A key benefit of our Full-time MBA programme is the number of competitions the class can enter which supplement the academic elements of the programme.
This year, Alliance Manchester Business School held “The Future of Business and Management Practice in a post-covid world” competition. The aim was to encourage teams of Full-time MBA students across both the Class of 2022 and Class of 2023 to critically reflect on a post-covid world; in terms of business, management and economics. To submit an entry the teams were asked to create a video entry that was then assessed by judges to win a cash prize.
Hiroki Hasegawa, Full-time MBA Class of 2023 and winning team member, said, “This competition launched one month before we officially started our MBA, we did not know each other at all. It was difficult to know who you would be in a team with and topics you would choose. I was interested in entering the competition so decided I would put together my topic, ’are companies prepared to face their last mile with the accelerated growth of e-commerce triggered by the pandemic?’ I posted the idea and introduced myself in our new class WhatsApp group and I got separate messages from Virgina, Luis, Akash and Abi to say they would be interested and this how the team was formed. Already we were diving into the MBA, meeting people from different backgrounds and cultures and navigating how we would work together.”
Virginia Arguelles said, “we decided to work on the challenges for e-commerce companies derived from the rise in online shopping due to the pandemic. We specifically focused on the delays in the deliveries due to the increase in demand. It was great to be part of the team and to be exposing myself to the MBA before I arrived in Manchester.”
The competition was a great starter and provided a taste of MBA life for the Class of 2023. It gave those who took part a true idea of what it would be like to work in teams for projects throughout the programme. Luis Patricio Fonseca Loyo said, “I personally decided to join the competition to get an idea of what the MBA would look like. I had chosen Manchester for my Full-time MBA because of the learning by doing and practical elements of the programme. I also believe these competitions complement the academics and enrich our learning to get us business ready.”
Throughout the MBA journey there are different extra-curricular competitions which run alongside the programme. Shruti Garg, who was part of the runner-up team, commented, “Studying the MBA strengthens you mentally and teaches you how to excel under pressure. It builds resilient leaders of tomorrow. But these extracurricular competitions take it further to help us use our skills and knowledge in different contexts. These activities are an essential element of a complete MBA experience. I believe it helps us to be candid and build strong relationships with our teams.”
