For Sue Lin Heng, there was one criterion that really stood out when she was looking for an executive MBA programme, the qualification for working managers. It was its location.

A native of Singapore, Ms Heng, 31, had already lived on the west coast of the US and had a job based in Singapore with Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, the hotels consultancy group. But she had not worked either on the east coast of the US or in Europe. Consequently, it was this combination that she found appealing in the EMBA Global degree that is offered by Columbia Business School in New York and London Business School.