A School Close to the Corporate World

This year is exceptional in the life of the ESSCA school of management as it celebrates not only the 30th anniversary of the Budapest Campus but also the same of the Paris Campus as well as the opening of the Malaga and the Luxembourg Campuses. In 2023, a wide range of programs are organized both on the global and the local level.

In Budapest, ESSCA started the anniversary year with a reception organized for ambassadors accredited to Hungary. “As the Budapest Campus of ESSCA welcomes students from all continents, we are convinced that we need to have a very good relationship with the embassies of the countries where our students are from. We wish to let them know that there are students at our institution from their countries and show them what the student learning experience is like,” Campus Director Professor Dr. Zsuzsa Deli-Gray tells Diplomacy&Trade.
In February and March, ESSCA organized an open day for the members of the International Women’s Club in order to showcase activities proposed to students to reduce stress and develop balance in their lives. “In our attempt to transform our Campus into a truly sustainable institution, we try to increase the awareness and attention of our students of the importance and meaning of sustainable development. Every month, we organize at least one CSR-related, optional program for them, which helps them understand the many different dimensions of sustainability,” she adds.
“This September, we organize the first event of a thought-provoking conference series on Artificial Intelligence titled ‘Leading the Way to Develop New Skills for Europe’s Digital Era’. This conference is a testimonial of the commitment and dedication of ESSCA to equip their students and colleagues with the skills which are needed to thrive in the new dynamic era. The graduation ceremony of our ‘Bachelor in international management’ students will also take place then in the presence of the members of ESSCA’s Board of Directors. A cocktail reception is organized at the National Museum in Budapest at the end of September for the different partners of ESSCA in order to celebrate together the constant development and internationalization of the School,” the Campus Director highlights.

A ‘Triple Crown’ school
ESSCA's institution and its training courses are accredited by the three most prestigious accrediting bodies in the world, the American AACSB, the British AMBA and the European EQUIS. There are just over 110 business schools in the world that have received recognition from all three bodies, i.e. that have been awarded the ‘Triple Crown’.
These accreditations make all stakeholders of the School proud of belonging to ESSCA as well as of their respective contribution to the high quality of work, which is appreciated by the accreditation bodies, Dr. Zsuzsa Deli-Gray says. “This recognition encourages colleagues and students to go further and be deeply involved in the value creation processes at ESSCA. They also represent a guarantee of the quality that the School represents and creates. They serve as a distinguishing fact in the education market, helping future students and their parents select schools where quality and value systems align most with their expectations. In addition, these accreditations represent more and more the basis of inter-institutional collaborations. For example, all our students have to spend at least one semester abroad, and thus, it is of the utmost importance to propose them international partners, which are of the same quality as ESSCA. All in all, these accreditations help to create and develop trust towards the school through the rigor and credibility of the accreditation process.”

Dating back over 110 years
ESSCA is very proud of its history as well as of all the experiences it gained during the last 114 years. “In 1909, the School was built on very strong and stable values, which make ESSCA solid and precious. The respect of the original values is coupled, however, with the constant wish of the School to integrate new principles, practices, methods and challenges into all of its activities and to be a trend-setter in developing the educational field. ESSCA continuously works on elaborating more and more creative and innovative ways of teaching, tutoring, team working, etc. and trains all of its professors on how to apply them in their various activities. It pays increased attention to bringing new technologies such as the diverse dimensions of artificial intelligence into the classroom, helping the students to understand their impact as well as their application from an economic, social, legal and technological point of view,” the Campus Director points out.
In response to the new, rapidly changing environment, ESSCA works on new principles and more integrative solutions. The intent of the School to reorganize its Campuses and processes according to the requirements of sustainable development is a very good example of these efforts, which are nicely reflected in the mission of ESSCA: “The ESSCA School of Management creates knowledge and develops responsible managers and entrepreneurs, while fully considering the human, ethical and economic dimensions of organizations in a multicultural environment driven by technology and social innovations.”

Fairness and opportunities
In addition to guiding students' academic paths toward achieving excellence in pursuit of managerial careers, ESSCA is known to be a school of management that develops future managers who work in a human, responsible and ethical manner. The overall organization of the School as well as the whole curriculum is based on this principle. “We do not only integrate a class on ethics or on humanistic methods into the course structure but we build these philosophies into all of the classes. We organize several extra curriculum activities around these values and work on many different professional projects together with the students. A closed loop evaluation system ensures fairness and proposes opportunities to discover, analyze and correct any misfunctioning at all levels. ESSCA has always been famous for its transparency, for its correctness in dealing fairly and immediately with all situations. Students, professors and staff members of the School all appreciate ESSCA’s commitment to these values and principles and are proud to belong to an Institution that creates a safe and reliable teaching and learning environment for them.

Close to the corporate world
A high proportion of ESSCA students have started their careers at firms where they secured internship positions, and nearly 80% of them have signed employment contracts before they even graduated. “These numbers clearly show that there is a significant demand for our students in the labor market. Companies appreciate the competencies our students develop during their studies, find their theoretical and practical knowledge solid and trust ESSCA for the transfer of its key values to the graduates. The enterprises are also well integrated into the activities of the School: they have seats on the Board of Trustees, on the exam panels, in the development of the curricula, etc.,” Dr. Zsuzsa Deli-Gray notes. This closeness to the corporate world demonstrates ESSCA’s efforts to ensure that students receive the most up-to-date, relevant trainings, specializations, courses and skills. No matter which specialization the students opt for at the School, they gain the experience through both professional and personal development, which enables them to find their ‘dream’ job in the home market or in the international one.