The specialized academic MBA program has been developed to support the development and growth of the business services sector, which is supposed to become the dominant industry of the Czech economy within five years.
“This sector is developing very dynamically, it runs innovations of large global companies, it expands its scope and grows. At the same time, there is a growing need to develop managers and expand their qualifications to new areas, whether it is managing people in the digital age, quality data work, the implementation of innovations or development strategies. I am convinced that properly focused manager education has the potential to further support the growth of business services. The program, which we created in cooperation with UNYP and the Hackett Institute, will open up very interesting career opportunities for graduates“ explains Jonathan Appleton, the Managing Director of the ABSL association that brings together business service providers on the Czech market.
Today, the business services sector employs 120,000 people and is one of the fastest growing industries on the Czech market. According to a recent study published by the ABSL association with the consulting company McKinsey & Company, the industry will rank among the most important sectors of the Czech economy in terms of employment and economic performance in 2025. At the same time, it has the potential to transform the Czech Republic from a traditional manufacturing economy with cheap labour into a country with modern and innovative services with high added value. Education in this sector will therefore become increasingly important.
„People working in Business Services are increasingly moving from transactional activities to more skilled tasks. For example, for clients from all over the world they provide business analytics and several other services that are essential for the company’s strategic decisions. Continual education in this sector is thus very important and gives employees a competitive advantage and the ability to understand current challenges“ says Sotiris Karagiannis, Director of MBA Programs at the University of New York in Prague (UNYP).
According to Sotiris, professional manager education in the form of MBA programs is growing in popularity in our country and is attended especially by members of middle and top management. The newly accredited MBA program offered by UNYP is the first and only MBA study focusing on GBS (Global Business Services) available in the Czech Republic.
The program consists of 11 courses led by instructors from UNYP, 10 Hackett Institute courses and a series of lectures from ABSL members. In addition to the MBA diploma, each graduate will receive a diploma within the internationally recognized certification from the Hackett Institute. Students will deal with the topics of strategic management in the digital age, finance, marketing, project management and human resources and will also develop their manager skills. All topics reflect the needs of the sector and are strongly linked to practical examples and practical experience.
The first students can enter the program in October this year. The study will take place on two weekends a month and will last for 18 months, i.e. until January. The program is available to anyone interested in MBA studies who wants to expand their career qualifications within the sector of Business Services. Employees from ABSL member organizations pay 11,000 euros for their studies, the others 3,000 euros more.
„One of our goals is to support the reputation of the Czech Republic as one of the most attractive destinations for building and operating business service centres in Europe. Thanks to this new program, new investors can be sure that we have capable managers with comprehensive knowledge for building new modern organizations. And those who already invested here, can be confident that we are building the knowledge and skills that they need to keep driving their global business services forward,“ said Jonathan Appleton.
