In January 2017, 48 participants between the ages of 30 and 50, representing 19 countries – all with promising careers and full-time jobs – arrived at the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) in Sweden, to embark on what promises to be one of the most rewarding steps of their professional lives: obtaining an Executive MBA.
Karen Kesner, SSE MBA Alumna, feels the experience has completed the picture of her education and calls it, “one of the most positive things” she has ever done. She goes on to say, “it was invaluable and opened unlimited doors. I also loved the diversity in the class, with participants and faculty members from all over the world.”
The Executive MBA programme at SSE currently ranks at number 59 in the world according to the Financial Times, which also ranks the programme as number 23 for career progress and reveals that alumni have had an average salary increase of 55% after completing the programme.
Sweden is the birthplace of leading global companies, such as IKEA, Ericsson, Volvo and H&M, with Stockholm – its capital city – being home to some of the giants of the digital revolution, including Skype, Spotify, Mojang and King.
No wonder then, that SSE has chosen Innovation & Entrepreneurship for one of its two Executive MBA concentrations.
“We are leveraging our location,” says Robin Teigland, SSE Professor. “Stockholm is one of the most entrepreneurial and innovative cities, and it had the second largest number of unicorn companies per capita in the world in 2016. The SSE MBA brings together people from different backgrounds and enables them to build their networks in Stockholm, while providing them with a unique learning ground for exploring how to make decisions under conditions of uncertainty and fast-paced technological change.”
Innovation can be many things, notes Mattia Bianchi, SSE Associate Professor. “Our Executive MBA concentration teaches you how to manage the process of turning an idea or an opportunity into something you can bring to the market, which creates value for your customers. You’ll also learn about where ideas come from, how to stimulate idea generation, organise innovation teams, run experiments, finance innovation and pitch to investors.”
“The SSE MBA is an incredible opportunity to grow and develop your mind. Several of the participants including myself used the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Module to convert our business ideas into newly launched companies, which are successfully operating today, years later,” says Grant Calder, SSE MBA Alumna.
Further information
www.hhs.se/mba
