Smith School of Business at Queen’s University

From The School:

An MBA Unlike Any Other

Smith’s holistic approach delivers both the technical expertise and interpersonal skills development that employers require today. That’s the SmithEdge and your competitive advantage.

• Technical Skills: Knowledge delivered from world-class faculty and industry experts through a number of teaching methods.
• Power Skills: Graduate equipped with these skills that employers are demanding today: problem-solving, communication skills, working well with others, being a team member, learning how to lead as well as personal capacity skills like coachability, self-reflection, time management, and prioritization.

The GMAC Recruiters survey underscores that this combination of technical capacity and interpersonal skills is most highly valued by employers.

Team-Based Learning

Smith has been a world leader in the advancement of team-based learning, taking the concept of team-based learning to a level of sophistication not found in other programs. While most schools talk about team-based learning, they are often referring to group work – a very different concept. 

For the first six months of the program, candidates in the Full-time MBA program are assigned to a team of six or seven students assembled to maximize the diversity of gender, work and academic experience, and cultural background. By completing core course assignments, projects, and presentations that make up 50% of their grade together, students gain the knowledge and skills to be successful members of a team. Experience that employers are demanding when they’re recruiting.

Best In Class Career Services

Smith’s was the top-ranked Canadian school for career services in the Global MBA Ranking 2021 by Financial Times. Ninety-nine percent of the Full-time class of 2021 secured jobs within six months of graduation, going to work for leading companies including McKinsey & Company, Deloitte, Google, Amazon, P&G, Johnson & Johnson, and Royal Bank of Canada. Fifty percent of job offers among the class were school-facilitated. 

Unique Teaching Approach

At Smith School of Business, we are not narrowly focused on a single teaching or learning style. By leveraging the power of several teaching styles, we have created an approach that is unique, innovative, and effective.

• The case method: Case studies provide the opportunity for students to analyze and resolve a vast array of real business issues and opportunities.
• Class instruction and discussion: classroom instruction accompanied by high-energy discussion is a very effective way to learn frameworks, tools, and techniques that can then be applied to projects and case studies.
• Experiential learning: There is no better way to learn than by actually “doing” what you are learning. From hands-on experience managing Canada’s first student-advised venture capital fund and running North America’s only student-run hedge fund to activities hosted by trained special operations personnel, there are a variety of opportunities for students to extend their learning beyond the classroom.
• Real-world business projects: the program includes the opportunity to complete two major business projects – the Management Consulting Project, and the New Venture Project. These highly practical experiences provide an excellent opportunity to put learning to good use in a real-world setting.
• Simulations: innovative simulations are used to create challenging learning experiences for students for subject matter that doesn’t easily lend itself to the “learning by doing” method.

Certificate In Social Impact

Lead the way to a better world. Students in Smith’s Full-time MBA program have the option of earning a Certificate in Social Impact, learning core topics in social impact, attending social impact-related conferences and events, and completing a major project with social impact focus with a business or registered charity/non-profit organization. Students can choose to specialize in one of four topic areas: sustainability, social finance, social innovation/entrepreneurship, and values-based leadership.