BUILDING A COMPANY?
Turn every course into support for growing your business.
GERMAN GLOBAL MBA
Your workplace
becomes the MBA.
Develop your organisation.
Develop the manager you can become.
Apply every course to your role, organisation and current management challenges. Develop solutions with professors who bring international executive management experience at board level and work with you as management consultants.
Continue your career and remain based at home, with selected international residentials that add global exposure.
MBA awarded by Albstadt-Sigmaringen University,
a German public university.
The German model of executive education.
Proven internationally for more than 25 years.
Proven internationally for more than 25 years.
2 yearswhile continuing your career
24management problems addressed at your workplace
Up to 20participants. Individual journeys.
First coursewhere value creation begins
01 THE VALUE BEYOND THE DEGREE
Why do people pay more for a BMW?
They expect German engineering, performance and quality—and an experience that goes far beyond transportation alone.
The same question applies to an MBA.
Many programmes award the same three letters. The decisive difference is the value you and your organisation receive beyond the degree.
From the first course, participants use the German Global MBA to create change in their organisations. They have rescued businesses from bankruptcy, entered new markets, launched companies ahead of industry disruption and transformed organisational performance—while still studying.
02 WORKPLACE APPLICATION
Your workplace—not a case study—drives the MBA.
Every course applied to a real management problem at work.
Across 24 workplace assignments, you develop practical solutions to management problems in your organisation, supported by your professors’ coaching and feedback.
Where learning proves its value
You assess your recommendations against the realities of your organisation: what can be implemented, what might stand in the way and what value could it create?
24 workplace assignments.
24 opportunities to put learning into practice.
IN HER OWN WORDS
Watch Miranda share her Global MBA experience.
Miranda KhumaloPartner, Atherstone and CookHarare, Zimbabwe
In this two-minute interview, Miranda describes how practical coaching helped her apply learning immediately, understand finance as a lawyer and grow into broader executive responsibilities.
Explore more participant storiesRecognised among Zimbabwe’s 40 Under 40 Most Influential Young Business Leaders, 2023.
03 AN INDIVIDUAL MBA JOURNEY
The German Global MBA adapts to you.
A proven revolution in executive learning.
Your MBA, built around the executive you are and the leader you want to become.
Most MBAs personalise a fixed curriculum by offering electives. The German Global MBA revolutionises that model: you apply every course to your own responsibilities, challenges and ambitions. The curriculum provides a common framework; its application is individual, while every participant meets the same rigorous academic standards.
One cohort. Up to 20 individual MBA journeys.
MOVING INTO EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT?
Develop the cross-functional executive perspective and decision-making capability required at the next level.
ALREADY LEADING?
Challenge assumptions, solve strategic problems and transform your organisational performance.
04 DIRECT PROFESSOR INVOLVEMENT
Professors are your management consultants.
Your professors combine academic qualifications with international executive management experience at board level and international consulting experience.
Through personal tutorials and detailed written consultation reports on your assignments, they challenge your thinking and help you improve the solutions you develop at work—bringing academic insight and practical executive judgement to your management problems.
Assessors give grades.
Our professors coach.
05 MANAGEMENT IS A CRAFT
The entire MBA is
your training ground.
Leadership, critical thinking and creative problem-solving develop through practice.
Studying leadership theories helps you understand leadership. Developing the ability to lead takes practice over time: turning decisions into action, involving others and implementing change.
In the German Global MBA, you practise leadership, critical thinking and creative problem-solving from the first course to the last by applying them in different management situations—from finance and marketing to HR, operations and IT.
Through repeated practice, you build the judgement and confidence to turn knowledge into action—and take on greater responsibility.
01
Practise
Solve a real management problem.
02
Receive feedback
Get feedback on your solution from fellow participants and your professor.
03
Reflect
Recognise how you can improve your solution.
04
Practise again
Improve your management solution.
06 PARTICIPANT EXPERIENCES
See what changed while they were still studying.
Participants in the German Global MBA create value at work from the very first course. Three examples of practical application from 24 workplace assignments:
Strategy & Performance
Aligning partners around a shared direction.
These discussions have not only solidified our collective understanding of the firm’s strategic direction but also refined our approach to achieving both long-term and short-term goals.
Strategy
A radically new way of thinking about strategy.
Chris likens the impact of the strategy course to “the dropping of a bomb.”
This revelation was one of many and had me questioning, actually doubting, everything I've been taught about future-based thinking and planning.
Cross-cultural Management
Rethinking stakeholder relationships across cultures.
I honestly thought it would be all books and research but I wasn’t prepared for how the program would get me thinking about things I thought I knew and take me along the path of rethinking my interaction with stakeholders as I conduct Assurance Reviews.
Explore more participant experiences.
Watch their first-hand accounts or explore written testimonials by module and area of focus—to discover experiences relevant to your own role and ambitions.
Watch MBA video testimonials
Students and graduates reflect on their overall MBA experience and professional growth.
Explore written testimonials
Participants describe the value created through individual workplace assignments—solving management problems in their own organisations.
07 GLOBAL LEARNING. PERSONAL CONNECTIONS.
Your MBA is individual.
Your learning journey is shared.
You learn with fellow professionals who bring different industries, cultures and management experiences into the conversation.
They question your ideas, share their experience and help you see your challenges from new perspectives. You do the same for them.
International residentials bring you together in person, creating space to work alongside one another, build trust and form friendships. For many of our graduates, these relationships are among the most valued parts of their MBA experience.
08 A GERMAN UNIVERSITY MBA
Accredited. Recognised.
Academically sound.
Your MBA is awarded by a German public university.
IBR
Develops and delivers the work-integrated MBA model, coordinates the international professors and supports you throughout your individual learning journey.
Albstadt-Sigmaringen University
Holds academic responsibility, safeguards examination standards and awards your MBA degree.
Explore the university’s MBA pageAcademic responsibility and external validation
Within an external examination framework, the university defines and verifies admission criteria, issues the study and examination regulations, appoints examiners, oversees the examinations and awards the degree.
IBR designs and delivers the academic preparation of candidates, supporting them throughout the programme and preparing them for examinations conducted under the responsibility of the university.
The German Global MBA has undergone six FIBAA accreditation reviews. The latest review confirmed fulfilment of every formal and academic-content criterion, with accreditation granted without conditions until 2031.
6FIBAA accreditation reviews
2031accredited without conditions until
09 PROGRAMME & ADMISSION
Admissions and academic framework.
The German Global MBA extends over two years and integrates your studies with your work.
Admission is governed by the requirements of Albstadt-Sigmaringen University. Explore the entry requirements, programme structure and curriculum below.
MONTHS 01—18
Workplace learning
24 workplace assignments, reading and discussions at work—with coaching and feedback from IBR professors.
MONTHS 19—24
Management thesis
Receive guidance and coaching in solving a larger management problem at work.
THROUGHOUT THE PROGRAMME
International residentials
Six five-day workshops: one online and five in person in different countries. Locations and timing are confirmed for your cohort.
What will I study?
Develop a cross-functional executive perspective across:
- International Management
- Strategy and Transformation
- Finance
- Marketing
- Human Resources
- Operations
- Digital Leadership and Transformation
- Management Thesis
Am I eligible?
- Academic qualification: A completed bachelor’s degree. IBR will review your qualification and advise whether additional credits are needed. Applicants with 180 ECTS can complete the additional 30 credits before registering their master’s thesis.
- Professional experience: At least two years of professional and leadership experience after your first degree. Our participants bring an average of 10–12 years of professional experience.
- Workplace: You are employed or self-employed, with work commitments that allow you to participate in the programme.
- English: No additional language test is required if English is your mother tongue or you have been educated in English. Otherwise, TOEFL iBT 100 or evidence of comparable English proficiency is required. Consult IBR about suitable evidence or an equivalent test.
Whether you are building a company, moving into executive management or already leading, your learning is shaped around your role. Bring the motivation to reflect on your practice and make time for your studies.
Explore how the MBA adapts to youAdmission to the university’s external examinations is governed by its examination regulations. IBR will discuss your individual qualifications and experience with you.
English translation for information. The German original is authoritative.
What documents will I need?
For your application to IBR, please prepare:
- Completed online application.
- Degree certificate and academic transcript.
- Evidence of your university entrance qualification.
- Signed CV describing your education and professional experience.
- Motivation letter explaining your experience, goals and reasons for choosing the MBA.
- Two letters of recommendation.
- International passport copy and a photograph.
- Evidence of English proficiency, where required.
- Evidence of current employment or self-employment.
Discuss document certification and any translation needs with IBR before arranging translations. IBR can review documents in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Ukrainian, as well as German, and will advise on any further requirements for the examination process.
How do I apply?
- Personal consultation: Speak with Timur about your goals, eligibility, study commitments, fees and payment options.
- Interview: Discuss your experience, motivation and how the MBA could support your development with IBR.
- Application and IBR review: Receive access to the online application and submit your documents. IBR reviews your application and communicates its enrolment decision.
- Prepare to study: Enrol with IBR and receive guidance on your cohort, residentials and first course.
How do study, work and travel fit together?
Allow approximately 8–12 hours a week for your studies. This is a guide rather than a fixed additional workload: because you work on real management problems in your organisation, study and work overlap.
Your commitment will vary with the assignment and how closely it connects to your responsibilities at work.
Five residentials, each lasting five days, bring you together with faculty and fellow participants for workshops and shared learning. Their locations depend on where you are based.
One further five-day workshop takes place online. Locations and timing are confirmed for your cohort. Discuss your cohort’s arrangements and the study commitment with IBR.
Discuss your situationWhat are the fees, payment options and next start dates?
Tuition fees depend on your home country. Speak with IBR about the fees, funding options, next intake and residential arrangements that apply to you.
Ask about participation10 FOR EMPLOYERS
What could your organisation gain?
Develop your people.
Create value inside your organisation.
Executive education becomes part of your business.
Your organisation’s priorities drive the learning. Your employee develops executive capability by working on the changes your business needs—with professors coaching the process from the very first course.
Consulting insight. Capability that stays.
Professors with executive management experience coach your employee in creating value at work. Their consulting insight becomes your employee’s own management capability—and stays within your organisation.
Develop future executives from within.
The German Global MBA opens a pathway to executive responsibility for your high-potential employees—reducing the need for costly external recruitment while retaining valuable company knowledge.
TAKE A CLOSER LOOK
Continue exploring.
The brochures take the story further, from the individual MBA journey to the value for your organisation.
11 YOUR PERSONAL MBA CONVERSATION
What could your individual MBA look like?
Am I eligible? Can I fit the MBA around my work? What will it cost, and how can I pay?
Speak with Timur Freimann about admission, study schedules, the tuition fees and payment options available in your region, and the next available cohort. Talk through how the MBA works and ask any questions you have.
Take the time you need to understand the programme and decide whether it is right for you.
Mr Timur FreimannIBR Business Development Manager