The WU Executive Academy Has Turned 20: An Austrian Success Story Celebrates a Milestone Anniversary

For decades, WU Vienna’s continuous education offers – that are available to students in addition to the university’s regular degree programs – were spread out across many departments. To consolidate these continuous and executive education offers, the management team headed by Rector Christoph Badelt and Vice-Rector Horst Breitenstein at the time founded the WU Executive Academy in 2005. 

WU professor Bodo B. Schlegelmilch played an important role in this context. “I had served as the Academic Director in the International MBA and the Global Executive MBA programs for some years when Rector Badelt asked me whether I would consider becoming Dean of the WU Executive Academy. You can probably guess my answer. So, Managing Director Astrid Kleinhanns-Rollé and I joined forces and developed a wide-ranging continuous education program for international business leaders under this new brand to complement the existing programs available in German,” Bodo Schlegelmilch recounts.  

The Beginnings of the WU Executive Academy - How It All Started! 

Fast Rise to the Top: MBA Programs 
 

Not unlike today, the Global Executive MBA, the WU Executive Academy’s flagship program, which had been established by Bodo B. Schlegelmilch already five years before the Academy’s foundation, was a main pillar of the offer. Parallel to the so-called GEMBA, the team began the comprehensive expansion of the Executive Academy's MBA portfolio in 2005.  

“We knew right from the start that we wanted the WU Executive Academy to have a truly international orientation. Specialized MBA programs for managers were something that did not exist in Europe at that time. So, we created – and have continuously updated since then – the MBA with its varied specialization options. Over the course of the years, a broad range of specialization options were established, for example Finance, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Marketing & Sales, Project Management, Health Care Management, Energy Management, and Digital Transformation and Data Science. From today’s vantage point, it’s clear that this was the right path to take. The program, which has been renamed Vienna Executive MBA, is the strongest turnover generator today,” says Bodo B. Schlegelmilch, founding dean and since fall 2024 again dean of the WU Executive Academy. 

A joined initiative by OMV/Petrom and Erste Bank/BCR, which granted scholarships to Romanian business leaders for several years, resulted in the foundation of an Executive MBA program in Romania in 2006. Even though this funding has been discontinued, the Bucharest Executive MBA has remained as an independent program and has, in the almost 20 years since its foundation, developed into the country’s leading MBA program.  

From the Start to the Front: Master of Law 

2009 and 2012 saw the birth of the Master of Business Law (MBL) and the Master of Legal Studies (MLS). Two programs aiming to provide business expertise to legal experts and legal expertise to those already savvy in business affairs. “Today, we offer two Master of Laws programs at the WU Executive Academy: the LL.M. Law for Executives (which is taught in German) and the LL.M. in International Tax Law” Bodo Schlegelmilch shares.  

WU Executive Club and the WU EA Female Leaders Network – the True Value of Networking 

Since 2009, the WU Executive Academy’s WU Executive Club has ensured that graduating is not the end but the beginning of a lifelong fruitful connection with peers. It all started out with a small number of alumni services and networking events. Fifteen years later, networking has come to revolve around the three Cs – career, content, and community – and encompasses all levels of the WU Executive Academy. From day one, students have access to a portfolio services, from support through an international career center to events focused on diverse topics or on networking as well as exclusive price reductions. All of this ensures that they continue to benefit from studying at the WU Executive Academy long after graduation.  

The exclusive network with leading professionals from around 100 countries not only offers the unique opportunity to make valuable contacts, but also to exchange know-how from various industries. 

Executive Education: Tailor-Made Programs for Companies and Short Programs 
 

Since its inception, companies have trusted the WU Executive Academy’s experience and expertise regarding in-house HR development, and their number is ever-growing. In the past years, the following companies have booked such programs: A1 Telekom Austria AG, Porsche Holding, UniCredit Bank Austria, Berndorf AG, Raiffeisenbank International, OeNB, FMA, PORR AG, Deutsche Sparkassenakademie, Österreichische Post AG, Porsche Bank AG, Kapsch TrafficCom AG, T-Mobile, Schönherr, Österreichischer Rechnungshof, Vienna Insurance Group, Talanx AG, Erste Group Bank, and Boehringer Ingelheim.  

The offer includes in-house MBAs, leadership & management development programs, executive lounges, continuous education offers for experts, international immersion programs, and special workshops. 

In addition to these offers, the executive education team has also continuously extended the Academy’s portfolio of compact continuous education courses over the years. The topics covered today include management & leadership, digitalization, technology, organization, HR management, and sustainability.  
 

A Tradition of High Standards: Certificate Programs  
 

WU’s certificate programs are steeped in tradition: the Tourism & Event Management certificate program was established in 1940, Marketing & Sales in 1949, and Risk and Insurance Management in 1982. Many more certificate programs have been added over the years, for instance Market & Opinion Research (2009) and Logistics & Supply Chain Management (2014).  

“In 2012, we broke ground again by establishing a certificate program in Management that awards graduates an academic degree: this program is the first step of a management education at WU Vienna and is particularly suitable for the target group of people who work (full time) and are looking for a practice-oriented degree program they can complete without taking a break from their career,” Bodo Schlegelmilch says. 

Up to Speed: Part-Time Bachelor (CE) and Master (CE)  

Since fall 2023, students have been able to enroll in a part-time bachelor’s and several post-graduate Master of Science programs at the WU Executive Academy. On the master’s level, students can currently choose between Leadership & General Management and Social Innovation & Management. On the bachelor’s level, students can specialize in Logistics & Supply Chain Management, Marketing & Sales as well as Risk & Insurance Management. A program on Future Business is currently being developed. 

“We regard the BSc (CE)WU and MSc (CE)WU programs as important milestones and going forward, we plan to extend them: this offer not only closes a gap in the program portfolio of post-graduate education that existed for many years; it also caters to the needs of working students, who would not be able to complete a regular program. As this target group has professional experience, the programs are very practice-oriented and have a dedicated leadership focus,” Bodo B. Schlegelmilch says. 

A Promise of Quality: The Triple Crown Accreditation 

Accreditations play a major part in prospective students’ selection of a continuous education provider. This is why the EQUIS accreditation in 2007 marked another important milestone in the history of the WU Executive Academy. Following the AMBA accreditation in 2010, the Academy also received the internationally renowned AACSB quality seal in fall 2015 and was again the first Austrian institution to receive this recognition. This gives the WU Executive Academy the coveted “Triple Crown Accreditation”, which only just over 130 business schools worldwide have. 

“And we really need to put this in perspective: There are about 13,000-16,000 MBA programs around the world. Nobody knows exactly how many there are, not least because there are also rather fishy providers who offer MBA programs. But even if we don’t count these, less than 1% of all MBA programs around the world have the triple crown. That’s really an astonishing success for the WU Executive Academy,” says Bodo B. Schlegelmilch, who chaired the London-based Association of MBAs (AMBA) for many years until retiring from the post in 2023. 

Top Placements in International Rankings  

The Financial Times (FT) Executive MBA Ranking has for years been considered the chief list of internationally leading business schools. Only a select number of MBA programs meet the strict criteria to be considered in the ranking.  

Since 2008, the WU Executive Academy’s Global Executive MBA has continuously been ranked among the world’s best 100 Executive MBA programs by the Financial Times. So far, no other Austrian MBA program made it on the list.  

Braving Difficult Times Together 

One thing became apparent already during the global financial crisis of 2008/2009 and showed even more clearly when the coronavirus pandemic hit: whether an organization can make it through difficult times depends on the entire team’s commitment, willingness to cooperate, and trust in each other. The WU Executive Academy impressively demonstrated that it has all of these things, not only during the pandemic but also at the height of the energy crisis and the high inflation arising from the war in Ukraine. 

“I was so impressed to see how well the management team collaborated and also at the resilience of the entire WU EA team. It showed us once again how important good relationships are. All of our lecturers helped us through this challenging time. Nobody quit when it got difficult. Managing this drastic shift so quickly was only possible because of our team’s close cooperation. And we have every right to be proud of that,” Bodo B. Schlegelmilch says. 

The Future of the WU Executive Academy: What's Next! 

With the appointment of Bodo B. Schlegelmilch as Barbara Stöttinger's successor and new Interim Dean in fall 2024, WU Vienna has initiated a strategic review process. The goal is to not only continue the successful path of the last 20 years but to make the WU Executive Academy even fitter and more future proof regarding its strategic orientation and international competitive edge.  

“I really look forward to this process, and I am convinced that our new COO Oliver Strasser and the entire leadership team of the WU Executive Academy are excellently equipped to do a great job. My personal goal is to hand on a strong, future-oriented, resilient Academy to whoever will be the next Dean of WU Vienna’s business school,” Bodo Schlegelmilch concludes. 

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