Internationality at ESMT
A word from the Dean of International Relations CB Bhattacharya
When I came to the young business school ESMT in the fall of 2009, I was surprised at just how international the business school, based in Germany, was. Walking through the corridors and talking to other faculty members, staff, and students, I continuously met others with unbelievably diverse backgrounds. This is because so much of the ESMT staff is from a country other than Germany. The 32 faculty members at the business school in Germany come from 19 different countries. It is a completely different atmosphere than I had experienced in the United States or in India.
The internationality of ESMT plays an important role for me in my research and my teaching. I am confronted with diversity of thought that drives me to question issues in a new way. Even what constitutes corporate responsibility itself means different things in different cultural contexts.
The current Full-time MBA class at ESMT is made up of women and men from 24 different countries. The classes I teach are enriched by the variety of experience and viewpoints that comes with this internationality. I remember once discussing the chain restaurant McDonald’s in class. While not calling it upscale, one participant from Southern Europe did not consider McDonald’s to be fast food but saw it as a sit-down dining experience. The Americans in the group ate McDonald’s sitting down as well—in their cars after going through the drive-through!
ESMT‘s students and alumni, who live and work in over 60 countries around the globe, profit from the business school’s global corporate network. This network consists of top international corporations, such as Allianz, Daimler, Deutsche Bank, E.ON, Gazprom, and Siemens, who founded ESMT. ESMT also works together with other corporate partners and international institutions. The school’s customer base includes companies such as EnBW, Hitachi, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Talanx.
ESMT collaborates with a variety of academic partners around the world, starting in Europe and reaching to the U.S. and China. In executive education, for example, we offer the program Bringing Technology to Market together with Darden School of Business, University of Virginia. Other partnerships in executive education may be found here. Our Academic Board consists of leading academics from business schools in Europe and the United States.
As we state in our mission, our aim is to develop entrepreneurial leaders who think globally, act responsibly, and respect the individual. As the Dean of International Relations, I would like to invite you to learn more about ESMT and join us, be it as a student, an alumnus or alumna, a business or academic partner, or a supporter.
ESMT European School of
