Executive MBA Course Syllabus & Subjects 2023

An Executive MBA programme is specifically designed for corporate executives and senior managers who are already in the workforce. An Executive MBA helps corporate executives with significant work experience (minimum 3 to 5 years) to enhance their managerial skills. The Executive MBA course syllabus offers integrated business education and comprises subjects such as Finance, Marketing, Accounting, and many more. Since the Executive MBA course syllabus is designed for professional individuals, it mainly comprises methods such as case studies and discussions.

The Executive MBA course syllabus also focuses on developing leadership expertise and enhances business skills, knowledge, and network through topics in areas like Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Management, Change Management, Business Acumen, Leadership and Cross-cultural Management, Corporate Governance and Ethics, and Big Data Analytics and Cloud Technologies. Executive MBA subjects covered during the course are International Business, Marketing Management, Accounting Management, Human Resource Management, Strategic Management, Executive Communication, Business Environment and Ethics, Management Information Systems. The syllabus helps boost one’s career with strategy, finance and leadership, which are the three pillars of a successful career in management. Executive MBA elective courses give candidates an opportunity to explore more specialized or industry-specific subjects that align with their career goals, help them develop a new or existing skill, or simply give them the chance to learn more about a subject they are interested in.

The courses for the Executive MBA program are distributed in four semesters. Like regular MBA, the Executive MBA course syllabus provides a holistic business education across a range of subjects like finance, marketing, accounting, human resources, supply chain management, and more. The Executive MBA course syllabus also focuses on leadership and helps boost the candidates’ business skills, knowledge, and network as it is designed for more experienced professionals. However, there might be variations in the Executive MBA syllabus depending on the institute offering the program. Given below is the semester-wise Executive MBA syllabus: 

Individuals can avail themselves of ample options when it comes to specializations offered by the Executive MBA. The most recognized specializations are Finance, International Business, Sales and Marketing, Business Analytics, Human Resource Management and Operations Management. The range of Executive MBA stream-wise subjects under each specialization has been tabulated below:

Following are the Executive MBA course subjects and topics covered under the Executive MBA syllabus in the top B Schools in India:

The Executive MBA course subjects that are embedded in all four semesters of the Executive MBA program are as follows:

Executive MBA optional subjects enable the students to further gain specific expertise in their domain. The Executive MBA optional subjects have been mentioned below:

• Marketing
• Financial Planning
• IT Risk Management 
• IT Management Issues
• Finance and Accounting
• Entrepreneurial Learning
• Communication in Business
• Corporate Strategy and Policy
• Business and Corporations Law
• Economics and Social Sciences
• Leadership- A Critical Perspective
• Strategic Human Resource Development
• Production and Operations Management
• Decision Sciences and Information Systems
• Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources Management

The most popular specializations offered under the purview of an Executive MBA have been mentioned below:

1. Executive MBA in Finance
2. Executive MBA in Operations
3. Executive MBA in Entrepreneurship
4. Executive MBA in Retail Management
5. Executive MBA in Artificial Intelligence
6. Executive MBA in Finance Leadership
7. Executive MBA in International Business
8. Executive MBA in Marketing Management
9. Executive MBA in Enterprise Management
10. Executive MBA in International Management
11. Executive MBA in Business Analytics & Big Data
12. Executive MBA in Human Resource Management 
13. Executive MBA in Tourism & Hospitality Management 
14. Executive MBA in Rural & Agri-Business Management
15. Executive MBA in Pharma & Healthcare Management 
16. Executive MBA in Healthcare and Hospital Management
17. Executive MBA in Logistics and Supply Chain Management

A Distance Executive MBA program is designed for those students who cannot pursue a full-time MBA program due to economic constraints, work schedules, etc. The detailed Executive MBA course syllabus for the distance program has been provided below:

In order to seek admission to the Executive MBA program, candidates must qualify for entrance exams like CAT, GMAT, GRE, etc. Various private colleges conduct their own entrance exams, like the XLRI administers the XAT and SP Jain conducts the SPJAT. The structure of the exam is usually as follows:

• Verbal Ability 
• Quantitative Aptitude 
• Data Analysis
• Critical reasoning 
• General Awareness and Knowledge (Indian/Global)

The student may refer to the following syllabus for general preparation for all the MBA entrance exams, as most of them have similar patterns and overlapping syllabus:

Quantitative Ability

Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation

Verbal Ability

General Knowledge and Awareness

The following reference books make it easy for the candidates to score maximum marks in the Executive MBA course:

An Executive MBA course syllabus comprises core subjects and elective subjects. Executive MBA syllabus brings about a change in an individual’s vision of business and helps him or her to master strategic corporate issues, and to develop a capacity for entrepreneurship. The most important aspects of the Executive MBA curriculum are:

1. Project/Report Submission: The Executive MBA curriculum includes consultancy projects that play a major role in offering opportunities to the participants to familiarize them with the intricacies of the industry. 
    
2. Case studies: Case studies constitute a major part of the Executive MBA program to think through the various solutions and the process used to arrive at the solutions to business issues. In the case method, students are presented with a broad business issue (being faced by the company management) typically accompanied by supporting data and facts. Students discuss the business problem in class, identify the relevant data points and come up with possible solutions either individually or in groups. The case method requires active student participation and engagement to be successful.
    
3. Group-Based Projects and Activities: These aim to understand different viewpoints, learn from the experience of your peers and simulate a team environment. Students are divided into learning teams of 6-8 people who go through the course and complete activities together such as assignments etc. since in the business world, work is often done in teams and the success of an organization depends on the co-operation & participation of team members.

The following table provides the Executive MBA course curriculum in detail: