MBA Oxford Brookes Global MBA

This module, which starts during Induction, initiates the Transformative Learning journey which will run throughout the MBA. It aims to equip students with tools, including developing a Portfolio, for reflective learning and practice, in order to enhance their learning experience and increase potential impact for themselves, their employer and their communities.

Students will consider the holistic programme themes and Programme Learning Outcomes as guidelines for their development throughout their MBA. They will learn how to evidence their learning and its impact.
At the end of this module, students will develop their personal transformative learning plan, which reflects their potential, aims and ambitions and sits alongside the programme outcomes as a driver for learning and reflection.

This module completes the Transformative Learning Journey and is taken in the final study session. Learners will enhance and build on the evidence and reflections in their Transformative Learning Portfolio (which they compile throughout their studies) to review their learning in light of their personal learning plan, the holistic programme themes, and the programme learning outcomes.

The module has three main aims:

1. Learners will be able to articulate their learning,
2. Learners can evidence the impact of their learning, and
3. Learners identify future developmental needs beyond their studies, using reflection on career opportunities and personal goals as additional input.

(Online and on-campus)

This module provides you a (foundational) understanding of what is involved in successfully running an organisation. You will learn how functional excellence and the effective coordination of organisation functions can be used to deliver competitive advantage. The approaches covered are applicable to private sector, public sector, and third sector organisations.

(Online and on-campus)

This module develops skills for holistic and critical analysis of organisations, with particular attention to the role of purpose (be it profit or otherwise) and enterprise within organisations, as well as the interaction between organisations and their environments. Using systems thinking as a guiding perspective, you will gain an understanding of how organisational design influences its success and the impact on its environment. The module will also consider how organisations adapt their design to contextual developments such as digital technologies and climate change, exploring new and emerging approaches to organisation design.

(Online and on-campus)

This module aims to support you in your understanding of how transformational leadership can contribute to organisational success in a range of contexts and at all levels in organisations. You will explore the challenges and dilemmas inherent in leadership in a global context including leading diverse and virtual teams, leading change in complex and unpredictable environments, encouraging entrepreneurship, maintaining resilience and working in sustainable and responsible ways. As well as developing reflective thinking and understanding of what enterprising and impactful leadership is and how it can contribute to organisational success and working in responsible and sustainable ways, the module aims to go beyond this in developing your capacity to critically reflect on and evaluate your own leadership capabilities and identify ways of enhancing these to achieve impact in the organisational environment and be able to manage your ongoing leadership development.

(Online and on-campus)

This module is designed to provide an introduction to the theory and practice of management and financial accounting. The course theme of effective management reflects the involvement of accounting as a basis for providing a sound knowledge of financial reporting, financial analysis and decision-making techniques.

(Online and on-campus)

The aim of the module is to prepare you for working in the contemporary global world, characterised by a complex, volatile and uncertain environment. Regardless of their size or profile, organisations increasingly require managers who are enterprising, innovative and creative, and a growing number of people aspire to starting and developing their own businesses. The module exposes you to a range of experimental conditions that help cultivate and develop skilful managerial responses to a given set of problems and issues.

(Online and on-campus)

Achieving competitive success in the global marketplace is a complex and multifaceted task. This module focuses on evaluating how organisations compete and generate competitive advantage. It aims to equip you with a sophisticated understanding of strategic management for growth and sustainability in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment. You will learn to evaluate growth and competitive strategies pursued by wide ranging organisations such as start ups, small and medium sized businesses, third sector, public sector, and large multinationals in the face of a dynamic and uncertain business environment.

Entrepreneurial people learn by doing, often within the context of uncertainty. You will be taught in a way that encourages responsible entrepreneurial behaviour. You will have the opportunity to gain real, practical-based experience whilst working on a company project. We aim to develop your entrepreneurial aspirations by promoting your values and self-belief.

This is a compulsory module for the MBA with Enterprise pathway. You will develop the necessary skills to start and run your own business, or to be involved in the growth of an existing business. You will evaluate business models in terms of their economic viability, ability to deliver and quality of deliverance. You will create your own business plan for a new venture or an existing business.

You will learn about the organisational challenges and opportunities for digital innovation and transformation. You will understand the strategic and leadership issues managers face and the concepts, theories and frameworks to use in response. You explore developments in digital technologies and how to develop and justify digital strategy. You will learn about the importance of IT leadership, management and the changing relationships with IT experts and business personnel.

You will focus on principles, practices and techniques vital to leading and managing business projects. You develop the skills to ensure projects are delivered on time, to a high quality and meet budgets. You explore project environments and the critical role of stakeholders. Approaches and techniques to plan, control and deliver projects successfully give you the essential tools for decision making. You learn to influence and negotiate with stakeholders and to understand the commercial and contractual aspects of supplier management.

This is a complusory module for the MBA with Business Analytics pathway. In the current digital economy, using data analytics to understand and make informed and fact-based business decisions is becoming essential for success. Across organisational levels, entrepreneurial and innovative managers use internal and external data continually to understand and inform effective business decisions.

This immersive and interactive module provides students with the opportunity to learn about the principles, theories and practices of business analytics as used by entrepreneurial and innovative organisations for strategic benefit. Students will develop data insights, critical business intelligence knowledge and learn the frameworks for reviewing, reflecting, analysing and critiquing the application of Business Analytics for effective business decisions. A basic understanding of statistics will be expected from those selecting this module.

The module will also include demonstrating the use of several standard analytical tools. In addition, this module emphasises the importance of ethics and ethical practices when collecting and leveraging data in business organisation decision-making.

The course builds upon core global strategy tools for foresight / scenarios stuff in analysing how firms compete and generate competitive advantage. The course will engage a range of important issues for business, markets and management that connect with doing business in emerging markets and will explore both theory and practice. This elective is designed to introduce Global MBA students to the idea of how to compete in emerging markets: the opportunities and challenges. Students will learn about how to enter into these markets, which strategies are viable, how to manage stakeholders and risk as well as capitalising on the opportunities. Learning will be case study teaching with particular focus on possibly one each from Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

The elective is suitable for any students who are interested in emerging markets, including those with experience in the emerging economies as well as those looking for an introduction to it. The elective will assume some existing knowledge of macroeconomics, though a brief review of key economic concepts will be provided.

This module is compulsory for the MBA with Finance and Accounting pathway. The module will be concerned with providing a wider appreciation of a broad range of contemporary issues in the fields of accounting, finance and financial management. It is specifically aimed at students with prior accounting education. Unlike professional accounting education, and other MBA accounting modules, this module seeks to broaden the scope of accounting and finance to examine the big issues that finance professionals are likely to face and to develop key critical understanding and analysis skills to deal with these. Such issues frequently have a significant impact on society, and so the focus on stakeholder impact (environmental, social and governance) will be a key thread throughout the module. The syllabus looks beyond the numbers to critically evaluate current developments in depth so that managers can prepare and adapt to changes in the environment more effectively and in doing so support their future employers.

This module aims to develop an even broader understanding of business from an international perspective that aligns with the global nature of the programme overall. This module provides an opportunity for students to study with an overseas partner institution on an approved module delivered at the overseas institution conducted under supervision and with the prior approval of the Examination Committee. Modules may be drawn from those approved by the MBA Programme.

The overseas study module must take the form of a campus-based face-to-face delivery by our partner institution which may have additional online blended support and/or supervision.

This elective study trip will give you a hands-on, intensive experience with the ideas and practices of global business. You’ll meet with leaders of global firms, receive presentations from global academic experts, and tour company facilities. You’ll also have direct interaction with management executives and practices through site visits to major corporations and agencies.

All costs associated with the trip will need to be funded by you. It is not linked to university assessments in any way. If you successfully complete this module you will have it recorded on your transcript. As the destination and therefore precise costs vary from year to year, the programme fee of the study trip will be communicated to students before the application deadline.