Introducing the online MBA — University of Liverpool

One way to excel in the business world is by studying a Master of Business Administration (MBA) such as that offered by the University of Liverpool. Dr Lisa Day, Director of Online Programmes for the Management School and Director of Studies for the Online MBA, explains how their online MBA can make you stand out…

What is an MBA?

It's a post-experience qualification, which means that it's only open to students with some existing management experience. This means that as well as learning from academics, you also learn from your fellow students who come from all over the world and have a range of practical experience and expertise to share with you.

An MBA programme provides a broad education in key areas of management such as:

• strategy
• digital marketing
• sustainability and responsible leadership
• finance
• data analytics.

Much of what you learn is from sharing experiences with other students and from critically reflecting on your own management experiences.

Perhaps because of its roots at Harvard, the MBA is a programme that has prestige. Typically, managers want to graduate from a top school such as Harvard or from a UK Russell Group university such as the University of Liverpool, which is triple accredited by AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB. The Liverpool programme was also recently ranked as a Top 10 Online MBA programme by the Financial Times.

What type of student would suit this course?

The MBA is best suited to students who want to progress in their careers, perhaps to move from a mid-level managerial role to a senior management role, or to change from a more specialist role, such as engineering, into a more general managerial role, or to do something completely different like start their own business as an entrepreneur or a consultant.

We ask that students have a minimum of three years’ experience in some type of managerial role so that could be managing teams, projects or budgets but many students have more and the current average on the programme is 11 years.

Students on the programme are typically mid-career managers or professionals from a variety of backgrounds such as IT, engineering, marketing and from different sectors such as oil and gas, or charities or the public sector such as education.

The online programme typically attracts people who have complex lives, for example, they have a full-time job, children or caring responsibilities. It's just not practical for them to give up their job and study on a full-time programme. They might have considered a part-time on-campus programme but when you factor in the travel time and additional costs such as travel and accommodation, online just makes more sense.

What networking opportunities does the course provide?

There are lots of networking opportunities because every class has around 20 students, who are all experienced managers. The programme encourages active learning such as exchanging your ideas in online written discussions or in live seminar sessions, which helps with networking and building relationships with other students.

Then there are more experiential modules like the Strategic Management Simulation or Innovation and Entrepreneurship module where students work much more collaboratively in small teams. Students use tools like WhatsApp or Zoom to talk with each other.

We also have the Management in Practice module where students take part in three Executive Project weeks spread across the programme. These start with a live guest speaker and the most recent was talking about Ethics and Artificial Intelligence. During the Project weeks students work in small groups but with students from across the whole programme so you might have completed six modules but you’re in a group with someone who has only done one module, so that provides a very different networking experience.

We also have careers events where we invite the on-campus MBA students, as well as online.

How does the MBA help graduates to progress their careers?

The MBA is valued because employers know that graduates will have developed a range of management knowledge and skills. Employers also know that the MBA is a challenging programme and, particularly with a part-time programme, it shows employers that you can take on challenges and are capable of managing your time and working productively and effectively both on your own and as part of a team.

In many ways an MBA is a form of signalling. You're making an investment in yourself and you're telling the rest of the world that you are ambitious and looking to progress your career.

For me though, the most important advantage of a part-time MBA is that you can put what you learn into practice immediately. That means that often the positive impact on students' career progression comes quickly and before they have finished the programme. People doing a part-time MBA are noticed because they are asking more interesting questions in a meeting or suggesting great ideas to their manager because of something they have been exploring in class or because they are just that bit more confident.

Tell us about studying online…

The Liverpool online MBA starts with a two-week induction. So, before you are doing graded assignments you learn about the basics, such as how to access the library and how to use real-world examples and reading to support your ideas. The online induction classroom is supported by an experienced lecturer, and you will also meet other students who have started the programme at the same time as you. You also submit a short assignment and get some feedback, so by the time you start the assessed modules you should have gained some confidence.

A typical MBA module lasts six weeks. Students study one module at a time. Most modules have two small assessments in week two and four of about 500 words and a bigger assessment in week six of about 2,000 words. There is a range of assessments, so the main assessment could be a slide-deck report or a narrated video presentation rather than a written report. Assessments are designed to be authentic, which means they are similar to real activities that managers undertake in the workplace. 

The programme is mostly asynchronous, which means that all the learning materials are available for you to engage with at any time and place to suit your needs, which helps to combine your study with family, work and travel commitments. The module week starts on a Tuesday and students typically start by working through the weekly lecturecast, which is similar to an on-campus face-to-face lecture of about two hours. However, online delivery means these can be delivered in more engaging bite-size chunks using multimedia audio, video, text and quizzes. The learning materials are based on research from world-renowned academics from the University of Liverpool's Management School and the latest management thinking from across the globe. After the lecturecast, the students complete an activity involving other students, such as a submission to a discussion board on a Friday and a response to a fellow student’s submission on the Monday.

While the programme is mostly asynchronous, there are some live sessions where students meet online with their lecturer at a particular time, and these are normally run twice to suit different time zones. In a typical module there is a one-hour live session in week one, which is a welcome session and another in weeks three and five. Module lecturers also host regular 'office hours' often via online conferencing facilities such as Zoom and the student support team is available by phone or email to provide both academic and pastoral support.

In a typical week, students are expected to study for about 15-20 hours. This includes the lecturecast, wider reading and working on assessments. It's quite intensive so you need self-discipline and good time management but it's also very engaging. Most weeks you will be getting feedback from your lecturer, and you will be submitting an assessment every couple of weeks and looking out for your results and this can provide a real sense of achievement and progress.

What advice do you have for anyone considering an MBA?

• Think about the time commitment as well as the financial commitment. It's about 15-20 hours a week so where will that come from? Typically, it's earlier mornings or longer evenings and some of the weekend. What could you do to create more time? You still need to make time for your day job and your family.
• Talk to your friends and family about your plans. You will need their support and encouragement and you might be surprised at the help that is offered to you.
• You need to find the right programme. Think about whether the programme reflects your career aspirations - is it a top programme that is well regarded by employers? Also consider whether it is feasible for you to give up your job to study full time or whether a more flexible online, part-time programme is better for you.

Find out more

• Take a look at the University of Liverpool's online MBA.
• Read all about MBA courses.