Eduniversal Ranking: 6 Global Deans React

Stefano Caselli, dean of SDA Bocconi

Stefano Caselli, Dean of SDA Bocconi School of Management

P&Q: What initiatives or strategic priorities over the past year do you believe most directly contributed to your school maintaining the 5 Palmes of Excellence designation?

The School has maintained its level of excellence by continuously combining growth with impact. And impact means enabling participants and organizations to change, to understand challenges, and to leave a mark. This has been possible thanks to three distinctive features of SDA Bocconi. First, being a School of Management – an institution able to engage not only with corporations and financial institutions but also with public bodies. There are no boundaries to management today, and every organization needs management to interpret complexity.

Second, having a highly diversified portfolio: from MBA, EMBA, and Executive Master programs to custom executive courses, which have always reflected the School’s ability to design tailor-made solutions for partners and clients.

Third, having the strength of a great university, which enables investment in disciplines that are now essential – from artificial intelligence to data science and geopolitics. Through this combination of identity, innovation, and institutional support, SDA Bocconi continues to grow while ensuring that excellence translates into measurable and lasting impact.

How has your school expanded or strengthened its global network, partnerships, or cross-border programs in ways that set it apart from regional peers?

The international network is the natural complement to SDA Bocconi’s attractiveness and reputation. Milan remains our central hub – a city capable of attracting talent, energy, and innovation – but our international reach extends in multiple directions. First, within our campus ecosystem, where international content, networks, and experiences are embedded in daily learning. Anyone entering our campus can access a global, tailor-made learning environment infused with the passion and creativity typical of Italian tradition.

Second, through the broad range of custom programs delivered around the world. This dimension, deeply rooted in the School’s tradition, has expanded significantly and now represents one of our strongest bridges with international organizations.

Third, through active participation in leading academic networks such as GNAM, PIM, and CEMS. These partnerships not only generate outstanding exchange opportunities for students but also lead to the development of joint programs, including our Global Executive MBA and several executive courses. Our Milan campus acts as the center of gravity, the platform from which SDA Bocconi reaches the world – especially in a context where providing a truly global perspective to our participants has never been more important.

As a 5 Palmes Emeritus business school, what does sustaining this level of distinction require year after year? How does the recognition shape your future planning, investment, and competitive positioning?

Excellence requires continuous listening, attention to detail, passion, and a long-term vision. The School’s positioning increasingly revolves around the concept of “value and values”. Value, because every individual and organization has the duty to grow – particularly in a European context where economic expansion and GDP growth remain modest. Through research and education, SDA Bocconi is committed to helping companies and institutions acquire the tools not only to become more competitive but also to grow, since growth is the precondition for creating employment and innovation. At the same time, values must accompany value creation. They provide the ethical and managerial tools needed to address the social, environmental, and demographic gaps that threaten sustainable development. It is no longer enough to “mind the gap”; today, we must fill the gap.

SDA Bocconi positions itself as an open school of management, ready to work with all organizations that wish to embark on a journey of growth and transformation – and with all participants who have the courage and responsibility to assume leadership roles. Looking ahead, the School’s investment will focus on applied research through ecosystems and on the Learning Without Limits project, which will allow each participant to measure their learning gaps and return to the School for continuous improvement. A School of Management must remain open – intellectually, institutionally, and globally.

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