Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University – Nashville, Tennessee

The Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University, has a promise to do everything within their power to help students achieve their professional goals. The business school aims build a new type of business leader who will think to change the world for the better at all times. They focus on competition and believe it is their defining strength in helping the university and the students grow through constantly competing and learning from each other. Owen has created an educational culture of solving problems collaboratively, leading with ideas, digging deeper and challenging the status quo of business methods while constantly looking ahead.  The business school believes that companies and executives are required to consider the demands of businesses, individuals and society globally in order to function successfully.  Corporate responsibility and sustainability initiatives are at the top of the school’s list for business strategies to improve. The business school provides opportunities in the areas of social responsibility, environmental management and social enterprise.  The curriculum is designed to provide students with an understanding of social and sustainability issues through analytical, strategic thinking and teamwork-building activities.

The Full-time MBA Programme is built around a foundation of general management skills combined with career specialisations.  The curriculum is based on a modular system that provides students with seven-week, short, intensive courses occurring twice a semester.  The programme is two years long and contains 62 credit hours, with 11 of the course being core courses.  Below is a diagram of the programme structure and the core curriculum, provided by Owen.

Throughout the entire programme, ethics is integrated into the larger framework to teach students strategies to protect their integrity within the workplace.  Also included in the programme is the Leadership Development Programme gives students the best tools to personalise strengths through executive coaching, individual development planning, 360 degree assessments, group sessions, leadership analysis and an internship.

The Executive MBA Programme is a full, 60-credit hour programme tailored to the needs of senior managers and entrepreneurs.  The programme is designed to give participants the essential knowledge that will help them develop as an influential leadership through topics like Advance Financial Frameworks, Strategic Skills and Vision and Leadership Development. One unique feature of the programme is the cross-functional C-team model, where students are assigned to different teams during orientation week and remain together throughout the programme.  Each member fills the role of CEO, COO, CFO, CTO and CMO to bring different functional expertise to the group.  They are assigned different projects throughout the programme and meet with a “Group Doctor” each month who gives them expert advice on different issues they have encountered and have yet to encounter. The curriculum is designed to meet the needs of established professionals already approaching senior management levels and has a focus on corporate strategy, leadership and finance.  The learning methods applied are collaboration within the classroom, and integrated and applied methodology, a focus on leadership and strategy, the development of global perspectives and providing an education that transcends “book smarts”.  Below is a diagram of the programme structure, provided by Owen.

America’s MBA for Executives offers the same core curriculum as the executive MBA, but places students on three different international immersion courses during the second year.  Below is a diagram showing the curriculum for year two, provided by Owen.

Although Forbes and US News do not rank MBAs globally, they were included for their impact in the US

• Forbes Rank – 33
• Financial Times Rank – 53
• US News and World Report Rank – 30
• Bloomberg Businessweek Rank – 25
• The Economist Rank – 32

According to Bloomberg Businessweek’s International Business School Ranking

• High:  92% job offer three months post-graduation

Owen Graduate School of Management 401 21st Ave S Nashville, TN 37203 United States t: +1 615-322-2534 w:  www.owen.vanderbilt.edu