Global Finance Accelerated Part-time MBA

Once you've been offered a place on our MBA programme and paid a reservation fee, you can take our Manchester MBA Preparation course.

This online course helps you understand what it's like to study at Manchester, how to go about writing academic assignments and most importantly, what 'Learning by Doing' really means.

You'll have the opportunity to:

• Rediscover key study skills
• Undertake Business Essentials courses in Marketing and Operations Management
• Meet the teams that will be supporting you.

The course takes around 15 hours in total and you can complete it at your own pace. There are lots of opportunities to apply your skills and new knowledge throughout.

Contemporary businesses face two major transition challenges:

1. To re-evaluate the purpose of the firm in the 21st century and transition to a stakeholder value-driven firm
2. How to redesign the business model in global transition to a net zero economy.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) is the formal tool that companies use to manage these two transitions. In this course, we cover why these two major transitions are happening by covering concepts and analytical tools such as:

• Financialisation
• Shareholder value maximisation
• Corporate governance
• Firm purpose.

Then we analyse the rise of ESG as a mechanism for firms to achieve social and environmental responsibility, and to transition to a net zero economy.

In this core course, you'll examine the field of organisational behaviour, evaluating questions such as:

• Why have contemporary management practices and organisational forms been adopted?
• What is their effect on people's behaviour?

You'll learn how to respond to contemporary management and organisational challenges, by applying the latest research, ideas, frameworks and practical case studies.

This course is delivered through a 4-day workshop and online learning. It will provide you with key knowledge about operations management and marketing.

We'll encourage you to consider the interactions and potential tensions between these areas, and to critically evaluate the application of theory to real-life contexts. You'll also work in multinational groups to develop solutions to marketing and operations management challenges.

This course is delivered through two parts:

• Part A: a 2-day workshop, three 3-hour virtual workshops and online learning
• Part B: a 4-day workshop and online learning.

This interdisciplinary course will help you develop a cutting-edge approach to strategy and competition that is fit for purpose in today's changing business environment. You'll explore key areas of interest, such as:

• Competition
• Global instability
• The sharing economy
• Technology disruption
• Traditional, dominant schools of thought.

The course will blend theory and practice, with an emphasis on teamwork and real-time case analysis.

The live business project gives you the flexibility to explore an entrepreneurial venture in a sector of your choice, or to tackle a business issue that is critical to your organisation.

The skills learned in the course will help you stand out and deliver real value in the workplace. It's an opportunity to try something you've always wanted to do while gaining invaluable, practical business experience to enrich your CV.

Example business projects include:

• Rediscovering Kellogg Nutri-Grain Bar's Competitive Mojo
• A study into the effectiveness of the Corporate Parent in delivering value to stakeholders
• The lean startup: 'Fit-for-life'
• The effects of earned media on brand preference, purchase intention and sales performance: a study on infant formula brands
• Segmenting and targeting Chinese e-lock consumers
• Identifying and quantifying the critical success factors for taxi-hailing mobile apps
• Helping Salesforce.com support the re-integration of unemployed job-seekers into the labour market
• A study of non-household consumer switching in England's water market.

You can choose three electives. Each elective is delivered through a 3-day workshop (minimum) and online learning.

Electives are your chance to customise the MBA to suit your personal goals and interests. Our electives span many popular fields of expertise including:

• Entrepreneurship and innovation
• Finance
• HR management
• Leadership and management practice
• Marketing
• Projects and technology.

Current electives

• Big Data Analytics
• Business to Business Marketing
• Corporate News and Shareholder Value
• Digital Economy: Platforms AI and the Firm
• Digital Marketing Strategy
• Engaging Human Talent
• Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management
• Exploring Decision Making in Practice
• Fintech, Digital Banking and Blockchain
• Information Systems and Digital Strategy
• International Business Strategy
• Leading Business Projects
• Managing Disruptive Technologies
• Negotiation Skills
• Platform Ecosystem Strategy
• Practical Investing
• Strategic Financial Analysis
• Strategic Supply Chain Management
• Sustainable and Socially Responsible Business
• Venture Capital and Private Equity
• Work Psychology for Managerial Success - this elective is offered until January 2026.

Elective courses vary in length and availability. Some electives are only delivered once per year, which may affect the options available to you.

We deliver electives across our global centres in Dubai, Hong Kong, Manchester, Shanghai and Singapore. If you choose to study overseas, you'll benefit from the opportunity to widen your international network and sharpen your knowledge of the global business environment.

MBA+ is a suite of added value extra-curricular experiences that will help you define your goals, enhance your interpersonal skills, build your corporate connections and raise your profile across the world.

Running in parallel with the academic programme, MBA activities are not credit bearing. They're designed to give you targeted support and motivation to help you through the MBA and beyond, with unrivalled opportunities to connect and grow.

You'll have the opportunity to take part in the following activities:

• Networking events
• Online careers seminars
• Employability sessions
• Careers guidance
• Alumni socials
• Alumni speaker events
• Alumni groups, and more.

Most courses include an intensive, three-day workshop residential. Global Finance Accelerated MBA workshops are a chance to:

• Immerse yourself in your studies, away from the distractions of daily life
• Focus on what you want to achieve
• Build a strong, supportive cohort
• Experience a challenging mix of experiential learning from renowned business experts and practitioners
• Participate in group work focusing on real business problems
• Network, socialise and make connections that could transform your career.

You can also flex your workshops to include more online or face-to-face learning to suit your commitments.

In the first year of the course, you'll attend four core workshop residentials in Manchester, Dubai and Hong Kong. You can then choose your own electives at any of our global centres for the remainder of the course.

50% of students typically attend a workshop overseas during the programme.

Global Finance Accelerated MBA workshop schedule

Workshop dates for January 2025 intake

Specific workshop dates for September 2025 onwards will be added to this page when confirmed.

Our online teaching, learning and student support includes:

• Dedicated online learning and support hub
• Live online lectures and virtual workshops to support face-to-face workshops
• Virtual office hours with world-leading academics
• Online student surgeries
• Digital library
• Discussion forums
• Pre-sessional study skills and foundational review courses
• Virtual guest speakers and networking opportunities.

Top organisations want global executives with local knowledge. You need to thrive in a multi-cultural environment and manage across boundaries. The Manchester Global MBA offers a particularly international experience. You'll get to:

• Learn alongside high-achieving executives from 90 countries and diverse professional backgrounds
• Make new contacts from across the globe who could be indispensable to your future business career
• Experience new perspectives and business opportunities
• Learn how to communicate and negotiate effectively with people from other cultures
• Join our Alliance MBS network of 63,000 alumni from 177 countries - lifetime access to some of the world's brightest business minds.

Wherever you choose to attend workshops, you will receive the same world-class teaching. Our internationally-renowned academics travel the world to teach at our global centres.

If your career takes you overseas, you can continue your MBA without interruption by taking workshops at a different centre.