WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management is a private German business school with campuses in Vallendar and Düsseldorf, Germany. As of September 2024, there are 2,007 students (including doctoral students) at WHU, about 251 employees and 59 professors (including assistant professors). WHU is known for its master's program in management, which has been favourably ranked by numerous publications. It maintains a global network of more than 220 partner universities, while also offering numerous dual-degree programs. The school is also well known for its entrepreneurship programs and has the fourth largest number of unicorn-founding alumni in the world.

Academics

Study programs

WHU offers numerous study programs. The language of instruction for the bachelor's program is English or German, while all master's programs are taught entirely in English.

Tuition and selection process

The tuition fee per academic year 2023/2024 for WHU's undergraduate students is €15,800 for those who are citizens of EEA countries and Switzerland, and €25,900 for citizens of non-EEA countries. The tuition fee for the Master of Science in management, finance and entrepreneurship programs are €28,300 for the 90 credit track and €34,800 for the 120 credit track. Scholarships, tuition waivers and financial aid schemes are available for eligible students. The selection process for the undergraduate programmes consists of two separate parts. Students are preselected according to their academic and personal achievements and are offered a chance to compete for one of the roughly 240 seats per year at the final selection day. During that day, candidates deliver presentations, are interviewed by representatives of the private business sector and undergo an analytical IQ Test.

Accreditations

All WHU degree programs are recognized by the German state and accredited by the Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation (FIBAA). In addition, WHU holds accreditations from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and from the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS).

Rankings

WHU is regularly placed in the top positions in German university rankings. WHU's master's program in management was Germany's top-ranked program for nine years in the last decade by the Financial Times, including for five consecutive years between 2013 and 2017. In 2019, Times Higher Education ranked WHU third worldwide in its Master in Management ranking. As of 2021, WHU's placement and career services departments have been ranked among the top two worldwide for the twelfth time in a row by the Financial Times' Masters in Management rankings. WHU has maintained the first position in Germany in every Master in Management ranking published by The Economist and QS till date. In 2020, the Financial Times ranked WHU first in Germany for all its programs: MBA, Master in Management, Executive MBA, and Master in Finance. In the list of business schools with the most unicorn-founding alumni, WHU is placed fourth globally, tying with INSEAD, behind Harvard Business School, the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Wharton School. According to the BYU PhD ranking that tracks alumni publications in 12 leading accounting journals, the doctoral program placed fifth worldwide in the Managerial Accounting category. WHU's SCM Group ranked first in Germany and sixth globally for Supply Chain Management empirical research in 2020 according to the SCM Journal List ranking. As of 2020, WHU's joint Executive MBA program with the Kellogg School of Management has been placed first in Germany for the twelfth time in a row by Financial Times. In the recent edition of the EMBA ranking from the Financial Times published in 2022, WHU has, continuing its streak since 2003, ranked at #1 in Germany for the Kellogg-WHU Executive MBA Program. In The Economist ranking of EMBA programs in 2020, the joint Kellogg-WHU EMBA Program ranked first in Germany for the fourth time in a row and fourth worldwide.

History

Founding and name change

WHU was founded in 1984 by the Koblenz Chamber of Commerce as the Wissenschaftliche Hochschule für Unternehmensführung, with preparations for the founding starting in 1983. Starting in 1986, the school began offering a doctoral studies program, and the process for offering postdoctoral studies began in 1997. The name was modified in 1993 to honour WHU's benefactor, the businessman Otto Beisheim, after he donated 50 Million Deutsche Mark.

Later development

In 1997, an executive MBA with Kellogg School of Management was started. A year later, the school received a EQUIS-accreditation, followed by a FIBAA in 2005 and the beginning of MBA studies the same year. In 2006, the school became a member of AACSB, and was re-accredited by EQUIS in 2009.

Accusations of problems with the internal culture and excessive stress since 2010

The business school has been accused of fostering an overly competitive environment, even at the cost of the mental health of its students. Additionally, they were accused of overly focusing on rankings and grades but insufficiently developing the ability for critical discourse and not succeeding at creating a student body with an appropriate diversity of backgrounds. Additional criticisms, including by former students, often focus on exzessive memorisation and a failure to foster a culture of out-of-the-box thinking. After the death of a student who was believed to have died due to overworking himself during an internship but was found to have died due to an underlying condition, the school responded that high pressure is an unfortunately norm in the business world and that they are taking steps to address it.

Controversy about the academic work of Ulrich Lichtenthaler in 2012

A former student and then-professor at the University, Ulrich Lichtenthaler, was accused of repeated and significant misconduct in his research and publications. WHU and the University of Mannheim later withdrew his right to teach, and he resigned from his position.

Faculty

The faculty at WHU is organized into six groups: Finance and Accounting, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Management, Marketing and Sales, and Supply Chain Management. As of September 2024, there are 44 full professors and 15 assistant professors at WHU who teach at the undergraduate and graduate levels and contribute to the business school's research output. The faculty includes the following centers: WHU Asia Center, Biopharma Management Center, Center for Collaborative Commerce, Center for Controlling & Management, Entrepreneurship Center, Center for European Studies, Center of Asset and Wealth Management, Center for Sports and Management, Financial Accounting and Tax Center, Henkel Center for Consumer Goods, Center for Market-Oriented Corporate Management, Center for Responsible Leadership and Wipro Center for Business Resilience.

Notable people

Honorary professors

Alumni