Timeline & courses

In detail: the MBA curriculum

• Integrated core courses

  January - May

  Right from the first module at ESMT, you are immersed in the core functional areas of business. The courses in this module form the basis for managing organizations, assessing economic impact, and making decisions. During this module, you will be building core managerial skills. You will study different organizational functions rigorously, giving you exposure to all sides of an organization.

  The Global Virtual Team constitutes an important part of this module with a project through the Global Network for Advanced Management designed to equip groups to solve organizational issues with the joint cooperation of team members dispersed on every continent.

  Course highlights:

  • Managerial Decision Making
  • Organizational Behavior
  • Operations and Supply Chain
  • Data Analytics for Managers • Accounting

• Specialized tracks

  June-September

  The second module introduces you to the core tracks of the program -- Managerial Analytics, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Leadership. All students must choose one of the three tracks. At ESMT, you'll build on your understanding of management fundamentals and grow beyond basic management theory to become a true integrative business leader. ESMT’s objective at this stage is for you to develop an ability to make a difference – through innovation, entrepreneurship, managing data, and strategic thinking and responsible leadership.

  The courses in this module stress the areas where future leaders must excel, and where they must have specific awareness. Courses in each track include:

  Managerial Analytics

  1. Hindsight: Data From Idea to Business
  2. Insight: Models
  3. Foresight: Advanced Analytics

  Innovation & Entrepreneurship

  1. From Idea to Business
  2. Human Factor of Innovation
  3. Creating and Capturing Value from New Products

  Strategic Leadership

  1. Global Economy
  2. Corporate Strategy
  3. Strategy Implementation

  Each track concludes with one "in-practice" week to work on simulation projects or visit relevant companies and organizations.

  This module is supplemented with various leadership seminars such as:

  • Mastering Negotiation Fundamentals
  • Responsible and Ethical Leadership
  • Leading Through Networks

• Electives

  October

  Through ESMT’s electives, you can further reinforce the content covered in your chosen track or vary your course selection to your preferences.

  Electives highlights:

  • Data science for managers
  • Marketing analytics
  • Entrepreneurial finance & valuation
  • Corporate entrepreneurship
  • Digital platform strategies
  • Global industrial strategies

  After finishing your on-campus electives, you have the option to attend a one-week elective course at one of the prestigious partner business schools of the GNAM network. Partner schools include Yale (USA), EGADE (Mexico), HEC Paris (France), Fudan (China) and many more.

• Consulting project

  November - January

  After the elective courses, you apply your strategic learning to a team-based applied fieldwork, which is your chance to diversify your portfolio (with a project in a different industry or function) or strengthen your previous experience with a new strategic challenge. Projects are selected from ESMT’s corporate partners and contacts, and from submissions from the Entrepreneurship and Social Impact Clubs. ESMT selects only those projects that have a significant strategic component. You will use your team’s experience to write a final analytical paper based on the fieldwork.

  ESMT MBA professional club members have an added task - to develop their own project in line with the club’s mission. The Entrepreneurship Club can work with local startups to find an innovation project. The Social Impact Club members work with NGOs and social entrepreneurs to create viable solutions to development problems.

  Just a few examples of past applied fieldwork projects:

  • Develop a business plan for a social entrepreneurial venture in the solar power industry in rural India
  • Design a development plan, strategic and operational, to internationalize a successful Berlin real estate startup within the next three years
  • Create a market overview and strategic recommendations for launching a new technological innovation onto the global market for a design and manufacturing firm based in New Zealand
  • Write a market entry strategy for a European-based renewable energy smart grid system moving into the US market
  • Study a recent merger between a German company and a Chinese company, and outline the strengths and weaknesses involved in the process, developing realistic organizational solutions to problems faced

• Pre-MBA options

  October - December (start dates vary)

  Optional pre-MBA courses include:

  • Intensive German courses at GLS (German Language School Berlin)
  • Full access to ESMT campus facilities
  • Scheduled meeting with ESMT Career Services Advisor 
  • Ability to participate in ESMT Open Lectures
  • Integration into ESMT MBA Club activities
  • Networking opportunities with current MBA class

  Fees vary based on the chosen option.

• Post-MBA options

  February - June

  After completing all academic requirements of the MBA, students can choose to defer graduation and participate in a variety of program extensions.

  • The Responsible Leaders Fellowship (RLF)
  • Intensive German language courses
  • Working at a startup incubator or accelerator