Manchester Global Executive MBA

The Global Executive MBA is taught through a combination of highly participative online learning and five global workshop residentials (32 days of face-to-face teaching in total). This blended learning approach is ideal for fitting your studies around your work and home commitments, while still getting an equivalent amount of on-campus teaching time as many full-time MBA programmes.

Most courses that you will study include an intensive, three-day workshop residential. These are a chance to immerse yourself in your studies, away from the distractions of daily life, focus on what you want to achieve and build a strong, supportive cohort. At the workshops, you will experience a challenging mix of experiential learning from renowned business experts and practitioners, and group work focusing on real business problems. Plus there’s the opportunity to network, socialise and make connections that could transform your career. To give you extra flexibility, for elective courses we offer some courses that have more online or face-to-face learning to suit your commitments.

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

•     Delivered online + three-day face-to-face workshop (either at the start or around the middle of the teaching period)
•     Typcially studied over a six-month period (some are shorter) with a total of 150 hours of study per unit
•     Taught from an applied perspective using practical elements, such as problem-solving, case studies, interactive activities and online quizzes, so you can apply your learnings immediately
•     Assessed by ongoing coursework with no exams (you will typically complete two individual/group assessments per unit)
•     Informed by the latest cutting-edge research
•     Taught by world-leading academics with extensive expertise and teaching experience

Once you have been offered a place on our MBA programme and paid a reservation fee, you have exclusive access to our Manchester MBA Preparation course.

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

You will have the opportunity to rediscover key study skills, as well as undertake Business Essentials courses in Marketing and Operations Management and meet the teams that will be supporting you.
Taking around 15 hours in total, you can complete the course at your own pace, and there are lots of opportunities to apply your skills and new knowledge throughout.

The unit will provide students with analytical tools to evaluate the global business environment from a cultural political economy perspective. It will cover major contemporary management issues of: shareholder value and governance; financialised business models and global economy; discursive managerial practices in the context of firm behaviour in contemporary economy; managing in unstable and complex global financial environment; and the social context of businesses in contemporary globalised economy. Factors impacting on inequality, uncertainty, sustainability, and household finances and wealth will be discussed as part of understanding the present day social context of businesses.

This course will provide you with key knowledge about operations management and marketing. We will 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 will also work in multinational groups to develop solutions to marketing and operations management challenges.

This course will introduce you to the two main areas of accounting: financial accounting and management accounting. We will introduce you to the content, role and usefulness of financial reports. You will then learn how to interpretate, analyse and understand financial information. Alongside this, you will develop an understanding of the theories, techniques and practices of management and cost accounting. You will also explore the design of management accounting and control systems.

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 will explore key areas of interest, such as competition, global instability, the sharing economy and technology disruption, alongside more traditional, dominant schools of thought. The course will blend theory and practice, with an emphasis on team work and real time case analysis.

This course will boost your understanding of e-commerce, allowing you to deal with rapid changes in technology and business practices. As well as studying core economic and internet market theory, you will consider the effects of technology and Artificial Intelligence on key industries such as advertising, financial markets, insurance, healthcare, venture capital and the retail sector. You'll also learn how to design new platform firms and develop strategies to take a traditional corporation into the digital age.

Today's senior executives are increasingly required to be more reflective about their own practice (eg. their responsibilities) and more reflective in decision making situations that are uncertain and complex. Applying this dual perspective to senior managerial practice, this inquiry-based course will help you to explore aspects of your own practice (eg. senior managers' responsibilities) and will enrich your practical knowledge and skills for cultivating a more reflective approach to decision making.

Leading and Managing People forms the second part of Leading and Managing in a Global Environment with which it is directly linked. It examines the range of management practices and organisational forms observed in contemporary organizations, the reasons for their adoption, and their effects on people’s behaviour. The course will draw upon leading-edge thinking and research in the field of organizational behaviour applied to practical management issues in a number of key areas: individuals and motivation; groups and teams; leadership; structures and cultures of organisation; and managing change. Students will evaluate and apply ideas and frameworks to practical case examples and use their own experiences to critically explore their relevance and value in helping to respond to contemporary management and organisational challenges.

Your live business project, with a twist. Change your perspective, stretch your thinking and boost your social responsibility credentials by working with a not-for-profit organisation. You'll have the opportunity to apply your new skills and knowledge to a different type of business challenge. You get valuable, practical experience, the client gets high-level consultancy, we get to learn from and support our local, national and global communities. You will also have the option to take on a project for a commercial organisation if you prefer.

Per elective: 3-day workshop (minimum) in Dubai, Hong Kong, Manchester, Shanghai or Singapore + online learning

Elective courses are your opportunity to gain more expertise in an area of your choice or explore a new field of interest. Choose electives tailored to your interests and career goals, and combine electives to create your own pathway in marketing, digital business or finance, for example.

Our suite of electives is continuously refreshed to ensure it balances traditional core business principles with current and emerging topics such as fintech, sustainability and data science.

You can attend workshop residentials for electives at any of our global centres: Dubai, Hong Kong, Manchester, Shanghai and Singapore. This gives you more opportunities to widen your international network and business perspectives.

Current electives:

• Business-to-Business Marketing
• Corporate News and Shareholder Value
• Engaging Human Talent
• Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management
• Exploring Decision Making in Practice
• International Business Strategy
• Negotiation Skills
• Platform Ecosystem Strategy
• Practical Investing
• Strategic Financial Analysis
• Leading Business Projects
• Strategic Supply Chain Management
• Sustainable & Socially Responsible Business
• Venture Capital  Private Equity
• Work Psychology for Managerial Success (up to Jan 2026)

Digital electives:

• Big Data Analytics
• Digital Economy: Platforms, AI & the Firm
• Digital Marketing Strategy
• Fin Tech Digital Banking and Blockchain
• Information Systems and Digital Strategies
• Managing Disruptive Technologies

To give you added flexibility, we offer some electives that are entirely online or that include longer/shorter face-to-face workshops.

2 x 1-day workshop in Manchester + ongoing opportunities

GEMBA+ is a suite of 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, these activities are not credit bearing. They are designed to give you targeted support and motivation to help you through the MBA and beyond. The Global Executive MBA includes a number of exclusive options:

Supporting professional discussions
The team are on hand to facilitate introductions to senior alumni to enhance your learning and career progression. Drawn from our extensive network of business contacts from across the world, they will work with you to help you define your goals, build your confidence and increase your global corporate contacts.

Next level networking
To help you make those vital global business connections, our Global Careers Service and Alumni Relations team offer a range of extra events exclusively for GEMBA students. These include a welcome dinner, guest speaker and networking events, and visits to high profile global organisations.

In addition to the above, you will also have access to the MBA+ extracurricular activities that we offer across all our part-time MBA programmes, including:

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

3-day workshop (minimum) in Dubai, Hong Kong, Manchester, Shanghai or Singapore + online learning

Extend your learning and boost your CPD after you graduate with a complimentary elective at any of our global locations.