Prospects 2008 MBA Guide

A major focus this week has been on my Boardroom Simulation case study. This is the culmination of an eight-week focus where a team of six or seven of us join together to strategically assess and analyse a blue chip company. Our business is Harley-Davidson motorbikes. As part of the simulation, we all take on a Boardlevel role within the business – I’m the Chairperson! LEARNING OUTCOMES One of the first things you learn when taking an MBA is how to prioritise. As there is more than enough reading for lectures it’s important to take a view on what is essential reading and what is nice to have. In the first term courses are assessed by exams in January. Don’t plan on taking time out over Christmas! For each of the courses, there is also a formative assignment which includes an essay of The objective is to apply what we have learned in our around 1,500 words. lectures to that business, their issues, their strategy, I would say that some of what I am learning and as if we were senior decision makers. some of the techniques are tools that I was already The culmination of the Simulation is to run a Boardroom meeting which is observed by an experienced company executive. We go through the strategic analysis of the business that we have aware of or had used to a limited degree in the past. But that does not mean that I have used them as effectively as I should or that I understood them in the wider context. The intellectual challenge of the prepared, and make our recommendations for growing MBA combined with the practical experience make a the business further. For someone like me who is powerful package. motivated by achievement and results, applying learning to a real time situation is deeply satisfying. PEOPLE FRIENDLY One area that I am finding very useful You often hear talk about the ‘challenge’ of taking an MBA. Whilst I would agree that you have to be totally committed, the workload is not is the focus on developing the softer people skills. This insurmountable and I have found lots of support on offer both from lecturers and other students. Yes, it’s week we had a lecture on managing people – team dynamics. These skills are essential when it comes to issues such as how to manage the process of change, building and developing teams and networking in today’s fast-changing business environment. Friday night saw a number of us head off to the bar at Fisher House at Ustinov College (the University’s postgraduate only college) to let off steam with students from across both the School and the University. Taking an MBA is not only about hard work. You build a new social network and some of these contacts can turn into lifelong friends. true that there is always more work to do than there are hours in the day, but as long as you apply yourself it’s possible to both succeed academically and enjoy the social life. The MBA is a great asset when it comes to transferring skills from one sector or industry to another. My background is as an engineer in commercial roles in the chemical industry. The MBA will give me the flexibility to take what I have learned as well as the management experience I have gained and apply it to a different environment. PROSPECTS MBA GUIDE 13

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Added Value - The Benefits of an MBA MBA Success at Bath The World MBA Tour The Right Fit - Finding the Best Programme MBA Funding - Money Talks MBA Diary University of Nottingham Business School MBA Brunel Business School MBA University of Leicester School of Management MBA Derbyshire Business School MBA Bournemouth University Business School MBA Loughborough University Business School MBA Search for a MBA to suit you

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