Warwick Business School


Warwick Business School is an academic department of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Warwick University, originally established in 1967 as the School of Industrial and Business Studies. It is one of the most prestigious and highly selective business schools in the world. Due to the school's historical international outlook its alumni hold leadership positions in corporate, governmental and academic institutions around the globe.
The Business School offers undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD degree programs, as well as non-degree executive education for individuals and companies. Its MBA program, known as the Warwick MBA, is offered as a one-year Full-Time program, an Executive MBA and by Distance Learning.
WBS University of Warwick campus is sited on the border of the city of Coventry and the county of Warwickshire in a semi-rural green belt location. WBS London campus is located in The Shard Tower, formerly the tallest building in the European Union.
, where WBS houses its London campus

History

Warwick's School of Industrial and Business Studies was founded in 1967, with Brian Houlden as Chair, a total of five academic staff and 24 students across three programmes. It quickly gained a reputation for excellent research, particularly in the field of industrial relations. The Industrial Relations Research Unit, founded by Hugh Clegg in 1970 focused on achieving a better understanding of workplace industrial relations in general and workplace trade unionism in particular, in a time when the UK was perceived to suffer greatly from industrial strife and poor economic performance.
In 1981, the MSc in Management was renamed the Warwick MBA. At its 20th anniversary in 1987, SIBS was renamed Warwick Business School. The department had grown to over 100 staff, 815 students and 11 programs. In 1997, following expansion of the distance learning MBA in particular, the staff tally was over 260, with 3,160 students across 17 programs.
In 2000, a new Executive MBA teaching centre was opened, the first of four phases of development of new premises for WBS. Further phases opened in 2001 and 2006, increasing the teaching capacity of WBS dramatically. This was followed by aggressive recruitment of academic faculty. In 2006, there were a total of 319 staff and 7,539 students across 25 degree programs, from over 100 countries worldwide.
In September 2014, WBS opened a second campus in The Shard Tower in London to teach its MSc Finance, MSc Human Resource Management and Employment Relations along with its Executive MBA courses.
In August 2015, WBS opened Phase 3b of its Scarman Road building on The University of Warwick campus. The £30m extension houses a 292-seat lecture theatre with a removable stage, a 120-seat lecture theatre which contains swivel chairs to allow for group work, a Behavioural Science Laboratory, a 150-seater café, nine seminar rooms, undergraduate and post-graduate learning spaces and four open plan offices for management and support staff plus a new reception.

Research

Warwick Business School is consistently recognised as one of the world's leading research institutions in business and management. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework more than 80 per cent of WBS's research output has been judged ‘World Leading’ or ‘Internationally Excellent’. The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise positioned Warwick in the top ranks for business and management research WBS is included in the worlds Top 100 Business Schools that prioritize sustainability education by supporting core curriculum choices, dedicated institutes, and relevant faculty research. WBS is also included in the UTD Top 100 worldwide business school rankings based on research contributions. Its one of only 3 UK business schools to be awarded the top five-star research rating by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the others being London Business School and Lancaster School of Management. WBS is a founding member of The Academy of Business in Society where primary research can be applied directly into business practises.
As of 2016, 100% of the WBS academic faculty have a doctoral degree, 54% are active researchers in the top 45 academic and practitioner journals whilst 76% are international academics. All academics are members of a teaching subject group, a research centre or unit, and often both. Each teaching subject group has a group convenor or head, and devolved group management. Each research centre has a director, and has similarly devolved management. Research centres may have a board with external representation to ensure practical relevance of research strategy.

Rankings & Reputation

In 2020 WBS ranks 1st in the world by the Financial Times Online MBA Ranking while América Economía ranks the Warwick Full-time MBA 10th in the world in its 2018 Best Full-time MBA programs. In the same year, "Which MBA" ranking research by The Economist ranks the Warwick MBA 18th best in the world, 3rd in Europe and 1st in the UK. Forbes ranks WBS 8th, in its 2019 Top 10 one-year international Full-time MBA programs with an alumni ‘Five-year MBA gain’ uplift of $83,800, a gain greater than MIT Sloan School of Management or Columbia Business School.
In 2016, the school was ranked the 8th Best MBA program in the world for social and environmental impact by Corporate Knights magazine. In 2015 the ARWU Shanghai University Ranking placed Warwick University 34th in the world for Economics and Business Studies. In 2014 it ranked 25th in the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking.
The Guardian University Guide ranks Warwick Business School second only after Oxford's Saïd Business School Business and Management studies for 2014. QS World University Rankings and FT rank the Warwick MBA by blended learning 2nd in the world - just below IE Business School and above Kelley School of Business. In the MBA50's European Premiership 2014 Ranking of Rankings Warwick MBA is ranked in the Top 10 along with London Business School, INSEAD, HEC Paris and Cambridge Judge Business School. Financial Times Global MBA Ranking 2014 placed the Warwick MBA: 25th in the World, 10th in Europe and 4th in UK.
The Warwick Executive MBA was ranked 19th in the world and 1st in the UK in 2014 by the Financial Times. Eduniversal ranked Warwick Business School 17th in the world and in the Top Tier of Business Schools in 2014.
Financial Times Global MBA Ranking placed the Warwick MBA: 28th in the World, 10th in Europe and 4th in UK for 2013. Business Insider ranks the Warwick Business School 26th in the world in 2013. Forbes ranked the Warwick MBA as the 7th best program outside the USA based on return on investment, and the 6th best one-year program in 2013. Financial Times Global MBA Ranking 2012 placed Warwick MBA: 27th in the World, 9th in Europe, 4th in UK, 3rd in the World for Best Value for Money.
The FT also rates WBS as the UK's fastest rising Business School in the same year. América Economía ranks WBS's Global MBA as the 44th Best in the world for 2011. Bloomberg Businessweek ranks Warwick Business School as one of the Best Business schools in Europe in 2010. CNN Expansion ranked the Warwick MBA 25th in the world in its 2010 "Best MBA in the World" report. The Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the Warwick MBA by distance learning 3rd in the world while QS ranked it 1st in UK and 2nd in the world. The Economist also placed Warwick's Full-Time MBA program 29th in the world, top 10 in Europe and 6th in the world for the final salary of its graduates; ahead of other top international business schools such as Saïd Business School, Yale School of Management and ESADE. The school consistently ranks in HighFliers Top 10 universities most-often targeted by the "Top 100 employers" such as Apple, Airbus, BBC, Google, HSBC, McKinsey the European Commission and many others.

Accreditation

In 2000, WBS became the first UK business school to hold Triple accreditation: The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business AACSB, the Association of MBAs AMBA and the European Quality Improvement System EQUIS.

Admission

With a median GMAT score of 660 and an average admission rate of 29%, Warwick remains highly selective. However, the school strategically seeks for critical thinking skills along with creativity in its applicant pool while maintaining a very robust international outlook. A typical ratio on the MBA is 36% British, 14% EU and 50% non-EU while the median age is 31. Crucially, the make-up of each MBA cohort includes a mix of skills as the school holistically investigates candidate profiles including academics, professional experience and test scores and not any one factor in isolation.

Academic Alliances

Warwick Business School is a member of the Partnership in International Management network.

Notable people

Academic Staff