How to Build a Successful Business Career in Europe’s Leading Country
Germany – A Country Full of Opportunities?
Germany: the centre of Europe and a country known for its strive for perfectionism and precision in all aspects of life. It is often considered a country with tons of opportunities and with that, a well built education system. This becomes even more visible once you have a look at the number of students from abroad: from the almost 3 Mio. university students in 2018, every 10th university student in Germany comes from another country. The reasons for that lie especially in the wide range of work opportunities which are offered after being awarded a degree from a German institution. There is obviously a variety of courses covered in the more than 400 universities in the country, but since the Germans’ desire for structure is especially reflected in their business lives, it is interesting to take a look at the business schools in Germany.
Hence we, at EDUopinions, asked ourselves – what are the best business schools in Germany?
Mannheim Business School (MBS)
One name that will appear quite frequently when doing research on the best German universities is definitely Mannheim Business School (MBS), which is an umbrella organisation for the management sector at the University of Mannheim. It was established in 1967 and has about 12,000 students in total; 55% of which are international students.
Overall, the University of Mannheim is divided into five schools – the School of Law and Economics, Social Sciences, Humanities, Business Informatics and Mathematics and lastly, the Business School, which was founded in 2005. Recently in 2018 it was ranked #1 in Germany in the international MBA Rankings by Forbes, the Financial Times, and The Economist. With that, it is one of the largest business faculties in Europe and in general, considered the best German and one of the leading European business schools by several rankings. For instance, it is triple accredited by EQUIS, AACSB and AMBA. The school’s prestige and good reputation is reflected in the number of applications the school receives every year.
The university states itself that they are the undisputed #1 in Germany when it comes to educating future business leaders. When referring to their success factors, they mention their world-class research and teaching, the strong practice-orientation, the resolute quality management, and the fact that they are highly international in all areas. But what are the actual values of MBS?
Mannheim Business School has a mission statement which offers a guiding principle for their work. It is divided into the topics research, programmes, learning environment, vision and value. To reach their goals in these topics, they want to, for example, reach out to high-profile collaborators, expand their international network of leading academic partners, keep the admission standards high in order to select the best participants, develop subject-specific knowledge, acquire a problem-solving ability, foster intercultural competence and practise social responsibility. Lastly, the five core values consist of responsibility, innovation, excellence, knowledge transfer, and market orientation.
Regarding the campus, you will quickly notice a royal touch as MBS is largely based in the baroque palace in the centre of the city that was built between 1720 and 1760, with a 450 metre long facade and six hectares of enclosed space. The website even offers a 360° campus tour. The university itself has much to offer as well, covering a wide range of sporting activities, a choir and orchestra, theatre groups, a lot of nightlife options, endless initiatives, and political groups.
Check out MBS’s EDUopinions page.
Otto Beisheim School of Management (WHU)
The second German business school that I want to mention, boasting high-quality accreditations such as AACSB, EQUIS, and FIBAA, is the Otto Beisheim School Of Management (WHU).
It was founded in 1984 and is internationally oriented and privately financed. It is located in Vallendar Duesseldorf and maintains a network of over 204 partner universities worldwide, offering double degree programmes with some of their partner universities to their almost 1,500 students (2018). The study programmes involve International Business Administration, Management, Finance, and Entrepreneurship while trying to make the students understand the interdisciplinary relationships of a company and to make sustainable strategic decisions with the help of the latest management techniques.
The selection process consists of two parts. First, the students are preselected according to their academic or personal achievements. If that is enough, they will get an invitation to the final selection day, where candidates have to hold presentations, talk to representatives and go through mathematical tests. All in all, only 20% out of the roughly 1000 applicants are accepted.
The university itself emphasises the “WHU Spirit”, which is defined by a feeling of responsibility and mutual respect. Furthermore, it mentions its renowned and international faculty, the fact that they are truly international in all core areas of activity and their strong network of partner universities.
Lastly, WHU offers a lot of student clubs that do not only cover music and sports but also politics, charity, and economics.
Look at WHU’s EDUopinions page and see what students have to say about the institution!
So What Now?
These are only two business schools out of 35. That only comes to show that the standard must be high, considering the fact that the two best universities out of the 35 have accreditations like the ones mentioned. The new semester is starting soon and if you are looking for a new country in which to expand your career, Germany might be it. If you are interested, just visit the websites of each university and look for the conditions in order to have an incredible, successful experience in Germany!
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