Master of Business Administration (MBA) FHNW

Hochschule für Wirtschaft FHNW

Boost your leadership potential with FHNW’s part-time MBA – a 90‑ECTS, 2½‑year programme designed for professionals aiming to master general management. You’ll gain cutting‑edge business knowledge and apply it directly to your role, preparing you to lead with confidence, responsibility and strategic insight.

  • Holistic, research‑based management knowledge: Grounded in current scholarship and tailored for practice.  
  • Flexible, career‑friendly format: Taught part‑time over two years with weekend or evening sessions.
  • Practical, international orientation: Includes case‑based learning, simulations and optional international study trip.  
  • Choice of specialisations: Leadership, Innovation & Venture Lab, or International Business Development.  
  • Strong network & AACSB‑accredited quality: Learn from experienced faculty and build connections across industries.

Steckbrief

ECTS Punkte
90
Nächster Start
January (Brugg-Windisch) or August (Basel)
Dauer
2.5 years
Abschluss
Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Unterrichtssprache
Deutsch
(
1 Module in English
)
Ort
Basel or Brugg-Windisch
Lernsetting
Präsenz
Preis
CHF 37900 (from February 2026 CHF 39 500)

Ziele und Nutzen

You will:

  • Acquire essential, generalist management knowledge grounded in the latest research.  
  • Learn to lead your function responsibly and successfully.  
  • Immediately apply new knowledge in your role thanks to a strong practical focus.  
  • Develop entrepreneurial thinking and act strategically across business contexts.  
  • Understand and incorporate social, ethical and intercultural considerations in decision‑making.  
  • Enhance teamwork, communication and collaboration skills, including in international settings.

Zielpublikum

This advanced training is aimed at professionals and executives who want to expand their skills and prepare for future challenges.

Who is the MBA suitable for?

The MBA is designed for university graduates from various disciplines who:

  • do not have a business administration education but have extensive professional experience.
  • hold or wish to take on a leadership role.
  • want to build or deepen management skills for responsible tasks in the company.
  • want to develop further in a practical and part-time manner.

Aufbau und Inhalte

The MBA programme includes 6 compulsory modules as well as a specialisation of your choice. The programme concludes with a practice-oriented MBA thesis. The instruction is conducted in German (one module in English).

Module Contents

Compulsory Modules

The following modules are part of the MBA. Each module is divided into courses.

Module 1: Leading Personnel – Leadership and HR Management

How to lead effectively and responsibly in dynamic organisations?

Leadership and Personnel Management

  • Values and roles in the work context
  • Leading teams
  • Own leadership behavior and leadership styles
  • Communication within the company
  • Conflict management

Human Resource Management

  • Personnel planning
  • Personnel promotion and development
  • Salary systems and structures
  • Labor law
Module 2: Improving Competitiveness Innovatively – Strategic Management

How are companies oriented to be future-proof and innovative?

Management and Innovation

  • Model of the enterprise and management tasks
  • Business environment and stakeholders
  • Basics of innovation management
  • Business plan or innovation plan

Digital Business Models

  • Methods of innovation management
  • Exploring the opportunities of digitalization in the company based on concrete use cases
  • Identifying potentials for the own company

Strategic Management

  • From vision to strategy
  • Competitive analysis and positioning
  • Developing strategy and planning implementation

Simulation

  • Business simulation
  • Recognising the overall context between functional areas
  • Formulating goals
  • Planning the use of resources

Management Assessment

  • Simulation of a management team
  • Mastering entrepreneurial challenges
  • Developing solutions and communicating them to stakeholders
  • Observation and feedback by experts
Module 3: Leading with Numbers – Financial Management

How to make informed financial decisions in everyday leadership?

Financial Accounting

  • Balance sheet and income statement
  • Key performance metrics

Management Accounting

  • Cost accounting
  • Calculations for companies
  • Calculating key figures for decision-making

Corporate Finance

  • Types of financing for companies
  • Financial planning
  • Investment calculations
  • Business valuation
Module 4: The Social and Economic Environment – Competition and Society

What influence do global developments have on companies?

Strategic and Operational Marketing

  • Strategic marketing
  • Operational marketing, marketing mix
  • Basics of online marketing

Managerial Economics

  • Understanding the business environment for company decisions
  • Economic framework: markets and the role of the state
  • Economic cycle, economic and monetary policy

Business Ethics and Sustainability

  • Basic concepts of ethics and business ethics
  • Topics: Morality vs. law, codes of conduct, corruption
  • Sustainability-oriented management facing economic, ecological, and social challenges
Module 5: Managing the Business – Organisational Management

How to effectively design structures, processes, and cultures?

Organisation and Change Management

  • Structural and process organization
  • Typical process structure with core, management, and support processes
  • Change management

Organisational Culture

  • Corporate culture and its impact
  • Culture analysis, culture change, and culture design

Problem Solving and Decision-Making Methods

  • Systematically analysing problems
  • Finding solution alternatives with creativity techniques
  • Documenting and evaluating solutions

Digitisation and IT Management

  • IT governance and IT processes
  • Digitalization in individual business areas
  • Enablers like big data and cloud computing and their fields of application

Supply Chain Management

  • Analysis and business process management in the supply chain
  • Lean concepts and optimizations along the supply chain
  • Digitalization and sustainability in the design of the supply chain
Module 6: Business Abroad – International Management

This module is offered in English.

How to succeed in an international context?

Cross-Cultural Management

  • Cultural norms and values
  • Dealing with employees and customers from other cultures
  • Professional negotiation skills

Elective: Internationalisation Strategy

  • Dynamics and models of global division of labor
  • Internationalization strategies of enterprises
  • Strategic alliances, mergers & acquisitions

Elective: Study Trip

  • Dynamics and models of global division of labor
  • Visiting numerous companies abroad
  • Questioning intercultural leadership skills

These study trips are currently available

Elective Modules

One of the offered specialisations must be chosen. Each specialisation consists of two to four courses. The specialisations are offered across locations for the MBA programmes. They take place either in Basel or in Brugg-Windisch, with some courses also held externally.

Module 7: Specialisation in Leadership

What does it take to inspire people, lead them to peak performance, and ultimately create values? Values that shape the company, give it meaning and culture – trust, respect, esteem, the ability to collaborate. Leadership calls for integrity, clear communication, honesty, and openness.

  • Seminar on team dynamics and team leadership
  • Practical leadership concepts
Module 7: Specialisation in Innovation & Venture Lab

Innovation and venturing (entrepreneurial ventures) deal with the development and implementation of promising entrepreneurial innovations. This can take place as an intrapreneur within an existing company or through the founding of a startup.

  • From the creative idea to the implementation of the innovation
  • Working with real projects
Module 7: Specialisation in International Business Development

The area of specialization consists of two parts: firstly, another international study trip with visits to companies and other institutions from various industries, ranging from startups to multinational corporations. In the second part, the following topics are taught using case studies:

  • Analysis of international markets: tools and methods, identifying opportunities and challenges in various regions
  • International marketing and branding: tailored marketing strategies for different cultural contexts, brand localization vs. global branding, digital marketing and its role in international business
  • Opportunities through digitalization when entering a market, global supply chain management
  • Funding opportunities for companies (Switzerland Global Enterprise and others)

MBA Thesis

The processing time for the scientifically based, practice-oriented final thesis is six months. A colloquium will follow thereafter.

Module 8: Scientifically Address a Practical Topic – MBA Thesis

How is a specific management issue solved scientifically?

Course

  • Qualitative and quantitative research methods

Thesis

  • Practice-oriented problem statement from the professional environment
  • Independent processing using scientific methods
  • Supervision by experienced instructors
  • Presentation and defense of the results

Vertiefungen

Keine Vertiefungen

International

As part of the MBA programme, students can participate in one or two study trips (elective module). Various travel destinations are offered, such as Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, Poland, Singapore. The focus of these trips is on company visits, where participants can exchange ideas with management and tour the facilities. Our MBA alumni can also participate in the study trips after graduation. More information

Dozierende

No items found.

Voraussetzungen und Zulassung

For admission to the programme, the following criteria must be met:

  • University degree (University, ETH or University of Applied Sciences) and generally at least three years of professional experience after graduation
  • Or equivalent vocational training (HFP, HF or similar) and generally at least five years of professional experience after graduation as well as leadership experience, limited number of study places
  • At least intermediate English skills (level B1)

The programme management decides on admission to the programme and exceptions to the admission requirements after an admission interview. Applicants will be considered in the order of their applications.

Organisatorisches

Schedules, Factsheets, and Regulations
Fees
  • The program fee is CHF 37,900 and is typically paid in three instalments.
  • From February 2026, the fee will be CHF 39,500.
Class Times

Campus Brugg-Windisch

  • Start of studies: January
  • Class times: Friday and Saturday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM every 1-2 weeks

Campus Basel

  • Start of studies: August
  • Class times: Thursday, 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM and Friday, 8:15 AM to 4:30 PM, generally every two weeks

At the beginning of studies, there is an intensive course, and at the end of studies, there are a few block seminars.

MBA Community

We value staying in touch with you. We connect current, former, and future students of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the University of Applied Sciences Northwest Switzerland (FHNW).

More Information
Location

Basel or Brugg-Windisch

University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland FHNW
School of Business
Peter Merian-Strasse 86
4052 Basel

University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland FHNW
School of Business
Bahnhofstrasse 6
5210 Windisch

Beratung und Info-Anlässe

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Kontakt

Nicole Kälin

nicole.kaelin@fhnw.ch

Anmeldung

Durchführungen

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