WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management is an internationally oriented and mainly privately financed Business School based in Vallendar and Duesseldorf. Founded in 1984, WHU is now one of the most renowned German Business Schools with an exceptional national and international reputation. WHU stands for "Excellence in Management Education" and pursues this goal in its three core areas of activity: academic programs, research, and transfer in the field of general management. This excellent standard has been certified by accreditations from AACSB, EQUIS, and FIBAA and leading positions in national and international rankings. Also, WHU is the only private business school in Germany which is a member of the German Research Association (DFG). WHU students profit from an extensive network of partner universities, companies, and alumni.
WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management is committed to "Excellence in Management Education" concerning academic programs, research, and corporate connections. Our commitment to excellent programs includes generating first-rate graduates and establishing a life-long learning environment. Our commitment to excellence in research aims to produce high-quality intellectual contributions to academia and the business world. Regarding corporate connections, our commitment to excellence means that we maintain close ties with the business world and stay in intensive contact with various partners in business and society.
The Excellence Strategy as of January 2015 continues to be based on WHU's long-standing vision to be among the top European Business Schools. In order to achieve this vision, the School will focus on the following strategic levers:
Quality & sustainable growth: Further increasing the School's size while at the same time assuring WHU's high-quality standards.
Decentralization: Fostering ownership and entrepreneurial commitment by decentralization in the School's organization.
Digitalization: Allowing continuous improvement of programs and teaching formats, and to increase efficiency in many different areas.
Diversity: Fostering internationalization and gender diversity in all stakeholder groups (students, faculty, staff) Executive Education & MBAs: Increasing the number of students in WHU's Full-Time MBA, Part-Time MBA, Executive MBA, and Executive Education Programs.
Entrepreneurial spirit: Fostering the entrepreneurial spirit and culture of all members of the School.
WHU was founded in 1984 at the initiative of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Koblenz. After more than 30 years, it is not only counted among the best and most respected centers of business education in Germany, but it also enjoys an excellent reputation internationally. This success story makes it easy to forget the School's humble beginnings when it was located in an elementary school in Koblenz and the opposition faced by the founders against their idea of opening a private university.
This idea of establishing a private university to balance the deficits in business education brought together the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Koblenz, Hanno Ludwig, its Managing Director, Karl Darscheid, and European Business School executive, Udo Glittenberg. Without their long-standing dedication and determination to operate a private university in Koblenz, there would be no WHU today.
Initial considerations and discussions concerning the founding of a private university took place in the spring of 1983, culminating in the "basic concept for an independent, international elite university to prepare future leaders for the economy." In May 1983, this basic concept was submitted to the Rhineland Palatinate Ministry of Culture by Karl Darscheid, in his position as Managing Director of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Koblenz to demonstrate the state's business community's interest in such an institution.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry was the appropriate and credible negotiating partner for the Ministry of Culture, which was the instance deciding on the School's state recognition. The first pre-requisite for this was creating a university body, which was the only type of body that had the right to make an application for state recognition. This first obstacle was surmounted in March 1984 with the approval of the "WHU Foundation". The creation of a sound financial basis, which would ensure the business school's existence in its early years, would also not have been possible without the School's strong business contacts.
After the School had been awarded state recognition, the first courses of study began on October 1, 1984. In its first few years, the School was located in the rooms of an elementary school in Koblenz-Karthause. Over the long term, the premises were insufficient for a growing WHU. A search was conducted for an appropriate home for WHU, ideally, a location that would offer scope for expansion. Finally, a suitable building was found in neighboring Vallendar. In August 1988, the School moved to the "Marienburg" in the center of Vallendar. The School was able to celebrate the inauguration of the new premises just in time for the beginning of the Winter semester on October 1, thereby concluding a period of provisional and temporary measures.
The code of conduct's objective is to capture the WHU community's shared understanding of standards of good conduct in written form. It will help us act following the "WHU spirit," which will foster our goals as described in our mission statement and vision.
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