Darden School of Business

A friendship between two scientists as the basis, valuable inputs for our students as a result – the cooperation with the Darden School of Business, the University of Virginia, USA.

For more than fifteen years, the Darden School of Business (University of Virginia, USA) has been a partner university of HWZ. It is well known for its strength in general management. It is regularly listed among the world’s top 15 business schools by media such as BusinessWeek, The Economist (“Which MBA?”) and Forbes. What distinguishes Darden is its strong focus on case-based teaching methods, similar to the approach used at Harvard Business School. This approach requires thorough preparation and in-depth discussion. Another hallmark is its personal, supportive style.

More about Darden School of Business

Darden School of Business is the graduate business school of the University of Virginia, a renowned public university with nationally recognized schools and programs. The university is located in Charlottesville, Virginia, just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which offer breathtaking beauty, rich culture, and an endless list of activities.

Some of the 20 reasons that speak for the Darden School of Business:

  1. No. 1: Public MBA Program based on top five ranking publications (Poets & Quants, 2024)

  2. No. 1: U.S. Public MBA program (Bloomberg Businessweek, 2019,2022,2023,2024) and No. 3 overall (2023)

  3. No. 1: Global Public Business School (Financial Times, 2024)

  4. No. 1: Best education experience in the U.S. (The Economist, 2011-19, 2022)

  5. No. 1: Faculty (The Economist, 2017-19, 2022;The Princeton Review, 2017-21)

  6. No. 1: U.S. Public MBA Program for Average Starting Salary and Bonus (U.S. News & World Report, 2017-24)

  7. No. 1: MBA program for General Management (Financial Times, 2012-17, 2019)

  8. No. 1: MBA program for Consulting (The Princeton Review, 2018,2021

  9. No. 1: MBA program for Corporate Social Responsibility (Financial Times, 2019-20)

  10. No. 1: Global Overseas Study (The Economist, 2014-19, 2022)

  11. No. 1: Carbon footprint in the U.S. (Financial Times, 2023)

Beginnings

The first contact between Darden and HWZ, which laid the foundation for the partnership, was personal. Ed Freeman, an American philosopher and Professor of Business Administration at Darden—best known for his work on stakeholder theory—invited Prof. Dr Sybille Sachs to Darden in 2005 for a joint doctoral seminar.

Study week

Each year, HWZ runs a study week at Darden for students on the Executive MBA or General Management programmes, as well as the Master of Science in Business Administration. The stay includes five days of study, during which marketing and management topics are explored intensively and interactively through case studies and simulations. The language of instruction during this week is English. Time and again, we hear from students and lecturers about the impact the study week has had for them

To Darden Business School