Executive MBA

Curriculum

students take 6 Core modules and 2 Optional modules

CORE MODULES:

Academic Skills and Professional Practice - This non-credit, compulsory module, will consolidate and develop students’ academic and research skills; and clarify and strengthen their professional practice. To support this, the module comprises two aspects: academic and research skills, including writing styles, critical analysis, data collection and analysis, critical reflection, etc.; and professional development: personal and professional development planning, career planning, and reflection.

Leadership Management - This module provides an opportunity to critically examine leadership and management from social, cultural, political, and economic perspectives, recognising current imperatives in the global context of contemporary business. In the module students will compare and contrast traditional and modern approaches to leadership and management, engaging with management styles and practices from different regions and cultures, and informed by a diversity of examples and case studies. Students will also systematically examine and reflect on their own leadership disposition, skills, and behaviours.

Marketing and Operations - This module provides an integrated approach to marketing and operations, highlighting their complementary roles in securing sustainable competitive advantage; and exploring the interactions and latent tensions between these areas. Students will learn how to build customer-centric organisations with functions aligned to respond profitably to opportunities and challenges within contemporary global business contexts. The module embraces two interrelated themes: understanding and building relationships with customers to identify specific needs; and integrating these insights into the organisation, aligning operations to create and deliver superior value propositions to respond to these needs.

Financial Management and Decision Making - This module provides advanced introduction to financial and management accounting including legal reporting requirements; and the interpretation of financial information to support strategic and operational planning and decision making. Students will strengthen their knowledge of the practices, principles and conventions through which financial management is provided with information for control and decision making. They will also develop a critical understanding of the variety of information requirements of management in a range of control and decision making situations. The module will ensure that students can critically assess the behavioural implications and identify potential dysfunctional effects deriving from the use of control and decision making systems. The module is underpinned by a grounding in a wide range of organisational practices and various indicators used to monitor performance. The student will be introduced to techniques to help them to make sound financial decisions and to develop skill sets to analyse a set of complex accounts within an international context.

Strategy - In this module students will explore strategy in the contemporary business context, including an examination of global economic systems, instability, circular economy, new business practices, disruption, and business model innovation. Students will examine traditional and contemporary approaches to strategy, strategic thinking, and stakeholder engagement, and consider corporate, business, functional and network strategies. They will also strengthen their skills of strategic analysis through strategic games and aspects of game theory.

Professional Project - In this capstone module students will have the opportunity to bring together multiple elements of the programme to design, plan and execute an extended piece of work in critical research or professional enquiry to address a real contemporary business, organisational, or sector issue, challenge, or problem. This may involve research within an organisation, sector-based empirical research, or simulation-based research. Students will be given a thorough grounding in fundamental research paradigms, strategies, and methods with opportunities, as appropriate, for more specialised research training according to project focus and interest. They will negotiate the major outputs of their research.

OPTIONAL MODULES:

Organizational Behaviour - This module provides with an opportunity to critically examine individual and collective behaviours within contemporary organisations, and how organisational structures, culture, and management practices influence these. The module draws upon sociological and psychological frameworks to inform analysis of contemporary work settings. Students will learn how to analyse, appraise organisational functioning and performance, and propose effective solutions to performance and behaviour related challenges.

Strategic HRM - This module aims to provide students with in-depth knowledge of key principles and practices in modern human resource management, emphasising the essential strategic role that it plays in contemporary business. Students will critically engage with current thinking, policies, and frameworks, and explore these from social, cultural, economic, and legal perspectives. They will develop a keen awareness of the importance of an employee-oriented mindset and critically examine challenges and issues that arise in the international context of human resource management.

Digital Business and Data Analysis - Taking a strategic focus, this module provides a concise introduction to contemporary digital business and data analytics, promoting insight into how effective management of these exciting developments promises news means of securing competitive advantage. Conceptual development will be made concrete through extensive use of examples and critical examination of case studies drawn from a range of fast-moving industries and global business contexts. The module will include an opportunity for computer lab sessions to allow a practical grounding that will inform the vocabulary and confidence needed to successfully interact with data scientists and technologists.

Business Ethics, Sustainability and CSR - This module aims to provide students with a thorough grounding in business ethics, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility. They will explore the challenges and complexities of ethical issues and sustainability in the global context of contemporary business organisations; and develop essential skills, insight, and expertise to critically examine and reflect on the consequences of corporate conduct. An exciting aspect of the module is the opportunity to engage with a broad range of value systems that reflect the diversity of social, cultural and political contexts.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship - This module aims to provide students with an in-depth knowledge of the key elements of new business creation and entrepreneurial management, exploring new ventures, rapid development teams, and corporate ‘intrepreneurship’. To foster the development of an ‘entrepreneurial mindset’ conceptual development will be supported by and made concrete through extensive use of examples, case studies and problems drawn from a range of industries and sectors. The module will explore innovation as a key tool of an entrepreneur, as well as 'creative destruction' to promote innovation as a strategy. Whether students want to grow a new start-up or re-energise and develop an existing business through innovation and entrepreneurial thinking, this module will equip them with the knowledge, skills and mindset that are highly prized by employers and investors alike.

Duration

• Full-Time: 12 months + 6 months supervised independent study for the MBA Dissertation.
• Part-Time: 24 months classes + 6 months supervised independent study for the MBA Dissertation.

Careers

An MBA is widely seen as the most prestigious qualification for business and management throughout the world. The qualification will give you a highly competitive edge – whatever industry you are in or wherever your future career takes you. The Bolton MBA programme is designed to enhance your lifelong learning, transferable skills and personal development, enabling you to work with self-direction and confidence to help businesses prosper. You may also choose to continue your studies for a research degree (MPhil, DBA or PhD).

After successfully completing your MBA programme you may apply for membership of the Chartered Management Institute. Please note that terms and conditions apply. More details are available from http://www.managers.org.uk/

 In recent years our graduates have gone on to a wide range of management roles in the public, private and voluntary sectors. Others have opted to commence studying for a research degree (MPhil, PhD).

Professors

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Magazine

Magazine School of Business 2023