Executive MBA
CBS EMBA’s unique programme design and real-world applicability provides the platform for you to navigate a turbulent global business environment and become a leader in business who can steer your organisation to sustainable impact and success.
WHY THE CBS EXECUTIVE MBA
Strategic mindset and agility
Our curriculum tackles the most pressing business challenges - from AI to geopolitics, and from sustainability to digitalisation, the
CBS EMBA turns disruption into your edge. Whether you aspire to the C-suite or broader leadership roles, the programme equips you with the strategic insight to thrive across your organisation - both vertically and horizontally.
Flexible & personalised
Designed for busy executives. the CBS EMBA lets you share your journey. Complete the journey in two years, or take a stepwise approach by progressing through four shorter Executive Certificates each with their own focus.
Immediate impact
You will develop a holistic understanding of how a business works across the entire general management spectrum. You will tackle real world assignments based on genuine organisational challenges to practice new-found skills and generate immediate impact within your organisation and beyond.
Grow with your peers
Financial Times ranks CBS EMBA 7th in the world for Work Experience, showing the seniority and depth of experience of the class. With rich diversity among students across industry, sector, and professional background, you can step out of your own work environment and be inspired to see business challenges from new perspectives.
Global outlook
With modules taking place in four cities globally, you will have the opportunity to learn about new business practices and new ways of working around the world, seen through the lens of the unique Nordic approach to sustainable management. These new perspectives will inspire your evolving leadership style.
Cutting-edge knowledge
Our world-class faculty operate at the intersection between research and the business world, complementing their academic knowledge with constant engagement with businesses to provide real-world applicability to their teaching. Classes are interactive, discussion-based with a heavy emphasis on case-based learning.
Learn the language of transformation
Executive MBA Information Meeting - 27th of October 2026
Discover how the CBS Executive MBA can support your professional and personal development at our upcoming information meeting on October 27. Professor Jesper Rangvid, Associate Dean of the CBS Executive MBA, will introduce the programme, an EMBA faculty member will share examples from the classroom, and an EMBA graduate will provide first-hand insights into the participant experience. You can join us either on campus or virtually. The session runs from 17.00 to 19.00.
BECOME AN AGILE AND RESILIENT LEADER.
WE EDUCATE NEXT-LEVEL LEADERS
STAY AHEAD
A WIDER VIEW
“Summing it all up, the biggest gain was the ability to see the big picture and understand the business more clearly. Of specific courses, I can point to accounting and adaptive leadership that have aided me in this journey at the Port of Roenne, but it is the sum of overall development that toy go through during the EMBA education that makes a difference from just taking short courses ad hoc. I now have an extra gear to elevate myself and piece everything together.” Jeppe La Cour
Chief Commercial Officer, The Port of Roenne, Class of 2023
Financial Times Global Executive MBA Ranking
The CBS Executive MBA programme continues to excel in the Financial Times Global Executive MBA Ranking 2025 maintaining its position as one of the top Executive MBAs in the Nordic region.
CBS EMBA is reconised as #7 Globally for 'WORK EXPERIENCE’ in the Financial Times Global Executive MBA Ranking, highlighting the exceptional quality of the professionals, ensuring that networking and collaborative learning opportunities are the best in the world. Even with such an experienced and senior cohort, our graduates enjoy an impressive 48% average salary increase three years post-graduation. In 'Research Rank' the programme is #33 based on faculty articles in respected academic journals.
SCANDINAVIAN EXCELLENCE
How we do business
Scandinavian businesses are renowned across the globe for their management style and culture. They deliver creativity, innovation and growth while considering the impact of business on society. They seek out and thrive in diversity, unlocking the added potential it brings to teams and organisations.
CBS is founded on these values and the EMBA is about more than just career acceleration. It is about shaping responsible leaders who can navigate complexity, inspire change and create lasting impact. EMBA participants learn how to take a practical approach to sustainability, drive innovation, and build resilience within their roles and organisations.
Intimate and interactive
The Scandinavian way is also part of what defines the classroom interaction and teaching environment of the Executive MBA. CBS EMBA students will be part of an intimate learning environment with robust and open discussions.
Professors become facilitators, guiding the conversation to encourage broad participation and interaction. This close network becomes your peers and your inspiration to support you through the learning journey.
Lifelong Learning
Applying a Scandinavian approach to business means that leaders never stop learning, growing, and trying new things. The EMBA is not just about the time you spend spend studying. When you invest in the programme, you invest in lifelong learning. Our Alumni Society is commited to creating opportunities for you to meet and share ideas; it will broaden your network and facilitate new relationships that can benefit you professionally as well as personally.
NEXT INTAKE: SEPTEMBER 2027
Get inspired by EMBA stories.
Learn more about the Executive MBA through participant and alumni testimonials, key insights from professors and partners and helpful information from the admissions team.
Building a strategic future: charting a new direction in leadership
The Scale-Up Trap: How Emil Survived His Own Success at Jagger and Otto
Building strategic confidence in an uncertain world with an EMBA from CBS
Leadershift: inspiring a fresh direction in leadership
Fresh perspectives: How an EMBA can add an extra career dimension
The future of work sets new demands: How leaders can prepare themselves for a new era
Bjørn Zabell: Empowering Global Leadership Through CBS Executive MBA
FROM OPERATIONAL DEPTH TO STRATEGIC BREADTH
Lead businesses through disruption with strong strategic knowledge and leadership skills.
Influence & Impact
Build resilience
Drive change
Real world-applicability & career impact
Create ROI from day one.
Using examples from real life, we let you apply your learnings directly to your role and your organisation. Projects and assignments, and in particular the final Integrated Strategy Project (the Thesis), allow you to identify a specific issue within your organisation that needs attention, analyse it and create a strategic solution and implementation plan.
So not only will this mean your newfound skills are more likely to stick, your organisation will see immediate ROI on their sponsorship.
Take your career further
The CBS Executive MBA was ranked 39th in the world for Career Progress by the Financial Times, reflecting the programme's ability to support meaningful professional development. Through a combination of rigorous learning, practical application, and engagement with a diverse cohort of experienced executives, you will gain the knowledge, perspectives, and network to help advance your career and create greater impact within your organisation.
Get global insight.
Travelling abroad to study specific modules will give you first-hand knowledge about how businesses operate in some key international business hotspots. Gain an understanding of the culture and logistics of working with companies based in these and other global locations.
Develop trusted networks.
Increase your company's network thanks to the broad range of fellow participants and alumni you will meet. These are your business opportunities of the future.
100%
10/10 participants say the CBS EMBA contributed to advancing their career (*CBS EMBA exit survey).
“The CBS Executive MBA programme has been a transformative journey that refined my executive leadership and strategic decision-making skills. It challenged me to navigate complex dilemmas, fostering my ability to tackle 'wicked' problems with confidence. The diverse network of ambitious colleagues I've connected with has not only led to lifelong friendships but has also enriched my perspective as a leader.” Aleksandra Heleniak
Senior Director R&D Governance, Novo, Class of 2024,
Value to the organisation
Invest in your organisation
Programme structure that makes a difference
Becoming invaluable assets
LEARN MORE
Valuable connections
When you meet your CBS EMBA class, you will not just be saying hello to your fellow participants, you will also be joining the prestigious and most extensive MBA network in Scandinavia.
Creating lifelong relationships with peers from across the world that you will trust and grow with will put you at an advantage when business opportunities and challenges arise.
Undertaking your EMBA is just the beginning of your journey with CBS. Upon graduation you become part of a prestigious network of Scandinavia’s largest MBA network, with access to distinguished business professionals across the globe, and access to continued lifelong learning opportunities provided by CBS.
Lifelong learning
When you invest in the programme you invest in lifelong learning. Our Alumni Society is committed to creating opportunities for you to meet and share ideas. Alumni have access to library resources and many make a commitment to stay engaged with the CBS community.
The Alumni Society meets regularly to keep up-to-date with business developments, to expand the network, and to simply bring fellow former and current MBA/EMBA participants together. The CBS MBA Alumni Society will broaden your network and facilitate new relationships that can benefit you professionally as well as personally. The value of a high-calibre network should never be underestimated.
NEXT INTAKE: SEPTEMBER 2027
RECOGNISED. RESPECTED. REWARDED.
The CBS Executive MBA belongs to an exclusive group of global business schools that hold a triple accreditation from the awarding bodies AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB. This sets us apart from our peers and ensures that an Executive MBA degree from CBS is recognised, respected and rewarded globally.
#7 in the world for ‘Work Experience’
9.08 out of 10 for Overall Satisfaction
48% salary increase on average
Global Rankings and Accreditations
The Association of MBA, AMBA
In 2007, CBS became the first university in Denmark to receive accreditation from the AMBA, underlining its international credibility and status. The number of MBA qualifications available worldwide is now in the thousands, but only a small percentage of these would achieve accreditation if they were submitted to AMBA’s rigorous international criteria.
Accreditation by the Association of MBAs identifies programmes as the best there is. In a crowded and complex market, the AMBA accreditation provides a reliable list of meticulously tested programmes and ensures that students' investments are rewarded with the finest business education available. Visit https://www.associationofmbas.com/
European Quality Improvement System, EQUIS
CBS has been accredited by EQUIS since 2000. The EQUIS accreditation is awarded to business schools based on general quality, taking into account the business school's level of internationalisation. EQUIS assesses institutions as a whole. It assesses not just degree programmes but all the activities and sub-units of the institution, including research, e-learning units, executive education provision and community outreach.
https://efmdglobal.org/accreditations/business-schools/equis/
The Association to Advance Collegiate School of Business, AACSB
In August 2011, CBS was the first school in Scandinavia to receive the AACSB accreditation. The accreditation standards are used as the basis to evaluate a business school’s mission, operations, faculty qualifications and contributions, programmes, and other critical areas. AACSB accreditation ensures students and parents that the business school is providing a top-quality education. It also ensures employers that AACSB-accredited business school graduates are ready to perform on day one.
Additionally, AACSB accreditation provides many benefits to the faculty and staff at its accredited schools by attracting higher quality students, providing greater research opportunities, and allowing for global recognition.
www.aacsb.edu
The Global Alliance in Management Education, CEMS
CEMS is a strategic alliance of leading business schools and multinational companies. Its first mission is to set a global standard of excellence for pre-experience Master’s in management. Founded in 1988 in Europe, CEMS provides the global league of leaders on the pre-experience Master’s market and it cannot be equalled in terms of reputation of its members: 28 world-class academic institutions collaborate together with over 70 corporate partners and 4 NGOs to offer international, postgraduate students a unique blend of high quality education and professional experience.
www.cems.org
Partnership in International Management, PIM
PIM, Partnership in International Management, is a consortium of leading international business schools, founded in 1973. Each member institution represents the highest degree of excellence in the fields of business administration and management, demonstrates leadership in their geographic region and delivers an MBA or a graduate-equivalent degree in management. www.pimnetwork.org
A MODULAR PROGRAMME FOR THE SEASONED PROFESSIONAL
The CBS EMBA has been designed for professionals seeking to strengthen agile leadership, build resilience, and sharpen strategic thinking. The programme progresses from understanding your organisation to driving growth through market insight, and finally to integrating core business disciplines for sustainable, strategic and long-lasting impact.
TERM 1: Understanding the organisation
Courses: Financial and Managerial Accounting, Reflexive Leadership, Corporate Sustainability, Digitalisation
TERM 2: Navigating the external landscape
Courses: Economics and Financial Markets, Leadership and Organisational Behaviour, Marketing, Supply Chain Management
TERM 3: Driving strategic impact
Courses: Corporate Finance, Leading Change, Strategic Management, Corporate Entrepreneurship
TERM 4: Personalise your EMBA with a Concentration
Digitalisation & AI
Giving you practical tools to drive change in the digital economy.
Learn to embrace innovation and harness the capabilities of digital technology to inform your strategic thinking and transform every area of business.
You will discuss the threats of disruption, new market entrants and global platform companies as well as learn how to use data to lead the way forward, how to motivate and manage a digital workforce, and how to act to prevent and control the damage of cyber attacks such as we have seen hitting large businesses in recent years.
Course examples: Digital Platforms, Artificial Intelligence in Organisations, Innovation Strategies in a Digital World, Digital Delivery Models
Governance & Sustainability
Understand the importance of corporate governance and sustainability for the leader of the future.
We will explore the need for strong leadership in understanding business risks and opportunities in an age of sustainability; compliance management and the importance of an ethical approach; the need to design production and supply systems in a more sustainable way as well as the need for leveraging finance and investing to expand long-term business contributions to a sustainable economy.
Course examples: Corporate Governance, Sustainable Corporate Governance, Sustainable Operations, Sustainable Finance
Entrepreneurship
Valuable tools for start-ups and established companies facing transformation.
Understand key aspects of the entrepreneurial journey along with frameworks and methods to help manage the inevitable uncertainty.
You will learn how to use design thinking to help articulate and map your entrepreneurial vision as well as how to create a value-driven business model, engage stakeholders in the process and build a platform strategy to shape the market around your innovation. We will use applied, hands-on projects and work through common challenges with innovation-driven start-ups in the entrepreneurship lab.
Course examples: Entrepreneurial Strategy, Platform Strategy, Entrepreneurship Lab, Engaging with Innovation Ecosystems
Finance
Understand how companies finance their operations and investments while simultaneously controlling risks and fulfilling the expectations of their stakeholders.
We will look at how entrepreneurs finance start-ups and how organisations raise funds both inside and outside of organised markets; the ways to control strategic and financial risks; how to value your own or another company; and how you can seize upon the opportunities provided by international financial markets.
Course examples: Private Equity & Venture Capital, Risk Management, Valuation & M&A, International Financial Management
Integrated Strategy project (Master thesis)
The journey culminates in your Integrated Strategy Project. You will be assigned two advisors (one academic and one external) and become part of a sparring group of 4 - 5 classmates where you identify a key strategic challenge within your organisation. Drawing on insights and tools from across the programme, you will design a strategy and implementation plan that creates tangible impact - delivering lasting value for your organisation and for your own development as a leader.
“Before, I found it hard to understand why we couldn’t get things moving, because it’s easy to sit at the other end of the business and not understand why things aren’t coming together. Now, I have a better appreciation and understanding of what it takes for the C-suite and a company to move the needle. That’s how I approach problems today.” Louise Vang Edwards
Head of Engineering, VP at COWI, Class of 2025
Programme content - a closer look
This is the programme for the current cohort.*Please note that changes to the curriculum may occur.