Looking for advice regarding applications:

Me:
-39 yo
-BSc Mechanical Engineering, average grades from a mid tier Norwegian University
-10+ years in operations and project management across a broad set of industries
-Feeling stuck in a rut and looking to use an EMBA to either boost my current career or do an industry shift.
-Not really looking to relocate, though may consider it for an amazing opportunity

Was accepted into the two top programmes in Norway (NHH, BI), but have deferred entry until next year, but am considering whether it is worth it to go through the application process for top european schools, ie LBS, INSEAD, IESE, IMD, etc

What are the pros and cons? Have identified the following, but open for more suggestions:

Local pros:
Better networking (What value does this add?)
Lower cost
Less travel

Top 10 pros:
Higher caliber co-students
Better brand name (Though only top tier schools have any brand recognition in Norway)
Higher quality education

Any and all feedback is appreciated :).

I think you should focus on your career goals and then look for the degree that best fits them. When you are feeling stuck, it can be easy to find any route out. Focus on your values and goals and then look at options. Don't restrict yourself to MBAs.

Hey Duncan, thanks for the feedback.

I do think the emba/mba is a decent fit to my goals, which are moving into senior management, or a operations development/strategy role.

I definitely need an advanced degree moving forwards, but don't really need to double down on technical skills. Soft skills, as well as rounding out my profile with management relevant skills are more important.

For soft skills I would certainly focus on the schools with the biggest executive education businesses. Look at http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/executive-education-customised-2019 and add in the Skills column.

That's an interesting perspective that I hadn't considered.

Looking at the rankings, IESE seems to come out on top - Of the Norwegian schools, only BI is represented on the list, though quite a ways down the rankings.

Maybe not so surprising that schools in the Catholic world need stronger soft skills training than in Norway, where what you say and what you mean are often very close.

I see your point, though we may have a different definition of soft skills.

For Norway, lack of hierarchies and expectations of strong worker engagement often produces introverted and conflict averse leaders, whilst in Catholic countries you have the opposite problems of leading through positional power and lack of respect for subordinates.

For my own part "executive presence", decisiveness and confidence are clear development areas, though not really something that is clearly addressed in most schools' marketing materials. However I see a strong leadership development track in a programme being a distinct advantage.

Maybe LBS is an option? Very focused on groupwork and peer leadership.b

Based on the website I think LBS may be a good fit based on the points you make, as well as leadership development and career support.

Are you familiar with the teaching methods at LBS? Does it follow the HBS case method or more traditional lectures? Practical vs academic?

I graduated from the EMBA at LBS. It uses a combination of cases and lectures, but cases are certainly central even to the lectures. For example, accounting and finance are very well suited to lectures, but the cases bring the concepts to life. It's certainly very skills-based. For example, I recall giving an MBA project to students from Imperial. They knew what a Beta was, but they didn't know how to calculate it. At LBS, you really end up knowing how to use data.

I really appreciate the help. Looks like I may be sublitting an application to LBS.

Do you have any insight as to how LBS compares on the points we discussed to other top european schools?

I can't think of anything that isn't already said. I don't think here's an EMBA in that group of schools with a stronger focus on groupwork, deep general management skills and the full range of full-time MBA experiences, like access to all electives and exchange programmes