Three Executive MBA classes have graduated since EFL implemented major innovative restructuring of its program. The aim was to apply new approaches and concepts to its already successful concept and create an Executive MBA version 2.0 – a custom-made program adapted and structured based on the challenges faced by the managers of today. The results of a wide-ranging evaluation clearly indicate that the new approach has done very well.
Since the mid 1990s, EFL has partnered with the Lund University School of Economics and Management to provide a top-quality Executive MBA program. In advance of the start of the program in 2013, EFL decided to engage in extensive restructuring with the goal of challenging reigning “truths” and break new ground by creating an Executive MBA 2.0 adapted to the challenges faced by the managers of today. The resulting, adaptive program is closely tied to the immediate challenges facing participants’ organizations.
“An Executive MBA is naturally a dynamic concept constantly evolving, but when we decided a few years ago to invest in extensive restructuring we had a clear ambition to take the lead in creating an Executive MBA for the future. In dialogue with the EFL member companies, the alumni of the program and other stakeholders, we wanted to challenge old truths and think innovatively,” says EFL CEO Henrik Lundgren.
Tony Åkesson, Director Executive MBA, and Henrik Lundgren, CEO, EFL
The new and improved program is distinguished by making the strategic challenges of participants’ organizations a more central part of the learning process. The tools and theories of the program are immediately employed in specific business development cases, making it possible to practice in a real setting.
“The trend is clear. Personal leadership is important, but it has become even more important for program participants to hone their abilities to lead and develop their businesses,” says Tony Åkesson, Director Executive MBA. “The positive effects are immediately apparent. We have observed in recent years that many participants have repositioned their businesses while taking the program and witnessed the unprecedented power of investing in an Executive MBA program.”
Our intent is that the participating companies will earn back the program fee and more as their participants develop the structural capital of their organizations.
“The personal development of the participating individual combines with the progress of the organization in a powerful way that is win-win for all involved. We help reinforce these ties to lay the foundation for long-term success,” says Tony Åkesson.
Many of the challenges that participants share and tackle during the program become successful business areas, changes, or projects, reinforcing the value of an academically grounded program with a sharp focus on real-life challenges.
“Meeting participants who say that going for an Executive MBA here with us was one of the best decisions of their lives, or reading in the news every now and then of successful projects stemming from our program, is enormously satisfying,” says Henrik Lundgren.
The Executive MBA class of 2019 begins on September 19, 2017.