EMBA Courses & Curriculum

A global business focus. Customizable to your agenda. Delivered by the best. Our world-renowned Executive MBA curriculum is purpose-built to give you what it takes. Whatever that might be.

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Designed for international executives

2 years of part-time modular study

60 workdays out of the office (approx.)

On-campus classes held on extended weekends

Faculty from WHU, Kellogg and global partner universities

A leader-defining curriculum

Prior to mid-September

Online Preparatory Module

Quantitative Methods:
Gain insights into quantitative methods for business and management applications and familiarize yourself with basic mathematical tools. This course must be completed online prior to program start.

September, Vallendar

Module 1 | Leading the Organization

Sustainable Business

Leadership in Organizations:
Begin developing, refining, and reflecting on leadership skills during this introductory course on leadership.

November, Vallendar/Düsseldorf

Module 2 | Market Impact

Marketing Management:
Gain insights into marketing planning and segmentation, targeting, and positioning.

Managerial Economics:
Examine the economic foundations relevant for the strategic management of business organizations.

January, Düsseldorf/ Vallendar

Module 3 | Creative Destruction

Generative AI for Business Application:
In this course, participants will learn how to leverage ChatGPT and other Generative AI tools to improve ideation, facilitate customer interactions, optimize data-driven decisions, and automate business tasks.

Strategic Innovation & Corporate Renewal:
Communicate the most critical and strategic aspects of managing innovation and corporate renewal.

February, Vallendar/Düsseldorf

Module 4 | Financial Performance

International Financial Reporting & Analysis:
An introduction to financial reporting, the “language of business”, from a global perspective.

Managerial Finance:
Introduce the concepts and techniques necessary to analyze and implement optimal investment decisions by firms.

April, Vallendar/Düsseldorf

Module 5 | Developing Strategic Foresight

Business Strategies:
Build an understanding of how competitive strategy may lead to the creation and persistence of profits.

Making Sense of Data:
Gain a basic understanding of confidence intervals and hypothesis tests to interpret data.

May, International Module

Module 6 | Global Markets

Macroeconomics

Doing Business in Developing Countries

June, Düsseldorf

Module 7 | Business Functions

Corporate Finance
Introduction to the basic principles of corporate finance and development of the necessary practical tools for financial decisions and corporate valuation.

Operations Management
An introduction to Operations Management, approaching the discipline from the perspective of a general manager rather than the operations specialist.

August, Chicago

Module 8 & 9 | Kellogg Global Network Weeks

Negotiation Strategies:
Develop negotiation skills in a series of negotiations and debriefings.

Strategic Crisis Management:
Focus on crisis management from the point of view of managers and consultants.

Marketing Analytics:
Address analytics as a leadership problem and improve organizational performance with the right data.

Strategic Decisions in Operations:
Gain insights into strategic decision making in operations and their impact on a firm's financial performance.

*Please note: Courses and dates are subject to change, courses listed are example courses from previous years

October, Vallendar/Düsseldorf

Module 10a* | Local Electives

Sprint: Agile Business Model Development:
Run a business idea “sprint” over multiple days to kick-start a new business model, startup, or company project.

*Choose either Module 10a or 10b

January, Vallendar/Düsseldorf

Module 10b* | Local Electives

Marketing Strategy:
Gain the tools to appreciate strategic thinking about marketing and brands.

Ethics & Executive Leadership:
Shift from being an excellent leader to being an excellent CEO by exploring issues that top corporate leaders must keep in mind.

*Choose either Module 10a or 10b

September - March

Module 11 | Field trips: Exploring New Business Horizons

Sample destinations: Europe, Asia

*Please note that one field trip is compulsory

March/April, Vallendar/Düsseldorf

Module 12 | Capstone Week

Capstone- Business Simulation:
In Executive Teams, run competing firms in simulated product markets and debrief on concepts and tools of corporate and competitive strategy.

Management Accounting:
Focus on the behavioral issues of management accounting to illustrate real-world problems of management accounting in large corporations.

November – June

Module 13 | Global Electives (one required)

Locations: Chicago, Hong Kong, Lisbon, Miami, Shanghai / Beijing, Tel Aviv, Toronto, London

A selection of the modules available:

Digital Strategy: Individual and Organizational Transformation for a Digital Age
Mergers and Acquisitions Strategy
Visualization for Persuasion
Leading High Impact Teams
Global Corporate Restructuring
International Finance
World Economy
Strategies for Growth

*Please note: Courses and dates are subject to change

May, Vallendar

Module 14 | European Elective

Leveraging collaboration for innovation: alliances, ecosystems and platforms:
Acquire a rich set of concepts, frameworks, and tools to improve the ability to build, manage, and profit from different modes of inter-organizational collaboration.

Entrepreneurial Finance:
Focus on financial economic foundations of a new venture, from idea to exit.

Business Tax Strategy:
Understand how taxes affect business decisions, gaining necessary concepts for international application.

Managing People for Competitive Advantage:
Focus on the people side of business from a general management perspective.

Please note: Courses and dates are examples from previous years and are subject to change

June – August

Module 15 | Master Thesis

Demonstrate the ability to apply scientific methods to actual management solutions.

Integrated throughout program

Leadership and Career Development

Group and individual Executive Leadership Coaching:
Crisis simulations and your own real-world leadership challenges are the background for group coaching and are springboards to individual coaching with a certified Executive Coach who will focus on your individual goals and growth toward becoming an exceptional leader.  

Workshops and presentations tailored to the needs of each cohort
Sample topics:

• Stage Rules, Self-Presentation and the Perfect Pitch
• Managing Challenging Negotiations
• Resilience in Disruptive Times
• Leading Through Diversity and Inclusion
• Powerful CV Evaluation and Career Development tools and short courses
• Polish your CV to take the next step in your career

Please note: Courses and dates are examples from previous years and are subject to change.

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Prior to mid-September

Year 1

Year 2

Throughout program

Prepare to become next-level ready

Global Network Weeks

Where leaders-to-be come together

Gathered at Kellogg’s lakeside campus in Evanston-Chicago. Around 500 leaders from around the world. Empower your learning and open opportunities as you connect with leaders from six campuses spread across three continents during Global Network Week. A true highlight of the EMBA program. Experience it for yourself!

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Global Electives

Study overseas

Miami. Lisbon. Dubai. Singapore. These are just a few of the worldwide destinations you can experience during your second year.

Led by local faculty, our global electives offer courses such as Entrepreneurial Selling, Digital Strategy, and Visualization for Persuasion. All enable you to focus attention on your specialist professional interests and personal career goals.

Seize your opportunity to network with experts from around the world. To deepen your understanding of different industries, markets, and work cultures. To sharpen the skills essential to success in tomorrow’s global economy.

European Elective

Local knowledge, global insights

100+ leaders from 80+ countries. Held at Campus Vallendar and unique to Kellogg-WHU, the annual European Elective is an event where global business minds come together.

Engage in a schedule of activities strategized to reveal market-specific insights and enhance your understanding of European business culture.

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Field Trips

Visit places that matter

The best way to understand the political, economic, and socio-cultural reality of a global destination? Experience it.

Visits to enterprises, to NGOs, fireside conversations with local business leaders, with political changemakers, group activities, solo exploration – all and more is possible on our global field trips.

The places you will visit? Wherever currently has the greatest significance to your studies.

Field trip to India 2023 Field trip to Japan 2023

Learn from the best

Steps ahead. Always. Our Kellogg-WHU Executive MBA Program faculty are respected as thought-leaders worldwide. And they are more than academics. Each one is a vastly experienced practitioner in their field.

But above all, they are approachable teachers. Ones who share, support, expand knowledge, fuel discussion, build character, and inspire unlimited success.

Selection of pioneering professors

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Karl Schmedders

Visiting Professor of Executive MBA Education

IMD Business School, Visiting Professor at Kellogg School of Management

Decision Making under Uncertainty
Making Sense of Data