The Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg University (GSOM SPbU) and Yakov & Partners, a leading strategy consultancy, agreed to create the joint educational track “Strategy and Consulting” as part of the flagship Master in Management — MiM program (ranked 21st in FT Global Masters in Management).

"The higher education system is now facing complex challenges to prepare professionals capable of contributing to the development of the country's economy in a new reality. This initiative is our response to these challenges. We are sure that it will allow us to raise a new generation of young specialists and help them to build brilliant careers in the future", — believes Yulia Aray, Associate Professor at the Department of Strategic and International Management, Academic Director of Master in Management — MiM Program. — "GSOM SPbU prepares leaders in management, who are going to deal with the long-term development of organizations with account for the challenges they face. Awareness of practical consulting tools will clearly be a competitive advantage for the Business School's alumni".

"Today many Russian companies are facing more complex business challenges than before, and there are less experts capable of solving them. From the point of view of career, consulting remains a sort of a quality seal and a factory of management staff. So if you wish to try your hand at various fields, work in a progressive sphere and also get a serious stepping stone in the beginning of your career, consulting is the right choice", — assures Dmitry Vasyukov, Associate Partner at Yakov & Partners. 

Educational track “Strategy and Consulting” is an opportunity to get comprehensive knowledge in Russia on the development and implementation of strategies, improvement of operational and organizational efficiency, change management, digitalization and merger and acquisition transaction support. Yakov & Partners, the Russian successor of the Big Three strategy consulting firms, will help to correlate theory and academic research in this sphere with interests and needs of the market. Thanks to regular communication with the consultants of Yakov & Partners, the students will immerse themselves in real tasks and the corporate culture of international consulting.

The new learning format will include a set of focused courses in strategy, leadership, project management, as well as trainings for the development skills necessary to work in consulting, individual and group work on business projects under the mentorship of Yakov & Partners consultants. By the end of the program, the participants will have an opportunity to present their graduation theses as consulting projects before the commission consisting of both GSOM SPbU representatives and company experts. 

In 2023, 15 first-year GSOM SPbU students of the Master in Management program will be able to join the track. They will be selected after the first semester. Criteria: average score, non-academic achievements and motivation for acquiring deeper knowledge and skills in strategic management and consulting. The duration of the program is 1,5 years.