14 years of SGBS and CSB CUE Cooperation

The 14th edition of the International MBA Programme started in October 2019. It is taking place at the Cracow School of Business at the Cracow University of Economics and is organised in cooperation with the St.Gallen Business School in Switzerland.

The Cracow School of Business is a specialized unit of the Cracow University of Economics and focuses on providing courses such as postgraduate studies, training and research, consulting and publishing. The school offers more than 70 majors of postgraduate studies, MBA studies, courses, training and research programmes. As part of the postgraduate studies the School accepts more than 1,000 students annually. The CSB CUE works in broad cooperation with local authorities, businesses and cultural centres as well as with other schools, universities and community colleges in Poland and abroad. Thanks to its dynamic development and success the School is gaining more and more international recognition and has a high position in Polish rankings.

The St.Gallen Business School is partner of the International MBA Programme. Since the 1970s, St.Gallen has gradually developed into a centre of contemporary management training. The school is now one of the largest and most renowned institutions providing practical knowledge of management for executives from German-speaking area.

The relationship between the two schools began fourteen years ago as a result of negotiations conducted between the Director of CSB CUE and the Director of St.Gallen Business School – Dr. oec. HSG. Christian Abegglen. CSB CUE was selected by the Swiss from the many other Polish universities which, at that time, were also negotiating a possible joint MBA programme. Years of fruitful cooperation have confirmed that this decision was the best possible one, and now the close relationship between Cracow and St.Gallen stimulates the creation of new initiatives and projects.

The jointly conducted International MBA Programme in Cracow is based on an original concept of integrated management which has been developed over the years by the long-term scientific director and former chairman of the Board of St.Gallen Business School – Professor Knut Bleicher. Currently, this concept provides not only quick and simple solutions but also provides a structure within which managers, gaining better knowledge of the general context, are able to identify problems and determine their potential, viable solutions. This approach is enhanced by considering real examples of international business practice. Half of the lecturers in the Programme are from outside Poland, but all have international experience and a practical approach to the issues raised in class.
In addition, every year the Programme participants visit our partner in Switzerland and have the opportunity to get to know companies using the typical Swiss management model as well as international corporations which have their branches there.

So far the students have visited organizations such as:

During the 14 years of the studies 259 senior managers completed the International MBA Programme. Currently, there are 54 students in two parallel editions.

The average age of the students entering the Programme is around 34-37 years, their managerial experience is around 8-10 years, and their average professional experience is more than 12 years in various companies and corporations.
All classes are in the English language, not only to allow the participation of Polish citizens but also the participation of foreigners residing in Poland on management contracts or those arriving in Cracow for educational purposes only.

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