Is Vshm St. Petersburg State University really that good? Best business school in Eastern Europe

Creation project Higher School of Management (GSOM) of St. Petersburg State University was initiated in 2005 as an integral part of the priority national project (PNP) “Education”. The goal of the GSOM SPbU project is to create a world-class domestic business school to train the national managerial elite, designed to ensure high international competitiveness of Russia in the economy of the 21st century. According to the Order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 25, 2006 No. 576-r, GSOM is being created on the basis of the Faculty of Management of St. Petersburg State University as a structural unit of the University. The Faculty of Management of St. Petersburg State University was created in 1993 as the first Russian business school with the status of a faculty of the country's leading classical university and began with 33 undergraduate students and 4 full-time teachers. The Faculty has grown rapidly thanks to three key competitive differences:

commitment to the “university business school” model and compliance with the high academic reputation of St. Petersburg State University;
initial orientation towards international standards of business education: the faculty was created in a strategic partnership with the business school named after. Haas University of California at Berkeley - one of the leading in the world;
strong emphasis on the development of corporate relations: already in 1993, an international Faculty Board of Trustees was created (the first of its kind in Russian business education), which for the first 10 years was headed by J. I. Pepper, Chief Executive Officer of Procter & Gamble.

Over the 15-year period of development, dynamic growth has been demonstrated: in 2008, the number of students exceeded 1,300 people, and there were 3,000 professional managers in the Alumni Association. In many aspects - the content and organization of the educational process, the development of scientific research in the field of management, the scale and level of internationalization and corporate relations - the faculty has become one of the recognized leaders in the modernization of university education in Russia. Here, in 1999, the country's first English-language master's degree in management in the European standard ECTS was opened, bachelor's, MBA and postgraduate programs were successfully developed, two leading scientific journals were published (Russian Journal of Management and Vestnik of St. Petersburg State University. Series "Management"), Since 1994, a highly professional Career Center has operated, and in 2006 the faculty was accepted as the only representative of Russia into the Community of European Management Schools.

The Graduate School of Management was organized (in the status of a faculty of St. Petersburg State University) at the beginning of 2007 through a transformation through the merger of three structural divisions of the University - the Faculty of Management, the Special Faculty of Retraining in Management and the Research Institute of Management. To create the GSOM campus, the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation transferred the Mikhailovskaya Dacha Palace and Park Ensemble (DPA) to St. Petersburg State University, where on November 29, 2006, a solemn ceremony of laying the first stone of the campus was held with the participation of Russian President V.V. Putin. The GSOM Board of Trustees is headed by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government S. B. Ivanov, and includes heads of 20 leading Russian and international companies.

Educational programs

In 2008, GSOM St. Petersburg State University recruited students for three educational diploma programs:

Dual Degree Executive MBA in English. A joint program with the Higher Commercial School of Paris (HEC Paris) on a “two-degree” model lasting 18 months, consisting of 12 modules plus one of two elective modules, which are held in St. Petersburg, Paris, the USA, Belgium and one of the Asian countries . Graduates of the program will receive two diplomas: the state diploma “Master of Business Administration”, which is issued by the Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg State University, and the diploma “Executive Master of Business Administration” from the HEC Paris business school and the French Ministry of Education.

Executive MBA in Russian. The modular format program, lasting two calendar years, consists of 14 core courses covering all areas of modern management without specialization by industry, as well as 16 elective courses in accordance with professional and personal interests. After the first academic year, a week-long on-site training module is conducted at one of the European business schools. Graduates of the program receive a state diploma “Master of Business Administration”.

Concept and stages of development of GSOM SPbSU

The general concept and stages of the creation and development of GSOM SPbU were discussed and approved by the Academic Council of St. Petersburg State University and the Board of Trustees of GSOM SPbU (Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation S. B. Ivanov). The creation and development of GSOM SPbU as a world-class Russian business school is planned to be carried out in three stages. Stage I (2007-2010) - “stage of formation”: completion of the formation of a portfolio of educational programs and their launch; obtaining the first international accreditation of GSOM programs; opening of the first stage of the campus; Stage II (2011-2014) - “growth stage”: receipt and/or confirmation of all three major international institutional accreditations (EQUIS, AACSB, AMBA); expansion of programs (primarily MBA and EMBA); turning GSOM into an internationally recognized center for scientific research in the field of management; Stage III (since 2015) - “stage of maturity”: strengthening the international competitiveness of GSOM and entering the rankings of leading business schools in Europe and the world.

Students of GSOM SPbU

Currently, about 1,300 people are studying in GSOM diploma programs, including about 900 in first higher education programs, more than 100 in master’s programs, 250 in Executive MBA and professional retraining programs, and about 50 in graduate school. The main “growth points” in the coming years will be MBA/EMBA and master’s programs (implemented entirely in the European ECTS standard). Today, GSOM employs 70 full-time teachers, 2/3 of whom have successful experience teaching in English in master’s and EMBA programs at GSOM and abroad. By 2015, 1800 students will simultaneously study at GSOM, of which 1000 will be in post-baccalaureate programs. The number of full-time teachers will increase to 90-100 by 2012, and at least 30% of GSOM students and teachers will be foreign.

International accreditations, connections and programs of GSOM SPbU

The system of measures implemented in 2006-2007 within the framework of the PNP “Education” for the creation and development of GSOM SPbU (taking into account the potential of the Faculty of Management of St. Petersburg State University accumulated in 1993-2006) has allowed to date to form a solid foundation for the further successful development of GSOM according to the “university” model business school" and receive serious international recognition of the project. Currently, GSOM is the only representative of the Russian Federation in the Community of European Management Schools (CEMS), which admits leading business schools in Europe on the basis of an external audit of their master's programs. In 2007, other key GSOM programs also successfully passed the international accreditation procedures under the AMBA (EMBA program) and EPAS (bachelor's program) systems. The Association of MBAs (AMBA) was founded in the UK in 1967. Its goals are to support and promote postgraduate programs and ensure their quality. The association promotes interaction between business schools, potential MBA students, students in MBA programs, program graduates, and employers. The Executive MBA program of GSOM SPbU was tested by the international accreditation commission AMBA at the end of 2007. The European Foundation for Management Development Programs Accreditation System (EPAS) emerged in 2005 in response to the need for pan-European and global program accreditation, particularly influenced by the Bologna reform in Europe. EPAS accreditation rewards high-quality degree programs (from bachelor's to doctoral degrees) that have a strong international focus. The accreditation program places great emphasis on 3 points: high quality of education in general, high degree of internationalization, close ties with business. At the end of 2007, the Bachelor's programs of GSOM SPbU were audited by the international accreditation commission EPAS. By decision of the EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development) and the EPAS accreditation commission of April 23, 2008, the undergraduate program of the Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg State University received EPAS accreditation.

GSOM is an institutional member of all major international professional associations of business schools: the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), the European Academy of Business in Society (EABiS), the Global Responsible Leaders Initiative (GRLI). In October 2007, GSOM (the only Russian business school) was accepted as a candidate for the largest association of the world's leading business schools, the Partnership in International Management (PIM). In October 2008, by the decision of the Commission for Admission to Membership of the International Community, the Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg State University was accepted as a full member of PIM.

GSOM is actively developing international diploma programs using the “two degree” system: in 2007, a master’s program was opened with the Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland), in 2008, an international EMBA program was opened jointly with NEC (France), which ranks 1st among European business schools in terms of Financial Times composite rating.

GSOM has 26 partners from among the leading business schools in Europe and North America, with which student exchanges (mainly undergraduates) are intensively developing for included training with full credit for courses in the ECTS system: in the 2007/08 academic year, GSOM accepts more than 100 students from these schools and 100 GSOM students study at these schools during the semester.

Concepts, curricula and regulations for the educational process have been developed for the MBA, IEMBA (together with NES (France), PhD) programs, planned for opening in 2008-2010. Together with other faculties of St. Petersburg State University, professional training programs “Management in Healthcare” (with medical faculty) and “Organization Development Management” (with the Faculty of Psychology).

Scientific research

The Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg State University is a research business school whose teachers and researchers consider their mission to be the creation of new knowledge in the field of theory and practice of management. This is expressed in: the use of advanced management ideas; focus on publications in leading academic journals, including foreign ones, broad cooperation in research with domestic and foreign centers of management thought; participation in representative international conferences and forums.

The Institute of Strategy, Leadership and Innovation is an organizational structure for supporting scientific research at GSOM, uniting the scientific work of all employees. The Institute for Strategy, Leadership and Innovation also operates a Publications Program consisting of two academic journals and a number of scientific series. The Institute for Strategy, Leadership and Innovation, in addition to hosting select conferences, workshops and seminars, hosts three annual Research Conferences.

The Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg State University has developed a wide range of educational and methodological materials to support the development of existing and the launch of new GSOM diploma and short-term (Executive Education) programs.
In 2006 and 2007, GSOM teachers published more than 30 textbooks and monographs on new areas of management theory and practice for Russia. An extensive bank of full-format and mini-cases has been prepared (including jointly with foreign partners); 50 full-format GSOM cases are registered with the European Case Clearing House. The creation of the Russian Case Resource Center is being completed on the basis of GSOM.
The research potential of GSOM, focused on international standards of management research, is being actively formed and developed. Many projects are developed jointly with other faculties of St. Petersburg State University (mathematics and mechanics, sociology, applied mathematics - control processes, history). GSOM is a Russian participant in the Global Entrepreneurship Research Project (GEM), the European Academy of Marketing (EMAC), the European Association of Business Ethics Researchers (EBEN), and the International Association of Researchers in Public Sector Economics (ASPE). In 2007, a number of works by GSOM teachers and graduate students were published or accepted for publication in international scientific journals on management. The director of the GSOM Management Research Institute is Professor Simon Commander, a leading economist at the EBRD, who previously headed the Center for Research on New and Emerging Markets at London Business School.
GSOM is quickly becoming an important communication platform for speeches by leaders of the international academic and business communities, as well as dialogue between business, scientists and government officials. In 2007, Nobel laureate in economics 2005 R. Aumann gave lectures at GSOM, in the series “Management Guru at GSOM” - H. Takeuchi and I. Adizes, in 2008 - an outstanding specialist in the field of game theory, Professor John F. Nash (Nobel laureate in economics 1994). Together with the Administration of St. Petersburg and the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, a seminar on public-private partnerships was held. A number of projects in the field of entrepreneurship development have been carried out jointly with the US-Russia Entrepreneurship Center.
A series of guest lectures from companies that are members of the GSOM Board of Trustees has begun. In particular, the “Citi-Academy in Finance and Management” project has been launched; a similar program is starting with IBM. The Career Center holds Career Days twice a year with the participation of 10-12 leading Russian and international companies.
GSOM is developing as a leading center of competence in the field of educational and scientific programs in management. In 2007, on the initiative of the Council of the Russian Association of Business Education (RABO), GSOM held seminars for the heads of Russian business schools on the development of business schools within universities and on the organization of scientific research in management, as well as an international scientific and practical conference on corporate and social responsibility . In 2006-2007, GSOM held 2 summer schools of the “Russian Journal of Management” (published by the Faculty of Management of St. Petersburg State University since 2003), in which more than 60 young researchers from 33 Russian universities and institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences took part. Agreements have been concluded for GSOM to provide support for the development of business education programs at the Siberian Federal University and the Ural State University.
GSOM has a library and IT resources that meet modern standards of the world's leading business schools. The library's electronic resources are (according to the GSOM profile) unique for Russia.

The Institute "Higher School of Management" (GSOM SPbSU) is a structural division of St. Petersburg State University.

GSOM SPbU implements a full range of diploma programs in the field of management: bachelor's, master's, postgraduate, Executive MBA (program for managers), as well as corporate advanced training programs. All of them are developed and implemented (many in English) in collaboration with world leaders in business education.

Today, the Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg State University is a unique model of a successful Russian business school. The success of the school project was confirmed in 2012 by receiving the international institutional accreditation EQUIS (EFMD Quality Improvement System) of the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD). GSOM SPbSU is the first and currently the only business school in Russia and the CIS that has been awarded this prestigious accreditation. The high quality of educational programs is also confirmed by the recognized international program accreditation - AMBA (Executive MBA program). The largest clients of GSOM SPbU corporate educational programs are such companies as PJSC VTB Bank, PJSC NK Rosneft, PJSC Sberbank of Russia, JSC Russian Railways, PJSC ANK Bashneft, IBM, JSC Lenenergo and many others.

The business school's greatest asset is its faculty, most of whom are eminent researchers and consultants, well known both for their excellence in the classroom and for their publications in leading international academic journals. The development of international teaching staff and their research potential are priorities in the implementation of the competitive strategy of GSOM SPbU.

The School has 6 international research centers: the Center for Entrepreneurship, the Center for Corporate Social Responsibility (in collaboration with PwC), the Center for Strategic Marketing and Innovation, the Center for International Logistics and Supply Chain Management (in collaboration with JSC Russian Railways and Deutsche Bahn) , Laboratory "Center for Research on Public-Private Partnerships", Center for Russian Multinational Companies and Emerging Markets.

Graduate School of Management (GSOM SPbSU) is one of the structural educational and scientific divisions of St. Petersburg State University - a leading national center of education and science. The Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg State University is a unique model of a successful Russian business school. The success of the school project was confirmed in 2012 by receiving institutional accreditation from EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System).

Today, the Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg State University is the first and currently the only business school in Russia and the CIS that has been awarded this international accreditation. The high quality of educational programs is confirmed by prestigious program accreditations: - AMBA (Executive MBA program) and EPAS (bachelor's programs).

Program	Format	Duration	Price rub.
Executive MBA (MBA for executives)	2 years	modular	1 900 000
MBA "Challenges of the Digital World"	14 months	modular	1 200 000
Master in Management	2 years	full-time full-time	867 800
"Corporate Finance" (Master in Corporate Finance - MCF)	2 years	full-time full-time	915 000
“Business Analytics and Big Data” (Master in Business Analytics and Big Data - MiBA)	2 years	full-time full-time	915 000
“Program “Management and Development of Urban Agglomerations” (Master in Urban Management and Development - MUMD)	2 years	face-to-face full-time	915 000

Additional Information

Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg State University, the only Russian business school, entered the top 75 European business schools in the international ranking Financial Times 2018.
GSOM SPbU takes 1st place among Russian business schools in the ranking of the international rating agency Eduniversal(2008-2016).
In the People's Rating of the portal website, based on a survey of MBA graduates, GSOM SPbU takes 1st place among Russian business schools in Russia (2011-2016), 2nd place (2017), 1st place (2018).
International recognition of GSOM SPbU is confirmed by membership in global associations of leading business schools: EFMD, AACSB, CEMS, PIM, EABIS, GBSN, GRLI.
The business school's greatest asset is its faculty, most of whom are eminent researchers and consultants, well known both for their excellence in the classroom and for their publications in leading international academic journals. The development of international teaching staff and their research potential are priorities in the implementation of the competitive strategy of GSOM SPbU.

Professional trajectories

Information management
Logistics
Marketing
Financial management
Human Resource Management

Accreditation

The program meets the requirements of employers and world-class academic standards, which is confirmed by the EQUIS accreditation of the European Foundation for Management Development - EFMD (confirmation of a 3-year extension received on December 11, 2018).

Benefits of training

The program is aimed at applicants who want to build a successful career in various functional departments of Russian and international companies.
Graduates of the program speak English at a level comparable to level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Foreign Language Communicative Competence.
The program is developed taking into account professional standards and the opinions of employers about the competencies necessary for a successful career of graduates.
Faculty with teaching experience at leading foreign business schools, which also includes guest lecturers from the best foreign business schools and representatives of the leaders of the professional community.
Development of language competencies thanks to a bilingual learning environment (the program is implemented in Russian and English).
The project-based nature of annual coursework carried out on materials from international and Russian companies operating in various sectors of the economy.
Opportunity to study for one semester at one of the leading business schools in Europe, Asia, North and South America.
Communication with potential employers through regular career days, seminars and trainings with company representatives.
Opportunity to participate in professional competitions and case championships held by L’Oréal, BNP Paribas, Henkel and others.

Famous teachers

Yu. E. Blagov - Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Strategic and International Management, Director of the Center for Corporate Social Responsibility of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Director of the Project Management in the Field of Social Entrepreneurship program, author of more than 60 publications on corporate social responsibility
T. A. Gavrilova - Doctor of Technical Sciences, Head of the Department of Information Technologies in Management, author of more than 180 publications on knowledge management, knowledge engineering and intelligent systems
Yu. V. Fedotov - Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Operations Management, author of more than 60 publications on assessing the performance of a company and supply chain management
S. A. Yablonsky - Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Information Technologies in Management, author of more than 200 publications on knowledge management, multilateral platforms, e-commerce
S. A. Starov - Doctor of Economics, Professor of the Department of Marketing, author of more than 80 publications on brand management and corporate branding

Best business school in Eastern Europe

Training cross

There is a university in Russia that is among the best business schools in the world!

Three pillars and 160 companies

– Sergey Pavlovich, Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg State University positions itself as a school that stands “on three pillars”: an organizational model, international standards of business education and corporate relations. Please describe them.

– GSOM SPbU is a full-fledged university business school (with the status of a faculty of St. Petersburg State University), which gives the school a number of significant advantages, especially with regard to cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary communications.

We are proud not only of the international team of teachers at our school, but also of our active cooperation with other faculties of St. Petersburg State University. For example, teachers of the Faculty of Philology teach foreign languages here. For the seventh year in a row, together with the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Control Processes of St. Petersburg State University, we have been holding the international conference “Game Theory and Management” with the participation of leading researchers. Our speakers included Nobel laureates in economics Roger Myerson, John Nash, Robert Aumann, and Reinhard Selten.

GSOM SPbU was created in a strategic partnership with the School of Business. Haas University of California, the world's leading business school. Our partners are 53 leading business schools in Europe, Asia, North and South America. Every year more than 350 students take part in the international exchange program.

Strong corporate ties with leaders of Russian and international business and government authorities are one of the main competitive advantages of GSOM SPbU. In 1993, we created the International Board of Trustees of the Faculty of Management of St. Petersburg State University - an unprecedented, pioneering experience for Russian business schools. Since 2006, the Board of Trustees of GSOM SPbU has been headed by Sergey Ivanov, head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation. Our Board of Trustees includes heads of the federal government, university management and management of leading foreign business schools, top managers of the largest Russian and Western companies. 160 companies provide GSOM SPbU students with a unique opportunity to undergo internships and summer internships.

20 years of creation

– When you created the school in 1993, how did you manage to transfer the model of a foreign business school to Russian soil, and even during such a difficult period of Russian history?

– Yes, there were difficulties. Let me give you an example. In 1999, we opened the first English-language master's program in management in the European ECTS standard in Russia - the Master in International Business (MIB) program. Many people probably no longer remember that in the 1990s, teaching was supposed to be conducted only in Russian. We managed to obtain permission from the Ministry of Education to conduct an experiment at St. Petersburg University. And this experiment was a success. Today, all master's programs are implemented only in English, which allows us to easily accept students from all over the world. And the first master’s program became the “calling card” of GSOM SPbU.

– Please tell us about the teachers of GSOM SPbU.

– The school began with thirty-three students and four full-time teachers. Today there are 64 full-time teachers at GSOM SPbU. More than 90% of our teachers have completed training and internships at leading foreign business schools. Teachers from other faculties of St. Petersburg State University and leading Russian and foreign business schools participate in the implementation of educational programs.

Theories and practices

– A business school cannot develop only in the field of theory. Need practice...

– All educational programs teach and practice. For example, the teacher at the Department of Finance and Accounting is Ruslan Belyaev, the manager of the branch of ZAO CB Citibank in St. Petersburg. The Department of State and Municipal Administration is headed by Maxim Sokolov, Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation. The teacher of the same department, Terenty Meshcheryakov, is the head of the administration of the Frunzensky district, a member of the government of St. Petersburg. Dean of the school, professor of the Department of Finance and Accounting Andrey Kostin - President and Chairman of the Management Board of OJSC VTB Bank.

In addition, leaders of the largest foreign and Russian companies give guest lectures at GSOM SPbU. We are currently negotiating the participation of specialists from VTB Bank OJSC as lecturers within the framework of academic disciplines in the master's program and as guest lecturers.

– Which of the achievements of GSOM SPbU in recent years would you like to especially note?

– 2012 was rich in achievements. I would like to mention only two of them. Obtaining international institutional accreditation EQUIS. The European Quality Improvement System is a leading international system for assessing the quality of business schools, established by the European Foundation for Management Development. Thus, we became the first and currently the only business school in the entire post-Soviet space to be awarded EQUIS accreditation. And this means Russian business education reaching the international level, the opportunity to compete with the world's leading business schools.

And second: in 2012, GSOM St. Petersburg State University, according to the international EdUniversal rating, became business school No. 1 in Eastern Europe and, for the fourth year in a row, in Russia.

Star lecturers

– Among the lecturers and top managers of leading Russian and foreign companies is Valery Gergiev. What does Valery Abisalovich teach businessmen?

– One of the key qualities of a modern manager is strong leadership skills. For a number of years, GSOM SPbU has been implementing the “Leadership as a Way of Life” project, within the framework of which meetings are organized with businessmen, politicians, athletes, and cultural figures. It was in this capacity that we invited the artistic director of the Mariinsky Theater Valery Gergiev.

– What is the role of the Board of Trustees in the development of GSOM SPbU?

– Our Board of Trustees forms the development strategy for GSOM SPbU and attracting financial resources, participates in the development and implementation of educational and scientific programs of GSOM SPbU, promotes the integration of the best Russian and world practices in business education.

– Why was Andrey Kostin elected dean of GSOM SPbU?

– Andrey Leonidovich Kostin has been a member of the Board of Trustees of GSOM SPbU since 2006, a professor at the Department of Finance and Accounting at SPbU since May 2012, and dean of GSOM SPbU since December 2012.

The election of Andrey Kostin as dean is an important stage in the development of GSOM SPbU. In essence, working as a dean is a continuation of his activities as a member of the Board of Trustees, but at a qualitatively different level. We are confident that Kostin’s authority in the business community will contribute to solving the ambitious tasks set for GSOM SPbU within the framework of the development program of St. Petersburg State University until 2020.