Executive MBA - Business Administration

A challenging programme designed for experienced or aspiring managers who wish to expand their knowledge and skills to equip them for senior management positions. You will relate your work experience to business theory, broadening your understanding of organisations and the increasingly competitive environment in which they operate.

You will learn with a diverse group of experienced executives, managers, entrepreneurs and business leaders from across the private and public sectors, enhancing your knowledge of business functions, processes, and strategies. You will examine your own business practices and management style, and develop your strategic and critical thinking skills.

The Executive MBA allows you to make an impact in the workplace via practical project based assessments. Graduates have a track record of delivering strategic value to their organisations and as a result have advanced their careers with their employers.

Work placement / study abroad
Executive MBA students tend to be in employment while undertaking the course, as such, a work placement is not offered. There are opportunities to conduct live case studies within several host organisation and students may decide to undertake their Management Project in an organisation other than their own.

For further course details please see "Course Web Page" below.

Year one
Accounting and Finance for Senior Leaders
The overall aim of the module is to introduce students to the key areas of financial and management accounting. In order to achieve this, students will be exposed to some numerical calculations during the module. However, there will be significant emphasis passed on understanding the issues around the numbers and the context within which they are set. In particular, the assessment for the module will strike a balance between calculation, interpretation and discussion. In summary, whilst it is not intended to equip students with a detailed knowledge to enable them to pursue a career in accounting, the module aims to take students to a point where they are capable of engaging in intelligent discussion with financial experts and to be able to grasp the big picture rather than get lost in the detail.

Managing People in the Organisation
This module aims to enable students to develop knowledge and understanding of individual and group behaviour within organisations, and the core areas of Human Resource Management, and to be able to apply this knowledge and understanding in a range of organisational settings.

Operational Excellence
Students will develop a strong foundation in operational data analytics and operational strategy to be able to explore the bigger picture for their organisation i.e. how operations can be transformed to provide sustainable competitive advantage and/or superior service. The module aims to support both personal and professional development.

Digital Transformation
This module will introduce and equip students with the key concepts, theories and approaches to digital transformation within the organisational context. Specifically, it will examine key organisational capabilities needed to examine digital transformation initiatives or programmes such as Digital Strategy, Business agility, People, Processes, Tools/Technologies, Culture and the focus on the Customer which are necessary for effective digitisation efforts.

International Competitiveness
This applied module focuses on the importance of understanding and analysing the key determinants for international competitiveness. Viewed from the strategic management process, the module will provide holistic view of the topic with applied experiential learning opportunities focusing on the importance of key stakeholder collaborations to drive and sustain competitiveness at a firm, industry, regional and national level.

Marketing and Strategy
Strategy consists of the analysis and decisions an organisation undertakes in order to create and sustain competitive advantage. Understanding these interrelated processes is crucial for creating and developing organisations. This module explores these decisions areas from a range of contemporary perspectives and contexts. Closely aligned to the concept of strategy is that of marketing. This part of the module focuses on understanding and analysing the key determinants of marketing and introduces the concepts, theories and techniques of marketing, and examines their practical application to organisations to support sustainable competitive advantage

Year two
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Innovation and entrepreneurship are important drivers for value creation in modern
economies. A central idea for both disciplines is the identification, evaluation and
exploitation of opportunities. This module presents a contemporary exploration of the nature
of innovation and entrepreneurship whilst also providing students with an opportunity to
examine emerging sources of innovation in either a sector or organisational context.

Leadership and Change
This module will give you the knowledge and skills to be an effective leader. You will consider the key theories of leadership and consider their application in the context of leading organisational change.

Strategy
This module is designed to introduce students to the key concepts in business strategy. On successful completion of this module students will have an in-depth knowledge of strategy; be able to conduct a strategic analysis of an organisation, its environment, and its future strategic options; understand the fundamentals of formulating an international strategy; appreciate some of the key issues associated with strategy implementation; and critically evaluate current theory and practice on strategy.

Management Project Proposal
The Management Project Proposal enables experienced executive learners to propose a creative and a well thought-out PLAN that comprises of a set of systematic procedures to identify a problem, design and implement an intervention or other alternative approach to the problem, assess the effectiveness of the proposed solution, and then develop a plan for where to proceed next.

Economics and the Business Environment
This module introduces managers to the principles of economics as they apply to the business environment and aims to enhance mangers' understanding of, and ability to adapt to, changes in the environments in which operate. The module is designed to first explain the problem of scarcity of resources and then analyzes the demand - supply - equilibrium model of economic analysis. This is followed by an examination of the internal and external environments within which firms must operate, focusing on production, cost, profits, market conditions and the objectives of the firm. In so doing, it illustrates a strategic approach to their business activity. A critical examination of the economic role of the government and a review of the macroeconomic environment complete the syllabus.

To apply to our postgraduate taught programmes, you must meet the University's General Entrance Requirements and any course-specific requirements.

These vary depending on the course and are detailed online.

Applicants should normally have a second class honours degree or an equivalent professional qualification, together with a minimum of three years' relevant post-graduation work experience. The course team will consider relevant experience of each applicant but as a guide, this may include middle to senior management experience or a senior professional role.

However, applications will be considered from experienced, practicing managers and technical or other specialists who do not have an honours degree but who have more significant work experience and can demonstrate the ability and commitment to complete the programme.

If English is not your first language this course requires a minimum English level of IELTS (academic) 6.0 with no band score less than 5.5, or equivalent.

Visit ulster.ac.uk/englishrequirements for more details.

This course is open to international (non-EU) students (full-time only).

For full entry requirements please see "Course Web Page" below.

Your Application
Application is through the University's online application system (see "Application Weblink" below).

Career options
An MBA will help you develop your career whether it is progressing within your current organisation, changing career into a different profession/sector or working internationally. As a qualification, the MBA is valued and sought after by employers.

Graduates from the MBA course have found that they have been able to deliver value to their organisations through the work that they carry out on the course and thus progress their careers with their respective employers.

Other students use the MBA as a springboard to seek new opportunities both domestically and internationally.

Many students wish to either set up their own business or become business consultants. The course is specifically tailored (especially in terms of assessment and practical teaching) to allow students to develop the necessary skills and expertise to allow this fulfilment.

In 2017, we surveyed 115 Ulster University MBA graduates:
- 75% felt the programme represented value for money;
- 78% believed the programme had helped them progress their career; and
- 93% were satisfied with their experience with us.

How does Ulster University help its MBA participants with job hunting?

We have a career development centre which we work in partnership with to ensure students are prepared for the main elements of job hunting (psychometric testing, team interviews, assessment centres, cv building, presentations, etc).