The Master of Business in Lean Enterprise Excellence is an executive education programme providing participants with knowledge, know-how, know-why, and skills in lean enterprise excellence so they can add value as recognised lean leaders and continuous improvement champions in organisations.
This programme is distinctive in enabling participants attain in-depth understanding of wider organisational contexts, cross-sectoral applications, manufacturing and service orientations, and the critical but hugely challenging 'soft' elements. Thus participants examine lean philosophy and thinking; lean leadership; lean strategy deployment and hoshin kanri; systems thinking, the learning organisation, and knowledge management; organisational culture and employee engagement; and change management and lean transformation.
The programme provides a balanced approach between the academic and the practical, and includes extensive industry collaboration via live-laboratory projects; site visits; guest speakers; and contributors to ongoing events. There is extensive and deep peer learning amongst and between participants from diverse services and manufacturing sectors, and from public and private organisations at various stages of their respective lean journeys. Via various academic paper assignments and the research dissertation project, the programme advances participants' research and writing skills, as well as their knowledge-base on contemporary lean thinking, management, and exemplary practices.
Graduates have gone on to advance themselves to key positions as site Lean/Continuous Improvement/Operational Excellence Leaders/Champions; many have been headhunted by other organisations; and some have become Lean Consultants/Trainers.
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Programme Delivery
The programme commences in mid-September with a full day comprising initial induction plus opening CIP Workshop. The Semester 1 modules are delivered in block-release mode each Monday evening (18:00 22:00), plus 4/5 Saturdays (09:00 16:00/17:00).
There is another full day in mid-January for the second CIP Workshop. The Semester 2 modules are delivered in block-release mode each Monday evening (18:00 22:00), plus 4/5 Saturdays (09:00 16:00/17:00). There is also a full day in mid-May for the third CIP Workshop.
Semester 3 entails a full day in mid-June for the fourth CIP Workshop; self-directed work and independent learning for the remainder of the summer period; culminating in a final full day of CIP Presentations at the start of September.
The single Semester 4 module is delivered in block-release mode each Monday evening (18:00 22:00).
Finally, January through August of the second year sees participants focused on their research projects for the Lean Masters Dissertation, which involves extensive self-directed work and independent learning on their chosen research areas of interest. Participants will have the support and guidance of their assigned Supervisors to mentor them through the research and write-up process.
(Please Note: There is an exit mechanism available after the first year of the programme for those who do not wish to complete the full Masters and undertake the research component in Year 2. In such a case a student would exit with a Level 9, 60 Credits, Postgraduate Diploma in Business in Lean Enterprise Excellence. The request to exit would need to be made in January of Year 1.)