Islamic Banking (MBA) part-time (Subject to validation)

What you will learn

The MBA Islamic Banking offers a suite of contemporary modules which allow you to develop the knowledge required to work in the growing and sophisticated Islamic Banking sector. You will gain skills in being effective, in working independently and as part of a team, while critically evaluating and developing good practice in key areas of business management and in the planning and management of general, commercial and Islamic Banking products and services.

What you will study Leadership and Management

This module is designed to enable you to explore your values, attitudes, style and interpersonal skills and to provide a platform for continuing personal development as managers and leaders. It invites you to critically evaluate theories pertinent to personal development, management and leadership; and to develop your interpersonal and team working skills to enhance the current and future roles as managers and leaders.

Sales Management and Marketing

This module aims to provide you with a critical understanding of the sales management and marketing processes and the opportunity to develop and refine relevant skills in the practice of sales management and marketing. You will gain experience of evaluating and analysing the challenges managers face in the development and deployment of sales and marketing planning, and you will develop an advanced awareness of the need to consider a range of alternative approaches to dealing with planning and management issues in order to achieve competitive advantage and successful sales. To gain and enhance your critical knowledge and understanding you will consider and critically evaluate key stages of the organisations’ marketing and sales planning process. By the end of the module you will have developed a superior appreciation of the processes and outcomes in the implementation of the strategic choices facing an organisation with regard to marketing and sales management

Financial Management and Decision Making

This module is designed to introduce managers (usually who have no previous background in finance) to the concepts of financial management, and to explore the corporate aspects, and their differing organisational contexts, that determine sources of corporate funding. The module will also consider legal and other key issues, affecting corporate financial management. It will develop your knowledge and understanding of the theoretical concepts of financial management, and enable you to analyse and evaluate financial statements to provide a basis for informed decision making. You will develop an understanding of capital budgeting, strategic financial issues and control systems and how they can assist more informed decisions.

Human Resource Management

This module aims to provide a general introduction to HRM in organisations. It will show an awareness of the merits and difficulties associated with new and different forms of work patterns and job designs aimed at enhancing performance, motivation and commitment. It will contribute to the wider debate by examining the organisational functions that are attributed to human resource managers.

Change Management

This module will introduce you to managing change. You will investigate the types of change that affect modern organisations and their scope and scale. You will analyse the structural and cultural accelerators/impediments to change, the notion that organisations can learn to innovate faster than their competitors and the prominent roles of strategy and leadership. Throughout this module you will be called upon to exercise and improve your powers of critical evaluation as applied to conceptual models of innovation and change and both internal and external contingencies that impinge on organisational efforts to innovate.

Strategic Management

The module aims to provide you with a critical understanding of the strategic management process, and will integrate material from other parts of the course within a strategic management framework. Initially lectures will be used to develop knowledge of the concepts underpinning the study of strategic management. As your knowledge increases you will participate more fully in a critical exploration of the concepts. The case studies will enable you to explore the application of strategic management concepts and models, apply them to complex business problems, and evaluate the strategic issues within the case study, while critically assessing the applicability and usefulness of the theoretical models.

You will study a contemporary curriculum which focuses on the key areas of Islamic Banking and in addition several of the key functional areas of management, for example: Human Resource Management, Sales Management and Marketing, Strategic Management and so forth, many of which will be beyond the borders of your current, familiar management responsibilities. The aim is to stretch your management competencies into new areas of potential responsibility. You will study the following core modules and 3 optional modules.

Research and Study Skills

This module supports your success on the MBA Islamic Banking programme as a whole and allows you to develop your academic skills including writing skills, information literacy skills and presentation skills.

Research Methods (Islamic Banking Focus)

This module prepares you for the dissertation. It will enable you to make informed decisions about which research methods are appropriate under particular circumstances and specifically in relation to your own research featuring an Islamic Banking issue or focus. You will develop your knowledge of a range of research tools and analytical techniques. You will also receive guidance on the structuring of your dissertation.

MBA Islamic Banking Dissertation

The dissertation provides you with the opportunity to undertake an extended and substantial piece of research. It allows students to synthesize their academic knowledge acquired from the taught modules and to produce an evaluative and critical discussion of an Islamic Banking strategic issue relevant to a specific organisation. You will make recommendations following the research process and propose an implementation plan.

Islamic Commercial Jurisprudence, Banking Business and Trust Law

This module introduces you to the knowledge of Islamic Figh. Theories of Figh will include property (maa/), rights (huquq), ownership (milkiyah), and contract (‘agd). This module will enhance skills in relation to the application of Islamic commercial and financial transactions; and will critically appraise Islamic Finance issues in light of ilm usul al figih. In addition the module will appraise Commercial Companies Law 2001, and Licensing requirements imposed by the Central Bank of Bahrain. You will suggest appropriate principle approaches of Figh Mu’amalat for economic and business activities, and compare and contrast various juristic opinions on commercial transactions.

Islamic Banking Operations and Insurance

In this module you will develop a clear understanding of the practical operations of Islamic Commercial/Universal Banks, covering the distinct areas of retail, trade and corporate banking services. You will also analyse trade finance exercised by Islamic Banks and the unique practical issues associated with undertaking such activities including international trade law and Shariah. The module continues to examine the management of insurance in both Islamic and conventional arenas. You will be asked to compare and contrast the key functions and operational structure of Islamic Banks as compared to conventional banks, and to suggest Islamic solutions to design products for both corporate and retail customers.

Islamic Treasury and Capital Markets

This module begins by providing an overview of the Islamic Treasury, managing risks and capital market products and operations. Specific risks are examined in detail which are unique to Islamic financial institutions within the parameters of Shariah. You will be required to report on capital market products and their appropriateness as solutions for a particular case study. In addition you will be required to take a written examination where you will critically appraise specific risks within the parameters of Shariah, and analyse developments in Islamic capital markets and contemporary issues related to sukuk issuance and trading.

You will also study 3 of the following optional modules.