CBS International Business School

Description and mission statement

The CBS International Business School (CBS), founded in 1993, is one of the best private business schools in Germany. With its specialisation in business studies according to international standards, it attracts around 1,900 students from 75 nations. Its campuses in Cologne, Mainz and Potsdam offer business management study programmes of equivalent, certified quality and are part of the Stuttgart Klett Group. In 2018, the CBS International Business School was the only university in Germany to be awarded the accreditation “International Accreditation Council for Business Education (IACBE)”. Our practice-oriented educational concept is based on a high understanding of quality and scientific competence in research and teaching. Ethical issues as well as theories of sustainable management can be found in all study programmes at the CBS International Business School. The responsibility for education, innovation and research and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in all areas of research and teaching, as well as the university business, characterise our university and form the foundation of our mission statement. The CBS International Business School has been part of the Stuttgart Klett Group since 2016. The Klett Group is a leading educational company in Europe and is represented internationally in 18 countries. Its product range includes classic and modern educational media for everyday school life as well as lesson preparation, specialist literature, and fine literature. In addition, the Klett Group operates numerous educational facilities ranging from daycare centres and schools to distance learning schools, distance learning colleges, and universities.
The CBS is committed to freedom of research and teaching for the benefit of a democratic, tolerant and intercultural development of society. We promote a culture of anti-discrimination so that students develop a sensitivity for important social tasks during their studies. It is a matter of course for them to act according to ethical principles and good scientific practice. CBS is developing into a respected international business school in the heart of Europe. Our practice-oriented educational concept is based on a high understanding of quality and scientific competence in research and teaching and is the basis for substantial growth in our student numbers in the future. Ethical issues and theories of sustainable management can be found in all established degree programmes. The responsibility for education, innovation, and research as well as the commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in all areas of research and teaching, as well as in university operations, characterize our university and form the value system of our mission statement. The CBS assumes responsibility by teaching a new understanding of management which declares the comprehensive creation of value for all those involved and a positive influence on society as the highest corporate objective. On the basis of our holistic educational approach, we enable our students to develop into entrepreneurial personalities who distinguish themselves through their performance and the will to take on social and ecological responsibility. The CBS also assumes responsibility by making generated knowledge usable for the economy and "experiential" for society. Within the scope of its third mission strategy, the transfer of knowledge in the areas of "Sustainable Management" and "Digital Transformation" with the corresponding implications for the economy and society is at the centre of our activities, supplemented by the task areas of lifelong learning and start-up support. Our employees and students take responsibility by committing themselves to the sustainable development of our university. This commitment is demonstrated, for example, by the charity events of our student corporate identity team. The three pillars of our understanding of quality.
First pillar: education and training Practical competence transfer is the focus of CBS education and training understanding. Action competence is built upon a professional, social, and intercultural level which enables students to successfully face the challenges of a modern knowledge society by applying adequate strategies and methods. Teaching is problem- and solution-oriented, taking into account current research findings in the various disciplines. Our students work on concrete tasks from companies in order to apply and further develop the contents learned on their own responsibility. In small groups, we offer our students space and time to discover their own talents and strengths and to develop them further through the intensive support of our professors. In addition to Bachelor programmes, the CBS also offers Master, MBA and certificate programmes and thus covers the entire spectrum of academic educational opportunities. We enable qualified graduates to do a doctorate through cooperative doctoral networks.
Second pillar: Innovation The CBS promotes the innovative power and creativity of its students through its research and teaching activities. Innovative fields of research, e.g. contents on digital transformation, underline this commitment. In addition to independent programmes in the Bachelor and Master area, each curriculum has a corresponding digital focus in order to be able to meet the challenges of the future. Furthermore, we already offer teaching content such as creativity techniques and innovation management at the Bachelor's level in order to sensitize students to these topics at an early stage. In our research activities, we address current problems in business life and, together with our cooperation partners, we find solutions in our Business Projects that are applicable in practice. In symposia, we encourage discussion, network politics, companies and researchers and thus point out new future perspectives.
Third pillar: Research Applied research is the third pillar of our understanding of quality. To meet the quality requirements of our extensive teaching portfolio, we employ experienced professors and lecturers. In interdisciplinary research projects and in cooperation with companies and institutions, research results are achieved which are reflected in our research clusters "Business Trans-formation", "Entrepreneurship & Innovation", "Leadership, People & Organisation", "Financial Markets & Rising Economies" and "Education & Methods" and which mutually benefit teaching. The results are published in our own working paper series, our own German and English language book series published by Springer Gabler publishing house as well as journals and magazines, thus making them accessible to our students and the public. An essential pillar of our research is the consistent involvement of our students. We offer the opportunity to support the individual departments with student research projects that are appropriate for their education. The acquisition of third-party funds puts our research work on a solid basis. In individual cases, we can offer CBS faculty staff the possibility of reduced teaching hours up to a complete exemption from teaching to facilitate research, a research and innovation fund, and research cooperations to provide a sustainable framework for the professorial freedom of research.