Master of Business Administration - MBA (2023)

Why study this course?

Future-proof your career. Develop key capabilities like critical thinking, problem solving and communication. You’ll also build your knowledge and understanding of global organisations.

You’ll develop your understanding of business operations and the external factors affecting organisations, plus how to navigate business decisions in a changing environment.

The programme is flexible, so you can start in the month that’s most suited to you and take breaks between modules if you choose to study part-time. You’ll focus on studying one topic at a time.

We're sixth in the country for producing the most CEOs and managing directors, according to a study by Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance.

Our business and management courses are ranked first for teaching quality in the Guardian University Guide 2023.

This course is accredited at level 7 by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), an internationally renowned professional body. While studying on this course you'll gain membership to CMI and will be able access its facilities, attend events, join a mentoring scheme and access over 200,000 live management job postings.

More about this course

The world of business and work is changing rapidly. With automation, AI, online working, climate change and diversity, you’ll need to be prepared to face and respond to change. The 2020 global pandemic has taught us that we need to be prepared and this course considers change as an opportunity that should be embraced.

Our MBA has been designed using advice and insight from large organisations and business entrepreneurs. This course aims to prepare you for greater business responsibility, switching industries or job roles, or to start your own business.

You’ll gain practical skills and experience through business simulations, where you’ll be making real business decisions to ensure the imitation businesses make a profit and can operate. The first simulation focuses on understanding business finance and accounting, while the second focuses on global strategy. These will involve analysing finances, the supply chain and operations. Most importantly, you’ll gain experience of working in a team to make decisions in a competitive environment and then deal with the results. We are one of the few universities in the UK that incorporates business simulation activities into our course.

You’ll refine your complex problem solving skills and develop your critical thinking abilities. Our MBA will help develop your management skills, how to work effectively in teams, take on the leadership of a diverse group and influence others.

The business world is a volatile environment. You’ll study the impact of accelerating climate change, technology development and global politics on the UK’s business economy, learning how to make fundamental business decisions in uncertain times and with incomplete data.

Insights into the wider role of businesses in addressing societal problems in a sustainable manner will also develop your understanding of ethical management and governance.

You may have had a break from studies and been in the work environment for some time. To help you prepare for the MBA, we’ve developed a one-week bootcamp module to help build your skills and knowledge prior to starting the course, so that you can really maximise your learning potential on the course. This bootcamp will help you establish what your specific goals are and serve as a personal development plan to help keep you on track throughout your studies. It’s completed online the week before you start your first module.

You’ll be taught by industry specialists in finance, strategy, creativity, marketing, operations coaching and networking, who have years of practitioner experience.

Our aim is for you to graduate with a broad understanding of how businesses operate, how they are managed and how they’re governed. This MBA will prepare you for a more senior role in business, a change in career direction or to go on and start your own business.

A flexible MBA

We offer various start dates from September to May, rather than just traditional start points in September and January.

Each module runs once a year and takes five weeks to complete. As you don’t need to take the modules in a particular order, you can simply join the course at the start of each module, rather than having to wait months. The summer period is either a break from studies or, if you’ve completed all six modules, can be used to complete your final project.

The course will take one year to complete on a full-time basis or up to three years on a part-time basis. If you join after the September intake you’ll have a summer break from early June to mid-September.

Assessment

This Master of Business Administration degree incorporates feedback from the industry to ensure the content is relevant to the current business market.

You’ll be assessed via a range of different methods including business simulations, assessments, essays, group work, presentations and written essays. Examples include:

• Presenting as an executive group the strategy and performance of your simulation company
• Analysing a complex problem and identifying solutions
• Solving business case study problems
• Creating a personal development plan based on a comprehensive online assessment of your strengths
• Presenting the impact of technology, such as Blockchain, on the operation of an industry or company

Fees and key information

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Entry requirements

This course is aimed at individuals seeking to develop their careers in business and management. You don’t need a business management degree, but you will need sufficient work experience and be able to contribute insights in class discussions.

You will be required to have:

• a minimum of a 2.2 for an honours degree in any subject discipline (or equivalent)
• a minimum of two years’ work experience, which may have been gained during undergraduate study
• a detailed personal statement that includes why you are applying and any relevant skills, experience or achievements that make you suitable for the course

An equivalent alternative to a degree would include a professional qualification at Level 6 or above from professional institutions such as the Chartered Management Institute, the Chartered Institute of Marketing, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants or the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

You should also submit a full CV comprising:

• Work experience – List your most recent position first, continuing in reverse chronological order including the name, location, website and dates of your employment for each company you have worked for. Aim to use bullet points wherever possible to highlight your responsibilities and achievements in each role.
• Education – In reverse chronological order, give brief details of your academic and professional qualifications along with the grades you achieved.
• Skills – Eg include every IT package or programme you’ve got experience of using, as well as any foreign language skills. Skills such as communication and project management are harder to substantiate and should be backed up with examples.

Once we’ve reviewed your application, we may ask you to attend a selection interview.

Accreditation of Prior Learning

Any university-levelqualifications or relevant experience you gain prior to starting university could count towards your course at London Met. Find out more about applying for Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL).

English language requirements

To study a degree at London Met, you must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. If you require a Student visa you may need to provide the results of a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. This course requires you to meet our standard requirements

If you need (or wish) to improve your English before starting your degree, the University offers a Pre-sessional Academic English course to help you build your confidence and reach the level of English you require.

Modular structure

The modules listed below are for the academic year 2022/23 and represent the course modules at this time. Modules and module details (including, but not limited to, location and time) are subject to change over time.

Year 1 modules include:

This module currently runs:

• autumn semester - Monday evening
• autumn semester - Monday afternoon
• autumn semester - Tuesday evening
• autumn semester - Tuesday afternoon
• autumn semester - Thursday evening
• autumn semester - Friday morning
• summer studies - Monday evening
• summer studies - Monday afternoon
• summer studies - Tuesday evening
• summer studies - Tuesday afternoon
• summer studies - Thursday evening
• summer studies - Friday morning

The module equips students with a range of skills and knowledge essential to thinking and acting effectively as an inclusive leader. Students will review concepts and cases enabling the critical evaluation of organisational and team design for high performance.

Increasingly, change and leadership go hand in hand in organisations and leaders constantly need to drive change as part of their role. The module will examine the nature and some of the inherent challenges of organisational change. Students will critically analyse what it means to be a change agent and they will gain the knowledge and understanding needed to design, initiate and lead change in diverse organisational settings.

Organisational culture has been described as the third interdependent element in an organisation alongside its Strategy and Operational model. Students will critically evaluate how Organisational culture can be used by leaders to engage the emotional commitment of workers to the strategy and to the operational logic of different organisations.

Effective leaders need to demonstrate self-confidence and self-awareness. Students will undertake a process of self-evaluation using the Strengthscope tool. They will be able to identify their ‘Significant Seven’ strengths and harness these to construct a personal development plan for career development.

The module will also equip students to perform better in the team-working, cross-cultural contexts that are typical of contemporary workplaces and in settings requiring emotional intelligence, enhanced coaching skills and negotiation skills.
Critical to the value of the module is the encouragement of continuous learning and reflection.

Read full details

This module currently runs:

• autumn semester - Monday evening
• autumn semester - Monday afternoon
• autumn semester - Tuesday evening
• autumn semester - Tuesday afternoon
• autumn semester - Thursday evening
• autumn semester - Friday morning
• summer studies - Monday evening
• summer studies - Monday afternoon
• summer studies - Tuesday evening
• summer studies - Tuesday afternoon
• summer studies - Thursday evening
• summer studies - Friday morning

This module will enable students to build skills and knowledge in problem solving and research that will support their studies throughout the programme and provide the essential foundation for their final project. In addition to developing problem solving skills students will develop a proposal for their final project that will completed during the final term of their course.
This module will help prepare students to become well-informed and effective managers, business owners and entrepreneurs able to lead, manage and solve problems in dynamic and complex environments. The emphasis is on the practical skills of problem solving, critical thinking, presenting proposals, researching, analysing and making recommendation for a senior management or executive audience.

The aims of the module are to ensure that students:

• have a range of tools and frameworks for solving complex problems
• appreciate the challenges in generating relevant evidence that improves business decision making and performance
• can critically evaluate business research and consultancy findings and reports
• can assess the ethical and access issues of conducting consultancy and research in business and can plan accordingly.
• can apply suitable project planning methods to problem solving and consultancy
• can work through and plan for the practical challenges of business problem solving, including defending choices on the data gathering and analysis approach

The module is intended to prepare students to critically read and evaluate research and practice within their chosen field of study and then to prepare a proposal for their final project

Read full details

This module currently runs:

(Video) Masters in Business Administration (MBA)

• spring semester - Monday evening
• spring semester - Monday afternoon
• spring semester - Tuesday evening
• spring semester - Tuesday afternoon
• spring semester - Thursday evening
• spring semester - Friday morning

A business adds value through its operations, which today are typically highly dependent on the use of digital technology to link together organisations within the value network, connect with customers, improve delivery, personalise products and services, and match demand and supply. It is vital that managers and leaders understand both how business operations are designed, managed and improved, and the relationship between new product/service development and operations.

The potential for AI, the Internet of Things, big data and robotics to further increase the use of technology in the operational domain is already clear, whether using AI in legal process or robots to make burgers. An understanding of the links between technology and operations is critical for anyone aspiring to be a business manager, owner or entrepreneur.

Throughout the course of the module consideration will be given to the need for businesses to reduce their impact on climate change and to operate in a sustainable and ethical manner.

The module aims to:
• build knowledge and understanding of the key challenges of building and managing operations and technology systems
• strengthen awareness of the importance of reducing contributions to climate change and the current and emerging means to achieve this goal in business operations
• build knowledge and understanding of the role played by people in operational delivery including Lean and Agile working
• equip students to be able to analyse and recommend improvements to the operation of a business system, whether a start-up or a well-established enterprise

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This module currently runs:

• autumn semester - Monday evening
• autumn semester - Monday afternoon
• autumn semester - Tuesday evening
• autumn semester - Tuesday afternoon
• autumn semester - Thursday evening
• autumn semester - Friday morning
• summer studies - Monday evening
• summer studies - Monday afternoon
• summer studies - Tuesday evening
• summer studies - Tuesday afternoon
• summer studies - Thursday evening
• summer studies - Friday morning

This module aims to provide practical methods and approaches to enable business managers and entrepreneurs to understand and use financial information to make effective business decisions. The financial decision-making process demands the understanding of key financial management issues, performance indicators and methodologies to critically analysing accounting and financial information. Strong financial literacy is essential in business.

The module also aims to introduce and examine the preparation and use of accounting and information to inform financial decisions. It provides the understanding of key performance indicators, cashflow management, full costing, working capital management techniques and the budgeting process to manage finances and support management decisions on investment projects and making capital investment decisions. The module concludes with a practice of developing business plan, capital investment decisions and aspects of financing businesses.

The module aims to enable students to be able to:
• ask insightful questions of their financial advisors, to challenge their analysis and to specify their financial information needs
• quickly assess accounting information to evaluate business performance
• create financial forecasts, plans and models, particularly in relation to business planning and investment appraisal.

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This module currently runs:

• spring semester - Monday evening
• spring semester - Monday afternoon
• spring semester - Thursday evening
• summer studies - Monday evening
• summer studies - Monday afternoon
• summer studies - Thursday evening

Small, medium and large business operate in very different ways however they share a common business and industry environment and often will both compete and collaborate. All sizes and types of business must understand their business and industry environment as they position themselves for success.

This module focuses on the strategic skills and knowledge needed by executives, managers, intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs and aims to:

• development understand and skills in strategy development and in execution
• provide the knowledge and skills to scan, analyse and interpret their business environment
• develop skills in understanding trends in the business environment and to construct scenarios that can be used to test strategy
• develop the ability to manage resources and capabilities and to critically evaluate their importance as sources of sustainable competitive advantage but also as potential sources of disadvantage when disruptive innovation occurs
• take strategic decisions based on a deep understanding of their business and the market or markets they serve
• foster and exploit innovation through the development of new products and services
• critical awareness of the importance of environmental and social responsibility, ethical decision making and the need for effective corporate governance.

A key element of the module is participation in the business simulation in which students will compete against each other in teams within in a simulated global market place. This will provide the opportunity to role play executive positions in a global business, take strategic decisions and gain rapid feedback on their validity.

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This module currently runs:

• autumn semester - Friday morning
• spring semester - Friday morning
• summer studies - Friday morning

This module will enable students to build key skills and knowledge that will enable them to maximise the value they gain from the MBA and accelerate their return to studying successfully as independent learners at Level 7.

The aims of the Boot Camp are to ensure that students:

• have clearly defined goals for the programme and a plan to achieve them
• understand the structure of the course, the assessments and how they will learn
• are ready to start their first module

The module is intended to prepare students to critically read and evaluate research and practice within their chosen field of study and then to design a research proposal for their final project

Read full details

This module currently runs:

• spring semester - Monday evening
• spring semester - Monday afternoon
• spring semester - Tuesday evening
• spring semester - Tuesday afternoon
• spring semester - Thursday evening
• spring semester - Friday morning

Marketing is important for all organisations and is concerned with retaining customers and delivering value to stakeholders, that is, to everyone who is affected by a transaction. It directs organisations into new markets and opportunities while maintaining and developing existing customers. This module is intended to help develop knowledge concerning the nature and character of marketing as well as sales in an international context, capitalising on current and emerging technologies.

The interdependence of economies and increasingly globalised marketing reflects the trend of organisations designing, distributing and selling products and services in many markets around the world.

The primary role of marketing management in any organisation is to design and execute effective marketing programmes in local, international and global markets,

The module aims to:
• Provide a solid appreciation of marketing as practiced in the international arena.
• Enhance understanding of the relationships between an organisation, the markets it is serving and its key stakeholders.
• Provide an integrated overview of marketing management, using topical issues, thought leadership and research findings.
• Offer a broad platform of marketing concepts, theories and frameworks, which can be applied in practical situation
• Explore the impact of the drive towards digital applications and delivery

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(Video) Master of Business Administration (MBA)

This module currently runs:

• summer studies - Monday evening
• spring semester - Monday evening
• autumn semester - Monday evening

This module provides students with the opportunity to work on specific management and business issues that organisations are facing. Utilising their problem-solving skills and competences of handling and managing business challenges. Starting from problem identification and concluding with solution related recommendations, thus encouraging research into real world business and management issues impacting organisations.
Building Business Insights brings together the learning processes from the whole MBA programme. It encourages the synthesis of knowledge, theories and skills developed in the modules during the previous terms in order to provide realistic solutions to contemporary business and management challenges.

Educational Aims

This applied module aims to allow students to:

• Integrate their prior knowledge into an in-depth investigation of specific management and business problem or issue and present the results
• Facilitate the identification of topical issues in the business/management area of interest
• Assimilate theories and concepts drawn from different areas and the wider business/management literature
• Develop and implement strategies in information gathering, analysis, and synthesis, and in building compelling arguments
• Apply reflective practice, ensuring models and concepts can be used effectively in the critical evaluation of your performance.
• Synthesise knowledge, experience and reflective practice to continually develop professional skills and competences.

Examples of projects that you might consider include:
• Evaluation of an opportunity to enter a new market. This might be an international market where there is as yet no competition, a new value proposition for an SME, or an innovative start-up
• Evaluation of a specific firm’s strategy and performance e.g. how an energy firm such as BP is responding to climate change, or an automotive company responding to the impact of shared ride platforms on car ownership
• Analysis of disruption in an industry and the implications for a specific incumbent e.g. how should used car dealerships respond to the impact of online marketplaces like We Buy Any Car and Motorway
• Analysis of the impact of technology change on a company, industry or sector e.g. how are bots impacting online sales of scarce products such as limited availability fashion or tech products
• Analysis of trends to create potential strategic scenarios for a firm or industry e.g. what are the future scenarios for car manufacturers in terms of the next dominant design
• Analysis of competition in a specific market or industry and recommendations for a specific company e.g. global competition in the rapidly growing e-scooter industry.
• Creating a business plan for a new business.

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This module is one of three triple-weighted module alternatives open to students (alongside the dissertation and the consulting report). The module provides you with the opportunity to showcase your professional skills in the execution of business-related tasks and experiential learning in the form of a work placement. When executing business tasks, successful practitioners are able to critically evaluate organisational matters and apply their knowledge to contribute strategies, ideas, recommendations and solutions that add value to their organisation. Furthermore, successful practitioners actively develop and shape their own behaviour, capabilities and identity. By critically reflecting on their experiences in work, they are able to develop their own capabilities and skills, and have the ability to understand how they personally add value to an organisation. It is the development and application of these capabilities in a professional context that is explored in this module.
The 1st week of the yearlong Workplacement programme will introduce students to the module and to the first task, the production of a substantial management report that helps to investigates a specific organisational opportunity or issue. This is a significant independent project, where you determine the subject to be investigated and the methodology to be followed. Your project is an ideal opportunity to seek out and draw upon a wide range of knowledge, and for you to demonstrate how this underpins any final conclusions and recommendations. Your project will help you demonstrate your ability to think and act independently when executing a complex and challenging task.
The remaining period of the module is spent in the work placement with an employer, which you will have secured during your time on programme (or before). This practical experience will allow you to explore and test your own professional competence in a specific working environment. You will maintain a Professional Development portfolio of your experiences and will, ultimately, be able to articulate your understanding of how you personally add value in a professional context. Again, you will be expected to draw on a wide range of knowledge to help evaluate and explain your experiences.
Educational Aims
This module aims to:

• Allow you the opportunity to carry-out an in-depth project where you can integrate the knowledge and professional skills you have gained throughout your programme.
• Ensure you are able to identify and utilise different types of knowledge to influence your thinking or action.
• Help you develop robust business research skills and an ability to formulate new ideas and solutions through the analysis of primary and/or secondary data.
• Allow you to explore your own skills, character and identity within a professional environment and to identify key attributes that will aid long-term success in your chosen career field.
• Facilitate your development of good reflective practice, ensuring models and concepts can be used effectively in the critical evaluation of your performance.
• Ensure you learn how to integrate knowledge, experience and reflective practice to continually develop your professional skills and competence.

Please note:
• Students are responsible for applying for opportunities and to engage with the Module Team/Work Based Learning teams to assist them.
• The suitability of any opportunities will be assessed by the Module Team/Work Based Learning Team and all placements must meet Health and Safety requirements for Higher Education Work Placements.
Those studying on a Student Visa will only be able to complete a work placement if it meets UKVI monitoring requirements including: approval of the placement dates and hours by the Placement Officer prior to starting the placement, submission of weekly timesheets for the hours undertaken, signed by their line manager/supervisor and continued engagement with the Placement Officer as well as the International Student Support and Compliance Team.

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What our students say

"I decided to do my MBA at London Met because I think it’s a great place – I have received so much help.

"I believe taking an MBA course will help me grow my business, and give me the skills and knowlege I need for my business."

Ruth Baidoo

Where this course can take you

This course is designed to prepare you for a more senior role in business, a career change or to take the plunge and start your own business.

Successful graduates are multi-skilled across all areas of business and would be qualified to gain roles in a number of different business and management industries, including business development, area management, international sales, business operations, client services and customer service.

Recent graduates of ours now work for organisations including Tesla, Aldi, Natwest / RBS, Lloyd’s Banking Group and PwC.

Additional information

It is possible for this degree to be carried out part-time over the course of three years but please note, you may not be eligible for student funding in the third year.

Additional costs

Please note, in addition to the tuition fee there may be additional costs for things like equipment, materials, printing, textbooks, trips or professional body fees. You will require the use of a laptop or equivalent device throughout the course, as well as a smartphone.

Additionally, there may be other activities that are not formally part of your course and not required to complete your course, but which you may find helpful (for example, optional field trips). The costs of these are additional to your tuition fee and the fees set out above and will be notified when the activity is being arranged.

Alternative online course

We also offer an online MBA through our partnership with Education Centre of Australia (ECA) – view the online Master of Business Administration MBA.

Use the apply button to begin your application.

If you require a Student visa and wish to study a postgraduate course on a part-time basis, please read our how to apply information for international students to ensure you have all the details you need about the application process.

When to apply

You are advised to apply as early as possible as applications will only be considered if there are places available on the course.

You can apply for this course at any time of the year. The innovative nature of this programme means you can start the course in October, November, January, February, March or April. Please indicate your preferred start point on your application.

This course has the following entry application deadlines:

Home students

• 26 August 2022 for September 2022 entry
• 30 September 2022 for October 2022 entry
• 4 November 2022 for November 2022 entry
• 30 December 2022 for January 2023 entry
• 3 February 2023 for February 2023 entry
• 10 March 2023 for March 2023 entry

International students

Due to unprecedented demand for our courses for the spring, the 2023 intake, international admissions, are now closed for the majority of our postgraduate courses, including our MBA. You can still apply for the autumn 2023 intake for this course.

To find out when teaching for this degree will begin, as well as welcome week and any induction activities, view our academic term dates.