Central European University is launching a new Executive Master of Business Administration program. CEU Executive MBA is a mid-career management program for professionals with at least eight years of experience, including three years of leadership experience, who want to transform their professional future by moving from operational and functional expertise to positions of strategic responsibility.
Please visit the CEU Executive MBA website.
“MBA Programs have been accused of promoting a neo-liberal tunnel vision—of producing graduates with extremely narrow perspective, who then destroy a lot of economic value by contributing to disasters like the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. A lot of that criticism is valid, and CEU responds to this with a program that utilizes the thought leadership of our entire multidisciplinary university” says Professor Maciej Kisilowski of the Department of Economics and Business and faculty co-director of the Executive MBA program.
Kisilowski stressed that the program reacts to the changing notions of competitiveness in the world and also addresses the needs of mid-career professionals who aim to move from functional expertise to truly strategic leadership roles. “We summarize this with the notion of ‘EMBA for an Open World.’ This is a program that recognizes the tensions and contradictions of today’s postindustrial economy that increasingly relies on knowledge as a source of competitive advantage” Kisilowski said.
At a time when governmental environments are getting increasingly closed-minded, businesses are pressured to open up to new network strategies, more demanding creative talent and faster ways of learning and adapting.
Navigating this complex web of technological, organizational, generational and political tensions will define business leadership for decades to come. With that in mind, the CEU Executive MBA is a bespoke program that combines high-level strategic, decision-making and leadership training with cutting-edge interactive case-based instruction in finance, data analytics, economics, marketing, innovation and entrepreneurship. CEU Executive MBA educates participants in cutting-edge managerial techniques and trends, while immersing them in intensive learning and personal development.
“If you want to be more competitive in today’s knowledge-based economy, you need to think less like a politician and more like an intellectual; after all, we now mostly think for a living” adds Professor Yusaf H. Akbar of the Department of Economics and Business and faculty co-director of the Executive MBA program.
“CEU is a multidisciplinary research university that is a leader in cutting edge science in many areas that are business-relevant, such as strategy, finance, data analytics or cognitive science, which is the science of decision-making. Many of these areas will help participants understand macro-level trends: environmental sciences will help them understand the implications of climate change, political science explains populism while public policy will help understand business impact of migration. We are putting these together to provide the intellectual adventure of a lifetime for mid-career managers” Akbar added.
“The CEU Executive MBA will update participants’ skills, broaden their perspective and inspire them to seek positions in leadership” he concludes.
A tailor-made program for working managers, it allows participants to earn a US-accredited MBA degree in ten convenient 4-to-9-day residencies, scheduled over 28 months to minimize disruption to work and life. Seven of the modules take place at CEU’s brand new Vienna campus and three at CEU’s Budapest campus. The inaugural class begins on April 25, 2020.
“We offer a real American-style campus experience. We will be seeking to put together an incredibly international cohort where no national group will have a dominant position in the class. We will find the most open-minded, promising and accomplished mid-career managers and provide them with a platform to exchange ideas.” says Kisilowski.
This exchange of ideas will be facilitated by some of the most accomplished management scholars in Europe. CEU Executive MBA faculty represent 20 nationalities and have graduated from the world’s top universities, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT and INSEAD. They combine their academic achievements with deep experience working with companies and organizations throughout the world.
During its initial 2020 intake as a bi-campus Vienna-Budapest program, the CEU Executive MBA will be offered at a tuition of 25.000 euro, representing one of the best price-to-value ratios in Europe. CEU offers a variety of need- and merit-based scholarships for applicants from diverse backgrounds and exceptional leadership potential.
For more information on the program and how to apply, please visit the CEU Executive MBA website.