WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management is a private German business school with campuses in Vallendar and

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. As of September 2024, there are 2,007 students (including doctoral students) at WHU, about 251 employees and 59 professors (including assistant professors). WHU is known for its master's program in management, which has been favourably ranked by numerous publications. It maintains a global network of more than 220 partner universities, while also offering numerous dual-degree programs. The school is also well known for its entrepreneurship programs and has the fourth largest number of

unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unico ...

-founding alumni in the world.

Academics

Study programs

WHU offers numerous study programs. The language of instruction for the bachelor's program is English or German, while all master's programs are taught entirely in English. * A three-year program leading to a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

(BSc) in International Business Administration, which includes two mandatory internships and an integrated semester abroad at one of WHU's international partner universities * A three-year program leading to a

(BSc) in Business Psychology, which includes two mandatory internships and one semester in one of WHU's international partner schools (started in 2022) * A one-and-a-half-year program leading to a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

(MSc) in Management, consecutive to the Bachelor of Science program * A one-and-a-half-year program leading to a Master of Science (MSc) in Finance, consecutive to the Bachelor of Science program (started in 2013) * A one-and-half-year Master of Science (MSc) program in Entrepreneurship, consecutive to the Bachelor of Science program (started in 2017) * A one-and-half-year Master of Science (MSc) program in International Business (started in 2021) * A one-and-half-year Master of Science (MSc) program in Business Analytics (started in 2024) *A one-and-half-year Master of Arts (MA) part-time program in Management (started in 2021) * A full-time

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

Program, which includes studies at the Kellogg School of Management, the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and the China Europe International Business School * A part-time MBA program * A global online MBA program * The Kellogg-WHU Global Executive MBA Program in partnership with the Kellogg School of Management at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

* A doctoral program, leading to the German

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

equivalent '' Dr. rer. pol.'' *

Executive Education Executive education (ExEd or Exec. Ed) refers to academic programs at graduate-level business schools for executives, business leaders and managers, globally. These programs are generally non-credit and non-degree-granting, but sometimes lead to ...

(customized programs for companies and open general management programs)

Tuition and selection process

The tuition fee per academic year 2023/2024 for WHU's undergraduate students is €15,800 for those who are citizens of EEA countries and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, and €25,900 for citizens of non-EEA countries. The tuition fee for the Master of Science in management,

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

and

entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entrepreneu ...

programs are €28,300 for the 90 credit track and €34,800 for the 120 credit track. Scholarships, tuition waivers and financial aid schemes are available for eligible students. The selection process for the undergraduate programmes consists of two separate parts. Students are preselected according to their academic and personal achievements and are offered a chance to compete for one of the roughly 240 seats per year at the final selection day. During that day, candidates deliver presentations, are interviewed by representatives of the private business sector and undergo an analytical IQ Test.

Accreditations

All WHU degree programs are recognized by the German state and accredited by the

Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation The Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation (FIBAA) is recognised accreditation body in all German speaking countries (Germany-Switzerland-Austria), FIBAA was founded in 2002 to accredit schools of business. Since the l ...

(FIBAA). In addition, WHU holds accreditations from the

Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is an American professional and accreditation organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to busines ...

(AACSB) and from the

European Quality Improvement System The EFMD Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) is a business school accreditation managed by Brussels based EFMD. It provides accreditation for higher education institutions of management and business administration and is run by the European Fo ...

(EQUIS).

Rankings

WHU is regularly placed in the top positions in German university rankings. WHU's master's program in management was Germany's top-ranked program for nine years in the last decade by the

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

, including for five consecutive years between 2013 and 2017. In 2019,

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

ranked WHU third worldwide in its Master in Management ranking. As of 2021, WHU's placement and career services departments have been ranked among the top two worldwide for the twelfth time in a row by the Financial Times' Masters in Management rankings. WHU has maintained the first position in Germany in every Master in Management ranking published by The Economist and QS till date. In 2020, the

ranked WHU first in Germany for all its programs:

Master in Management The Master of Management (MM, MiM, MMgt) is a master's degree comprising one or two years graduate level coursework in business management. In terms of content, it is similar to the Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree as it contain ...

, Executive MBA, and Master in Finance. In the list of business schools with the most unicorn-founding alumni, WHU is placed fourth globally, tying with

INSEAD INSEAD ( ; French: ''Institut européen d'administration des affaires'') is a non-profit business school with locations in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and North America (San Francisco, USA ...

, behind

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

, the

Stanford Graduate School of Business The Stanford Graduate School of Business is the Postgraduate education, graduate business school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective ...

and the

Wharton School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

. According to the BYU

ranking that tracks alumni publications in 12 leading accounting journals, the doctoral program placed fifth worldwide in the Managerial Accounting category. WHU's SCM Group ranked first in Germany and sixth globally for Supply Chain Management empirical research in 2020 according to the SCM Journal List ranking. As of 2020, WHU's joint Executive MBA program with the Kellogg School of Management has been placed first in Germany for the twelfth time in a row by Financial Times. In the recent edition of the EMBA ranking from the Financial Times published in 2022, WHU has, continuing its streak since 2003, ranked at #1 in Germany for the Kellogg-WHU Executive MBA Program. In

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

ranking of EMBA programs in 2020, the joint Kellogg-WHU EMBA Program ranked first in Germany for the fourth time in a row and fourth worldwide.

History

Founding and name change

WHU was founded in 1984 by the Koblenz Chamber of Commerce as the ''Wissenschaftliche Hochschule für Unternehmensführung'', with preparations for the founding starting in 1983. Starting in 1986, the school began offering a doctoral studies program, and the process for offering postdoctoral studies began in 1997. The name was modified in 1993 to honour WHU's benefactor, the businessman Otto Beisheim, after he donated 50 Million

Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; "German mark (currency), mark"), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later of unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it ...

Later development

In 1997, an executive MBA with Kellogg School of Management was started. A year later, the school received a EQUIS-accreditation, followed by a FIBAA in 2005 and the beginning of MBA studies the same year. In 2006, the school became a member of AACSB, and was re-accredited by EQUIS in 2009.

Accusations of problems with the internal culture and excessive stress since 2010

The business school has been accused of fostering an overly competitive environment, even at the cost of the mental health of its students. Additionally, they were accused of overly focusing on rankings and grades but insufficiently developing the ability for critical discourse and not succeeding at creating a student body with an appropriate diversity of backgrounds. Additional criticisms, including by former students, often focus on excessive memorisation and a failure to foster a culture of out-of-the-box thinking. After the death of a student who was believed to have died due to overworking himself during an internship but was found to have died due to an underlying condition, the school responded that high pressure is an unfortunately norm in the business world and that they are taking steps to address it.

Controversy about the academic work of Ulrich Lichtenthaler in 2012

A former student and then-professor at the University, Ulrich Lichtenthaler, was accused of repeated and significant misconduct in his research and publications. WHU and the

University of Mannheim The University of Mannheim (German: ''Universität Mannheim''), abbreviated UMA, is a public university, public research university in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1967, the university has its origins in the ''Palatine Aca ...

later withdrew his right to teach, and he resigned from his position.

Faculty

The faculty at WHU is organized into six groups: Finance and Accounting, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Management, Marketing and Sales, and Supply Chain Management. As of September 2024, there are 44 full professors and 15 assistant professors at WHU who teach at the undergraduate and graduate levels and contribute to the business school's research output. The faculty includes the following centers: WHU Asia Center, Biopharma Management Center, Center for Collaborative Commerce, Center for Controlling & Management, Entrepreneurship Center, Center for European Studies, Center of Asset and Wealth Management, Center for Sports and Management, Financial Accounting and Tax Center, Henkel Center for Consumer Goods, Center for Market-Oriented Corporate Management, Center for Responsible Leadership and Wipro Center for Business Resilience.

Notable people

Honorary professors

* Paul Achleitner * Horst Albach * David B. Audretsch * Andreas Barckow * Klaus Brockhoff * Horst G. Carus * Edgar Ernst * Karl-Ludwig Kley * Dirk Krüger * Hartmut Leser * Edgar Löw * Peter May * Bolko von Oetinger * John Onto * Jürgen Ringbeck * Klaus Rose * Hanno Sowade * Axel Wieandt

Alumni

* Verena Hubertz, German Federal Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Building * Birgit Bohle, CEO of DB Fernverkehr *

Thomas Buberl Thomas Buberl is a German businessman who has been the CEO of Axa since 2016. Early life Buberl was born in Cologne, Germany. He earned a business degree from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management (Germany), an MBA from Lancaster Universi ...

, CEO of Axa Group * Julian Deutz, CFO of Axel Springer, diploma * Robert Gentz, founder and board member of Zalando, diploma 2007 * Armin Grossklaus, CFO of ATC Group / Oklahoma City, Detroit, US * Michael Haenlein, professor at ESCP Europe, diploma 1999 * Jan Heitmann, poker player * Andreas Herrmann, professor at University of St. Gallen * Christoph Israng, German diplomat * Philipp Justus, managing director of Google Germany, Austria and Switzerland * Ulrich Lichtenthaler, German economist * Matthias Muck, Professor at

University of Bamberg The University of Bamberg () in Bamberg, Germany, specializes in the humanities, cultural studies, social sciences, economics, and applied computer science. Campus The university is partly housed in historical buildings in Bamberg's Old Town. ...

* Andreas Nick, Member of the Bundestag (German parliament), diploma 1990, PhD 1994 * Matthias J. Rapp, CFO of TÜV SÜD AG * Thorsten Reitmeyer, former CEO of

Comdirect The Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft (shortly known as Commerzbank AG or Commerzbank ) is a European Financial institution, banking institution headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany. It offers services to private and entrepreneurial c ...

bank * Dominik Richter, founder and CEO of HelloFresh * Oliver Samwer, CEO of Rocket Internet * Christoph Schweizer, CEO of the

Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the "Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three" (or MBB, the world's three large ...

* David Schneider, founder and board member of Zalando, diploma 2007 * Stephan Schubert, founder OnVista * Margret Suckale, board member of

BASF BASF SE (), an initialism of its original name , is a European Multinational corporation, multinational company and the List of largest chemical producers, largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters are located in Ludwigshafen, Ge ...

, EMBA * Marco Vietor, founder audibene * Axel Wieandt, German bank manager * Saygin Yalcin, founder and CEO of SellAnyCar.com * Oliver Zipse, board member of

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

, EMBA 1997

References

External links

WHU homepage

Alumni organisation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whu-Otto Beisheim School Of Management Business schools in Germany Private universities and colleges in Germany Universities and colleges in Rhineland-Palatinate Educational institutions established in 1984 1984 establishments in West Germany Mayen-Koblenz Education in Düsseldorf