In 1943, during the time of World War II, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business launched a management program, which the world had never seen. An early brochure of the program noted: "The present national emergency has created an unprecedented demand for trained men � trained not only as engineers and mechanics but as administrators, supervisors and analysts. The task of war is one of co-ordination of men and the materials in the work of industrial production; it is problem of management. Such training requires the special facilities of well-equipped and well-staffed institutions to give this of instructions. The need is urgent." It was the beginning of world's first Executive MBA programs. Since then, Executive MBA programs offered by universities across the globe are on high demand for the working professionals who are looking for fast track growth in their career. However, the wide adaption of this program with different delivery models and the inappropriate use of the term 'Executive' for some of the regular MBA programs have created many confusions among the aspirants.

In India, asking aspirants about how 'Executive MBA' differs from 'MBA for Executives' will most likely end up into a confusing discussion. It is due to the usage of the word 'Executive' in several management courses that have been offered by our IIM clan. Yet, many aspirants believe that the name 'Executive MBA' is just a marketing gimmick to promote MBA programs. In reality, EMBA and traditional MBA are fundamentally different. While, traditional MBAs are designed for candidates at an early stage in their career with minimum work experience ranging from 0-3 years, Executive MBAs are structured programs best suited for candidates with a substantial amount of work experience, often including prior management responsibilities. As there are many more aspects to differentiate EMBA from traditional MBA, it is important to pick the right program based on quality, variety and relevance for an upward movement in the career ladder. Understanding the necessity to find best EMBA programs in the country, in this issue of Higher Education Review Magazine, we have listed India's best 20 EMBA providers excluding IIMs. In the next few pages, we have listed the names of India's Best 20 Institutes for Executive MBA and we have created snapshots of some of them for a quick understanding and comparison for our readers to choose their best. We sincerely hope that our efforts will help all those professionals who are looking for something challenging and new to add in their profiles.