PROGRAM

WHY USI

The USI EMBA is a modular, Advanced Master in Management degree, taught in English, by an exceptional international faculty at the Università della Svizzera italiana.

Classes are taught through self-learning for one day and on-site in Lugano for two consecutive days (Saturday and Sunday) on a monthly basis, lasting for fourteen months. The program consists of eleven core courses and three advanced courses. Additionally, one module will be conducted abroad. The curriculum culminates with a three-month Keystone consulting project, guided by a professor, and concludes with the defense of the resulting thesis. 

Roads to Disruption

In today’s world, entrepreneurs and executives face two significant new factors that influence political and economic environments, reshape social relations, and profoundly impact businesses, their operations, and processes.

The first factor is the Digital Revolution. The emergence of big data, machine learning, and new technologies necessitates novel organizational approaches and competencies.

The second factor is Sustainability. The imperative to establish and maintain a sustainable society for future generations must become an integral part of any successful business strategy.

Every function within an organization must comprehend these implications and undertake appropriate transformations to gain a competitive advantage in their respective markets.

In the current landscape, simply bridging the managerial skills gap is no longer sufficient. To thrive in this new reality, an innovative and visionary approach is required. It is essential to challenge the validity of existing models with a pioneering, rather than merely adaptive, spirit and to develop new paradigms.

The Executive Master in Business Administration program at the Università della Svizzera italiana embraces this spirit of innovation and continually evolves to ensure the highest educational standards for its participants.

 

USI EMBA distinctive features

  • Innovative content, focus on digital transformation, change and sustainability
  • Distinguished, world- class faculty and guest speakers with extensive experience: both from leading international business schools and from strategic consulting companies around the world.
  • Weekend format: Lessons are Saturday and Sunday. In this way, Executive MBA participants can continue working full-time while they study, simultaneously advancing their careers and their professional and personal development.
  • Personalized learning experience: thanks to the small class size of twenty participants, exchanges between participants and faculty are meaningful and tutoring ensures that each individual gains the maximum from the courses.
  • Highly international student profile, 12 years average of working experience
  • Personalised career development services
  • Study in thriving Lugano, Switzerland, at the center of Europe’s cultural and business hubs

CURRICULUM

The USI EMBA 13 begins in September 2023 and extends until March 2025. Classes are conducted in Lugano every month for a total of fourteen months, utilizing a combination of online and on-site teaching. The first day of each session is asynchronous, followed by a transformational weekend on Saturday and Sunday, running from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm.

The program comprises eleven core courses, with one of these taking place abroad, as well as three advanced courses. Towards the conclusion of the program, there will be a three-month project work.

The teaching approach involves a blend of classroom instruction and online learning, with open book assignments following each course.

Core courses

Analytics for Business

Using quantitative tools to analyze business information and to develop a company’s strategy is a requirement for business leaders. This course covers an introduction to probability, statistics, optimization, all used in understanding business trends and improving efficiency.

Financial Performance Measurements and their use
This course provides the necessary information and tools to understand financial accounting and reporting. In addition, it offers an introduction to the useful concepts and frameworks that form the basis of managerial accounting.

Economics
How to think like an economist? This course delivers core insights from micro-economics and also explains how macro-economic forces affect the business environment. It trains participants to apply economic reasoning in order to successfully manage a business and to extend this knowledge to new concepts, including sustainability and the digital revolution.”

Organizational Behavior 
How do individuals, groups and organizations learn? Why do some groups perform well while other don’t? What is leadership and how can you become a leader? These are the type of questions that will be discussed in OB.

Marketing
Without a market, is there any point in having a product? Understanding consumers, competitors and product development is critical to most businesses. Moreover, in today’s increasingly global market branding takes on a new dimension. Finally, this course looks at the new channels and tools available for product promotion.

Human Resources Management
Hiring is critical for most organizations, but how do you get it right? What is performance and how do you evaluate it? How do you create the right incentives for your valued employees? This course looks at all these aspects of managing employees.

Leading Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is about adapting businesses to a “new normal”. As digital technology, society and businesses co-evolve into this “new normal”, creating multiple levels of change and uncertainty, business leaders must think thoroughly about their business models and the new drivers of value creation and value capturing.
Conceptual and practical understanding will be developed through interactive lectures, cases, several videos, and applied workshops.

Finance
Understanding the finances of a company is essential. This course teaches the logic underlying the firm’s financial decisions: investment, financing, and payout policies.

Operations Management
How can you develop reliable yet flexible supply chains? Where is the best location for production? How and why would you introduce quality systems in your organization? These are some of the issues dealt with in this course.

Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship
Creating new enterprises is vital for the economy, and so are the processes inside organizations for creating innovative products and services. In this course the discussion will be around creation of new companies as well as ways in which existing organizations can stay or become entrepreneurial again.

Negotiation
The negotiation process is a part of every manager’s day-to-day activities with people inside and outside the organization, people whose cooperation is essential to attain your goals. Having negotiation skills is not a choice for an execvutive, leader or an entrepreneur; it’s a must.

Advanced courses
While the core courses are the central pillars of the program, the advanced courses, offered towards the end of the 18-month period, give participants the opportunity to take a more in-depth view on selected topics and issues. Using their negotiation and leadership skills, the Executive MBA students will have the chance to exert their influence on the choice of the advanced courses. The list of advanced courses proposed by internal and external professors consists of:

  • Managing economic crises and global risks
  • Leadership – Leading today and preparing for tomorrow
  • Corporate development strategies
  • Finance and sustainability
  • Business Dynamics
  • Project Management
  • Business applications of artificial intelligence
  • Leading organizational change
  • ESG4 Climate change mitigation
  • Strategic & creative decision making
  • ESG Reporting

 Keystone project 

Once the core curriculum has been completed, the participants, with the help of the relevant professors, finalize their project. The three-month keystone project is generally conducted within the EMBA participant’s company. An integral part of the advanced management learning experience, the project positions the participant as a consultant. Leveraging their new skills and professional experience, the participants work on a strategic issue for their company under the guidance of a USI Professor.

Seminars, conferences and workshop
In the last few years, we have been organizing seminars with senior managers from different industries, such as chemical, banking, pharmaceutical, fashion, and the telecom industry. These university seminars will be open to the program participants, in addition to the special seminars and talks organized with international and local speakers.

USI METHOD

Global in scope, regional in focus. The program’s global scope involves collaboration with an international faculty, employing strategic case studies from all over the world. Meanwhile, the regional focus ensures a personalized and applied learning experience, facilitated by the small class size and rooted in the Swiss tradition of excellence.

Our approach accelerates intellectual development, providing participants with greater strategic vision and immediate applicable knowledge. It is practical, emphasizing group work, practice-based learning, and self-reflection. Participants leverage and build on their own experiences to enhance their leadership skills and effectively manage complex projects.

The USI EMBA design incorporates distinctive features such as assignments balanced between practice and theory, business simulations, and small group work activities with classmates from diverse backgrounds and experiences.

Upon completing each module, participants return to their organizations equipped with new skills to better identify, frame, and solve complex business problems. They gain the confidence to make crucial business decisions in an uncertain and rapidly changing environment, along with leadership skills to drive fundamental change within their organization and industry. The USI EMBA also offers the opportunity to put these new skills to the test during the keystone project at the program’s conclusion, under the expert guidance of USI’s top faculty.

ADVISORY BOARD

Gianluca Colombo
Professor, Former Director EMBA and Former Dean of the Faculty of Economics, USI

Tamara Erez
Director Centro Studi Villa Negroni

Paola Franzetti
USI EMBA Representative, Senior Legal Counsel

Barbara Hoepli
President The Swiss Chamber of Commerce in Italy

Daniele Lotti
Head of EOC Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale and President of SES, Società Elettrica Sopracenerina SA

Jean Pierre Pedrazzini
Senior Partner Egon Zehnder International (Suisse) SA

Franco Polloni
Head Central Switzerland, Ticino & Italy Region, EFG Bank

Julia Renaux
USI EMBA Representative, Client Relationship Manager

Gianluca Colombo
Professor, Director EMBA and Dean of the Faculty of Economics, USI

Tamara Erez
Director Centro Studi Villa Negroni

Paola Franzetti
USI Emba Representative, Senior Legal Counsel

 

Barbara Hoepli

President The Swiss Chamber of Commerce in Italy

Daniele Lotti
Head of EOC Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale and President of SES, Società Elettrica Sopracenerina SA

Jean Pierre Pedrazzini
Senior Partner Egon Zehnder International (Suisse) SA

Franco Polloni
Head Central Switzerland, Ticino & Italy Region, EFG Bank

Julia Renaux
USI EMBA Representative, Client Relationship Manager

FACULTY

Truly international faculty

All of our faculty members are highly experienced and qualified, with international backgrounds. The USI EMBA faculty is carefully selected for their excellence in applied research, extensive work experience in both private and public sectors, and their roles in teaching executive education programs at top business schools.

These academics excel in assisting executives in applying the latest management theories to their work, and they adopt a multidisciplinary approach to their subjects, encouraging participants to do the same. In addition, we invite external faculty members from renowned business schools to offer a variety of advanced courses.

GIANLUCA COLOMBO

Professor of Entrepreneurship and Management at USI.

PAULO GONÇALVES

Director Executive MBA and Professor of Operations Management at USI

GIANVITO LANZOLLA

Visiting Professor of Strategy and Digital Transformation

FILIPPO CARLO WEZEL

Professor of Organization and Management at USI. PhD (Bologna), M. Sc. (Bologna).

ERIC NOWAK

Full Professor of Financial Management and Accounting

KANDARP MEHTA

Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship and Negotiation

LUCA VISCONTI

Full Professor of Marketing
Dean – Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society

LAURENT FRESARD Full Professor of Finance

LAURENT FRESARD

Full Professor of Finance

PROGRAM CONTACTS

CRISTINA SAPORITI

Director of Operations

LISA PAROLINI

Marketing Coordinator

MELANIA CECCATO

Program Assistant

GUEST SPEAKERS

Paolo Besani, EMBA
Partner HDPB srl and Chairman Innovation Mould srl

Jean Pierre Blaison
Human Resources Director at Alfred Dunhill

Now: Human Resources Director Phoebe Philo

Riccardo Braglia
CEO and Managing Director Helsinn Holding SA

Now: Executive Chairman Hesilnn Group

Michele Buttazzoni
Group Integrated Logistics Manager at Luxury Goods International

Now: Senior Advisor Supply Chain & Omnichannel- Luxury Goods International

Francesco Caporali, MBA
Managing Partner at CAPCOST Srl, Business Up Sagl

Dr. Marco Cavadini
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich

Now: CEO and Partner Business UP SA

Dario Duse, MBA
Managing Director at AlixPartners

Cristiano Gellera, MBA
GCC Suisse Sagl, Studio di Ingegneria Gestionale

Now: Entrepreneur

Raimondo Gissara
Founder & Partner at #be

Now:Founder& CEO ABILITYA

Lorenzo Leoni
Managing Partner, TiVenture

Paolo Orsatti
Managing Partner, TiVenture

Francesco dell’Endice
Founder & CEO, QualitySense AG

Olimpio Pini
President Pini Swiss Engineers SA

Paolo Ciccarelli
Chairman & CEO, Schmidt Milano

Augusto Mitidieri
CEO Sintentica SA. Winner of CEO of the Year 2018

Now: CEO Amis Consulting SA

Marziale Brusini
Director Region South, Sunrise Communication

Now: Territoty Account Manager Cisco

Cesare Maifredi
General Partner 360 Capital Partners

Diego Gilardoni
Senior Advisor PLTFRM, Global Business and Communication Expert

Now: Advisor, Ludo

Lelio Mondella
General Manager LVMH

Now: strategic advisor and consultant

Luca Pedrotti

Managing Director / Regional Director UBS Ticino

Angelo Facchinetti

Ceo at OU( r ) group S.r.l.

 Roberto D’Auria

Executive Director, Bank J. Safra Sarasin

Jenny Zanotti

Corporate director, Zanotti

Nicola Mona, MBA

Chief Executive Officer, Hockey Club Ambrì Piotta
Now: President and Co-Owner Puricelli-Mona Consulting


Luca Esposito

Leading EMEA Sales Director | Cloud | SaaS | CX | CRM

Monica Ferrario 
Country Manager Kilpatrick Group Sa.

Now: Client Director at Kilpatrick Group SA

Andrea Frei
Culture Consultant

Now: Co responsabile MAS HCM e EMBA, SUPSI

Daniela Fusar Poli
National Sales Manager ASSOS of Switzerland, Cyclist – Italian National Team

Now: Head of Marketing Q36.5

Michele Genovesi
Board Member, Group Head of Business Development at Soho Flordis International

Now: Co-Funder and Director of HuMaps Switzerland and Co-founder of Biolumen Inc. USA

Stephen Norman
SVP Ventes & Marketing, Groupe PSA
Former Senior vice president sales, after-sales and marketing worldwide, Opel

Daniele Lotti
Head of SES – Società Elettrica Sopracenerina, 

Former Head of EOC – Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale

Santiago Imperatrice
CEO & Founder Latitude 46
Web & Digital Marketing

Prof. Mauro Baranzini
Professor Emeritus Università della Svizzera italiana

Marco Cerulli
Civil Engineer & Risk Manager
Consultant & Coach for Managers & Leaders

Management Consulting Service

Anna Maria Rugarli
Sustainability & Responsibility Senior Director EMEA, VF International

Now: Board Member, ASOS.com

Andreas Rudolph
Regional Director, Lee Hecht Harrison

Now: Principal Managing Partner

Marco Romani
Senior Advisor for Strategy Management and Energy Diversification Development Executive Director

Luca Peyrano
CEO and General Manager, ELITE

Francesco Siccardi
CEO, Medacta 

Gianluca di Pinto

Cybersecurity GRC Specialist, Guess Europe

Alessandro Colombi
CEO Corriere del Ticino 

Jacqueline Ruedin Rüsch
Founding General Partner
Privilège Ventures

 Bérengère Chardier
Head of Digital Europe, Chanel, Paris

Miro Venturi

CEO Sintetica SA
Now: Board member and Non executive director Novigenix SA

Vincenzo Martino
Managing Director presso MFG Consulting

Now: Chairman and Cofounder Choose Life Biotech SA

Marco Pozzo, EMBA
CEO at ALESSI

Now: CEO FontanaArte

Alexander Rehm
Senior Executive Coach, Associate Lecturer for Leadership, INSEAD

Cristina Spagna
President and Managing Director of Kilpatrick Group

Emmanuel Toniutti, PhD
Chairman International Ethics Consulting Group

Now: International Senior Advisor and Professor of Ethical Leadership

Ryan Vannin
Founder of Plastical sagl

Now: Lawyer, Vannin Law

Pieralvise Zorzi
Senior Marketing Consultant

Sebastiano Cobianco
CEO Ex Machina

Ronnie Kessel
CEO Kessel Auto SA, Owner Kessel Racing, CEO Kessel Immobiliare, CEO Kesmon Meccanica

Piergiorgio Balbo
Executive Vice President Operations presso FIAMM

Now: General Manager Legatoria Editoriale Giovanni Olivotto L.E.G.O. S.p.A.

Gianluca Carnabuci
Professor EMBA, Faculty of Economics, USI

Now: Professor at ESMT Berlin

Bhavesh Naik
Senior Director, Product Development, Sourcing and Innovation, VF International

Now: Global Supply Chain Officer, Woolrich

Karl Heinz Salzburger
Former Vice President & Group President, VF International VF International

Now: Independent director, Luxottica

Ernesto López Pino
Group HR Director, LLX Global Business Services

Now: HR Director, DXC Technology

Alessandro Palmarin
Co-Founder & Sales Director presso NIO Cocktails Srl

Aldo Puglisi
Responsible for Digitalisation and Business Process Reengineering Hupac Intermodal

Now: Deputy Director, Hupac Group

Fabio Bossi

Delegate for regional economic relations, Swiss National Banks (SNB)

Simona Casarin Gasparini
Responsible of Business organization, IUXTA

Piero Gasparini
Founding Member & Managing Partner, IUXTA

Nicola Caronzolo
CEO, Sintetica SA

Kevin Nolan
CEO, GE Appliances