General Management Plus Program
Action Learning with Impact: Develop as a Leader while Creating Social Impact
About the Program
Boost your General Management skills with the General Management Plus Program: By combining the WHU Management Essentials Program with the Capability Program, which we conduct in cooperation with BOOKBRIDGE, we offer you the opportunity to obtain a WHU Mini MBA certificate with 15 ECTS. At the same time, we empower you to transform yourself and your organization with purpose. During the WHU Management Essentials Program, you will enhance your general management skills in the areas of finance, leadership, strategy, and entrepreneurship. Facilitated by BOOKBRIDGE, you will establish a real-life and fully independent social enterprise in a deprived community during the Capability Program.
Program Content
Accelerate your career with the WHU Mini MBA Certificate!
With the General Management Plus Program (WHU Mini MBA Certificate) you acquire comprehensive expertise for your future as a successful executive in just a few months. In interactive courses, renowned WHU professors provide knowledge in the fields of strategy, finance, leadership, change management, and entrepreneurship. At the same time, you develop as a purpose-driven leader while co-creating a tangible social enterprise together with other program participants. For this purpose, you you will assess the needs, brainstorm ideas, create prototypes and pitch a business plan. After each module, you will receive a Take Home Exam, which you must submit digitally. You will receive 15 ECTS points upon successful completion of all exams.
The Capability Program (Social Entrepreneurship Project) transforms you with purpose so that you can transform your environment. The action learning program challenges you to step up and take real responsibility as a social entrepreneur in the field. As part of a diverse team, you co-create a tangible social enterprise to improve job and life chances of a deprived community (in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, or Mongolia). In this process, you will find unique opportunities to find and lead by purpose, think and act as an entrepreneur and collaborate as a diverse self-organized team.
The Capability Program runs part-time in sync with your professional career over a period of 6 months. The program is has modules in Zurich, Switzerland, and the project location. You can complete the three modules of the Management Essentials Program at the WHU Campus Düsseldorf simultaneously, before or after the Capability Program, choose the way that suits your personal schedule best!
Program set-up/Modules
- Strategy Essentials: Corporate strategy, formulation methods, and agile tools. Strategy execution and change management.
- Financial Literacy: Fundamental concepts of finance & accounting
- Leadership Essentials: Leadership styles, self-leadership, and inspirational leadership
- Capability Program: the entrepreneurial project runs over the full length of the program
The program requires 25 presence days and 2 to 3 hours of virtual teamwork per week.
Program Format and Module Dates
This program runs over a period of 9 months. The program requires 25 presence days and about 3 hours of virtual teamwork per week.
Module Dates
Program Benefits
- Receive a WHU Mini MBA Certificate (15 ECTS) in an intensive program that suits your professional schedule
- Enhance your general management knowledge in strategy, leadership, finance, change management, and entrepreneurship
- Assess the needs of an unknown market
- Think and act as a real entrepreneur by setting up a tangible business
- Lead an international team in a virtual setting
- Transform ideas into viable business ideas and plan for entering a new market
- Reflect on your own leadership style and role
- Develop into a purpose-driven leader
- Develop and leverage personal networks and engage in trust-based dialog
- Conduct market research in an intercultural context
- Bring education to a rural area in a country of the global South
The General Management Plus Program is the perfect choice for professionals and executives who are looking for a short-term program at MBA-level from one of the best business schools in the world. The program gives you the tools you need to become a true intrapreneur (i.e. applied entrepreneurship within an existing organization) in your own company!
Become an entrepreneurial thinker and a responsible leader who recognizes new business opportunities and quickly transforms ideas into viable business models. Represent the next generation of leaders with sound knowledge of general management topics and a good sense of responsible leadership, and experience the results of your work in the long term.
Certificate
Upon successful completion of the program and the corresponding exams (admission requirements apply for the award of ECTS credits), 15 ECTS credits will be granted and you will receive a WHU Mini MBA certificate. You can continue your MBA at WHU at a later stage of your career (the requirements and conditions of the MBA admission procedure apply).
More details on the Certificate Regulations can be found here.
Participant Profile
This part-time program is specially designed to combine a professional schedule with a learning opportunity and is therefore very suitable for middle-management talents. Participants should have a global orientation, be willing to engage in an entrepreneurial project.
Who will benefit most from the program?
- Managers who are in transition into a leadership position
- Managers and professionals with an educational background in a field other than business administration
- Managers and specialists who wish to hone their intercultural competences and leadership skills
- Managers and specialists who are interested in entrepreneurial thinking and acting as well as working in intercultural and challenging environments
- Managers and professionals seeking to broaden their international network
- Employees who aim at excelling as intrapreneurs within their companies
- Professionals with a keen interest to make an impact
Admissions requirements
- For ECTS credits to be granted, a proof of a Bachelor or equivalent first degree is necessary.
- Participants are expected to have at least three years of post-graduate professional experience.
- Participants should have adequate written and spoken English-language skills at C1 level (or equivalent).
- The exact admission requirements can be found in the Certificate Regulations.
Sometimes there is simply not enough capacity for full-time study, but on the other hand, a short executive education format is not enough. With our General Management Plus Program you will experience a great learning journey in a highly condensed MBA version.
During this Mini-MBA, you will refresh your general management skills (leadership, strategy, finance,) in only 24 presence days spread over 12 months. You will have a lifetime experience by learning the strategies and tools for setting-up a business and putting these new learnings into action: In 2-3 hours virtual teamwork per week, you will develop a business plan for a social business in an Asian country. This part-time Mini-MBA is the perfect choice for all participants who – in a short period of time – want to experience an MBA-like program at one of the top Business Schools worldwide.
Upon successful completion you will receive an official certificate (incl. 15 ECTS) and may continue your MBA journey at WHU at a later stage of your career.
WHU is unique, and so are its Alumni. Founded by the first graduates in 1988, In Praxi – WHU Alumni Association is regarded among the best Alumni Associations in the German speaking region.
In Praxi has nearly 4.000 members, historically and still today more than 90% of all graduates become members of In Praxi. It is a global network and friendship, as well as exchange platform of ideas and opportunities.
Members are provided with various services and very important, they "keep in touch!" – this is one of In Praxi’s main pillars – with each other and furthermore with their alma mater! Graduates from Executive Education Programs, containing at least 10 ECTS, can join In Praxi as Friends. More information on In Praxi: alumni.whu.edu
Our Admissions Team is happy to assist you.
We look forward to connecting with you!