Executive Decisions

HRM. What do you think are the main benefits of taking an executive MBA?
RG. An executive MBA program is a unique opportunity for seasoned executives to develop high-level and cutting edge management skills while maintaining a strong career path. The EMBA classroom is a true learning laboratory where world-renowned faculty and an outstanding group of peers work together to enhance critical thinking capabilities, hone basic skills, and master new skills. The years of experience that precede entry into an EMBA program provide a great foundation from which executives can both expand their holistic understanding of organizations while simultaneously developing a comprehensive set of tools and metrics for competing in today’s and tomorrow’s dynamic business environment.

HRM. What kind of skills and knowledge do you think today’s working leaders would benefit from?
RG. My perspective is that all managers need to have a core set of seven fundamental skills: technical, interpersonal, conceptual, diagnostic, communication, decision-making, and time-management skills. Of course, the mix of skills and the relative importance of those skills vary from one organization to another, from one organizational level to another, and from one time period to another. Managers with this skill set are well prepared to confront and capitalize on emerging workforce, marketplace, and competitive forces. These forces include globalization, information technology, workforce diversity, and myriad other elements. Without a core set of management skills from which to draw, executives can easily lose their way.

HRM. Do you think the typical lecture-driven classroom format is an effective learning environment?
RG. Lecture delivery can be an effective way to teach some of the more objective and technical business subjects. Certain basic material from statistics, economics, and accounting, for instance, can be taught reasonably well using the lecture method. But most business skills require much more than lecture. A brief lecture might work well to introduce key terms, define basic concepts, and outline general models. Beyond this, an EMBA classroom must quickly evolve into an interactive learning laboratory in which participants exchange ideas among themselves, debate and discuss those ideas, and simultaneously broaden their perspectives on how business works while sharpening their analytical and conceptual skills that relate to those perspectives.

HRM. What does your institution offer to potential students?
RG. There are many outstanding EMBA programs around the world, I do believe, however, that we offer an exceptional and unique program. For one thing, we use only our top faculty in our EMBA program. Just as important, we follow a dynamic and fluid curriculum that maximizes synergy across subjects and allows the utmost flexibility for creating an integrated learning environment. Rather than adhere to a traditional lock-step academic model, we use a flexible modular format that allows us to expand and reduce coverage of various topics as appropriate, while also varying the sequence of material in order to provide the strongest contemporary coverage. Our EMBA program also has an unusually experienced cadre of participants. Most surveys, for example, determine that executives who select our program comprise one of the most experienced groups in the world. And last but not least, the power of the Aggie Network provides immeasurable benefit to those who graduate from our program.

About Dr. Ricky Griffin
Dr. Ricky Griffin is Interim Dean, Mays Business School, Texas A&M University
Dr. Griffin joined the faculty at Texas A&M University in 1981. His current academic titles are Distinguished Professor of Management and holder of the Blocker Chair in Business. He received his BBA from the University of North Texas and later received his MBA and Ph.D. from the University of Houston. During his career at Texas A&M he has taught at the undergraduate, masters, and Ph.D. levels. He currently teaches in the Mays EMBA program and in several programs offered through the Mays Center for Executive Development.

From 1994 to 1997 he served as Director of the Center for Human Resource Management at Mays Business School. He then served as Head of the Department of Management from 1997 to 2000. In 2000 he was appointed as Executive Associate Dean of Mays Business School. In June 2007 Griffin was appointed as Interim Dean of Mays Business School.