The International Executive MBA is aimed at managers, professionals and consultants who want to guide companies in the process of digital transformation and international growth, aware that these challenges will determine their competitive advantage in the near future. The Master brings digital innovation to the center of business decisions and the creation of value for brands, services and consumers, developing a holistic approach to knowledge, setting digital skills free from exclusively technical and specialist discussion tables and instead relating them to the entire organization.
This systemic vision, supported by the wide knowledge base of the University of Bologna and by the direct contact with the companies of Italian excellence, translates into the ability to plan and govern digital transformation in all its processes: from strategy to big data analysis and performance, from service design to organization management.
Attending the International Executive MBA means carving out a leading role towards changing within companies. Those who live this experience are ready to tackle a challenge with themselves, and become interlocutors able to influence decisions at the top of international realities. The program, in English, is divided into 13 residential of 3 days each (Thursday, Friday and Saturday, once a month) to meet the working needs of the participants. The lessons on the core themes of the Master are alternated with Hackathons, days designed to work in groups on specific topics dealt with during classes, Focus Session, to tackle cross-cutting themes of the digital business world and the International Week @ Silicon Valley, CA.
The International Week is a deep dive into Big Data & Analytics, Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship organised in cooperation with our EMBA Consortium for Global Business Innovation partner: Lucas College and Graduate School of Business of the San José State University. The week is specifically designed with lectures, company visits and focus sessions.
The future business route will be tracked by professionals able to accelerate the process of changing: book an interview with the Director of the Master to become part of it.
THE MASTER IS AN INVESTMENT. THE LOAN IS THE WAY TO FINANCE IT.
Riccardo Silvi
Academic Director
riccardo.silvi@unibo.it
" Digital transformation is not in dispute. Its effectiveness, on the other hand, yes. iEMBA, one-of-a-kind, puts the digital factor at the heart of rationalization processes of value creation, innovation and business reinvention. A journey full of experiences, tools, and models in order to manage change and uncertainty. "
Andrea Pia
Executive Director
andrea.pia@akqa.com
" The International Executive MBA represents a unique opportunity to develop not only your managerial skills, but above all a personal strategic view, which allows the participants to discover and focus their point of view on the world, not only on the business. An intense path of study and sharing, together with global realities and industry champions that will allow candidates to become architects of their future and of their success, in an increasingly uncertain world and therefore in need of authentic and innovative recipes. "
Geographical Origin
Professional background
Academic background
TARGET
The Master is aimed at:
– managers, professionals and graduate consultants with more than 5 years of professional experience who want to boost their careers in the field of digital transformation, focusing on all aspects, from strategy to big data and performance analysis, from service design to organization management.
– managers, professionals and non-graduate consultants who are required to have at least 8 years of professional experience and have a strong interest in enhancing their careers in the field of digital transformation, focusing on all its aspects, from strategy to big data and performance analysis, from service design to organization management.
35
AVERAGE AGE
10 YEARS
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Stefania Montanari
Supply Chain Finance Manager, Jimmy Choo
International Executive MBA (Ed. 2018/2020)
"The iEMBA, characterized by its focus on Digital Transformation, makes you a new multiplier of opportunities for your company. After this experience, we will be able to have new vision of our industries and companies. Each part of this Master is crucial to have a view on the future and challenges you will always look forward, giving you the right tools to keep pace with the high speed of the external contexts. This Master is a real journey and it will not end with your graduation day: it is a life journey."
Timo Wörner
Head of Public Sector Consulting, Bechtle AG
International Executive MBA (Ed. 2018/2020)
"The iEMBA is the perfect combination of high quality academic education and hands-on approaches for the Digital Transformation. Experienced Professors and Managers unleash a wide range of constructive mind-spreading discussions to think outside the box. The program, provides the tools to completely manage the digital transformation path of an organization. It was a great experience to join the International Week in Silicon Valley with numerous company visits, conferences and expert interviews."
The International Executive MBA is a part-time program compatible with the working activity divided into 12 residentials of 3 days each (Thursday, Friday and Saturday, once a month) to which is added one and a half online Warm-up day in Foundations of Accounting, one initial residential of two day Kick-off Hackaton and one Warm-up day in Financial Reporting, plus half a day online Warm-up in Financial Reporting, one day preparation of the Project Work and a final day dedicated to the presentation and discussion of the final Project Work.
Taking into account the pandemic, it is given the possibility to remotely join the didactic sessions.
The program is organized in 3 modules:
•MODULE 1: BUSINESS FUNDAMENTAL
• MODULE 2: DIGITAL ENABLER
• MODULE 3: DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Each module includes courses, focus sessions, meetings with managers and professionals of the digital business world and preparation meetings aimed at developing the project work. The contents are structured to guarantee the succession of activities and to allow participants to deepen each individual area from time to time.
CORE COURSES
12 core courses on specific topics and characterizing the module that develop over the three days that make up each residential;
FOCUS SESSION
11 one-afternoon focus sessions on cross-cutting themes related to the digital business world;
DISTANCE LEARNING
48 weeks of distance learning during which the participants will have to re-elaborate the contents dealt with during each residential and, with the support and indications of the tutors, create a paper on each of the main topics dealt with during classes of core courses;
HACKATHONS
3 hackathons of a day during which the participants, divided into groups, work on specific business issues and critical issues. Each group receives an evaluation based on the work done and this result contributes to the final evaluation of the participant.
PROJECT WORK
The project work concludes the training program and consists in the realization of a final project which starts from the analyzes carried out and developed during the previous modules.
Thanks to a program that aims to place digital innovation to the center of business decisions and the creation of value for brands, attending the International Executive MBA allows you to play the role of Digital Transformation Manager.
The course covers the strategic framework within which managers take decisions and turn their knowledge and capabilities into actions. We explore the essential concepts and tools of strategy and explain the positioning of companies in a variety of settings. You develop the skills needed to perform competitor analysis and understand how strategy formulation, deployment and effective execution relate to competitive advantage.
Lipparini AndreaAn effective marketing strategy requires a deep understanding of the mechanisms that regulate the perception of value for the customer. The course explores the processes related to the articulation of marketing plans in different contexts and environmental sectors. Market orientation; segmentation and positioning; product development; pricing and management of distribution policies. Integrated communication.
Tomesani NicolaThis course provides the relevant knowledge for comprehending and managing a business financial performance. Specifically, it focuses on the measuring and understanding of financial and value creation ratio, on cost analysis for business decision making on performance measurement systems for supporting implementation and monitoring of business strategy. The course finally provides an analytical perspective of business analysis.
Silvi RiccardoThe course provides a framework for understanding and analysing investment and financial decisions of corporations. Lectures and readings provide an introduction to present value techniques, capital budgeting, capital structure decisions, corporate cost of capital, initial and seasoned equity offerings and an introduction to corporate risk management.
Bajo EmanueleCOURSE – The course focuses on the process of value creation in the operative system, clarifying the definition of the structural characteristics: the expanded production system and fixing the boundaries of the company; vertical integration policy and production decentralization; managing the material flow, stocks and warehouses; process of planning production activities; procurement policies and management of the supply system. The course also encompasses current issues such as lean production, the use of RFID technologies and mass customization.
Chierchia LuciaDetailed explanation of Digital Platforms and underlying reasons for adopting them in a business environment. Strategic and innovative technical details as microservices and API management will be exposed to provide a full picture of which are the key features that make a digital platform really valuable and effective for an organization. The key capabilities of an omnichannel platform will be illustrated. The course will provide to participants the standard tools used to select software and solutions that best fit a specific application. Participants will play with a high-level general-purpose solution (IFTTT) to better understand how much easy is to create new services on top of open platforms. The platform business model fundamentals will be provided to give a full understanding of what make a digital platform a digital business ecosystem.
Pia AndreaEnterprises are designing new paths to deploy digital trasformation.
The course – guided by GELLIFY – will offer a journey to discover the key mechanisms of emerging technologies: artificial intelligence, IoT, advanced robotics, blockchain, cybersecurity…
Distinctive elements of the program are the dialogue with sector experts – from startups and big techs – and the interactive workshops – through GELLIFY proprietary method and tools.
The course will take place at GELLIFY HUB, where advanced technologies are applied on innovative use cases, to make participants touch their potential.
Chierchia LuciaThe course presents the world of Business Intelligence and its most recent variations. The course aims to illustrate on one hand the opportunities and competitive advantages that Data Driven decisions entail in the company, on the other it introduces the problems and risks that a Business Intelligence project entails presenting basic elements related to methodologies and techniques. Organizational and technical issues (architectures, methodologies, techniques) will be complemented by the analysis of case studies and lab activities.
Golfarelli MatteoIn this module, students will be exposed to the principles and tools of design thinking applied to business models, using these tools in a guided path, with the following target:
Understand the meaning of “Customer Centricity” and the approach to designing digital services and business models
Analyze the needs of consumers and define new services that best satisfy them
Know and apply tools for the design of all the elements of the business model
Evaluate the business potential of an innovative idea
Create a “pitch deck” of the new business idea
Understanding the difficulties related to the implementation of innovative business models (“The Innovator’s dilemma”) within a ‘traditional’ company, and strategies that have proved useful in overcoming them.
Gatti LucaThe challenge of innovation passes through people. To create business innovation we need conscious leaders, able to facilitate the work of heterogeneous teams and get the most out of people both in terms of problem finding and change making. In the course, starting from what the neurosciences have taught us about how people “work”, we are going to decline an innovative way of people management that can help us, even at cross-cultural level, to improve the drivers of performance.
Ghini MassimilianoThe digital age has brought with it the proliferation of channels and technologies which in turn have radically changed the context in which marketers find themselves operating. It is therefore necessary to update the way in which marketing is understood and thought up to the digital age.
The course illustrates the new skills and marketing skills to be introduced: data and analytics, customer experience, content, omni-channels and personalization.
Pia AndreaThe course is designed in order to give the participants the tools to carry out their final project work. Participants will be divided into groups.
With a data driven approach, at the end of this module, participants should be able to identify a business idea, to turn it into a business opportunity, presenting a value proposition, eventually creating the adequate business model to meet both business and organizational needs.
Specifically, starting from the definition of success, the course aims at providing the knowledge for enabling the appropriate management strategy to define deliverables and planning activities, foreseeing the resources needed to achieve project objectives.
Pia AndreaThe International Week is a deep dive into Big Data & Analytics, Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship organised in cooperation with our EMBA Consortium for Global Business Innovation partner Lucas College and Graduate School of Business of the San José State University. The week is specifically designed with lectures, company visits and focus sessions.
Due to the fast evolution of digital technologies, every year some topics of the International Week may vary.
During the last edition, the courses organised thanks to the guidance of Professors Mahesh Rajan, were:
Company visits were carried out in the Ford Greenfield Labs, AKQA, Amazon Fulfillment Center and Plug and Play Tech Center.
The Master’s study methodology alternates between classroom learning and remote practical activities on the School’s e-learning platform, constantly monitored by dedicated tutors. DISTANCE LEARNING The distance study activity, a weekly work plan on the e-learning platform of the School, represents a moment of individual study supervised by the reference tutor. The platform is equipped with a forum for sharing real-time reflections and insights between professors, tutors and participants.
HOW YOU LEARN
The courses allow the participants to deepen, from time to time, a single disciplinary area, ensuring an effective progression of the educational path.
WHERE THE COURSES ARE HELD
The Master takes place in two distinct places: one physical at Villa Guastavillani, Bologna, one virtual, the e-learning platform. Taking into account the pandemic, it is given the possibility to remotely join the didactic sessions.
HOW THE COURSES ARE PERFORMED
The start of each course takes place within a residential context. The professor holds an introductory lesson, evaluates the level of competence of the participants on a given topic and informs them on how to use the material they will find on the platform and on the objectives of the module. During the following weeks the participants continue the course on the platform. The learning then follows a linear path, constantly monitored by the course tutor, always available for clarifications and further information.
About 8/10 hours of study per week are expected. The closing of the courses includes a final test to verify the level of depth achieved.
DISTANCE LEARNING
The distance study activity includes a weekly work plan on the e-learning platform of the School which represents a moment of individual study supervised by the reference tutor. The platform is equipped with a forum for real-time sharing of reflections and insights between teachers and participants.
The international Executive MBA is a master’s degree made up of people, in which formal and informal exchange opportunities are created to facilitate the circulation of ideas and experiences among all the participants. Networking is developed between students of the same class, between the participants and the professors, as well as with students of other programmes and with the School community. The program is characterized by an interdisciplinary approach that combines different teaching methods and application activities, useful for creating a network between participants and companies: HACKATHON AND FOCUS SESSION. At the end of each module there are two different application activities lasting one day:
The International Executive MBA brings digital innovation to the center of business decisions and value creation for brands, services and consumers by developing a holistic approach to knowledge, which frees up digital skills from exclusively technical and specialist discussion tables and instead connects them with the whole organization.
Nowadays the companies that have chosen to be our partners are:
BPER BANCA FAMECCANICA GLEM GAS INJENIA MARAZZI GROUP OFFICINE MACCAFERRI ONIT GROUP SILMA VAR GROUP VOITH TURBO
Once the Masters have been completed, it is possible to join the activities dedicated to the Community to further increase its network.
There are also regular meetings (Speed Dates) with headhunters, managers and entrepreneurs interested in meeting the Alumni of the School to discuss and obtain useful information for their professional / career development path.
Registration fee for the Master on a company basis: 32,000 Euro + VAT.
Registration fee for the Master on an individual basis: 23,800 Euro + VAT.
Reduced fees are available for:
– Business Network companies;
– BBS and Profingest Alumni.
Furtherly, reduced fees are available for early registrations.
The registration allows to:
• free entry to the BBS indoor gym
• join BBS Community events
• Wi-Fi
• access to the AIDA database
Long-term and low-interest loan:
– Repayable in 10 years
– Reduced interest rate
– Possibility to postpone the 1st payment fee to 36 months
For more information: iemba@bbs.unibo.it
The International Executive MBA aims to develop talented managers and professionals able to manage businesses by helping them in the process of digital transformation taking place nowadays.
The master is designed for professionals, consultants and managers, who have at least 5 years of professional experience and hold a Bachelor’s Degree. A quota of applicants who do not hold a Bachelor’s Degree, with 8+ years of relevant professional experience, may be admitted, up to 20%.
The selection process comprises the analysis of the Curriculum Vitae and an individual interview, in order to identify the candidate’s professional profile and consistency with their participation in the Master.
To apply, please send your Curriculum Vitae to iemba@bbs.unibo.it Candidates will be contacted to schedule the selection interview with the Directors of the Master.
The selection process consists of an interview with the Master’s Director, organised by the Program Manager upon candidate request and after sending of the Curriculum Vitae. The interview is not binding on enrollment.
The Program Manager can send a certificate of attendance record at the end of the didactic sessions to those that make a request, upon verification of the attendance.
In order to get admitted to the Master Executive, it is required to have a Bachelor’s Degree, however, a limited number of places are available for those who do not have a Bachelor’s Degree but that can demonstrate to have significant professional experience, to be evaluated during the assessment interview.
No, it is not. The Executive Masters are not University Masters, therefore they do have ECTS credits (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System), that in Italy are called “crediti formativi universitari (CFU).
At the end of the Master, a certificate of attendance (which includes the achieved results) and a Diploma of Participation (upon verification of successful completion of each course and of at least a 70% of class attendance) are issued.
No, because it is not a university Master.
Faculty members at Bologna Business School work together offering outstanding teaching standards. An international and interdisciplinary approach is guaranteed by a joint team of distinguished national core professors, adjunct, visiting professors, guest speakers and top managers.
Emanuele Bajo
Associate Dean - Full Professor of Corporate Finance
University of Bologna
Lucia Chierchia
Managing Partner
GELLIFY
Luca Gatti
European Head of Business Strategy Services
AKQA-WPP
Massimiliano Ghini
Management Consultant and Director
MGMTLAB.EU - People Intelligence
Matteo Golfarelli
Associate Professor of Information Elaboration Systems
University of Bologna
Andrea Lipparini
Full Professor of Innovation Management
University of Bologna
Andrea Pia
VP Sales & Marketing Italy
AKQA
Riccardo Silvi
Full Professor of Business Economics
University of Bologna
Nicola Tomesani
Management Consultant and Adjunct Professor of Marketing
University of Bologna