Saïd Business School


Saïd Business School is the business school of the University of Oxford, named after Syrian-Saudi billionaire Wafic Saïd. It is part of Oxford's Social Sciences Division.
Oxford Saïd is the University of Oxford's centre of learning for undergraduate and graduate students in business, management and finance. Undergraduates are also taught as part of the Economics and Management course together with the Economics Department.
The school of management was re-branded as Saïd Business School in 1996. It is named after its chief benefactor, Syrian-Saudi Arabian billionaire Wafic Saïd, arms dealer, political fixer, businessman and philanthropist, who has donated £70 million to date. The current dean is Peter Tufano.

History

The Oxford Centre for Management Studies was founded in 1965; the OCMS was the precursor to both what is now Saïd Business School and to Templeton College, the University's business-focused postgraduate college. Templeton College was named after Sir John Templeton, an American-born Rhodes Scholar and billionaire mutual fund pioneer, who made a significant donation to the college. Initially, OCMS was an "associate institution" of the University, providing executive, graduate and later undergraduate courses in Management Studies. OCMS was renamed Templeton College in 1983, and the University of Oxford School of Management Studies was created in 1991, taking over the undergraduate and graduate degree courses from the college. Saïd Business School was formed in 1996 out of the School of Management Studies.
The new business school building was completed in 2001 with a £28 million investment from Wafic Saïd. The building includes an amphitheatre and the Sainsbury Library, and was designed by Edward Jones and Sir Jeremy Dixon. It was built on the site of Oxford Rewley Road railway station.
The opening on 5 November 2001 was accompanied by a demonstration by students mainly because of the controversial nature of Wafic Saïd's donation.

Degree programmes

Saïd Business School's main degree programmes are its one-year full-time MBA programme, 21-month modular Executive MBA programme, the DPhil or PhD Programme in Management Studies, the MSc in Financial Economics in cooperation with the Economics Department, the two-year MSc in Major Programme Management and the one-year MSc in Law and Finance in conjunction with the Oxford Law Faculty.

Undergraduate programme

Oxford Saïd offers one undergraduate programme: Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Management. This programme is taught jointly by the Department of Economics and the Business School.

Graduate programmes

MBA

Saïd Business School offers a one-year full-time Master of Business Administration degree, which enrolls approximately 320 students per year. In the 2018–2019 class of 315 students, 61% of were male and 39% were female with 62 nationalities represented and averaged 5 years of work experience.
The School revamped the MBA programme for the 2014/15 academic year to focus on entrepreneurship, "Global rules of the game", responsible business

EMBA

Saïd Business School also offers a 21-month part-time 'Executive Master of Business Administration' degree designed for people with more than 5 years’ management experience. The Oxford EMBA is studied through 16 week-long modules largely taught in Oxford, but with at least two conducted in key international markets. As of 2016, the programme runs two iterations per year, with new cohorts starting in both January and September. There are 60 students in September 2016 class, from 21 different nationalities and 28% of which are women. There are several scholarships for women available each year for outstanding candidates.

1+1 MBA

Dean Peter Tufano started the Oxford 1+1 MBA programme which allows students to pair the one-year full-time MBA programme with one of a selection of one-year MSc programmes offered by other University of Oxford departments. For example, students can acquire an MBA in conjunction with a MSc from the Department of Computer Science or the Department of Education. The idea behind the Oxford 1+1 programme is to combine the depth of a specialised, one-year master's degree with the breadth of a one-year MBA.

MSc Law and Finance

The Oxford's MSc in Law and Finance is delivered jointly by Oxford's Faculty of Law and Saïd Business School. MLF candidates study the law courses alongside BCL students and attend finance courses alongside MSc in Financial Economics students. MLF candidates arrive having graduated at or near the top of their undergraduate class, often combined with several years of professional experience.

MSc in Major Programme Management

The School runs an MSc in Major Programme Management in association with the BT Centre for Major Programme Management. It also offers two MEng programmes and the top ranked BA in Economics and Management.

Executive Diplomas

Saïd Business School offers in Financial Strategy, Strategy & Innovation, Organisational Leadership, and Global Business based on content adapted from the Oxford EMBA.

Academic performance

In the 2013/2014 QS Global 200 Business Schools Report, Saïd placed fourth in the European part of the ranking., Retrieved 2 August 2014.
In 2019, the full-time MBA programme ranked 13th in the world and 2nd in the UK in the Financial Times Ranking In 2013, the full-time MBA programme ranked 7th in Business Week's international business schools rankings and 6th in Forbes' Best International MBA Programs rankings.
The MSc in Financial Economics programme ranked 6th in the world and 1st in the UK in the Financial Times ranking of Pre-experience Masters Programmes in 2013.
In both 2015 and 2016, the Executive MBA programme ranked 9th in the Financial Times’ Global EMBA ranking, and 2nd in the Economist's Executive MBA ranking.
In Executive Education, Oxford Saïd was ranked 4th worldwide in the table for open enrolment executive programmes and 26th in the table for custom programmes by the Financial Times in 2017.

Admissions

Admission to Saïd Business School is competitive. The average GMAT score in 2018–2019 for the MBA programme was 690, while the average GMAT score in 2018–2019 for the MFE programme was 743.

Relationship to the University

Saïd Business School is an academic department of the University of Oxford and cooperates closely with several other departments such as the Economics Department and the Faculty of Law. All Oxford Saïd students are members of one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford.

Notable alumni