Mba programs, courses, seminars, conferences and workshop

PROGRAM

VISION AND MISSION

Program in brief

The USI EMBA is a modular, Advanced Master in Management degree (60 ECTS) taught in English by an exceptional international faculty at Università della Svizzera italiana.
The 18-month program includes 15 courses: 11 core courses, 3 electives, 1 international study tour (Boston, July), and 14 workshops held on Friday evenings before each module.
Classes follow a hybrid format: one day of self-study followed by two consecutive on-site days in Lugano (Saturday and Sunday) each month, excluding August. Two elective courses are shared—one with the previous cohort and one with the upcoming one—offering a unique in-class networking experience across three generations of participants.
The program concludes with a two-month final project under faculty supervision, culminating in a final project.

Vision

USI EMBA’s vision is to empower the next generation of global business leaders, instilled with unwavering ethics to drive transformative- positive change in the world.

Mission

USI EMBA’s mission actualizes its vision to shape ethical global business visionaries, through an unwavering commitment to excellence in education, led by our experienced international faculty who bridge theory and practice in intimate class settings. We embrace cutting-edge innovation, champion values and ethics, and commit to sustainability, nurturing strategic alliances. This empowers our students to lead by example, catalyzing profound, positive change in the relentless pursuit of a more sustainable and harmonious world.

How We Shape Ethical Business Leaders

Unwavering commitment to excellence in education
Experienced international faculty bridging theory and practice in intimate class settings
Embrace of cutting-edge innovation across disciplines
Strong foundation in values, ethics, and sustainability
Nurturing of strategic alliances that enhance learning and global impact
Empowerment of students to lead by example and catalyze positive change
Relentless pursuit of a more sustainable and harmonious world

USI EMBA distinctive features

Personalized Approach
At the heart of the USI EMBA lies a deeply personalized learning journey. This is more than a feature—it’s the guiding principle that shapes every aspect of the program. With small class sizes, close interaction with faculty, and tailored support, we ensure that each participant’s unique goals, learning style, and career trajectory are fully integrated into the experience, making it impactful and transformative.

Human Interaction and Broader Perspectives

Networking Opportunities
Different Perspectives
The USI EMBA is a human-centered program that thrives on meaningful relationships and diverse viewpoints. Participants come from a wide range of industries, countries, and backgrounds, creating an intellectually stimulating environment where collaboration and exchange are constant. This diversity enhances personal growth and cultivates a truly global mindset.

Practical and Project-Based Learning

Team-Based Projects
Real-Life Case Studies
Final Project
Learning at USI EMBA is rooted in action. Through team-based projects and real-world case studies, participants sharpen their decision-making and problem-solving skills. The journey culminates in a Keystone Project—a hands-on capstone where theory meets practice, allowing participants to create solutions with real strategic impact.

International and Quality Foundations

International Faculty
International Study Tour
Swiss Quality
Innovative Content
Built on the foundations of excellence, the USI EMBA brings together world-class international faculty—from top business schools and leading consulting firms—cutting-edge curriculum focused on innovation, ethics, and sustainability, and a global learning ecosystem. Based in thriving Lugano, Switzerland, participants benefit from the high standards of Swiss education and proximity to Europe’s major business and cultural hubs.

CURRICULUM

The USI EMBA 14 begins in November 2025 and extends until May 2027. 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.

Core courses

The USI EMBA 14 begins in November 2025 and extends until May 2027. 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.

Core Courses

STRATEGY:

Strategic and creative decision making
This course focuses on improving critical thinking and strategic decision making skills.

Strategy
This course aims to provide an advanced overview to the key principles and practices of business strategy and strategic management in today’s fast-paced competitive environment. Understanding of the key theoretical concepts about good business strategy, how to make a strategic decision (aka, strategy formulation) by minimizing risk.

Entrepreneurship
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.

TACTICAL:

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.

OPERATIONAL:

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.

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.

ANALYTICAL FOUNDATIONS:

Business Analytics
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.

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.

Financial Performance Measurements
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.

KEY INTERCONNECTIONS:

Business Dynamics
This content addresses systemic interactions within organizations and markets to understand complexity and anticipate change.

Leadership
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’.

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 executive, leader or an entrepreneur; it’s a must.

Elective courses

While the core courses are the central pillars of the program, the elective courses 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 elective courses.

Networking opportunities
Participants will also have the opportunity to network with students from the previous and next EMBA cohorts, thanks to joint elective courses that bring together participants across different generations of the program.
The list of the elective courses 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

Final project
Once the core curriculum has been completed, participants, with the support of relevant professors, develop and finalize their final project. Typically carried out within the participant’s own organization over a three-month period, the project is a key component of the EMBA learning journey. Acting as internal consultants, participants draw on concepts and tools from the program and apply them strategically to address a real business challenge. Guided by a USI Professor, they transform learning into tangible impact, helping drive meaningful change within their companies.

Workshops

Every Friday evening, before the start of the weekend course, workshops focusing on key soft and strategic skills are held by experts in their respective fields. These sessions provide participants with valuable insights and practical approaches to enhance decision-making, communication, and leadership capabilities.

The workshops include topics such as:

The Use of Randomization and Experiments in Business Decision-Making
Strategic and Creative Decision-Making
Evergreen Communication Skills
Managing Emotions
Data Science: Learning from Data or Persuade by Seeking the Truth
Dealing with Difficult Behavior in Negotiations
Leadership: Leading Today and Preparing for Tomorrow
Mastering Causal Links and Loops: Informing Strategic Decision-Making

These workshops form an essential part of the EMBA experience, supporting participants in developing competencies that contribute to their professional and personal growth.

OUR STORY

The USI EMBA is a journey shaped by diversity, excellence, and transformation. Over 13 years, the program has proudly graduated 162 professionals across 13 editions, celebrating 12 memorable graduation ceremonies—each a testament to the impactful learning experience delivered at USI.

With a global scope and a regional focus, the EMBA is designed to bridge international best practices with Swiss precision and quality. Our international faculty brings a wealth of knowledge through strategic case studies from across the globe, while the small class size ensures a personalized and applied learning environment rooted in the Swiss tradition of excellence.

A Transformative Approach to Leadership

USI EMBA accelerates intellectual development by fostering strategic vision and delivering immediately applicable knowledge. The program is practical and immersive, placing emphasis on:

Group work and collaboration
Practice-based learning and simulations
Self-reflection and experiential learning

Participants are encouraged to leverage their own professional experiences, enhancing their leadership skills while managing complex challenges.

Learning that Lasts Beyond the Classroom

Each module empowers participants to return to their organizations with fresh perspectives and new capabilities—ready to identify, frame, and solve complex business problems. They gain the confidence to make critical decisions, even in uncertainty, and lead transformative change.

Our curriculum blends academic rigor with real-world relevance, featuring:

Assignments balanced between theory and practice
Interactive business simulations
Diverse, small group collaborations

The journey culminates in the Final Project, where participants apply their learnings to real organizational challenges, supported by USI’s expert faculty.

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.

ANDREAS BERNHARDT

Visiting Professor of Leadership