Part Time Master of Business Administration

The University of Southampton MBA will give you the tools, knowledge and confidence to challenge conventional thinking and succeed in today's fast-moving business world by standing out, not blending in.
We are one of the UK's top research-led universities, committed to high quality teaching and the advancement of knowledge.
Taught in our new Executive Education Centre, our MBA meets the global standard of the Association of MBAs (AMBA), through a broad curriculum aimed at developing your business skills in all areas. Key management theories and concepts are taught by inspirational academic staff who also carry out cutting-edge research in their specialist fields.
Whether on our full-time or part-time programme, the Southampton MBA will challenge you to look at business issues from different perspectives in order to find the best solutions. You will learn from real business problems and share experiences with the diverse cohort that makes up this programme. Throughout your time at Southampton, you will be encouraged to consolidate and reflect on your learning.
Studying for the Southampton MBA will also give you the chance to meet and network with other future business leaders from around the world. You will make friends and contacts for life.
Originally established in 1988, our AMBA accredited MBA is continually updated to reflect the changing nature of the business world. Maintaining AMBA's high global standard, our objective is to ensure the programme remains relevant and challenging for students and businesses.
Our MBA was significantly revised and restructured in 2008 after a year-long consultation exercise involving students, alumni, employers and teaching staff.
The Southampton MBA is a flexible programme, which enables you to study either full or part-time.
Our MBA will develop your business skills. Its integrative structure will give you the opportunity to consolidate and apply your learning from across the programme to address business issues from new perspectives.
The MBA programme will provide you with:

• a rigorous and challenging scheme of study in order to enhance your effectiveness as a manager
• a broad appreciation and understanding of the principles, concepts, terminology, purpose and practice of management in contemporary organisations
• an awareness of the opportunities afforded, and the constraints imposed, by the environment in which organisations and their managers operate
• practical research skills based upon relevant research methods and analytical techniques
• the facility to analyse complex organisational and managerial issues and to propose well-argued recommendations for dealing with such situations
• the ability to identify and combine different functional areas and theories to maximum effect when addressing real business issues
• the opportunity to continually reflect on and put into context your newly acquired knowledge from across the programme
• opportunities to develop key skills including teamwork, leadership, planning, communication, self-management, problem solving, decision making, negotiation and numeracy
• an opportunity to build long-lasting business networks
• a learning environment which is stimulating, challenging and informed by cutting-edge theory

The Southampton MBA is a programme of four parts. Part 1 comprises nine core modules. Part 2 involves the choice of two optional modules. Part 3 is an integrative section that involves four inter-related elements and a substantial amount of group work, giving you the opportunity to pull together and apply theories from parts 1 and 2. Upon successful completion of the first three parts you progress to Part 4, which takes the form of a dissertation. The full-time MBA is designed for graduates who have at least three years, but probably more, of relevant work experience since graduation and who now wish to pursue a challenging programme of study to develop their managerial potential.

MBA classes are dedicated to the active role of participants in the learning experience. The Southampton MBA attracts participants who are international and diverse in their origins and type of experience. Our aim is to challenge all of our MBA particpants to think clearly and critically about the practice and theory of management. The age of participants typically ranges from 25 - 35 and their first degree subjects include science, engineering and humanities as well as business studies.
On the MBA, you must expect to work with ideas and concepts that are complex and that need real intellectual effort to master fully. In return you will receive an education that prepares you for a career as a skilled and reflective manager. Our MBA is neither a crash course in business buzz-words nor a catalogue of quick fix solutions. Your personal learning is enhanced by putting theoretical concepts into the context of your own experience.

The Southampton MBA welcomes participants that are looking for a challenge; are keen to question and debate ideas with other bright and similarily motivated managers; and seek an all round management education and development exercise.
The part-time MBA is aimed at candidates who have at least five years of significant managerial work experience who wish to further develop their understanding of, and effectiveness in, their organisation and the wider business context.
The part-time MBA attracts many people from across central southern England who represent public and private sectors, manufacturing, financial and service sectors, reflecting the broad economic base of the area. Their average age is about 36, however, ages typically range from 28 to 50.
Programme Structure
The Southampton MBA is a programme of four parts. Part 1 comprises nine core modules. Part 2 involves the choice of two optional modules. Part 3 is an integrative section that involves four inter-related elements and a substantial amount of group work, giving you the opportunity to pull together and apply theories from parts 1 and 2. Upon successful completion of the first three parts you progress to Part 4, which takes the form of a dissertation.
Part 1. Core modules
Effective Leadership
Organisations in Global Context
Contemporary Marketing
Quality and Operations Management
Accounting: Measuring and Managing Performance
Corporate Finance
Strategy
Managing People for Performance
Decision Modelling and Analysis
Part 2. Optional modules
Choice of two modules from the following:
Logistics Management
Supply Management
Project Management
Other modules from our current MSc programmes
Specialist Group of Options

• Higher Education Management

Part 3. Application of Management Skills
A feature of our MBA is the opportunity to use the core elements previously studied in the context of a leader's role. This element of this module highlights creativity; innovation decision analysis; change; and strategic decision making - all skills sought by employers.
Part 4. Dissertation
Upon successful completion of the first three parts of the MBA you progress to the dissertation. The dissertation gives you the opportunity to consolidate your previous learning by conducting a 15,000 word independent piece of work on a management topic of your choice. You will be allocated a supervisor from the School who will guide you through the process on a one-to-one basis.

Throughout the MBA, you should maintain a reflective record that demonstrates your stages of professional development for later use in your personal career planning.
Programme schedule
Renowned for its flexibility, the part-time MBA enables you to tailor your programme of study to fit around your other commitments.
Entry to the programme is in early February and late September. The overall period of study is typically between two and three years, depending upon the amount of time that you can devote to attending lessons and to private study. The duration of your programme can, however, be anything between two and five years. Your workload at any point will depend upon the duration of study and the number of modules studied at any one time.
Tuition is typically provided on a Friday from 09.00 - 17.00 and/or on one evening per week for core modules. There is no specific order in which modules must be studied, and for a substantial amount of the programme you can either study in the evening or during the day, or combine the two.
Optional modules are shared with the full-time MBA or can often be chosen from other MSc programmes. The timings of delivery vary, but will often take place during weekdays. Your personal tutor can advise you on timetabling queries when you choose your optional modules.
Upon successful completion of the first three parts, you progress to the dissertation, for which a period of six months is allowed.

How will you learn?
Your understanding of the subjects covered and your ability to use the knowledge and skills gained will be enhanced through a variety of methods and strategies. Some of the key learning approaches that you will experience as a student in the School will include:

• Group work
  Group work is recognised as vital in your development when looking forward to, or continuing in, a management role. You will be supported in learning how to form and maintain group cohesiveness to achieve clearly defined outcomes, such as a business report, a group presentation or a combination of both.
  
  
• Case-studies
  You will be presented with many different business case-studies that reflect the reality of decision-making and problem-solving activities in today's business environment. The case studies are selected to reflect the specific needs of your programme or unit of study.
  
  
• Learning alongside other students
  Throughout your time with us you will be working alongside fellow students from a wide range of cultural and geographical backgrounds. This is a powerful resource and we are particularly keen to encourage you to set up learning networks with other students that may extend beyond the time of your study at Southampton.
  
  To help with this style of networking you will be expected to learn to communicate with each other as well as your teachers in a variety of contexts. For example, during a large group lecture you may be given the opportunity to discuss a specific problem or complete a task in small groups, often with people who are sitting alongside you. The possible answers would be shared by the large group as guided by your teacher.
  
  The example noted above indicates that you are expected to be an 'active' learner through taking part in small group discussions and offering your views on many occasions.

Examinations and assessment
A range of assessment methods are used including essays, case studies, coursework, examinations and the dissertation.