The Manchester Global Executive MBA

This course explores two critical challenges facing contemporary businesses: to redefine the purpose of the firm in the 21st century, transitioning to a stakeholder value-driven model and to redesign business models for a global net zero economy.

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What you'll learn

• Understand how companies use environmental, social and governance (ESG) to manage these two transitions
• Understand the drivers behind these transitions, including concepts like financialisation, shareholder value maximisation, corporate governance, and firm purpose
• Analyse how ESG frameworks support firms to transition to achieve social and environmental responsibility
• Examine how ESG helps companies to transition to a net zero economy.

This course equips you with the knowledge and tools to lead organisations through these transformative global challenges.

This course is delivered through a 3 day in-person workshop and online learning.

This core course explores organisational behaviour, focusing on the management practices and organisational structures found in contemporary organisations and their effects on people’s behaviour.

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What you’ll learn

• Evaluate the reasons behind contemporary management practices and their impact on behaviour
• Understand key organisational dynamics, including motivation, leadership, and team performance
• Explore the structures and cultures of organisations and their role in shaping behaviour
• Develop strategies for managing change effectively within complex organisations
• Apply research-based frameworks and ideas to real-world management challenges.

This course equips you with the knowledge and skills to respond to modern management challenges, enhancing your ability to lead and inspire in diverse organisational settings.

This course is delivered through a 3-day in-person workshop and online learning.

This course will provide you with key knowledge about Operations and Marketing and takes an integrative approach of bringing these two business functions together.

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During this course, you will explore the interactions and synergies, as well as the potential tensions between these two business perspectives.

What you’ll learn

• Customer understanding and value creation: Analyse customer needs, market positioning, and how to translate this into product and pricing strategies
• Marketing and communications strategy: Develop channels and messaging to communicate value propositions to target audiences
• Operations and supply chain design: Explore how to design and deliver effective operations strategies and to manage supply chains that align with business objectives
• Critical analysis and decision-making: Evaluate the fit of marketing and operations management decisions using data-driven approaches, while recognising limitations and inconsistencies in data sources
• Professional communication and collaboration: Enhance your ability to write, present, and collaborate effectively to tackle marketing and operational challenges.

This core course develops integrated marketing and operations expertise, builds critical thinking skills, and provides practical frameworks to solve real-world business challenges.

This course is delivered through a 4-day in-person workshop and online learning.

This course is divided into two parts: Understanding and Measuring Business Value and Creating Financial Value.

The first part focuses on analysing value from multiple perspectives, while the second emphasises strategic financial decisions that enhance long-term organisational success.

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What you’ll learn

• Explore the differences between cash, profit, and net book value and analyse financial statements such as cash budgets and profit and loss accounts
• Evaluate accounting techniques and the role of international financial reporting standards (IFRS) in determining what can and cannot be valued
• Consider broader dimensions of value – societal, environmental, cultural, and operational – and develop innovative thinking to address them
• Understand the time value of money and its impact on project evaluation and financial asset valuation
• Learn to make strategic financing decisions that influence future profits and ensure organizational sustainability.

The course equips you with the critical skills and strategic insights needed to drive financial success and create lasting value for your organisation.

The course combines a 3-day in-person workshop with one virtual learning day, delivered across three weekly online sessions (each lasting three hours), along with additional online learning.

This course combines strategy theory with practical application, equipping you to analyse complex business environments and develop effective strategies for success.

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What you’ll learn

• Industry analysis: Dissect industries, identify key drivers, and assess the impact of technological advancements on markets
• Strategic design: Develop growth-focused, sustainable, and resilient firms
• Data-driven insights: Use analytics to inform decisions and validate strategic choices
• Real-world application: Examine case studies to understand how successful companies implement strategies
• Multidisciplinary perspective: Draw on insights from management, strategy, and organisational economics for a holistic understanding
• Strategic thinking: Gain expertise in formulating strategies that empower businesses to thrive in competitive, tech-intensive markets.

This is a core course designed for ambitious MBA students who aspire to become strategic leaders and excel in today’s dynamic business landscape.

It is delivered through a 4-day in-person workshop and online learning.

Gain the knowledge and skills to navigate the rapidly evolving AI landscape and understand its strategic implications for businesses and organisations.

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What you’ll learn

• Strategic decisions: Leveraging AI technologies to craft corporate strategies and enhance decision-making
• Strategic applications: Explore how AI transforms businesses and industries, with a focus on platforms and AI-driven business models
• Real-World insights: Analyse case studies in HR, finance, healthcare, and retail to see AI's impact in action
• Practical skills: Learn to identify AI use cases, design AI-powered products, and lead AI-driven initiatives within organisations
• Ethical awareness: Understand critical issues such as bias, privacy, and the societal implications of AI
• AI leadership: Develop the ability to manage AI projects and lead innovation in the digital economy.

By the end of the course, you’ll be equipped to harness AI’s potential to drive innovation, develop data-driven strategies, and lead with confidence in the age of AI.

This course is delivered through a 4-day in-person workshop and online learning.

This course explores two advanced capabilities for senior managers at director level or in senior executive roles.  In today's organisations, executives need to be capable of both reflection-on-self and reflection-in-action. 

You'll focuses mainly on enriching the executive's ability to reflect-in-action through a more scientific understanding of decision-making in practice, and how frameworks and tools can be used to supplement personal experience in complex decision situations. 

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What you’ll learn

• Develop a more scientific understanding of reflection-in-action, eg. its key characteristics
• Develop a more scientific understanding of decision-making in practice, eg. key facts
• Learn how to interpret and navigate complex decision situations with the help of models
• Learn how to orchestrate group decision processes with the help of practical frameworks
• Gain insights from your peers about their ideas and experiences of decision-making

This experiential and developmental course will help you enrich your practical knowledge and skills for cultivating a more reflective approach to senior level decision-making in uncertain situations.

It is delivered through a 2-day in-person workshop, followed by a 1-day in-person session and supported by online learning.

You can choose two electives. Each elective is delivered through:

• A three-day workshop (minimum) in Dubai, Hong Kong, Manchester, Shanghai or Singapore
• Online learning.

Elective courses are your opportunity to gain more expertise in an area of your choice or explore a new field of interest. Choose electives tailored to your interests and career goals, and combine electives to create your own pathway - for example, in marketing, digital business or finance.

Our suite of electives is continuously refreshed to ensure it balances traditional core business principles with current and emerging topics such as fintech, sustainability and data science.

You can attend workshop residentials for electives at any of our global centres: Dubai, Hong Kong, Manchester, Shanghai and Singapore. This gives you more opportunities to widen your international network and business perspectives.

Current electives

• Big Data Analytics

You'll be introduced to Big Data Analytics theory and applications, exploring essential tools, techniques, and case studies that show how organisations leverage big data for decision-making, strategy, and competitive advantage.

• Business to Business Marketing

This six-month Business-to-Business (B2B) Marketing course equips participants with insights into the unique dynamics of B2B marketing beyond traditional models, focusing on real-world applications of segmentation, targeting, and positioning.

• Corporate News and Shareholder Value

Explore how corporate announcements impact stock prices and shareholder value, using tools like the efficient market hypothesis and event study methodology to analyse market reactions to events like mergers and ESG news, with hands-on case studies and research.

• Design Thinking, Creativity and Co-creation

Discover how to boost your innovation management skills, strengthen your organisation's innovation capabilities, and inspire a culture of intrapreneurship.

• Digital Marketing Strategy

You'll cover digital marketing strategies for B2B and B2C, focusing on social media, search engines, and data-driven approaches, with shared learning paths in AI and Big Data.

• Doing Business in the Middle East

Explore the economic, legal, political, and cultural dynamics shaping business in the Middle East. Gain practical insights from industry experts to assess risks and opportunities in this rapidly evolving region. This elective is not available to UoM-Dubai registered students, or students currently residing in the MENA region.

• Engaging Human Talent

Gain strategic insights into attracting, developing, and engaging talent for organisational growth, integrating human resource practices with broader strategy through real-world examples and debates.

• Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management

Entrepreneurship drives economic growth, creating jobs and fostering large business development. This elective hones skills essential for managing the entrepreneurial lifecycle, from recognising opportunities and crafting creative concepts to building innovative business models.

• Fintech, Digital Banking and Blockchain

Explore FinTech, digital banking, blockchain, and AI in finance, with case studies on innovation and digital transformation. Tackle a hands-on 'digital banking challenge' by designing and pitching a mock banking app.

• International Business Strategy

This elective covers strategic management of multinational corporations, emphasising resources, capabilities, and cultural impacts on competitiveness to tackle real-world international management challenges.

• Leading Business Projects

Gain a holistic understanding of driving strategic change through project design, leadership, and delivery, equipping you to lead impactful projects that align with broader goals like the UN SDGs.

• Managing Disruptive Technologies

Explore how disruptive technologies like digital platforms and blockchain reshape business models, empowering leaders to recognise and respond to potential industry shifts for career advancement.

• Negotiation Skills

Master essential negotiation skills through practical techniques and strategies, empowering you to navigate diverse business situations and achieve strategic goals with confidence.

• Platform Ecosystem Strategy

Discover how digital technology reshapes strategy, from traditional approaches to innovative platform ecosystems, preparing you to lead in a world where digital platforms redefine competitive advantage.

• Practical Investing

Gain hands-on experience in investing through practical simulations, client role-plays, and insights from seasoned industry professionals. You’ll cover investment strategies, market dynamics, and client-focused portfolio creation to prepare you for real-world success in today’s financial industry.

• Strategic Financial Analysis

Engage in an intensive, hands-on elective that bridges strategy and finance through real company cases, honing your ability to make sound business judgments, analyse financial information, and craft compelling corporate narratives amidst uncertainty.

• Strategic Supply Chain Management

Learn to master strategic supply chain management to reduce costs, manage risks, and drive innovation, equipping you with essential skills to optimise supplier relationships and enhance organisational value.

• The Sustainable Change Agenda

Examine key drivers and metrics impacting sustainable business practices, with tools and case studies to build socially responsible strategies that address environmental and societal challenges.

• Venture Capital and Private Equity

Gain a practical understanding of Venture Capital and Private Equity, exploring key financial concepts and applying knowledge to real case studies. Take on roles as investors, company managers, and advisors to navigate investment and exit strategies.

• Work Psychology for Managerial Success - this elective is offered until January 2026.

This course explores key psychological skills for managerial success, focusing on self-management, leadership, and career strategies to help students apply these insights to their own career goals.

Elective courses vary in length and availability. Some electives are only delivered once per year, which may affect the options available to you.

To give you added flexibility, we offer some electives that are entirely online or that include longer/shorter face-to-face workshops.

This project is delivered through a one-day workshop in Manchester and group work. It takes six months in total to complete.

You'll collaborate on a live, interdisciplinary business project, for a sponsoring 'client' organisation, potentially from the not-for-profit or social value sector. Organisations are normally student-sourced, with the final approval of client organisation and project scope choices by the course unit director, to ensure you have a viable project.

Guided by a supervisor, your team will develop a strategic plan, leveraging insights and models from your MBA coursework, to address real-world business challenges.

This project culminates in a professional presentation and report, delivering actionable recommendations to your client and showcasing the depth of your learning and expertise.

GEMBA+ is a suite of extra-curricular experiences that will help you:

• Define your goals
• Enhance your interpersonal skills
• Build your corporate connections
• Raise your profile across the world.

Running in parallel with the academic programme, GEMBA+ activities are not credit bearing. They are designed to give you targeted support and motivation to help you through the MBA and beyond. The Global Executive MBA includes a number of exclusive options:

Supporting professional discussions

Our team are on hand to facilitate introductions to senior alumni to enhance your learning and career progression. Drawn from our extensive network of business contacts from across the world, they'll work with you to:

• Define your goals
• Build your confidence
• Increase your global corporate contacts.

Next-level networking

To help you make those vital global business connections, our Global Careers Service and Alumni Relations team offer a range of extra events exclusively for GEMBA students. These include a welcome dinner, guest speaker and networking events, and visits to high profile global organisations.

In addition to the above, you'll also have access to the MBA+ extracurricular activities that we offer across all our part-time MBA programmes, including:

• Online careers seminars
• Employability sessions
• Careers guidance
• Alumni introductions
• Alumni socials
• Alumni speaker events
• Alumni groups, and more.

Most courses include an intensive, three-day workshop residential.

In the first year of the course, you'll attend four core workshop residentials in Manchester, Dubai and Hong Kong. You can then choose your own electives at any of our global centres for the remainder of the course.

Workshop dates for July 2025 intake

Once you've been offered a place on our MBA programme and paid a reservation fee, you have full access to our Manchester MBA Preparation course.

This online course will help you to reacquaint yourself with key study skills, how to go about writing academic assignments and most importantly, what 'Learning by Doing' really means.

You'll have the opportunity to:

• Rediscover key study skills
• Prepare to start your MBA modules by undertaking Business Essentials in 'Marketing' and 'Operations Management', 'Accounting', 'Corporate Finance', 'Cultural Economy and Financialisaton', and 'Economics'
• Meet the teams that will be supporting you throughout your MBA
• Write and receive feedback on a 'practice' MBA essay.

The voluntary course takes around 15 hours in total and you can complete it at your own pace. There are lots of opportunities to apply your skills and new knowledge throughout.