International Full-time MBA

Big thinkers. Industry experts. Exceptional scholars. 

RSM offers a distinct intellectual culture based on the values of being critical, creative, caring and collaborative, and we are committed to the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals as a framework for our mission. 

We believe that leadership can be taught through a combination of intellectual and practical challenges – like those encountered when working in diverse teams – that can foster creative new approaches in business. And we encourage a flexible, broad and sometimes iconoclastic mindset in business practice and research – from the perspective of being a force for positive change in the world at an individual and organisational level. 

Research and education by our world-class researchers and academics are among the best in the world, perfected at the Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM). Our think-tank is ranked as one of the top 10 research institutes in Europe. 

At RSM, we are proud to claim:

So much more than a classroom 

The MBA classes are important of course – and ours rank among the top international business schools globally. But standing out in the competitive world of business takes more. You have to step out of your comfort zone and into the world around you. Students come to us from all over the world and from a vast spectrum of industries, sectors and roles. In class, in project work, on campus, on treks – the rich exchange of ideas and approach will push your boundaries and broaden your mindset exponentially.  

Study Tours

Our study tours are immersive learning experiences that expose you to the complexities of global business. Previous international study tours and topics included: 

The Living Management Project

Every year, companies come to Rotterdam looking for help with specific business challenges. And every year, they leave with innovative new solutions developed by MBA students at RSM. This intensive, four-week project requires you to work in teams to devise a solution to a real business problem within a company, before presenting your recommendations to the company’s executives and other panel members. You will experience – and learn how to tackle – the typical challenges of a consultancy project, like inadequate information and resources, tight deadlines, and cultural differences between you and your team members. 

International Exchange

As part of the programme you can opt for an international exchange. Spend your fourth term at one of the more than 100 leading business schools in the RSM network. 

Events and Networking

Take full advantage of the unmistakable energy on our campus. Dive into events and networking opportunities hosted by the MBA Student Association and MBA Career Centre.

What is your ‘I WILL’?

RSM’s I WILL movement allows you to define your goals, your ambition, your drive. It’s our forward-thinking community that asks you to say something about your future. Your I WILL statement becomes part of the spirit of RSM’s diverse community of students, researchers, staff, professors, alumni and others related to the school. Making a public commitment to your goal will allow you to achieve it faster and better. What is your goal?

What kind of leader will you be? 

Leadership is comprehensively integrated across the entire MBA learning experience. We call this Personal Leadership Development (PLD). Every class, every assignment and every project is informed by a leadership development component: a challenge to apply theoretical concepts to real-world scenarios. To make decisions based on what you know and what is in front of you. To think like a real business leader. 

The Personal Leadership Development programme will help you build your leadership competencies via dialogue and interchange with inspirational peers and leaders from a broad diversity of backgrounds and cultures. 

Leading knowledge

Our faculty and professional coaches have their fingers on the newest insights and best practices from all over the world. You will have access to all of it through the PLD programme. 

Leading in action

Apply your managerial savvy through active lessons – such as in-class exercises, simulations, group work, peer reviews and mentoring opportunities.

Leading solutions 

Put your critical thinking to the test. For four weeks, you will work in teams to solve a real-world business problem for a real firm, and present your solution to executives. 

At Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) we define coaching as ' partnering with an individual, teams or groups in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximise their personal and professional potential.' Coaching focuses on the transformation from potential into reality and impact. 

In this video Hetty Brand-Boswijk, our Director of Coaching and Lead Coach for the Erasmus Center for Women and Organisations (ECWO), shares the benefits of personal coaching.

Integrative Learning, Critical Reflection and Impactful Action

Taking your MBA at RSM exposes you to the biggest, most relevant ideas shaping modern, global business and challenges you to dive deep into the theories, the problems and the technical issues that, as a future decision-maker, you will have to navigate. But becoming an impactful manager is not just about mastering the granularity of today’s challenges within specific problem domains. Modern management is also a craft that requires you to be able to step back, critically assess the big picture (using the different tools acquired during your MBA) see the risks and the opportunities ahead and join the dots that connect them.

Running across your MBA journey at RSM is an integrative programme that empowers you to re-evaluate each of your core subjects as a function of the whole and critically reflect on how the different pieces fit together and where you will need to apply your own personal touch in order to create holistic and sustainable value.

The Craft of Management is the red thread during your MBA. Each session invites you to question what you learn in the broader context of today's management challenges and responsibilities. You will be challenged again to reflect on why you are pursuing an MBA, what you hope to achieve and what kind of impact you aim to have after the MBA.

You will explore:

1. The taken-for-granted assumptions (including your own) that are associated with conventional management thinking
2. The important and complex roles that organisations and their leadership have in propagating current systems of management—for better or worse
3. The need to be an open and engaged force for positive impact as a future manager