Copenhagen Business School

Responsible management is at the heart of the full-time MBA at Copenhagen Business School. Being based in cycle-friendly and green Copenhagen helps, and there are plenty of businesses in the area whose philosophy jives with the school’s. The general pleasantness extends to the campus itself, a state-of-the-art teaching facility in the Frederiksberg area, in a spectacular building that once served as a porcelain factory.

The school is particularly looking to intake prospective MBAs who value sustainability with an entrepreneurial spark. Denmark has been voted Europe’s easiest place to do business by the World Bank, and CBS has a network of mentors, investors, and others involved in startups who are happy to help budding entrepreneurs. This is all part-and-parcel of the “Scandinavian management style” that underpins everything that happens at CBS, where they hold a focus on social responsibility which is rooted in the school’s DNA.

“We see a lot of student demand for sustainability and CSR, and this theme is naturally driven by being in Copenhagen, which is seen as a green and sustainable city. That makes it easy for us to take students to relevant businesses, so students know that this is not just talk, but there is real action behind it,” says Andreas Rasche, Associate Dean for the Full-Time MBA.

The one-year full-time MBA kicks off in October and is separated into four terms. The class size is typically around 40-50 students, and more than 90% of the class at CBS tend to come from outside of Denmark with seven years of work experience on average. The Class usually has experience in diverse industries and organizational functions.

Aside from Sustainability and Entrepreneurship, other focuses at CBS are Finance and Digitalization. MBAs can deep-dive into any of the B-School’s four concentrations in Entrepreneurship, Digitalization, Finance, or Governance & Sustainability depending on their interests.

CBS MBAs go through a Leadership Discovery Process to develop their ability to think, act, and lead responsibly, and all students can be matched with an alumnus to mentor them in their third trimester. The system seems to work well, and around half of students stay in Denmark after graduation, often working at big Danish firms — think the likes of Maersk shipping, Carlsberg beer, and Novo Nordisk pharmaceuticals.

“Scandinavia has a great reputation. When people come here, they often want to stay, and the visa situation is that if they have an MBA here, they can. English is widely spoken, and it is not a problem in big companies if you are not fluent in Danish. We have a strong careers team, and over the years we have had a good track record in helping people find jobs in the larger firms here,” says Rasche.