Saïd Business School (Oxford Saïd or SBS) is the business school of the University of Oxford. The school is a provider of management education.

Saïd Business School
EstablishedSchool of Management Studies 1990, re-branded 1996[1]
DeanSoumitra Dutta
Academic staff
90
Undergraduates300
Postgraduates354 MBA
240 EMBA
80 MFE
30 MGHL
50 MLF
120 MMPM
50
Location
Oxford
,
England
,
United Kingdom

51°45′40″N 1°15′12″W / 51.7611°N 1.2534°W / 51.7611; -1.2534
AffiliationsUniversity of Oxford
Websitewww.sbs.ox.ac.uk

Business and management classes started at Oxford in 1965 when the Centre of Management Studies, later relaunched as Templeton College, Oxford, was founded.[2] In 1988, a committee chaired by Claus Moser, Baron Moser recommended that the University create a new School of Management Studies. By 1990, Clark L. Brundin became founding director of Oxford's school of management studies.[3] In 1996, the school re-branded as Saïd Business School after a donation of £28 million from Wafic Saïd.[4] New premises were built on Park End Street and opened in 2001. The Thatcher Business Education Centre was opened on the same site in 2012 after a further donation from Saïd. The School has another centre at Egrove Park, on the former site of Templeton College, and in 2019 acquired an old power station in Osney to convert into a Global Leadership Centre.

Saïd Business School is the University of Oxford's department for graduate students in business, management and finance. Undergraduates are also taught as part of the Economics and Management course together with the Economics Department.

As of June 2022, the Dean of Said Business School is Professor Soumitra Dutta.

History

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Business education at the University of Oxford dates back to 1965, when the Oxford Centre for Management Studies was founded. The centre was renamed Templeton College in 1983 as a result of a donation from Sir John Templeton.[5]

In 1988 a committee chaired by Sir Claus Moser (warden of Wadham College) recommended that the University set up a new School of Management Studies. The University agreed to establish a Business School in 1990 and the Oxford School of Management Studies was set up in premises at the Old Radcliffe Infirmary with its first intake of students arriving in 1993. The first director was Dr Clark Brundin, who had been the vice-chancellor of the University of Warwick since 1985. He was also appointed as president of Templeton College.[6]

Saïd Business School was founded in 1996 when Syrian-born businessman Wafic Saïd offered the University a donation of £28 million.[7] A site for the new premises was found on Park End Street opposite Oxford railway station on what was formerly the Oxford Rewley Road railway station. The building was designed by Edward Jones and Sir Jeremy Dixon.[6] The opening on 5 November 2001 was accompanied by a demonstration by students concerned about the controversial nature of Wafic Saïd's donation. [8] Saïd was linked with the UK's signing of the Al-Yamamah arms deal.[9]

In 2007 Templeton College merged with Green College to form Green Templeton College, based on the existing Green College site. The former Templeton site at Egrove Park then became the Saïd Business School Executive Education Centre. In 2012 the Thatcher Business Education Centre, financed by a donation from Saïd, was opened on the Park End Street site.[5] Saïd donated a further £15 million in 2019 to finance the conversion of the old Osney power station into a Global Leadership Centre.[9]

In 2020 Saïd Business School lost an employment tribunal case brought by its former director of custom executive education.[10] The tribunal found that the whistleblower had been unfairly dismissed and awarded her £1,499,606.62.[11]

Degree programmes

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A bust of Wafic Saïd

Saïd Business School's main degree programmes are its one-year full-time MBA programme, 21-month modular Executive MBA programme, the DPhil or PhD Programme in Management Studies, the MSc in Financial Economics in cooperation with the Economics Department, the two-year MSc in Major Programme Management and the one-year MSc in Law and Finance (MLF) in conjunction with the Oxford Law Faculty.[12]

Undergraduate programme

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Saïd Business School offers one undergraduate programme: Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Management. This programme is taught jointly by the Department of Economics and the Business School.[13]

Graduate programmes

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SBS building

Saïd Business School offers a one-year full-time Master of Business Administration degree, which enrolls approximately 320 students per year. In the 2018–2019 class of 315 students, 61% were male and 39% were female with 62 nationalities represented and averaged 5 years of work experience.[14] The MBA programme was updated for the 2014/15 academic year[15]

EMBA

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Saïd Business School also offers a 22 month or 24 month part-time 'Executive Master of Business Administration' degree designed for people with more than 5 years' management experience. The Oxford EMBA is studied through 16 week-long modules largely taught in Oxford, but with at least two conducted in key international markets. As of 2016, the programme ran two iterations per year, with new cohorts starting in both January and September. There were 61 students in September 2022 class, from 33 different nationalities and 41% of which are women. There are several scholarships for women available each year for outstanding candidates.[16][17]

1+1 MBA

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Dean Peter Tufano started the Oxford 1+1 MBA programme which allows students to pair the one-year full-time MBA programme with one of a selection of one-year MSc programmes offered by other University of Oxford departments.[18]

MSc in Major Programme Management (MMPM)

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The School runs a part-time two-year MSc in Major Programme Management. It accepts approximately 50-60 students per cohort, running a programme that features 8 modules and a thesis. Module topics (in 2022) are:

  • Designing and managing successful programmes
  • Major programme risk
  • Systems thinking
  • Governance and stakeholder management
  • Commercial leadership
  • Research methods
  • Managing performance
  • Globalisation and major programmes[19][12]

MSc in Global Healthcare Leadership

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The School starts a part-time (hybrid) two-year MSc in Global Healthcare Leadership in September 2022/23 academic year. It was intended to start in the 2021/22 year but deferred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This programme is being managed under both Said Business School and Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Services. It has 8 modules each proceeded by a week of teachings in Oxford.[12][20]

Academic performance

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Business School
International Rankings
European MBA Ranking
QS (2025)[21]8
Financial Times (2024)[22]7
Global MBA Ranking
QS (2025)[23]19
Financial Times (2024)[24]26


University of Oxford is 1st in the 2022 Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

2023 QS Global MBA Rankings by Career Specialization:[25]

  • Finance: 7th in world
  • Entrepreneurship: 7th in world
  • Information Management: 5th in world
  • Technology: 3rd in world
  • Consulting: 19th in world

2022 Financial Times Executive MBA: 15th in the world [26]

2023 CEO World Magazine B-school rankings: 5th in the world.[27]

In the inaugural LinkedIn MBA Ranking (2024), Saïd Business School ranked 15th in the world. [28]

Admissions

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The 2022-23 cohort of students on the MBA course comprised 64 different nationalities, with 93% coming from outside the UK. Nearly half (48%) were women. The median GMAT score was 690 and median GRE composite score was 320 (Quant - 160; Verbal - 160). The cohort's average work experience was 5 years and average age was 29 years.[29]

Administration

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For administrative purposes, Saïd Business School is part of the University of Oxford's Social Sciences Division. In June 2022 Professor Soumitra Dutta, former Professor of Management at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University in New York, took up the position of Dean, replacing interim Dean Sue Dopson, Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Fellow of Green Templeton College.[30] Previous Deans were Professor Peter Tufano (2011–2021), Professor Colin Mayer (2006–2011), Professor Anthony Hopwood (1999–2006) and Professor Sir John Kay (1996–1998).[5]

Notable alumni

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Faculty

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "A Brief History of the University". University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 10 June 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Our history | Saïd Business School".
  3. ^ https://www.mcsoxford.org/ows/obituaries/clark-brundin-former-governor/ [bare URL]
  4. ^ "About Saïd Business School".
  5. ^ a b c "Our History". Saïd Business School. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  6. ^ a b Arena, Lise; Dang, Rani Jeanne (2010). "Learning lessons from the past: A historical exploration of a century of business education at Oxford and Cambridge (1900s-2000s). Management History Research Group Conference, July 2010, St Andrews, United Kingdom". HAL-SHS. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  7. ^ "History". Saïd Business School. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  8. ^ Jarvis, Paul; Norwood, Tamarin. "Protest on business school". The Oxford Student. Archived from the original on 16 April 2005. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Business School receives £15 million donation from Syrian "arms deal fixer"". Cherwell. 27 April 2019.
  10. ^ "Whistleblower wins case against Saïd Business School". University Business. 8 January 2021.
  11. ^ "Dr E Heslop v Oxford Said Business School Limited and others". 29 December 2020.
  12. ^ a b c "Saïd Business School". University of Oxford. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  13. ^ "B.A. (Hon) in Economics and Management". University of Oxford. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  14. ^ "2018–19 MBA class profile". University of Oxford. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  15. ^ Bradshaw, Della (22 May 2014). "Oxford MBA to focus on global issues and effective leadership". Financial Times. www.ft.com. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  16. ^ "Oxford Executive MBA - Said Business School". Said Business School. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  17. ^ "EMBA Profiles - Class of September 2022" (PDF). Said Business School. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  18. ^ "Oxford 1+1 MBA". University of Oxford. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  19. ^ "MSc in Major Programme Management | Saïd Business School". www.sbs.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  20. ^ "Oxford MGHL - Said Business School and Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Services". Said Business School. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  21. ^ "QS Europe MBA Rankings 2025". Quacquarelli Symonds.
  22. ^ "Global MBA Ranking 2022". Financial Times.
  23. ^ "QS Global MBA Rankings 2025". Quacquarelli Symonds.
  24. ^ "Global MBA Ranking 2023". Financial Times.
  25. ^ "QS MBA by Career Specialisation Rankings 2023". TopMBA.com. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  26. ^ "EMBA 2022 - Business school rankings from the Financial Times - FT.com". rankings.ft.com. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  27. ^ Papadopoulos, Anna (3 January 2023). "Best Business Schools In The World For 2023". CEOWORLD magazine. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  28. ^ https://poetsandquants.com/2024/09/05/linkedin-mba-ranking-2/
  29. ^ "FAQs - The Oxford MBA". Saïd Business School. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  30. ^ "Welcoming Dean Dutta, who starts at the School today". Saïd Business School. June 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
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