Top Universities to Study an EMBA in Berlin

Universities in Berlin offer a good selection of credible EMBA programs. The program fees are also famously good value for money, particularly when compared to some EMBA program fees in North America. Those looking study in Berlin will also, no doubt, be very interested in the city’s many charms outside of its universities.

Germany is seen as the powerhouse of the European Union. It has the largest national economy in Europe, and recorded the highest trade surplus in the world, worth US$250 billion in 2014. Accordingly, the German economy is one of the main engines of MBA & EMBA demand in Western Europe – as reported in the QS TopMBA.com Jobs & Salary Trends Report 2014/2015.

The Berlin’s business districts are home to multinational organizations such as Siemens and Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, who are headquartered in the city and have significant MBA and executive recruitment programs. Berlin is now very much driven by the service sector rather than manufacturing, although Daimler and BMW continue to manufacture cars and motorcycles in the city.

The city ranks among the top innovative regions in the EU  according to the European Commission, and is known for its burgeoning tech sector – it even has its own ‘Silicon Allee’. There is also a strong media presence in Berlin – media giants such as MTV Europe, Viva and public service broadcaster RBB all have headquarters in the thriving financial district.

Here is a selection of some universities in Berlin that offer executive MBAs.  

European School of Management and Technology

Although only established in 2002, ESMT has fast grown in popularity with business students around the world. ESMT’s executive MBA in Berlin runs for 18 months and is taught in one week modules that take place every two months at the Berlin campus.

The school has a global perspective, so two of the EMBA modules are delivered abroad with ESMT partner schools in Russia and Turkey. The school also runs a two-week module that takes students to an overseas country of current significance depending on the year that the intake enrolls.

ESMT also holds International Field Seminars where EMBA participants can experience leading international projects inside global companies from all over the world. Recent seminars took EMBA classes as far as China, Brazil, Vietnam, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Argentina.

Berlin School of Creative Leadership

Berlin School of Creative Leadership is a not-for-profit school offering executive MBA qualifications that can be completed over one or two years. The school is unique in that it does not seek to enroll traditional EMBA students from the finance sector, but instead targets people who work in creative industries such as film and music production, games, fashion, design, advertising and television.

The scope for MBA jobs upon completing study in Berlin is vast and no doubt an attractive incentive for EMBA students wishing to hone their skills for management work in the media sector.

The program consists of five two-week modules spread over 12-24 months. Three of the modules take place in Berlin while the other two are taught in Asia and North America. Students are taught by creative industry specialists in each international location where they will learn about everything from accounting and finance to media and entertainment branding. The school works closely with leading educational institutions in each country to help gage understanding of specific styles of leadership in creative industries.

ESCP Europe Business School

ESCP Europe Business School offers an executive MBA in Berlin that is also taught in London (as well as other tracks available in Paris, Torino, Madrid and Beirut). Students enrolled onto this course benefit from studying in a cohort of just 20 people.

Classes are taught in both cities in order to maximize the networking potential of the close-knit group of participants. Students will also benefit from taking part in five week-long international seminars designed to explore a specific theme related to the business environment. In the past, seminars have taken place in New York, São Paulo and Brussels.

ESCP is a popular destination for entrepreneurial-minded executive MBAs. The school aims to foster entrepreneurial talent and dedicates part of its program to a scheme that allows students to set a marketing strategy and launch their own startup while enrolled on the degree.

Aside from asking for a minimum of five years’ work experience and a graduate degree (though in lieu of this, they will accept those in high positions), the programs only other listed requirement is to have high levels of motivation!