MBA
Master of Business Administration (with Business Placement)
Implement your learning through the MBA’s business placement opportunity
Course Overview
Why take this course?
Whatever your expertise or sector, you will find our programme intellectually stimulating, challenging, relevant and rewarding.
This new programme is specially designed to enable collaborative work and study for you to improve your career prospects and personal development.
What will I experience?
On this course you can:
- Listen to talks by visiting speakers on topical themes and go on organisational visits
- Attend our Master Class programme or our Evening Hot Topic seminars, both of which support your development, encouraging you to exchange ideas and present you with networking opportunities
- Apply your expertise of current business practice through a paid work placement where you will complete a project for a UK or international company
What opportunities might it lead to?
The accreditation by the Association of MBAs (AMBA) represents the highest standard of achievement in postgraduate business education, demonstrating the quality, reputation and comparability of our programme.
Portsmouth Business School is a member of the Association of MBAs Group Membership Scheme, meaning our MBA students and alumni are entitled to free extended membership of the Association. This provides you with exclusive access to a global network of over 5,000 AMBA members and information with regards to MBA specific careers, networking and knowledge services for support throughout your studies and your career.
The Business School is on my doorstep and once I met the knowledgeable and approachable staff I knew this institution really meant business, which makes for a fantastic learning environment.
Ian Stevens, MBA Master of Business Administration (with Business Placement) student
Key Facts
- Duration
- 2 years full time
- Entry
A good honours degree (or equivalent, including professional qualifications), not necessarily in a business related subject, plus a minimum of three years appropriate managerial/professional experience. Applicants may also be asked to offer a satisfactory score in the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT).
English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.5 with a minimum score of 6.0 in all individual components, or equivalent.- Fees
UK/EU full-time students: £17,600 - Year 1, £2,100 - Year 2. International full-time students: £17,600 - Year 1, £2,100 - Year 2 (GOAL Awards do not apply to fees in year 2)
*Please note that all fees are subject to annual increase.- Contact
- mba.admissions@port.ac.uk
+44 (0)23 9284 4888 - Department
- Portsmouth Business School
Structure & Teaching
Our course is designed to provide a general management education that promotes a holistic view of management, organisations and their global environment. With an integrated approach to learning, it explores the managerial competencies required to lead and facilitate strategic change and to understand contemporary organisational challenges. You will apply such learning in your work-based project and throughout your placement.
Here are the units you will study:
- Developing Organisational Capabilities: This unit explores finance, marketing, operations, innovation, law and corporate social responsibility and how they influence and improve the overall management of an organisation.
- Leadership and Team-Building Residential: This involves teams competing in a Business Project, along with other activities to explore the realities of building and leading multi-cultural teams.
- Sustaining Organisational Value: This unit focuses on the further development of finance, operations, quantitative approaches adding decision analysis, information systems, digital marketing and sales management as well as specialised areas of marketing that develop the organisation into its future environment
- Strategic Management and Master Classes: This addresses key issues that shape organisations, their orientation, transformation and change in complex and uncertain business environments. Behavioural and economic concepts of organisations and their business contexts are also explored.
- Strategic Leadership, Culture and Change: The aim of this unit is to develop your analytical and decision-making skills in complex strategic situations.
- Consultancy and Research Methods: This unit encourages you to think critically about the nature and value of management research as well as preparing you for the role of a consultant in an organisational setting.
- MBA Professional Development: This prepares you to undertake a work placement with an employer based in the UK or elsewhere. You will explore the nature of different management cultures and investigate potential sponsoring organisations in preparation for interview. The creation of a personal development plan will be necessary.
- MBA Work-based Learning Project: This provides a unique opportunity for you to apply the skills learned on the taught part of the programme as well as pre-existing skills in a management environment where you will work on a project agreed with the employer. This is a chance to demonstrate the subject knowledge you have acquired, as well as your analytical abilities and problem-solving skills which are highly regarded by potential employers. We would normally expect work placements to be full-time paid employment.
Teaching and Assessment
Our friendly and supportive environment uses formal lectures and seminars alongside activity-based case studies. We aim to promote your career prospects by putting you into simulated situations where you apply your learning to analyse complex problems, explore the uncertainties involved, evaluate possible solutions and plan their implementation. These exercises are based on relevant case studies, including several requiring application to your placement, to enable you to develop your diagnostic, decision-making and management skills.
How are you assessed?
We vary the assessment method according to the topic content and aim to draw on current management practices. As a result, there is a focus on group work and presentations as well as work related assignments, reports and a dissertation. You will receive full guidance to prepare for your assessments.
Facilities & Features
Master Classes
Cover a range of topical issues faced by today's professional managers
Links with Business
Opportunities to undertake consultancy and business innovation projects
International Office
The International Office provides extensive support during your studies
University Library
Our library offers a wealth of information including thousands of online ejournals
Master Classes
These are a series of six-hour sessions delivered by specialist presenters, covering a range of topical issues faced by today's professional managers. They bring inspiring ideas, fresh perspectives and on-going value back to the workplace.
Links with Business
Our close links with both private and public sector organisations give you the opportunity to undertake consultancy and business innovation projects. This direct collaboration enables you to apply your learning to real-world business situations.
International Office
We are a very cosmopolitan community with more than 4,000 international and EU students from over 100 different countries. The role of the International Office is to provide you with extensive support to make your time here as stress-free and enjoyable as possible, enabling you to focus on your studies.
University Library
Modern, comfortable and a great learning environment, our library offers a wealth of information including 400,000 books, DVDs, maps and thousands of online ejournals and newspapers. Many electronic resources are available anywhere, 24/7 and our friendly staff are always on hand to help.
Careers & Opportunities
Career prospects
The MBA (with Business Placement) programme is ideally suited as a career development step to senior management roles and responsibilities. Our graduates have reported that undertaking the programme substantially enhanced their career prospects. The Business Placement furthers your career opportunities by adding the experience of working within a UK-based company to your profile, proving to employers that you can successfully deliver new and effective business initiatives.
Career planning
One of the benefits of studying at Portsmouth is the support that we provide to our Master's and Research Degrees students in career planning. Our careers and recruitment service – Purple Door – can assist you in career research and finding employment opportunities. Help is also available if you wish to find a part-time job while studying your degree. We offer our postgraduate students and alumni one-to-one appointments with a careers adviser, or an online service for those not able to travel back to the University. Our alumni can call on our career services for five years after graduation.
In addition, regular employability events offer you the chance to meet employers, find out about different career sectors and improve your applications or CV. The Graduate Summer Programme provides a range of guidance and employability seminars and workshops.