings 2015. 

   Our School of Economics has been ranked 3rd in Asia and 91st worldwide in Tilburg University's Economics Ranking 2010. The same rankings by Tilburg University also place our university 1st in Asia and 8th worldwide in the area of econometrics, based on research contributions in 2009.

   To top it off, our location at the heart of Singapore's bustling central business district positions us to provide you with an ease of access and unparalleled opportunities for networking and personal growth.