University of Leicester

Master of Business Administration

Course Title

Master of Business Administration

Course Type

Full Degree

Course Level

Postgraduate

Study Method

Distance Learning

Start Date

April / October

Course Duration

24-30 months

Awarded & Delivered By

University of Leicester
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Course Description

Launched in 1989, the AMBA-accredited Leicester Master of Business Administration (MBA) is an inspiration and pioneering global executive-education programme. Our flexible, part-time distance learning course allows you to gain an MBA degree in two and a half years without having to take a break from your career.
The Leicester MBA has a rich heritage of innovation and digital technology implementation. It is one of the oldest AMBA-accredited distance learning MBA programmes in the world, with a strong international reputation. With over 12,000 graduates we have truly global MBA alumni network of professionals and business leaders working in a wide range of sectors.
With the Leicester Global MBA you can study fully online and can supplement your studies with residential learning. Your online study will include viewing recorded lectures, taking part in live online seminars and workshops, interacting with tutors and fellow students in online discussion boards and learning from our online study guides. You also have the option to attend our residential Leicester Masterclass that takes place at the School of Business’ new £16m campus.

The Leicester MBA gives you an opportunity to specialise in one of three functional areas:

  • Finance
  • Human Resource Management
  • Marketing

In addition to being AMBA-accredited, the Leicester MBA is also accredited by, and enables you to gain professional qualifications from:

  • Chartered Management Institute (CMI): In addition to gaining the MBA degree, upon completion of the programme (and subject to successful moderation) you will be awarded a Level 7 Certificate or Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership Practice plus being awarded Foundation Chartered Manager status.
  • Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA): exemptions from CIMA examinations on eight of our modules (subject to satisfactory completion).
  • Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM): If you select to follow our MBA Marketing specialist route, you will have the opportunity to gain module exemptions on professional qualifications with CIM.

Course Content

Core Modules

The introductory part of the module provides an induction to the Leicester MBA programme. In this section you’ll learn what, why and how you’ll study in the programme, and the Leicester MBA values and expectations. You’ll learn how to navigate our virtual learning environment, interact with tutors and students, and access resources to support your study. You’ll assess different approaches to learning and apply them to develop your own study skills, and develop an appropriate study plan to meet the programme’s expectations. The rest of the module is devoted to learning how to manage people. All managers would agree that managing people effectively is an important ingredient of personal and organisational effectiveness. Managing people and interpersonal relationships requires both knowledge and skills. Common sense, practical experience, and good intuition may be helpful, but they are not sufficient. Fortunately, there is a vast amount of scientific research that can be used to enhance the effective management of people and improve interpersonal skills. In this module, you’ll learn what this evidence tells us about managing people and how to use this evidence to analyse (and solve) people problems. There will also be opportunities to hone your managerial skills, such as leading, working in teams, and making decisions. You’ll learn how to develop specific people management activities within the context of employment relationships, known collectively as Human Resource Management.
Success increasingly demands the nurturing of a culture which can efficiently harness value creation processes across all areas of organisational life. Value needs to be co-created at every step of the transformation process, from an initial idea through to its eventual diffusion into the marketplace. This module maps the value co-creation process throughout all of its decisive stages of operations, innovation, and marketing insight. The module draws upon and integrates concepts from across the fields of operations management, innovation, entrepreneurship and marketing. It will provide you with a range of strategy perspectives and operational toolkits, so you can turn good ideas into great products and services that facilitate superior value propositions for all stakeholders, including customers.
Strategic decisions lie at the heart of many of the challenges that confront the senior managers of any organisation. A rapidly changing, complex, ambiguous, and highly uncertain environment can threaten its performance. Managers need to be able to think strategically in order to respond effectively to these challenges, whilst at the same time embracing the opportunities that change presents. Effective strategic thinking assures the sustainable survival of the organisation in the long run. Thinking strategically requires frameworks that will shape these decisions, which can be found in the disciplines of economics and accountancy. In particular knowledge about demand, costs, pricing, the measurement of financial performance and the macro trends taking place in the wider decision environment will be explored. A strategic perspective, however, moves beyond these narrow knowledge bases and seeks to use them to establish policies and core competences that will assure the sustainability of the organisation in the long run. The purpose and values of any organisation extend beyond the narrow goal directed behaviour of performance maximisation. Consideration of the impact of the activities of the organisation on the wider physical and social environments is also important, as too are the effects that management decisions have upon employees, customers and other stakeholders. Evaluation of the means chosen is as important as the goals of an organisation. This module will provide you with the skills necessary for thinking strategically, along with the critical skills that are required to evaluate the foundations of many current strategic practices.
In this module you’ll collate and present a learning and professional development portfolio, i.e. a structured collection of evidence, reflection and critical analysis, which supports and documents your learning and development towards the intended learning outcomes of the programme. Specific items for the portfolio will come from your work in the first four modules (the three core modules and your option module) and your engagement in the Career Management and Development Programme if you are on the Leicester MBA. If you are studying on the PG Certificate in Business Administration this will come from your two modules. Working on the portfolio will help you to record, reflect on and take responsibility for managing your learning and professional development, and engage with the feedback from peers and tutors. It will also help you develop the skills of discussing and evidencing your competencies to substantiate your CV, job application, selection interview or performance appraisal review. The portfolio will contribute to your career management and your development as a life-long learner.
Organisations depend on thorough research and the processes of collecting and interpreting information to inform crucial decisions tantamount to success. This module enables you to explore a management issue in practice and make critically informed recommendations based on the theories, concepts and frameworks that have been learnt throughout the MBA. You’ll become an independent and reflective researcher, able to assess your own personal skills and research abilities. There is a choice between a traditional dissertation, an in-company project, business research or a business-start up plan, depending on your strengths and career ambitions. The MBA project is often the most challenging and rewarding part of the programme.

Optional Modules

This module provides an in-depth engagement with a wide range of current marketing concepts, issues and challenges.
The two key dimensions are: how to organise and manage marketing relationships and supply chains in both consumer and business-to-business contexts, and how to understand and operationalise effective programmes for communications, promotion and stakeholder engagement activities. In modern business administration these two dimensions are coordinated and implemented through effective and sustainable strategic brand management, processes which underpin the basis for the development of brand equity, brand value and competitive positioning. Communications is at the heart of modern organisations. It is vital that all business professionals are able to understand and recognise effective communications strategies across a range of stakeholder groups. Organisations need to be able to communicate with customers, employers, investors, suppliers and regulators and this module considers different types of communication techniques and strategies to help you understand and apply core theories of communications. You’ll also learn about brands – how they are built, where they derive their value from, and what your customers love about them. You’ll take part in an exciting group project which examines brand power across the world, comparing and contrasting the different cultural, social and economic conditions in which brands can flourish and grow.

Finance plays a central role in the survival, growth and development of a corporation. It is an essential dimension of most corporate policy decisions and involves an understanding of the practices of the short term and long term capital markets. Alternative sources of finance are associated with different risks, which need to be identified, managed and mitigated when managers make strategic decisions, such as whether to merge with another company. Another important set of finance decisions involves the choice of the company’s capital structure and dividend policy. Financial innovation is rapid with new alternative sources of finance, for example crowd funding, coming to the market. Managers, especially of SMEs, need to know about these new sources along with the risks associated with them.

Many organisations declare that ‘people are our most important asset’, and human resource managers often contend that they take an increasingly strategic role in organisations. However, other organisations have achieved success through business models which emphasise low levels of investment in their workers. The aim of this module is to examine the extent to which Human Resource Management can be considered to be a strategic business function. Through an examination of the employment relationship, including recruitment and selection, training and development, motivation and reward, and performance and change management, you’ll analyse the different approaches that organisations take to managing their people.

Study Method

With the Leicester Global MBA you can study fully online and can supplement your studies with residential learning. Your online study will include viewing recorded lectures, taking part in live online seminars and workshops, interacting with tutors and fellow students in online discussion boards and learning from our online study guides. You also have the option to attend the University of Leicester residential Masterclass that takes place at the School of Business’ new £16m campus, usually in August.
The programme can be completed in 30 months, or up to five years to allow for breaks.
All teaching is delivered by School of Business staff who combine cutting-edge teaching techniques with innovative and forward-thinking research to help you develop your expertise. Your studies will be in small groups (up to 20 students) with extensive opportunities for teamwork and networking (in teams of 3-5) between students and tutors.

Online learning is an important feature of this course, therefore it is essential that you have reliable, regular access to the internet (preferably with a broadband connection) in order to participate. As a distance learning student, you will have access to the University Library’s electronic service, the Leicester Digital Library, which includes a large number of e-journals and e-books. If you live close to Leicester you can, of course, visit the Library in person. For UK-based students who wish to use other libraries, we can issue you with a card which allows you to do so. This is a national scheme which allows distance learning students to borrow material from up to three other participating libraries.

Entry Requirements

You will need to have at least one of the following academic or professional qualifications:
First or second class honours degree from a UK university, or

  • Equivalent degree from a non-UK university or academic institution, or
  • Postgraduate degree or diploma from a recognised institution, or
  • Equivalent graduate level professional qualification, such as the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Chartered Certified Accountant qualification or Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Professional Qualification.

You will also need a minimum of three years’ appropriate and relevant postgraduate work experience (defined as having worked in a supervisory, managerial or professional role).

If you have the potential to meet the MBA learning requirements but do not hold this level of academic or professional qualification but have five or more years of relevant work experience in a supervisory, managerial or professional role, you may be eligible based on this additional work experience. Please get in touch with us.

IELTS 6.5 or equivalent. If your first language is not English, you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability.

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Course Fees

Chestnut Education students are offered a special bursary for their course fees. Please get in touch with us to get the most up-to-date course fee for this programme.

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Apply now to embark on your academic journey and unlock endless opportunities! Join our vibrant community of scholars and leaders, and pursue your passion with an internationally recognised British qualification.


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