The University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business is the first business school in sub-Saharan Africa to join CEMS – Global Alliance in Management Education. The one-year master’s programme will open registration in May 2020 for its first intake in South Africa in September 2021.
The collaboration will provide a new opportunity for CEMS Master in International Management (MIM) students at the University of Cologne who wish to gain part of their business education from a leading South African university. It is believed that the UCTs expertise in teaching students how to achieve excellence in a tough operating environment, as well as its prevailing entrepreneurial spirit, will enrich the entire CEMS global network.
The UCT GSB joins the CEMS global network of 32 existing academic members, the University of Cologne’s 70 corporate partners (multinational companies), and 7 social partners (NGOs) dedicated to educating and preparing future generations of international business leaders through the top ranked CEMS Master in International Management.
“We are pleased that the CEMS network is expanding and that we can now offer our CEMS MIM students the exciting opportunity to study in South Africa”, says Marc Fischer, Academic Director & Professor at the University of Cologne. "As a founding member of the CEMS Alliance, the University of Cologne is the only German university offering the prestigious CEMS Master's degree in International Management.”
Preparing students for thinking on a global scale
The University of Cologne has offered the CEMS MIM for 15 years. The CEMS Master in International Management is a one-year, pre-experience programme delivered by CEMS academic and corporate partners. The programme offers students the opportunity to receive an education in a truly multicultural and boundless classroom. Students with a sound academic track record wishing to embark on a career in management that spans the globe will find this to be the ideal postgraduate programme.
Students enrolled in the programme study for one semester at their home university and then study abroad in a different CEMS member school. In addition to completing a home degree, students complete a consulting project and an international internship. Upon graduation, students’ careers take a truly international path in a great variety of sectors and, in many cases, within multinational companies:
- 98% are employed or continuing their studies
- 95% are living outside of their home country
- 74% work for multinational companies
Roland Siegers, Executive Director of CEMS, says that modern business education is a developing field—the continuous interaction among CEMS stakeholders keeps innovation at the forefront, making CEMS the ideal choice for future international business leaders.
“The MIM emphasises personal and social responsibility in business decision-making, leadership and citizenship informed by ethical reasoning, personal integrity and respect for social diversity. The programme helps students understand and navigate the international business environment whilst equipping them with the knowledge, skills and network to manage people across borders and within multinational teams—tackling real business issues across a range of fields,” he explains.
Producing excellence in a tough operating environment
The UCT GSB is the first business school in sub-Saharan Africa to join this network. CEMS Academic Director Beverly Shrand believes that it has a particularly relevant contribution to make—especially at this time. “In South Africa, we have had to deal with VUCA factors on a magnitude and scale far beyond what business schools in developed contexts have had to grapple with before now.”, she comments. “For example, in Cape Town we are operating in a city that nearly became the first in the world to run out of water. This unlocked a flowering of innovation and resilience strategies from government, businesses and citizens alike. VUCA factors are part of our lived reality, and that gives us an edge in infusing our teaching with experiential and practical learning to equip graduates to find solutions for business and societal challenges.”