MBA

Central London Location

Small Class Sizes

Richmond The American University in London

Optional International Internships

Flexible Curriculum at Richmond University

Internationally Recognised Teaching

MBA

Programme Overview

The Richmond University MBA is ideal for students who have recently completed their undergraduate studies. The MBA aims to deliver a programme that will equip you with the key technical competencies companies expect and the critical skills that global organisations value above all: the ability to work with, and lead, multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams; to think creatively about complex problems; and engage and create your own knowledge networks to generate innovative solutions.

Our faculty benefits from global industry experience and will provide students with a solid foundation in strategic business management. Students who participate and complete the internship will apply the knowledge and understanding gained in the classroom in to the workplace environment.

If you are looking for an MBA that offers a values-led curriculum focused on leadership, innovation and best practice – choose the Richmond MBA.

Optional Accredited Internship

The Internship Programme integrates theory with practice. Students will be challenged to relate classroom situations to the workplace, make contacts which may prove valuable to their future employment prospects, and gain confidence in their capabilities, creativity and communication skills. Internships are designed to be both demanding and rewarding. The internship will provide an opportunity to deploy the skills learned on courses in a real world setting, as students produce an assessed record of their experiences. In an increasingly competitive graduate careers market, internships are an invaluable opportunity that not only supplement the theoretical lessons of the programme but also provide a direct link to careers and further opportunities.

The internship is conducted in the Summer months. Candidates who wish to opt out of the intership choose a more extensive dissertation in the Summer semester.

Programme Specification 2016-17

Key Facts

Complete your MBA in one year full-time (FT) or in two years part-time (PT).
Develop the candidate’s ability to strategically manage in the workplace.
Develop the ability to apply the techniques and tools utilised within a business for financial analysis and control.
Provide candidates with the required tools for decision-making and data analysis.
Apply business principles to actual situations through case-study work.

Curriculum Summary

The MBA aims to deliver a programme that will equip candidates with the key technical competencies companies expect and the critical skills that global organisations value above all: the ability to work with, and lead, multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams; to think creatively about complex problems; and engage and create their own knowledge networks to generate innovative solutions.

The programme is ideally suited to candidates who have recently completed their undergraduate studies, acting as a solid foundation in strategic business management enabling quick momentum in building a career. Candidates are encouraged to participate in the accredited internship. The opportunity created will provide an excellent backdrop for realtime application of the thematic work covered in the classroom.

Programme Structure

The structure of the MBA is organised as follows – there are three core courses in the fall semester, as listed below, and two core course in the spring semester with two electives, as specified. Students who wish to opt out of the summer internship choose a more extensive dissertation in the summer semester. All courses run depending on demand and faculty availability.

The MBA dissertation is written over the summer semester.

FHEQ Level 7

Fall Semester

ECN 7100 (4.000 CREDITS) Economics for Business

This course aims to enable students to apply key economic principles and theories to business decision-making and strategy setting. In particular, focus is placed on how, in an ever-changing environment, Economics can help identify and analyze business opportunities and risks.

FNN 7102 (4.000 CREDITS) Financial Management

This course is designed to develop the student’s ability to apply key concepts and tools in financial analysis to the needs of the modern corporation. Students will gain the key foundations for understanding, analysing and interpreting financial information, enabling application to financial decision making in modern business organisations.

MKT 7100 (4.000 CREDITS) Global Marketing Strategy

This course sets forth principles of strategic marketing management and sets these principles within the framework of theory and practice. Students will gain a broad understanding of resource based theory from a global perspective, including the relevance and role of company resources and competitive strengths in constructing both single business and multi business strategies. Through critical appraisal of the subject, students will become aware of the role and importance of incorporating business ethics, values, and social responsibilities when creating and executing company strategy.

Spring Semester

MGT 7110 (4.000 CREDITS) Managing Organisations and People

Organisations consist of the people who work within them. The objectives of this course are therefore to raise the student's awareness of the centrality of managing organisations and people to understanding organisational functioning and effectiveness. To show how an understanding of human behaviour via the disciplinary bases of psychology, sociology and anthropology profoundly deepen our analysis of organisations. To demonstrate the core value of an understanding of managing organisations and people to a manager's ability to achieve organisational goals.

MGT 7130 (4.000 CREDITS) Strategic Management

The course explores issues relating to the strategic management of organisations, focusing on strategic analysis and evaluation, long-range planning and policy implementation. The topics covered fall into two broad themes: corporate strategy (‘in which industries should we operate?’) and business strategy (‘how should we compete in those industries?’) The course covers the core strategic analysis models, and uses case studies to analyse the relationship between a firm's internal organisation and the environment in which it operates.

plus one of the following:

Option in Governance

MGT 7120 (4.000 CREDITS) Corporate Governance

The course defines Corporate governance, the set of policies, processes and customs by which an institution is directed, is a topic of increasing importance in strategic management. How a company is governed influences rights and relationships among organizational stakeholders, and ultimately how an organization is managed. This course teaches the fundamentals of Corporate Governance from a variety of angles – the board of directors, senior management, investors, the media, proxy advisors, regulator and other stakeholders – and focuses on assessing the effectiveness and execution of governance roles and responsibilities

Option in Entrepreneurship

ENT 7110 (4.000 CREDITS) Entrepreneurship & Innovation Management

This course explores two related topics: innovation and entrepreneurship. For firms to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage, they need to innovate faster and more effectively than their competitors. This course provides an overview of innovation as a complex process which goes from the recognition of opportunities to the launch of new products, services or business models. The innovation process will be complemented with an analysis of the current trends regarding the evolution of the concept of innovation. Concepts beyond product innovation such as open innovation, disruptive innovation, creativity, business model innovation and ambidexterity will be encountered throughout the course. Innovation takes place within organisations large and small. The course will also look at entrepreneurship: the process of innovation within smaller firms. It will explore the nature of entrepreneurial and innovative management within small organisations as well as more established ones. A multidisciplinary approach: linking with organisational systems to cultures – will be adopted. The course provides a variety of perspectives on the creation and evolution of entrepreneurial ventures. It covers important aspects of launching a business from initial idea to growth and international expansion. It considers planning, marketing, financial, legal, control and human elements associated with the start up, acquisition or operation of a business from the entrepreneurial point of view. The course will address the need to manage effectively in environments that are uncertain and complex, and where appropriate strategic responses have to be crafted in recognition of limited resource and indeterminate outcomes.

Option in Leadership and Strategy

MGT 7135 (4.000 CREDITS) Leadership & Strategic Change

This course contextualises organisational, behavioural and leadership issues of change within an integrated framework that synthesises strategy, leadership & organisational design. It encompasses the core concepts of leadership and strategic change to enable students to manage the more complex behavioural and organisational issues to deliver change across diverse cultural, functional, and hierarchal boundaries.

Option in Global Marketing

MKT 7110 (4.000 CREDITS) Marketing in a Digital World

The course will provide insights into new marketing concepts, tools, technologies and business models to enhance the value creation process. New technologies have created some radical changes in the way companies reach their markets and in particular the emerging phenomenon of social media. The course will provide an understanding of theoretical perspectives, techniques and tools to understand and harness the opportunities provided by best practice digital marketing. Students will have the opportunity to learn about electronic commerce in action; the interplay between the technology and marketing applications; the changing scope and uses of the Internet, along with current management issues facing businesses attempting to use the World Wide Web.

Option in Operations

MGT 7101 (4.000 CREDITS) Project Management

Project management is the basis on which all businesses and organizations run. To make products or deliver services, employees must work together on specific projects that have deliberate goals and must be completed to keep the business running. Students will learn how to break a project down into parts, focusing on the definition of the project and its execution. Students will define the goals of projects, lead groups of people and allocate appropriate resources to see the project through to completion

Option in Finance

FNN 7400 (4.000 CREDITS) International Financial Management

This course is designed to build on the foundations developed in Financial Management and apply the tools and techniques of financial analysis to international transactions, where changing exchange rates tend to complicate matters. While the use of various hedging tools for managing forex risk are considered, management of international portfolios and international capital budgeting are also examined.

Option in Fashion

MKT 7400 (4.000 CREDITS) Fashion Management

The Fashion industry is complex, global and highly competitive, and covers the full spectrum from luxury to value end markets. This course introduces the main concepts, principles and processes associated with the fashion industry and the discipline of fashion management. It enables you to gain an overview of the role and variety of management functions involved in the supply and demand chains and how these impact upon the structure and performance of the fashion industry in an international context. You will develop an understanding of the complex relationships between fashion businesses and its macro and micro- environment whilst stimulating debate around relevant strategic management issues such as sourcing and ethics.

Summer Semester

plus either both of the following:

MGT 7500 (8.000 CREDITS) Dissertation

This course will provide students with the learning opportunity of performing multidisciplinary research in business and management. Students will initiate, plan and execute an individually constructed piece of research and are expected to report on their findings. Students will identify issues within their programme to investigate with the use of appropriate research methods, either theoretical or applied, and participate in research activities which will include a literature search, the collection and analysis of data, (either primary or secondary data) and the preparation of a dissertation.

MGT 7902 (4.000 CREDITS) Graduate Internship in MBA

The MBA internship is a full-time work placement within an organization related to the world of business. The internship aims to provide students with a graduate level experiential learning opportunity in which they can develop intellectual, professional and personal skills that will enable them to function well in a culturally diverse working environment in all key job sectors. All internships are supervised by faculty, and all last a minimum of 9 weeks in length and are carried out full time Monday to Thursday/ Friday. Each student will also complete a series of assessments throughout the internship. These assessments have been designed to help the student reflect on the skills they are learning and the benefits gained from the internship experience, and also to help them determine if their current career goals are the correct fit for them.

or:

MGT 7550 (12.000 CREDITS) Extended Dissertation

This course will provide students with the learning opportunity of performing an extended and in depth multidisciplinary research in business and management. Students will initiate, plan and execute an individually constructed piece of research and are expected to report on their findings. Students will identify issues within their programme to investigate with the use of appropriate research methods, either theoretical or applied, and participate in research activities which will include a literature search, the collection and analysis of data, (either primary or secondary data) and the preparation of a dissertation.

Graduate Destinations

This programme has been recently introduced and so graduate destination information is not yet available. However, from the University’s previous MBA programme, graduate employment destinations included:

Accenture-Sweden
American Express
BDO Stoy Hayward
BP
Citroen Algeria
Coca-Cola Servicios de Colombi
Credit Suisse Private Banking
European Bank for Reconstruction
Glencore India Pvt Ltd
Ikea Asia Pacific
ING Bank Mexico
Laura Ashley Foundation
Merrill Lynch
Novartis
Royal Bank Of Scotland
Standard & Poor’s Investments
Standard Chartered Bank
The Nielsen Company
Turner Broadcasting System
UBS
United Nations
WPP

Our postgraduate programmes aim specifically to prepare students for careers in related fields and in line with this, all our MBA students may undertake an internship through Careers & Internships Office as an aspect of their degree. Afterwards, some continue with their education, take up further internships and/or progress directly into professional training programmes and employment in relevant organisations.

The Department works closely with the University’s Department of Student Affairs to offer a series of skill-based careers seminars throughout the academic year on both campuses. Together we have developed connections to volunteering opportunities in Richmond and Kensington, leadership development through student clubs and societies, and work experience in the form of part-time employment and graduate trainee programmes.

Working in partnership with CRCC Asia, Richmond also offers internship programs in Beijing & Shanghai.

Programme Information

Programme leader
Please contact the Admissions office if you wish to speak to the Programme Leader.

Awarding institution
Richmond, The American International University in London

Accredited
Middle States Commission of Higher Education (US )

Duration
One year full-time, September to September.
Two year part-time, September to September.

Location
Kensington Campus.
Additionally, off-site locations are used in London as part of the practical element of the programme.

Application deadline

Students who require a visa to study in the UK should apply by 1st July. UK or EU nationals should apply by 1st August.

Entry requirements
US Bachelors degree from an accredited institution, or UK first degree with minimum second class honours, or an overseas equivalent as determined by the University. Relevant work experience is welcomed and may on occasion be accepted in lieu of a first degree, but is not required.

Faculty who teach on this programme:

Mr Robert Crooke

Associate Professor

Professor Adrian Wilkins

Dean & Professor of Business Management

Professor Parviz Dabir-Alai

Professor of Economics

Professor Sabine Spangenberg

Professor of Economics; Associate Dean - Undergraduate Programmes

Graduates from this programme are eligible to receive a Chartered Management Institute (CMI) Award in Strategic Management & Leadership

Entry Requirements

What are the entry requirements?

A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution, or UK first degree with minimum second class honours, or an overseas equivalent as determined by the University. For Masters programmes in the School of Communications, Arts and Social Sciences, a first degree in an appropriate discipline is normally required. Relevant work experience is welcomed and may on occasion be accepted in lieu of a first degree, but is not required.

The language of instruction at Richmond is English, and non-native English speakers are asked to provide IELTS examination results as proof of their fluency in written and spoken English. You will need to obtain a score of at least 6.5 overall and a minimum of 5.5 in each element for postgraduate study.

How to Apply

How do I Apply?

For Masters programmes you may choose one of two application routes:

The Direct Application Form to make a single application to Richmond

UKPASS if you wish to apply to other UK Universities who are part of the UKPASS scheme as well

Scholarships

Find out more about Postgraduate Scholarships

Graduate Admission Requirements

Duration: FT (one year), PT (two years)

MBA