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Coventry Executive MBA

The MBA is aimed specifically at current or aspiring managers who wish to develop their career through the acquisition of the knowledge and capabilities required to progress to more senior management and leadership roles. The programme therefore has a strong practitioner focus with personal and career development as an underlying theme throughout.

Overall, the programme is designed to develop not only core knowledge of business models and concepts but also an understanding of processes, policies and practices which lead to effective leadership and management. The emphasis throughout is on application of knowledge to practice drawing on the participant’s current or past work experience. Many of the modules will therefore utilise problem-based learning using the participants current or past practice setting as the basis for assessment. The underlying aim is to build on participants experience and practice to develop the following capabilities:

  • To think critically

  • Deal with ambiguity

  • Seek solutions to complex problems

  • Are able to think, and act, strategically

However, the programme also challenges participants to consider how management practice relates to wider societal, ethical and intercultural issues. Participants will be asked to reflect on the need to develop practices which are responsible, ethical and culturally sensitive and the challenges this can present.

Rationale

The MBA is a post experience Master’s degree offered by City Unity College and approved by Coventry Business School.  It is aimed at aspiring or practising managers who wish to develop and an in-depth understanding of how an enterprise operates and how, as managers and organisational leaders, they can initiate and bring about change within the enterprise. The programme aims to enhance a participant’s ability to think critically and strategically in seeking solutions to complex problems within an ever changing and ambiguous business environment.  However, the programme emphasises that as organisational leaders, a manager’s practice needs to be responsible and ethically based and, in an increasingly globally connected environment, culturally sensitive.

The programme is designed in three stages. Most managers tend to be isolated in their own part of an organisation and the emphasis in the Certificate stage is on developing a broader and more holistic view of how an organisation operates, including the impact of the external environment. The modules in the Certificate stage therefore develop this holistic view of an organisation taken from different perspectives – the organisation as a learning entity made up of individuals, the organisation as a combination of inter-related processes focused on adding value, the organisation as a financial entity focused on creating monetary returns. The final module places the organisation within its’ wider external context and asks participants to assess how the economic-social-legal environment can impact on the value creating activities.

The focus during the Diploma stage shifts to explore more closely the managers role as a strategic leader and a source of innovation and change within an organisation. If the Certificate stage reflects the need for managers to develop a holistic view of an organisation then the Diploma stage is about the need for managers to recognise that sustaining an organisation requires it to develop and adapt as the environment changes. The modules therefore focus on organisational change, innovation, strategic development and the manager’s role as decision maker, problem solver and a leader of organisation change.

The final Masters stage provides the opportunity for the participants to explore and develop specialised sector or role specific knowledge to support their own career develop and future aspirations. The emphasis is on the application of knowledge to specific practice settings with the capstone double module requires participants to develop and lead a change project.

The MBA programme reflects the 6 transformational pillars of the Education Strategy in the following ways:

  • Research inspired teaching - the learning objects which make up the core of the knowledge content of the modules across all modes of delivery reflect the latest relevant research in those areas
  • Embedded employability – one of the generic course learning outcomes relates to professional and personal development. As with any MBA programme this is central to the course design and is reflected in module content and assessment. Participants’ will be expected to maintain a reflective professional development log and will be encouraged to actively use these as a basis for career development.
  • Creativity and enterprise – throughout the programme participants will be encouraged and, in some cases, required to develop approaches and solutions to work-based problems which are innovative and creative. A characteristic required of aspiring leaders is the ability to be entrepreneurial, and interpreneurial, in their professional practice which is also reflected in module content and assessment.
  • Community contribution and responsibility – one of the generic programme learning outcomes relates to the need for participants’ to see the wider external consequences of actions and decisions taken within their organisation, which is the basis of developing responsible management practice. This is reflected in module content and assessment across the programme.
  • Intercultural and international engagement – the nature of an MBA means that programme participants will be drawn from across the globe. The MBA programme ethos of peer-to-peer learning and group work necessitates the need for participants to work closely with other participants from a range of cultural backgrounds. Many of the modules and assessments reflect the generic programme learning outcome relating to the development of cultural sensitivity as an essential part of responsible management practice.
  • Innovation and digital fluency – the learning environment will make use of digital technology either through a fully online delivery or via ‘flipped’ approaches to learning

To commence the MBA programme applicants must:

  • Complete the Ptychion with an overall score of 6.0 or better;
  • Have a bachelor’s degree from a recognised University with equivalent of a UK 2:2 classification;
  • Have a minimum of two years post-degree full-time work experience in a management/administrative/professional capacity.
  • Hold IELTS of 6.5 or equivalent if English is not the applicant’s first language.

Applicants who do not fit with the above entry requirements may gain entry, but their degrees and experience will be assessed for appropriate content by the Director of MBA Programmes and/or the Link Tutor from Coventry University.

The following are key indicators of quality and standards:

  • Coventry Business School is a signatory to ‘The Principles for Responsible Management Education’ (PRME) initiative http://www.unprme.org/. PRME has 6 principles, including; Purpose, Values, Method, Research, Partnership and Dialogue. These key principles of PRME are addressed in the course.
  • The University adopts a Course Quality Enhancement and Monitoring (CQEM) process which is an annual review of all courses to ensure quality and continuous improvement of all its courses.
  • The Guardian University Guide ranks the University in the top 15 in the UK (in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020).
  • University of the Year for Student Experience (The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019).
  • Gold for outstanding teaching (Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2017).