NEW Graduate Program

Executive MBA

Learn to Build a Sustainable World SM



In collaboration with
Stanford Life Design Lab Design Life

The mission of IBA-EMBA is to make business a driving force for good by creating leadership capital for increasing the productivity, competitiveness, and sustainability of the industry, economy, and society.

The program is designed to provide advanced training to experienced executives for general management positions and leadership roles in large and medium enterprises of the private and public sectors.

IBA Karachi

IBA Karachi is the pioneer and flagbearer of business education in Pakistan. We began to offer MBA in 1956 in collaboration with Wharton School and have been developing leaders ever since. With an international alumni network of more than 20000, we are a mission-oriented university with a global outlook, regional aspirations, and local roots with significant breadth and depth. We seek to create a sustainable world, and we understand that this requires leadership with a unique mindset and skill set. Accordingly, we aim to contribute to the global leadership pool through the development of human capital and knowledge for sustainable development and growth.

IBA is a proud corporate citizen of Karachi. The city is known as Pakistan's financial capital and is home to the central bank and Stock Exchange of Pakistan. Apart from contributing about a quarter of the nation’s GDP and industrial output, Karachi is a major logistical hub and a key node in international shipping routes thanks to its international ports. Being one of the world's largest cities with a diverse population and moderate climate, the city also offers a unique social, cultural, and living experience.

IBA has a shining heritage, a fitting location, and a vibrant community of business leaders, making it a distinctive seat of learning to lead and making business a force for good.

Why IBA-EMBA?

Business competition takes place among organizations in the marketplace and the strategies and actions of organizations are defined by their leadership and management teams. Winning enterprises have winning teams. Future-ready enterprises invest today to develop the managers and leaders to win the competitive games of tomorrow.

The IBA-EMBA has been designed to cater to enterprises that wish to prepare their future managers and leaders who can lead them towards a sustainable future. The program is primarily aimed at corporate citizens but also welcomes individuals who wish to advance their career in the management profession on their own.

The organizations whose executives participate in the IBA-EMBA will gain valuable leadership capital and atain competitive advantage due to the following:

  1. 1Secure future-ready leadership that understands the world of opportunities and challenges coming their way
  2. 2Acquire a pipeline for continuous flow of contemporary ideas and knowledge from the academia
  3. 3Obtain secure links to the executive network of IBA that provides continuous flow of information from diverse sectors and industries
  4. 4Begin earning return on investment in human capital immediately through the application of knowledge and skills developed by the executive in each immersive block of the program
  5. 5Gain instant access to the Business Innovation Lab of IBA-SBS, where ongoing management challenges of participating organizations are analyzed and solved by experts of relevant fields

EMBA Overview

The IBA-EMBA is a graduate program of Level-7 qualification in Pakistan that is designed to prepare strategic leaders for large and medium enterprises in the private and public sectors. It is one of the few EMBA programs in the world based entirely on the Immersive Block Model (IBM) of learning. Compared to the semester and quarter models of conventional EMBA programs that offer several courses simultaneously on any given day or weekend, IBM involves a continuous stream of intensive learning blocks of a single course till it is complete. It combines flexibility and focus, allowing the executives to undertake an advanced academic program without having to juggle several courses alongside their professional responsibilities.

In addition to offering optimal breadth and depth of content in the classroom, the program includes a unique opportunity for international immersion on a trip to Silicon Valley and direct interactions with the managers of some of the most successful enterprises of the present day.

The program is delivered at the Main Campus of IBA Karachi which has been carefully designed to provide a combination of natural and architectural beauty suitable for an immersive learning environment.

At a Glance

22

Months

84

Weeks

42

Immersive Blocks

17

Courses

1

Capstone Project

1

International Immersion Module

14

Courses Through Weekly Blocks

3

Weeklong Courses

25

Days Away From Office

Forever

Membership of IBA Community

Program Highlights

The IBA-EMBA offers many unique features that make it a premium experience for executives and distinguish it from other EMBA programs in the region. A few of those are highlighted here.

Immersive Block Model (IBM)

Deep learning requires immersion and reflection on all important facets of a phenomenon or management situation. This necessitates focus and intensive involvement of participants to grasp all important theoretical and practical dimensions, available alternatives, and implications of each. To balance depth and breadth, the IBA-EMBA is designed as a stream of 42 immersive blocks rather than a collection of courses. Each block is a substantive course unit delivered on a given weekend. Participants complete all blocks of a course before moving to the next course. This allows participants to attain necessary focus and gain maximum flexibility.

International Immersion at Silicon Valley

To extend the participants' learning experience beyond IBA and make it especially world-class, a trip to San Francisco during the second year is an integral part of the program. During this visit, participants visit the leading business organizations at Silicon Valley and interact with leaders in business and academia operating in and around the famous tech cluster.

Academic Immersion Module (AIM)

The IBA-EMBA is a unique blend of professional and academic learning that develops reflective practitioners. It requires a particular cognitive style and approach that demands blending the executive and academic thinking. To provide the participants with a smooth transition between executive functioning and academic thinking, all participants must complete a pre-program Academic Immersion Module (AIM) spanning five consecutive weekends. This module sharpens the educational skills of participants, provides them with an overview of the whole program, and provides a smooth take-off to the EMBA journey.

Capstone Project

During the second year of the program, all participants are required to form a project team of 3-5 members from their classmates, choose a real-life strategic issue facing the organization of a team member, and apply the knowledge gained from the program to analyze the problem and recommend a strategy to address it. Each project team is assigned a faculty supervisor to provide necessary guidance throughout the project. The team concludes the project, prepares a formal report, and defends it before a faculty panel.

Corporate Mentorship

Every participant of the IBA-EMBA is provided an experienced mentor who has served at general management positions in the corporate sector. The one-on-one professional relationship provides the participant a unique opportunity to gain access to the experiential knowledge, career advice, and network resources of the mentor in accordance with their developmental needs and professional aspirations.

Program Structure

The IBA-EMBA is accredited by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan and offered on alternate weekends (Sat-Sun) for two years, punctuated by three weeklong modules and one international immersion module. The program comprises 60 credit hours distributed over carefully curated set of compulsory graduate courses. Each weekend will be dedicated to one immersive block of a specific course. The program covers all key disciplines pertaining to the management and leadership of enterprises, providing essential knowledge and skills to compete in the face of grand challenges of the contemporary world. All courses will be delivered in person by national and international faculty in accordance with the philosophy of the immersive block model. 

The IBA-EMBA is designed to serve as a platform for knowledge exchanges between academia and industry as well as among different industries and sectors. We believe that executive participants learn from each other as well as from the faculty. Accordingly, the program curriculum represents a comprehensive assortment of disciplinary knowledge that is contextually adapted to the sectors and industries represented by the executive participants in the selected cohort of a given academic year. Such adaptation allows participants to apply newly acquired knowledge in their unique organizational settings and bring the feedback to the classroom. Learning is assured through a blend of andragogical approaches including the case method, simulations, action learning, and occasional mini lectures.

The program is built on the foundations of scientific disciplines with a modern design focused on developing key professional competences in the following five areas:

  1. 1Knowledge of Business, Society, and Global Management PracticeParticipants develop the capability to evaluate the strategic role and dynamics of enterprises and their interactions with the environments in local and global contexts.
  2. 2Executive Decision MakingParticipants develop the skills of systematic thinking and logical reasoning required for effective decision making.
  3. 3Ethical Strategic LeadershipParticipants learn to navigate ethical dilemmas and make organizations a force for the good of society.
  4. 4Executive CommunicationParticipants learn to communicate effectively to various audiences using different media.
  5. 5Technology in ManagementParticipants develop competence in the application of technology in various functions of management.
Curriculum

Program Delivery:One Immersive Block on
Alternative Weekends

Week 01 M T W T F S S
Week 02 M T W T F S S
Week 03 M T W T F S S
Week 04 M T W T F S S
Week 05 M T W T F S S

Admissions

Executives of large and medium enterprises having at least 16 years of formal education and 5 years of managerial experience are eligible to apply. The admission is highly competitive, and the selection process is very rigorous as we seek to select a diverse cohort of executives representing all important sectors and industries of the private and public sectors. We seek to bring aboard highly experienced and knowledgeable executives who can make substantial contributions to the learning of their peers through active participation in class discussions, collective activities, and group projects.

To be considered for admission, the application must be endorsed by the applicant's current employer. The selection process includes a pre-selection assessment of applications, performance in the IBA Aptitude Test/GMAT/GRE, interviews, and successful completion of a pre-program Academic Immersion Module (AIM). Selected applicants will have high-quality professional experience and accomplishments, a high level of conceptual and social skills, a high level of proficiency in English, and leadership potential.

Applications can be submitted online via the link provided on the program website in accordance with the schedule of admission.

Admissions Announcement Jan
Availability of Online Forms Feb
Aptitude Test Apr
Interviews May
AIM Jul-Aug
Program Starts Sep

We arrange various online and in-person events to provide maximum information regarding the program. For the schedule of these events, please visit the program website.

Fee & Funding

The program's completion fee is announced on the program website at the start of the admission cycle for each cohort. The fee is highly competitive in the region and includes tuition and program materials only. It must be noted that participation in the program also involves other direct costs related to travel and transportation, accommodation, meals, and miscellaneous expenditures that are not included in the fee and are paid directly by the participants.

Admitted participants are required to pay 30% of the program fee within two weeks of the admission offer, 30% within the first 6 months, and 40% at the start of the second year.

The program does not offer any specific financing facility or scholarship. However, we work closely with concerned organizations and individuals to work out a funding plan for participation in the program.

Campus Accommodation

To facilitate participants of IBA-EMBA coming from outside Karachi, IBA provides a limited number of slots for accommodation on campus with all necessary facilities. The accommodation is made available for the duration of one immersive block on demand basis.

 

Visit us!

emba.iba.edu.pk
emba.info@iba.edu.pk