EMLyon Business School

The EMLyon MBA: What You Need To Know

Often when one thinks of France, Paris comes to mind, but in the south of the country is Lyon, whose Emlyon Business School is attached to one of the country’s elite “grandes ecoles.” Lyon sits at the crossroads of Europe, making it an ideal base for exploring other parts of France and neighboring places, with easy access to major European cities like Paris, Geneva, and Milan. Emlyon’s International MBA is appealing to those who want to undergo their MBA in a smaller yet still very French city.

The program is flexible, delivered in both 11- and 16-month formats, and uniquely around 40% of emlyon’s MBA students have a STEM background which proves a testament to the thriving biotech ecosystem around Lyon. Recognizing that most of their MBA students are international, the B-School offers a free French language accelerator two weeks before the program kicks off.

Emlyon prides itself on offering a very practical MBA, with a highlight being their six-month Entrepreneurial Consulting Project during which students work either as consultants for a business or in their own startup.

New business creation is also at the heart of the emlyon philosophy: the school boasts a successful incubator that has created or supported over 1,000 companies. The school says these businesses have a five-year survival rate of 80%.

Throughout the year, MBAs’ knowledge will be put to the test through multiple applied projects, such as the Strategy Simulation, Design Thinking Project, Strategy Project, New Venture Project, and the Business 360 Integrative Project.

Some electives overlap with the executive MBA program, so the MBA cohort can benefit from their local knowledge. Specializations include Business Development Consulting, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Marketing, Sales, Supply Chain, Product Management, and Project Management.

Emlyon also Learning Trips abroad, where MBAs discover management styles of other European countries and explore business ecosystems and other cultures. Previous Learning Trips have gone to Brussels, Istanbul, Milano or Helsinki and Berlin.

“Our MBA gives our students competences, but also the confidence to use their knowledge in the work environment. We give them lots of chances to put their expertise into practice in businesses, especially working with a lot of the companies based in and around Lyon, and in Paris where we have a campus. We produce leaders with an innovation mentality. All the projects they work on are about transforming the future, whether that is in a large business or a startup. We attract people with an innovation and entrepreneurship mindset, and that is the thread that runs through our courses,” says Rhoda Davidson, MBA director.

EMLyon MBA Rankings Data

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