Step confidently into your leadership role with the Diploma Programme General Management (DPGM). This is where you gain the essential skills to lead people, make informed decisions, and drive results through a blend of core modules in team leadership, change management, and finance. This programme is designed for professionals like you who are either preparing for a management role or have recently been promoted to one. You learn to build a solid foundation both in leadership and in business. In class, you apply your learning directly in an Impact Project, thereby turning your knowledge into real organisational impact.
This course is offered by Rotterdam School of Management b.v.. For more information about the legal structure of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, visit this page.
Are you new to the role of manager or supervisor? We teach you the techniques and competences you need to lead your team smoothly and effectively, and you learn how to deal with pressure from your senior manager and team members. This is your time to upgrade your existing skills and knowledge to navigate the next phase in your career.
As you step into your leadership role, you realise that you need more than technical expertise, you need the confidence, perspective and tools to lead people, sound decision-making skills, and deliver results. This programme equips you with exactly that: the skills, mindset, and network to navigate your next career step with clarity and impact.
The RSM Diploma Programme in General Management gives you a powerful, practice-oriented learning experience that bridges knowledge and action. Over the course of several months, you move through the core modules of Team Leadership, Leading Change and Finance for Non-Financial Managers, and complement them with an elective tailored to your interests.
You make up part of a diverse, supportive cohort of peers. You all learn together, exchange experiences, and grow as leaders through shared insights and challenges.
Toward the end of the programme, your learning culminates in the Impact Project: a learning experience where you apply your new skills to a real strategic challenge within your own organisation. Guided by your mentor and your project sponsor, you aim to design and implement a concrete action plan that delivers visible results.
As a new manager, RSM’s Diploma Programme in General Management is designed to develop your business knowledge and skills within 12 months by using four modules and an Impact Project, completed. Most modules involve two or three days in the classroom in Rotterdam with lectures, tutorials and peer consulting sessions. Throughout the programme, your learning is supported by a mix of online materials, business case studies, assignments and discussions.
Are you seeking deeper personal growth? For an additional fee, you can opt for RSM’s leadership coaching, where you work with a certified coach. Over the course of four one-hour sessions, you reflect on your leadership style, set goals and bring to life what you have learned, all in a way that fits your unique context
This is not just another management course, it’s a transformative learning journey that empowers you to lead with purpose, confidence and impact.
Learn what it truly means to lead a whole team, not just individuals. Discover how to navigate complex team dynamics, address motivational issues and manage conflicts before they escalate. You gain practical tools to deal with challenging behaviours, create alignment around a shared vision and unlock your team’s collective intelligence. Through proven leadership strategies, you learn to foster collaboration, build a strong team identity and enable your people to thrive – even when you’re not in the room.
Learn how to navigate the complexity of organisational change and turn challenges into opportunities. You discover how to create realistic change plans, engage and influence diverse stakeholders, and adapt your leadership style to different situations. You gain the tools to lead meaningful, lasting transformation within your organisation through understanding resistance and learning to apply practical strategies to overcome it.
Finance doesn’t have to be intimidating. In this module, you learn how financial decisions shape the success of an organisation and gain confidence in conversations with finance professionals. You explore how to interpret financial statements, assess performance and evaluate investment opportunities by using key financial tools. After having completed the programme, you can turn financial data into practical insights that guide smarter, more strategic decisions for your team and organisation.
The Impact Project is where knowledge meets action. This hands-on journey enables you to apply the essential principles and methods you have gained during your RSM learning journey – from change and strategy to leadership and innovation – to a real strategic challenge within your own organisation. It is an integral part of the RSM learning journey that assists your learning and the development of your knowledge, skills and mindset, which have been covered in the on-site modules.
You design and implement a practical action plan while you actively develop and test your leadership skills. The Impact Project encourages you to take deliberate steps to drive meaningful change, reflect on your approach and align your actions with a long-term vision for impact.
Throughout this process, you are supported by a kick-off workshop, a concise manual with tools and guidelines, and mentoring to help you stay focused and achieve your results.
As a capstone to your learning journey, you finalise your project’s outcomes and present them to your mentor and/or sponsor. Your journey concludes with the celebration of your accomplishments at a graduation ceremony with your peers.
*If you are interested in developing your leadership qualities in a single short course, we advise you to look at our Team Leadership programme instead.
This was my first general management course – it was a fruitful one! Most of the knowledge we learned in the different modules was new to me. It is a great starting point for professionals who have been appointed manager for the first time, independently of their background. The next step for me is to acquire more knowledge in key areas such as strategy. RSM has really helped me get a feeling of the skills I need to further develop.
RSM’s Diploma Programme in General Management is very well organised and structured. It focuses on fundamental key elements of management, helping managers to improve their competences. I chose RSM because of its reputation and I was not disappointed: the lectures were extremely professional and with a strong professional background. There was a pleasant work and training environment, and a relaxed atmosphere which added value. I highly recommend this programme!
This was a great way to learn about finance, leadership, working in teams – and I could put this knowledge into practice in my job right away. Through the general management programme, I got a better understanding of those units and business aspects in my organisation. I advise anyone who is interested in business in general to follow these modules. It’s a great concept to understand topics which you are not yet familiar with.
During the RSM Diploma Programme in General Management you will learn from Dr Arjen Mulder, Dr Julija Mell, Dr Sofya Isaakyan, Dr Ferdinand Jaspers and Prof. Barbara Banda. Occasionally we may substitute other faculty members according to the content of the programme and their availability.
Arjen Mulder is an Assistant Professor in Corporate Finance at RSM. He earned his doctorate in business at Erasmus University Rotterdam. His research interests are corporate finance and government interventions in private sector decision-making, such as taxation and investment subsidies for otherwise uneconomic investments. Arjen worked at the Netherlands Economic Institute (now Ecorys) prior to obtaining his PhD. His teaching activities focus on corporate finance and value creation.
Assistant professor Julija Mell’s research focuses on collaboration over cognitive, geographical, cultural and structural boundaries in teams and networks. She teaches organisational behaviour, teams, leadership and social networks at all levels, and has a PhD in organisational behaviour from Erasmus University Rotterdam and a diploma in psychology from Humboldt University Berlin.
Sofya Isaakyan is an assistant professor of organisational behaviour. She researches employees' upward expression of ideas and concerns about work issues, and reactions by managers and team members. She also explores factors affecting leadership development and leader identity. She has a PhD in organizational behaviour from Maastricht University. Sofya also worked in human resource management and in consulting.
Ferdinand Jaspers is programme director at the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship. He teaches innovation leadership, strategy and entrepreneurship through courses, masterclasses and boot camps to help entrepreneurs move beyond lean start-up, design thinking, business modelling and effectuation. With experts from DSM and ING, Ferdinand founded the ECE Innovation Leadership executive programme.
Barbara Banda is highly skilled coach for senior leaders and is a visiting faculty member at RSM. She’s a specialist in delivering education for leadership development, business strategy and organisational change, and has led large-scale strategic change projects for multinationals, government departments and non-profits. She has a PhD in Management Learning from the University of Oxford.
March 2026 - February 2027
€ 14,500 (excl. 21% VAT) including course materials, lunches, and snacks. This fee does not include hotel accommodation.
You are eligible to receive your RSM Diploma Programme in General Management when you complete four courses and your in-company research project. The whole programme is to be completed within one year.
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) offers a dynamic learning environment for professionals looking to learn new skills and gain more knowledge in business and management education.
Here’s why you should choose RSM:
This programme takes place in Bayle building on the Woudestein Campus of Erasmus University Rotterdam, just 15 minutes by public transport from Rotterdam city centre. Our modern and lively campus has innovative study facilities, sustainable design, and calming green spaces.
Class sizes are usually between 12 to 24 people, but it does depend on the programme. We aim for a balance between allowing capacity to guarantee individual attention, and achieving a good group dynamic and networking opportunities.
Yes. Alumni from RSM and Erasmus University Rotterdam receive a 15% discount.
RSM alumni are students who have completed either a bachelor of science, master of science, PhD or one executive education programme of more than 40 credit hours. Additionally, companies which sponsor several participants may also be offered a special price.
Participants of open programmes of less than 40 credit hours will not receive a discount.
Programme fees include tuition, programme materials, access to the RSM study facilities and dynamic learning environment. This also includes lunch and refreshments throughout the programme.
Hotel accommodation is not included, so please make individual arrangements for your stay in Rotterdam.
If you require hotel accommodation during your stay in Rotterdam, we recommend a few hotels:
Please contact the hotels directly to make and secure your own reservations.
Note: We recommend that you select the flexible booking option when reserving a room.
Our general terms and conditions apply when you register for an open programme. Please review them to learn more about our policies for cancellation, deferral and substitution.
If you have more general questions, we recommend you explore our more in-depth FAQs page. If you are looking for personal advice, then please contact one of our advisors using the contact form below.
Programme advisor
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