I own and manage a small consulting company in Macedonia working mostly on international development projects. I'd like to make a transition to business sector consulting targeted at international corporations present in the region and also have a safety parachute to alternatively land in an international consulting firm.
My profile is:
* Engineering diploma in IT;
* 13 years work experience out of which
- 6 year as an IT professional in US government and other international organizations in Macedonia and Balkans region
- 7 years as a manager/owner of a small consulting company (yearly revenue varied from 100,000 - 200,000 EUR)
* GMAT score of 680

Looking for FT Top 100 ranked Executive MBA programs that would:
1. open doors to consulting international companies present in the Balkans or alternatively
2. provide opportunity for an international consulting career in a renowned consulting firm.

Available funds for tuition limited to 30,000 EUR.
After considerable research came up with Pittsburgh Katz Global EMBA in Prague as first option (30,000 EUR) and CEU EMBA in Budapest as a backup (15,000 EUR). Still not sure whether Katz offers best value for money for my goals and whether CEU is recognized enough internationally.
Any input would be most valuable.

I don't think there is a top tier MBA with a strong network in the Balkans (if we exclude Greece). Are you sure these expectations are realistic? The MBA is a new and national product there. Katz will perhaps have less of a network than the CEU. How about the WU in Vienna? Or something other than an MBA like the Senior Executive Fellows program at the Harvard Kennedy School?

Thanks a lot on your input. I believe that there is a need for some background information on the consulting sector in Macedonia to be able to fully explain the logic behind my reasoning. The consulting as a concept was originally promoted by EU and US international development projects and is still a new concept for Macedonian firms. However, as Macedonia is getting closer to the EU, the international donor's presence in Macedonia is declining and so is my business, thus the need to shift business focus. By 2015 I believe that there will be no international development projects left except for the Pre-accession funds that are prone to political influence. Since I don't want to shift to a politically driven company I see the future in the private sector consulting. This sector is still underdeveloped, not well regulated and volatile.
Besides the Big four (mainly auditing big public enterprises and government bodies) there is almost no international management consulting (No MBB, Grant Thornton only) presence locally. My vision for the consulting business is based on two lines of clientelle. Foreign Direct Investments in Macedonia (greenfield or mergers & acquisitions) and local Macedonian companies looking to expand to foreign markets (export promotion, market entry analysis etc). Besides these, there are a handful of other companies in Macedonia that may require such services from the telecom, energy and utility sectors (owned by Deutche telekom, Austrian banks and utilities). The biggest investors so far in Macedonia were Greece and Austria. Also, there are several UK & US companies from the automotive sector present in Macedonia.
That brings me back to my EMBA decision. In order to achieve these strategic goals I need a more formal and internationally recognized business education and a network of fellow students - executives that may be of use in opening doors for business either in Macedonia or in their native country. There is no Top 100 MBA program in the Balkans. The best program available in radius of 1000 km (although not ranked by FT) is the CEU EMBA in Budapest (this may be debatable). It is targeting Central and Eastern Europe managers and businesses. The only top 100 EMBA that I could afford (

Thanks a lot on your input. The only top 100 EMBA that I could afford (

I'm not sure why my reply was cut off (perhaps size limits) and I couldn't add the remainder in the next post?
Here is the remainder

The CEU programme looks very good. EMBA students also have access to the New York week and the international exchange programme. During my EMBA I was able to take a full-time term at a US business school. I delegated half of my work to a colleague, and then did the rest of between 6am and 9am and at weekends. That was a really invaluable experience.

PS How about WU Vienna or an English-language MBA in Greece? AUEB, ALBA and ICBS have accredited, English-language MBAs.

PPS I don't know if there is a size limit, but there is a time-out problem with this website. If you take a long time to write, then you post can be lost. Always copy the post onto your clipboard before hitting 'Submit' ;-)

While I was trying to retype the rest of my post you answered my question :) What is your opinion why is CEU not ranked by FT and Economist? I was considering WU in Vienna but slightly over my budget (39,000 EUR) and HULT (if I could get an entrepreneurship scholarship).
Alternatively, if the business goes bust I'd like to use the EMBA as a safety parachute and land in an English speaking consulting firm in EU (probably in UK).
I hope this makes sense although it may not be realistic :)
PS. Strangely, the problem was with copying and pasting the text, not when typing it.

Take a look at WU's range of PMBAs. They are whithin your budget.

@kyuri Thanks for the info. Would you happen to know what is the trade off in PMBA vs. EMBA that justifies the price cut? Is it less contact days, more e-learning, or faculty?

In your opinion, is the FT ranking (quality) of WU and Katz proportional to the price difference with CEU i.e. 15.000 - 25.000 EUR?

Well, the CEU's executive MBA, the IMM, *is* in the rankings. I guess the part-time MBA recruits people with lower salaries both on the way in and the way out, and that's a key driver for the rankings.

I'd guess WU, CEU and Katz will be different, but similar in quality. WU might have the better alumni network *in the Balkans*. I'd test that out... Katz feels very Czech, Slovak and Polish.

Greece isn't interesting?

There are certainly more face to face learning in PMBA as there are 6 more months. In EMBA you pay for 2nd diploma, 2 more international modules and better faculty + triple accteditation. WU EMBA is of fantastic value if you need it. I don't

The Katz programme in Prague seems to be $48K, so I think WU and CEU look like great value.

Thank you guys.
I got hooked up on Katz because only they offered scholarships based on GMAT score. Based on my 680 score I got 11,000 USD deduction on the tuition bringing it down to my 30,000 EUR limit. Additionally, it was the only ranked EMBA (41st on FT '11). Plus I reckoned that coming from Pittsburgh it would be more recognized in US circles than the EU alternatives.
WU EMBA programme is on par with Katz's in my opinion and is 30% more expensive. Schedule is similar to Katz (good) but starts in October '12 compared to katz's April '12. I'd guess WU would have better network in the Balkans and CEE than Katz and on par with CEU.
CEU's brand is more American, least expensive, bit I'm not sure how executive it really is. Based on the bi - weekly, weekend based, 2 year schedule compared to the 14 and 18 months modular schedule of Katz and WU, it looks more like a part - time MBA. Today I learned from Duncan that it is possible to get one semester in exchange with several top notch MBA programs (NYU Stern, Goizueta, Krannert)
The third criteria, the parachute factor, I believe would go to Katz since I believe top 100 EMBA alumni would be more employable across Europe and recognizable in UK (debatable).
At the end, CEU + a semester at Stern may offer the perfect value for money. Let me know if you agree.

Can you speak to alumni and sit in on courses? It's possible that Katz may have higher quality.

I am having the admission interview with CEU this Wednesday and the programme starts in two weeks. I am passed the admission interview at Katz befiore the programme starts in April. That doesn't leave me much time for further investigation. I'll appreciate any CEU or Katz EMBA alumni share his/her experiences.

I'm sure the admissions team will out you in touch with alumni; just tell them that you'd like to get tips on how to prepare for the programme, and how to make the most of it. Otherwise, I'm sure you can find alumni using LinkedIn or Xing.

Thanks for the tip. Much appreciated.