Graduate School of Business

The international ranking of the Executive MBA (EMBA) of Yonsei University School of Business moved up nine places this year, from 34^th last year to 25^th in a listing of the 2020 “World’s Top 100 MBA,” a prestigious annual compilation by the Financial Times, a London-based business publication owned by the Nikkei holding company of Japan.

Yonsei EMBA is a two-year part-time program for CEOs, executives, and senior managers that convenes every other weekend. It aims to nurture creative and ethical leadership and foster international perspectives and diversity awareness. Among its various courses, “Action Learning” is a specialized course unique to the program that applies creative ideas directly to real business situations.

Dean Kil-Soo Suh of Yonsei Business School welcomed the higher ranking, but also signaled still higher aspirations for the program. "We will now move forward with a new goal of entering the global top 10 EMBA," he said "We will establish Yonsei EMBA as a program that nourishes CEOs who will change the world by enhancing education and strengthening networking through mutual knowledge and experience sharing."

Among the various criteria used in rating the world’s top MBA programs, Yonsei EMBA made significant strides in its Career Development performance, especially pre- and post-MBA salary increases, a recognition of the value employers place on the education their employees gain through participation in the program.

In the evaluation, Yonsei EMBA also achieved high ratings for its systematic curriculum in corporate social responsibility (CSR). A Global Field Trip is another distinctive aspect of the program. It is conducted at partner business schools and local global companies in the U.S., Spain, and China. The CSR curriculum and various global market training programs are the unique strengths of Yonsei EMBA, which help corporate executives cultivate the necessary insights and skills in an era of global capitalism.

Over the course of the program, participants select existing or future strategic tasks in their field, seek solutions with help from their designated professors and experts in each field, and draw new strategic directions on their own. Through this course, participants can also develop their coursework into a real business. Graduates have succeeded in commercializing various blockchain-based network solution companies, including a domestic and foreign musical investment company, a smart reservation payment system, a COVID-19 quarantine certification system, and a craft beer specialty store.

Meanwhile, the Global MBA (GMBA), a full-time program of Yonsei UniversitySchool of Business, continues to be the only Korean program listed among the "World's Top 100 Full-Time MBA" rankings by The Economist. Female students and international students make up more than 50 percent of the enrollment in this program, with 15 countries typically represented. The program’s customized curriculum is centered on the Asian market and includes specialized courses focused on creative and ethical thinking as well as diversity awareness as critical elements in preparation for participation in business on a global scale.

"The MBA course at Yonsei University Graduate School of Business first entered the global rankings 10 years ago,” Dean Suh observed, “accelerating the growth of Korean MBA programs, and we are the only Korean graduate school that has both part-time and full-time MBA programs listed in the world rankings. We will continue playing a leading role in establishing global standards for business education."