Master of Business Administration (MBA) Full Time

• You have at least three years of professional work experience
• You are ready to change your future and accelerate your career
• You are aligned with our values of community, curiosity, courage, and rigor
• You seek a program where you can tailor your academic journey to meet your needs.

Topics

• Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Managerial Analytics
• Strategic Leadership
• Global Strategic Management

The full-time MBA schedule delivered at ESMT Berlin blends academic theory and practical application, with a significant portion focusing on experiences outside the classroom. The specific skills you learn can be tailored to fit the type of career you are interested in pursuing, with numerous options to choose from throughout the program including specialization tracks, electives, and summer learning experiences.

All students will begin with a management foundation that establishes core business knowledge and empowers them to develop a holistic perspective as they progress and focus on their chosen specialization.

During the summer, there are multiple opportunities for personal development and following that, you can tailor the program even more with a range of elective courses. From September, you are in the driver’s seat. Choose from one of two focused tracks: managerial analytics, or innovation & entrepreneurship.

You can also enrich your MBA experience with further international exposure by taking part in a full-term exchange or joining a social impact project over the summer. Take a look at the full range of international options we offer, if you’re eager to expand your worldwide professional and personal network and launch a truly global career.

Below you can explore the curriculum and courses in more detail, or check out our other dedicated pages for information about networking, personal development, student life, and careers.

Curriculum and course availability are subject to change at any time.

Module 1

Build your foundation

The program begins with the foundations of management, a module designed to give you an integrated understanding of key business functions and provide valuable insights irrespective of the direction you want to take your MBA.

This module aims to equip everyone with the same essential tools required to work through the rest of the MBA program and build a successful career afterward. It introduces a holistic overview of all the key areas of business knowledge and provides a solid foundation for aspiring general managers.

The courses in this module establish the core competencies for managing organizations, assessing economic impact, and making decisions. This is also where you identify your leadership style and continue to develop it throughout the program.

In the latter half of this module, students at German language level A1 or A2 have the option of joining a 10-week program of twice-weekly German evening classes.

Establish the Foundation

• Intro to General Management
• Presentation skills
• Structure thinking
• Inclusive leadership
• Building high-performance teams
• German evening class (optional)

Develop a Holistic Perspective

• Competitive strategy
• From analytics to AI
• Evidence-based management
• Financial Accounting
• Finance
• Intro to economic thinking
• Management Accounting
• Managerial analysis and decision making
• Marketing management
• Organizational behavior
• Operations and supply chain

Module 2

Summer options

Choose one of the three summer options to support your personal and professional development and further boost your employability.

Summer internships

Put the skills you’ve learned into practice and/or try a new industry with a summer internship (6–12 weeks).

If you have always wondered what it would be like to work in a particular industry or job role, you can find out in a summer internship. This could be the springboard to change your career or just gain valuable experience, all while presenting an excellent opportunity to start applying the lessons you've learned so far.

Summer language school

Students at the A2 or B1 German language level are eligible for the intensive summer language program (6 weeks).

If you are committed to a career in Germany, developing your German language skills will be very useful. The six-week summer language school is a great opportunity to build upon the German you already have and take it to the next level.

Social impact challenge

Team up to solve a corporate or social challenge (6–8 weeks).

Budding intra- and entrepreneurs can team up to take on a social impact project. It offers participants an opportunity to act as an economic or management consultant for an organization with specific social impact objectives.

Modules 3 and 4

Specialization

Develop specialized skills by choosing from two focused tracks.

The program tracks are where you begin to tailor your MBA. Choose between innovation entrepreneurship and managerial analytics.

In both tracks, you will build on your understanding of management fundamentals and grow beyond basic management theory. The objective at this stage is for you to develop an ability to make a difference – through innovation, or analytics.

Regardless of your specialization, the courses in this module all focus on the areas where future leaders must excel, and where they must have specific awareness.

This module is supplemented with various leadership seminars such as:

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

Managerial Analytics

• Customer analytics
• Advanced decision modelling
• Machine learning

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

• The human factor of innovation
• Creating and capturing value
• Entrepreneurial finance & valuation

Elective Courses

In the fourth module you can also choose from a broad range of electives focused on topics that include digital transformation, sustainability, entrepreneurship, leadership, personal mastery, and more.

Choose from a suite of electives focused on various themes such as:

• Sustainability
• Digital transformation
• Industry 4.0
• Entrepreneurship
• Leadership and personal mastery
• Business German (for those at B1 or higher)

Module 5

Practical experience

The capstone project for your MBA will apply what you have learned to a real-world consulting project. Budding entrepreneurs can use this time to work on their enterprises.

This consulting project is where you get to see how far you have come by applying the new skills and insights you have learned to a real-life business situation.

Working in teams, the project offers a practical learning experience that can be used to diversify your skills portfolio should you choose to work in a different industry or function, or build upon your previous experience with a new strategic challenge.

Capstone projects are secured by our career services through our corporate partners and contacts. Entrepreneurship Club members can choose to work on innovation projects from local startups. You will use your team’s experience to write a final analytical paper.

Graduation

Graduates of ESMT Berlin automatically qualify for an 18-month work visa in Germany for which no employer support is needed.

Graduate from the program and jump straight into your career. With over 80% of graduates staying in Germany, the ESMT Berlin MBA is a great way to bring your international talents to Germany.

ESMT’s MBA is a 15-month, personalized program with significant international and intercultural components. MBA courses focus on innovation, technology, managing big data, sustainable business development, entrepreneurship, and global strategic management.

• Bloomberg: Best B-Schools Rankings 2022-2023 (#12 in Europe)
• Corporate Knights Better World Ranking
• Forbes: The Best Business Schools (#10 among one-year, international programs)
• The Financial Times: Global MBA Rankings
• The Financial Times: Top MBAs for entrepreneurship (#2 in Germany)
• The Financial Times: Top MBA schools for environmental, social and corporate governance teaching (#8)
• The Economist: Which MBA? (#12 in Europe)
• Poets & Quants World's Best MBA Programs for Entrepreneurship 2024.

Graduating from ESMT with your MBA is just the first step in a career that can now be defined by greater ambitions and broader horizons. Get more information on the career outcomes of full-time MBA Alumni and learn how you can start to prepare for your new career while you are still studying for your MBA.

The full-time MBA program from ESMT Berlin is designed to develop future leaders and prepare them for the next step of their careers.

Throughout the MBA program, you’ll work individually with coaches, mentors, and advisors who can give you professional feedback and advice on how to achieve your goals and transition into your next career opportunity.

Running in parallel to your formal learning experience is a structured career curriculum designed to help you identify, explore, and connect with your post-MBA future.

• The Full-time MBA program is ranked #2 globally and #1 in Germany in Poets & Quants World’s Best MBA Programs For Entrepreneurship In 2024
• Discover all of our degree rankings
• Located in Berlin, Germany’s political, cultural, and startup capital
• Our global alumni network of international business professionals represents numerous industries and sectors around the world.