I have 15+ years of experience and am currently working as a Sr R&D Manager in an MNC. I am based in Bangalore. My organization has presence in Europe as well as North America. I currently work very closely with a GM of a portfolio which is based in Europe (not sure, if this is relevant) - business teams are based in Germany and Switzerland. I have bachelor's degree in engineering from Bangalore.

My main goal of pursuing (G)EMBA is to improve my business acumen which can enable me to move to a commercial role - strategy/product management/GM role. I want to keep my work location open to Europe and Canada. Europe - if I happen to switch my role within the same organization, moving to Germany/Switzerland will be easier. Canada - in case I need to quit and find another job, my preference is Canada.

I have ruled out INSEAD & TRIUM as they are cost prohibitive. After much consideration, I have finalized HEC EMBA and Rotman-Bocconi GEMBA. HEC EMBA is #3 on FT list. I get a vibe that this course is geared more towards entrepreneurship, but the current cohort >50% from corporate world. Will I be able to achieve my goal through this program? Rotman-Bocconi gives me an advantage of dual degree - one from Canada and one from Italy. This leaves my options wide open about my destination work location. But their GEMBA is not highly ranked.

Any suggestions on how can I arrive at a decision?

Which schools have the most MBA alumni in your organization in the locations you are considering, or in the other firms you might want to work for?

In my current org, there are a handful of alumni from HEC in European teams and quite a few from Rotman, but they are from MBA/EMBA, not GEMBA. If I look at Canadian firms I would like to work for, then definitely Rotman wins. I have not explored potential employers in Europe, since I assumed my current org will facilitate the move, but I will explore that now.

Don't think as Europe as a country. Focus on the specific national markets and use LinkedIn rather than your own knowledge. There are more than two schools.

Actually, the Rotman Bocconi rankings were non-existent before this year, simply because it's a new program and ranking requirements don't allow programs to show up until they're at least 3 years old. The first cohort entered 2019.  Rotman Bocconi GEMBA just showed up as #10 in the world by QS. 

Yes, but Duncan's advice still stands: analyzing the alumni networks from the participant schools should be able to give you a good indication of where the schools' strengths are. QS is not a reliable ranking, by the way. 

Rankings matter less than goals.

I agree with StuartHE on this one.

"Rankings matter less than goals."

[Edited by Andy776 on Jul 14, 2021]