These are the best MBA courses in the world – including 2 from South Africa

Global higher and business education analyst, QS Quacquarelli Symonds, has published its 2021 Global MBA Ranking, which includes two programmes in South Africa.

QS ranks the best business schools globally using several metrics and surveys from employers and academics. The rankings measure employability, entrepreneurship and alumni outcomes, return on investment, thought leadership and class and faculty diversity.

Collectively these rankings cover the post-graduate programs most in-demand among employers around the world.

Stanford GSB continues to lead the QS World University Rankings: Global Full-Time MBA, while The Wharton School dropped to second place. HEC Paris, INSEAD, London Business School, and IE Business School feature among the top 10.

University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business ranked just outside the top 100.

“The MBA curriculum is structured around 15 core courses that are designed to map the contextual landscape in which businesses operate, build your business acumen and offer integrative practice opportunities. Students can choose specialized electives to further refine and develop their interests.

“New streams of learning about communication, leadership, social innovation and entrepreneurship will keep you at the top of your professional game. The MBA has integrated two novel programme streams into its core curriculum to enable students to delve into key emerging areas of future business: Business Model Innovation and Social Innovation,” QS said of the school.

Wits Business School was ranked between 150-200.

“The WBS MBA revolves around five key themes: Context in Africa, Context in South Africa, Sustainability, Entrepreneurial Action, and Critical Engagement.

“The School’s MBA curriculum reflects the changing business landscape in Africa to provide students with a globally relevant management degree. The intention is to develop a new generation of business leaders who are equipped to do business in Africa and beyond,” QS said.

Rankings Manager at QS, Dr Andrew MacFarlane, said: “In addition to analyzing programme-related inputs, QS also considered the reputation of specific business schools from the perspective of nearly 37,000 global employers and more than 34,000 global academics. Finally, we mapped the education paths of 27,831 successful alumni back to specific institutions.”

Read: The average salary from an MBA in South Africa vs a Doctorate, Master’s and Bachelor’s degree