Taking truly dynamic individuals to the next level
The future, as the classic one-liner goes, is here. With the digital age, the way we do business has changed and its constant evolution means that leaders require unprecedented mental and strategic agility.
The ESSEC Global MBA (GMBA) recognizes and addresses this paradigm shift. It understands that learners must think critically, be curious, innovative, and adaptive. Created to help dynamic individuals take their careers to the next level, the program goes beyond the pursuit of only academic excellence to develop stronger global perspectives and networks for its participants.
Be the change you want to see
This one-year program offers five majors — Luxury Brand Management, Hospitality Management, Finance, Strategy & Management, and Digital Business & Innovation. Each is firmly anchored in what Professor Aarti Ramaswami, Academic Director of the ESSEC GMBA (France and Singapore) and Deputy Dean of ESSEC Business School, Asia-Pacific, asserts are ‘the two most critical aspects of the future of business’: sustainability and digital transformation.
As such, all GMBA participants, regardless of their chosen track, follow a course on responsible leadership to understand sustainability through finance, business, health, and environmental concerns.
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Participants also follow digital courses that include the fundamentals of digital business, digital disruption, digital business models, cyber security, and business analytics to prepare graduates with digital leadership skills and mindsets.
Add to that the Digital Week Competition – one of the highlights of the GMBA program. Here, participants travel to France to compete in teams as consultants for companies facing digital challenges. “Participants really love this intense hands-on learning-by-doing experience. They see companies across industries and the digital challenges they face. They experience first-hand how companies can evolve their strategies through digital means,” emphasizes Professor Ramaswami.
Of the many participants who have benefited from the digital focus is Mohamad El Dirano, now Associate Director of Treasury and Modeling Platforms, and a 2018 GMBA graduate. “Coming from a banking background and with the rise of the digital age, I knew I needed to shift my career to a more tech-oriented path. The GMBA in digital business at ESSEC was the perfect catalyst for this. Having a curriculum solely dedicated to shaping the participant’s mind to think in a more ‘digital’ way about any topic in the world is a major selling point, which provided the main missing ingredient for my career path. After graduation, I found a role in banking that is a perfect hybrid of technology and finance, and that comes with new opportunities and challenges.”
A global experience
The GMBA is offered across ESSEC’s campuses in France and Singapore, providing a truly international experience via its learning-by-doing approach. Beyond the classroom, participants embark on one to four business trips to key markets across the globe depending on the major of their choice. It is through these trips, combining a unique blend of cultural and professional activities, that participants explore how business is conducted throughout the world and learn to take on both local focus and global perspective.
This international reach also extends to participants’ career interests. ESSEC’s Corporate Relations and Career Alumni Department foster solid relationships to offer participants career services that are tailored to their goals. “We try to craft a specific track, from beginning to end, to provide clarity for each participant’s career path. And we build relationships with alumni members to ensure they are happy in their careers after they graduate and explore how they can give back to the program,” says Professor Ramaswami. One key aspect of this includes the mentorship program, where participants are matched with an industry leader for a six-month, personalized professional learning experience.
Being a boutique program, the ESSEC GMBA is able to address every participant as an individual. “In that way, ESSEC attracts participants whose mindsets go beyond salary. They come from different backgrounds and diverse industries so our output is as diverse as our input,” asserts Professor Ramaswami. “It is a winning formula for authentically global success.”