Executive MBA (London)

Weekend or evening study options available. 

Programme structure

Our Executive MBA comprises eight required modules and your choice of four elective modules and either a Strategic Consulting Project or a Dissertation.

In parallel with the global focus of the course we enable you to increase your exposure to different international learning opportunities. At least one taught elective module studied will be taken at a non-UK location. 

There are two formats available for studying your required modules;

Weekend format - taught entirely face-to-face, required modules are typically carried out on Fridays and Saturdays (09:00 - 18:00), every other week between September and July.

Evening format - taught face-to face (with an online session at the start and end of each module), required modules are typically delivered on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings (18:15 - 21:15). Each required module is delivered over a four-week period between September and July.

Teaching is delivered in our bespoke teaching space within The Shard.

Once you have completed your required modules you will join other MBA students, extending your network, to complete your elective modules. 

Please be aware that both formats undertake elective modules in the weekend format on four-day blocks. You may also have the option to choose electives held at our Warwick campus or via distance learning. 

Required modules

Your Executive MBA will feature eight required modules, designed to expand your knowledge in the core aspects of management and leadership.

Your first two modules, Organisational Behaviour and Strategic Advantage, will build the foundations of your knowledge. You'll begin by looking at the organisation, its place in society, and the people in it. You’ll then take a broad view by examining the firm and how it is embedded in both its social and competitive environment.

Next you’ll cover the core activities that make up the key functions of an organisation: Operations Management, Corporate Reporting and Decision Making, Financial Management and Marketing. This stage will provide you with an in-depth understanding of these functions from both a theoretical and practical point of view.

Your final two required modules, Leadership and Innovation and Strategic Entrepreneurship, will arm you with the knowledge, skills and confidence required to lead change effectively within an organisation.

We’ve also integrated social and environmental sustainability across all the required modules, allowing you to address this complex, multidimensional subject from different angles depending on the discipline in which it is contextualised.

Elective modules

You will choose four elective modules from a wide choice to customise your MBA and achieve your aims. The elective modules may be offered at the University of Warwick campus, at WBS London or overseas in a non-UK location. To support you in gaining international experience, one of your four elective modules will be a required overseas module.

Strategic consultancy project or dissertation

You will have the choice to undertake either a strategic consulting project or traditional dissertation.

The strategic consulting project focuses on practice and is based in an employment setting while the Dissertation is more academic with a focus on theory, but is still highly relevant in the world of business.

Specialisms

Alongside the MBA’s core backbone of building all-round business acumen, you can choose to specialise your MBA within social and environmental sustainability, entrepreneurship, or healthcare by selecting certain electives and basing your dissertation within your chosen area. 

Corporate Reporting & Decision Making

Become a skilled user of financial information, using your knowledge to make the most efficient and successful financial decisions.

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Financial Management

Build an intuitive understanding of how everyday financial decisions work and learn the fundamental tools to make them.

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Innovation and Strategic Entrepreneurship

Develop a strategic approach to innovation and entrepreneurship within your organisation, nurturing the knowledge and creativity that can lead to product, process, service, or organisational change.

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Leadership

Re-evaluate your approach to leadership, preparing you and your organisation for success in a rapidly changing world.

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Marketing

Marketing puts customers, clients, or members at the centre of management decision-making. Whatever your role and whatever your organisation, the concepts and tools shared in this module will help you to develop and maintain focus on those issues that are most important to the experience of your organisation’s customers.

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Organisational Behaviour

Understand what an organisation is, what it is made up of, and how you can shape it to improve performance.

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Operations Management

Learn the basic principles of operations management, applying them to a range of organisations (public and private) before taking this logic and employing it in your own complex and unique work situation.

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Strategic Advantage

Uncover the underlying concepts of what strategy really is, and why it matters to an organisation.

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Digital

Uncover the trends, business models and strategies to help you thrive in the digital economy.

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Entrepreneurship

Develop your entrepreneurial mind-set.

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Finance and Accounting

Develop your knowledge of accounting and finance theory and learn how to apply it in practice.

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Global Business

Advance your approach to managing cross-cultural challenges.

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Healthcare

Delve deeper into the healthcare industry, from leading digital innovation to improving health systems.

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HRM & Corporate Responsibility

Learn how the relationships between performance, sustainability, and governance can lead to business success.

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Management & Leadership

Consider management and leadership through a range of lenses.

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Marketing

Gain a broad introduction to the marketing concept and the role of marketing in the modern organisation.

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Operations

Gain an understanding of the concepts underlying the production and operations function.

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Strategy

Explore how to become a strategic leader and effectively execute strategies within your organisation.

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Sustainability

Discover how you can make your organisation more sustainable and the importance of sustainability in business.

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You will have the choice to undertake either a strategic consulting project or traditional dissertation.

The strategic consulting project focuses on practice and is based in an employment setting. You will work as part of a group on the project with 10% of your assessment being based on group work and 90% based on an individual consulting report. This is your opportunity to consolidate everything you have learnt during your MBA. Academically, it tests your ability to apply your learning to real management issues. Professionally, it may well open the door to your next career move.

If you choose to undertake the dissertation option, although more academic with a focus on theory, it is still highly relevant in the world of business. It will demonstrate that you can assimilate your learning, take multiple perspectives on a business issue and explore your subject thoroughly.

Previous participants have explored: 

  • Driving improved operational performance in a high growth dynamic and high-tech environment for Williams Advanced Engineering
  • Business strategies for digital solutions for GE Healthcare
  • The future of mobility: What it means to be customer focused in sub-Saharan Africa for Ford Motor company
  • The future role of own brand products for the Co-op.

Alongside the MBA’s core backbone of building all-round business acumen, you can choose to specialise your MBA within social and environmental sustainability, entrepreneurship, or healthcare by selecting certain electives and basing your dissertation within your chosen area.

You will initially study your eight required modules, which are then followed by elective modules, at least two of which will be in your chosen specialism. You will also undertake your dissertation in your chosen specialist area, supervised by an appropriate member of faculty. 

On completion, you will gain a letter of acknowledgement from the Dean of Warwick Business School to confirm your success in your chosen specialism.

Social and Environmental Sustainability Specialism

This specialism will enable you to manage an organisation to achieve social and environmental goals as well as financial ones. Whatever sector you work in, from corporates and new ventures to non-profits and the public sector, the modules provide the skills you need to manage sustainably, whether you are a general manager, maintain another functional specialism or take a sustainability-specific role.

The specialism has a particular focus on sustainability transitions, for both organisations and the wider systems (food, clothing, transport and energy) within which they operate.

By choosing the Social and Environmental Sustainability Specialism you will:

  • Have a toolset for leading a sustainability function, or equally for participating in the organisation’s transition towards sustainability
  • Advance your skills in creating social and environmental impact across diverse contexts through sustainable innovation and systems transformation
  • Understand in particular the carbon and energy transition engendered by the climate change challenge, and how to position an organisation within that transition.

Complete at least two of the following modules:

  • Creating Sustainable Organisations (L, online)
  • Business & Sustainability (SBS)
  • Managing Sustainable Energy Transitions (W, international location TBC)

The dissertation can relate to any aspect of social and/or environmental sustainability.

Entrepreneurship Specialism

This specialism will enable you to make calculated decisions between seizing opportunities and managing risk. Whether you want to set up your own business or develop your entrepreneurial mindset within a large corporate or an owner managed business, we will equip you with the innovative skills to find creative solutions to day-to-day problems. 

By choosing the Entrepreneurship Specialism you will: 

  • Develop your entrepreneurial mindset, attitude and skills to enable creative problem-solving in business 
  • Understand the main conceptual frameworks that have shaped research and practice on innovation and creativity 
  • Review the financial, control and investment opportunities faced by rapidly growing companies in entrepreneurial settings. 

Complete both of the following modules: 

  • Entrepreneurial Finance (SF)
  • Entrepreneurship & New Venture Creation (WL, online)

If you choose to take the Entrepreneurship specialism as part of your MBA, the dissertation will give you the opportunity to dive deeply into a new business idea, tackle an existing issue or use the opportunity to help launch your own venture.

Healthcare Specialism

This specialism will appeal to both clinical and healthcare management professionals across the healthcare sector, who are looking to develop both their general leadership capabilities, and their sector-specific understanding. 

Whether you’re a clinician on the frontline under increasing pressure to deliver effective results for patients, or a manager required to deliver efficient services under tight budgetary pressures, the modules can give you the skills and confidence you need to take on a healthcare leadership role. 

By choosing the Healthcare Specialism you will: 

  • Deepen your knowledge of theories around health systems and apply critical thinking to strategic issues related to health organisations
  • Build your leadership capabilities within the healthcare industry to implement change management initiatives 
  • Broaden your understanding of the growth in digital innovation in healthcare and consider key factors impacting on digital healthcare solutions. 

Complete at least two of the following modules:

  • Global Challenges for the Public Sector (W, online)
  • Improving Health Systems (L)
  • Strategic Leadership for the Healthcare Industry (L)

The modules listed in this section for each specialism are elective modules that are part of specialism requirements. 

Key

W - delivered at Warwick campus
L - delivered at WBS London
WL - delivered at both Warwick and WBS London
SBS - UBC Sauder School of Business, Vancouver, BC Canada
SF - delivered in San Francisco, California, USA
Online - module can be studied online.

Please note that these modules are illustrative and subject to change.

How we teach

The Executive MBA is the perfect way to learn face-to-face without the need to step out of full time work. It will provide you with a diverse network of students, industry experts, career specialists, lecturers and alumni to learn from, share ideas with and to support you in your future career.

Teaching of required modules is carried out in two formats:

Weekend format

Teaching on required modules is typically carried out on Fridays and Saturdays (09:00 – 18:00), every other week between September and July. Required modules are studied in sequence with assessments delivered after each module. 

Evening format:

Teaching is typically delivered on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings (18:30 – 21:30). Each required module is delivered over a four-week period between September and July.

Before and after each module there is an online session delivered via our virtual classroom that prepares you for the modules you are about to study and then prepares you for the assessment of the modules. Following the assessments you then start working on the next pair of modules. 

For both formats, working and studying like this gives you the opportunity to apply theory directly back into your organisation. Learning materials are provided via our bespoke online learning environment, my.wbs around four weeks before each module. Modules consist of 24 - 30 hours face-to-face teaching giving you the opportunity to discuss and apply theories within the classroom. For the Evening MBA and some weekend modules, additional input is provided via our virtual classroom, wbsLive for Q&As, tutor-led seminars, or focused revision sessions. wbsLive sessions are recorded and available to view later.

Please be aware that both formats undertake elective modules in the weekend 2 + 2 format or four-day blocks. You may also have the option to choose electives held at our Warwick campus or via distance learning.

Alternatively, you can opt to take elective modules which run at our Warwick Campus in the four-day block format (usually Wednesday to Saturday) or access our range of blended learning elective modules through our Distance learning MBA. 

Tailored knowledge development 

Our elective modules allow you to customise your MBA according to your interests and career needs. Most MBA participants may also undertake an internal consultancy project which focuses on solving real issues facing their organisation, or an industry/organisation in which they wish to work as the basis for their dissertation. This can be a useful incentive to encourage sponsorship from your employer, demonstrating how you can apply your MBA directly to the running of your organisation.

Creativity

We take a creative approach to teaching, using film, drama, business simulation software and role play on different modules during the course. This allows you to apply your learning to real life scenarios, try out new leadership techniques and generate creative responses to challenges. By building your leadership and management skills you can increase your confidence and prepare for any scenario.

Online learning

Through my.wbs you will be able to access excellent interactive resources, online study materials and e-books, full-text articles from a wide range of business and management journals and the excellent University of Warwick library including many databases, and over 30,000 full-text electronic journals.

If you choose any online electives you will use our virtual classroom, wbsLive for lectures with Q&As, tutor-led seminars, or focused revision sessions. Sessions are recorded and available to view later.