The renewed edition of the EMBA Weekend, organised by the Faculty of Economics of Università della Svizzera italiana and attended by 15 future leaders, started on 23 September.
The courses will focus on Sustainability and Digital Transformation. Internationality is the watchword that unites participants and faculty. 

The EMBA is a Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) degree that grants 60 ECTS credits.
The USI EMBA Diploma/Title is nationally and internationally recognised and gives access to the USI Alumni Network (about 11,000 people) in addition to the dedicated EMBA Alumni Network (about 150).

The primary target audience consists of managers, directors, entrepreneurs, family businesses, startuppers from different sectors (public, private and services) and with a wide variety of backgrounds who share the need to acquire organisational skills and adopt innovative, up-to-date approaches to meet increasingly complex challenges and hyper-competitive markets.

The programme consists of 14 courses (11 core and 3 electives), taught by a faculty specialised in teaching executive classes, internationally known for its applied research who transfer their expertise to the EMBA classroom.

The entrepreneurship course (and related study&business tour) will take place on-site in California, the United States, specifically Napa and Silicon Valley, where the EMBA11 class will get in touch with the latest in agribusiness and technology.

Professor Gianluca Colombo, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Director of the EMBA, comments, “The EMBA is primarily aimed at future leaders who are at a turning point in their careers. They know that to move forward on their path, it is essential to invest in themselves, to learn new concepts and tools to apply to their work reality – like a key that opens the door to new horizons.“

Leading competitive organisations – Lessons learned from the sports industry

Keynote Speaker: Nicola Mona, MBA, Chief Executive Officer, Hockey Club Ambrì Piotta

When: 23 September, 17:45

Where: USI, Executive Center, Via Giuseppe Buffi 13,6900 Lugano

Nicola Mona

Nicola Mona is an experienced technology and sports executive, helping organisations in defining and achieving high performance goals.
He bases his competencies on hands-on leadership of cross-cultural teams and large-scale projects in various industries.
He served as CEO for almost 4 years of a professional ice hockey team in Switzerland, Ambrì Piotta, navigating through the turbulent times of the COVID pandemic.
He also managed the challenging endeavor of the construction and commissioning of a proprietary arena.
He was Innovation Mentor for Innosuisse and he is a certified HERMES Foundation project manager.
Graduated in Materials Science and Engineering at ETH, he holds an MBA at Said Business School , University of Oxford.

Hockey Club Ambrì Piotta

The Hockey Club Ambrì-Piotta is an ice hockey club founded in 1937. It is based in the town of Ambrì, located in the municipality of Quinto in Switzerland.
It has been playing in the National League, the highest level of ice hockey in Switzerland, since 1985. It has been playing in the Gottardo Arena since 2021.

Evolving Leadership

Keynote Speaker: Stephen Norman

Former Senior Vice President Marketing and Sales, Stellantis Group

When: Friday, 9 September 2022, 6 PM
Where: USI Università della Svizzera italiana, Via Buffi 13, 6900 Lugano,  Executive Center, Blue Room

Mr. Norman spent his professional life in the automotive industry, where he experienced different positions, in different companies and cultures.
What are the major changes in term of Leadership practices overtime and across companies and cultures?

Stephen Norman

With effect from February 1st 2018, Stephen Norman was appointed Managing Director of Vauxhall Motors and Opel Ireland.

Stephen Norman joined Groupe PSA in May 2014 as Chief Marketing Officer and was appointed Senior Vice President, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer in 2016 with remarkable achievements.

In this new capacity, he was responsible for leading Vauxhall Motors and Opel Ireland business and development, in line with the new strategic plan PACE! Given his extensive worldwide Marketing experience, Stephen Norman served also as Marketing reference for Opel/Vauxhall.

Vauxhall and Opel sold 202,000 cars and 29,000 vans in England and Ireland in 2017. Since November 2017, Vauxhall Motors and Opel Ireland are implementing Opel’s new strategic plan, PACE! aiming at becoming profitable, electric and global.

Limited places available. Book yours: emba@usi.ch

When: 10, 11 September 2022

What: Leadership Course – Last BE AN EMBA FOR A DAY.
Book your free session! 

This course invites participants to reflect on how they lead today and how they want to further develop their leadership skills and mindsets for leading successfully ‘tomorrow’.

We will therefore explore some of the following questions:

• What does it take to lead people and teams towards high performance?
• How did it work in the past, what is changing, and how does successful team leadership look like in the near future?
• What mindsets are helpful to lead and engage people in organizations in times of constant change and increasing complexity?
• What skills can leaders develop, nurture, and leverage to foster their leadership impact?
• How can a ‘coaching leadership style’ support leaders in further developing their effectiveness in helping people and teams to excel, flourish, and grow – even in challenging times?

Professor Andreas Bernhardt, ESMT Berlin

Andreas Bernhardt is executive development advisor and lead coach at ESMT Berlin in Germany, founding member of ESMT’s Center for Leadership Development Research, and manages ESMT’s pool of executive coaches. He has over 20 years of practical leadership development experience with executives from more than 50 countries and has designed and delivered executive programs for several international companies. He is also an executive coach with the Global Leadership Centre at INSEAD, one of the world’s leading business schools.

He is co-designer and convener of ESMT’s yearly Coaching Colloquium, was co-organizer of the International Coaching Research Forum in collaboration with the Institute of Coaching at McLean/Harvard Medical School, and regularly contributes to top academic and practitioner conferences. His current consulting and research interests focus on leadership development, executive coaching, HR management, and leading and coaching teams in tough times. He is co-editor of the new book “Tricky Coaching: Difficult Cases in Leadership Coaching” together with Konstantin Korotov, Manfred Kets de Vries and Elizabeth Florent-Treacy.

He teaches and coaches in the areas of Leadership, Organizational Behavior, Coaching, Negotiations and Change in MBA, Executive MBA, open enrollment, and company specific executive programs. His executive education portfolio includes, programs for, among others, Allianz, Deutsche Bank, Postbank, Hogan Lovells, Deutsche Telekom, E.ON, RWE, BSH Bosch and Siemens, Hitachi, Kaspersky, B. Braun, GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis, West Pharmaceutical Services, Johnson & Johnson, Axel Springer, McDonald’s, and the European Union.

Andreas consults globally operating companies on issues of executive coaching, leadership development, and leading people and teams in challenging times. He also regularly coaches executives on leadership and career issues.

He studied Clinical and Organizational Psychology, Management and Organizational Behavior, holds a Master’s degree in Psychology, and is an alumnus of INSEAD’s long-term executive program „Consulting and Coaching for Change” directed by Professor Manfred Kets de Vries.

Additionally, Andreas has held the position of Head of Leadership and Human Resource Management Programs for USW Schloss Gracht and prior to this worked for several years in the Banking Industry as well as for the German State Police Forces.

FEE For the entire course:

3.000 CHF Course Fee
2700 CHF VSV ASG Members Fee
2.500 CHF USI Alumni Fee

Book your place! emba@usi.ch