Global Online MBA

Before the start of your programme, you will be expected to complete online pre-study modules, delivered via The Hub, our bespoke virtual learning environment. These include primers in key areas including accounting, careers, corporate sustainability, data analysis, finance, maths, plagiarism awareness, and social innovation and ethics.

Please note that some modules are compulsory while others are strongly recommended.

Your first opportunity to meet your programme team and cohort will be during the compulsory induction week at our campus in London where you will lay the foundations of your MBA experience. You will have plenty of time to meet and connect with your classmates through various activities and events. During your five-day induction, you will also attend several lectures, discussions, and exercises introducing you to the programme. Sessions with our Career's team will also be available, helping you plan and develop your career goals.

This module provides a framework for analysing financial markets and showing how they interact with the key decisions of firms. It will enable you to understand the role of assets, pricing, and the interaction between the economy and financial variables. 

The module: 

Provides information regarding the two key financial instruments (stocks and bonds) 

Introduces the key derivatives markets (futures and options) 

Examines Portfolio Analysis and the risk return trade-off 

Introduces the concepts of risk and return in financial markets and the relevance of diversification 

Explores how return is related to risk through the Capital Asset Pricing Model. 

Corporate Finance will extend your understanding of company valuation and investment appraisal, introducing the concept of the cost of capital and how it can be calculated. It shows how companies are financed and how to decide between different types of finance. 

This module will focus on the use of accounting for financial management and reporting, explaining the techniques of financial and management accounting, and examining their relevance to the broader issues of decision-making and management control in organisations. The module gives you insights into the way that business performance is measured using financial analysis, and how strategic business decisions can be structured and analysed using accounting information.

The purpose of this module is to: 

Introduce economic concepts encountered in business contexts 

Provide a framework for modelling the interaction between consumers and producers 

Study firms' pricing decisions and the principles of strategic interaction 

Understand how macroeconomic forces affect the economic environment facing firms. 

This module covers themes in both macro- and micro-economics. The module starts with microeconomics, building models of supply and demand and how they interact to determine market prices. We will explore situations in which governments typically intervene to change market outcomes, such as with environmental policy. We will study price-setting by firms with market power, and strategic interaction using the approach of game theory. The module then analyses the macroeconomic backdrop against which businesses and government operate. We will show how the decisions of firms and consumers interact to generate the aggregate outcomes that macroeconomists focus on: total output (GDP), employment, inflation, and the balance of payments. The module concludes by discussing the role of monetary policy in steering the economy. 

Among business disciplines, marketing is the primary contact point between a business and its customers. Nearly everybody will, at some point in their career, wear a marketing hat. Understanding marketing will help you whether you are an accountant, a consultant, a programmer, a banker, or a museum curator. Appreciating customer needs and how to marshal the resources of an organisation to meet those needs are crucial skills in today’s business world.

This module develops a general management viewpoint in planning and evaluating marketing decisions, from both strategic (e.g. market selection, firm objective, etc.) and tactical (e.g. promotion, pricing, etc.) perspectives. The module will also help you to understand how marketing decisions are affected by organisational and environmental influences.

What is organisational behaviour? Do organisations really 'behave', so to speak? Or do they sometimes also misbehave? What’s the difference? 

Any time you put people into any kind of division of labour and related structures for integrating their efforts, predictable behavioural tendencies arise. Some of these tendencies make for effective organisations; others are challenges to overcome. Add in competition among organisations, changes in the environment, and competing demands from multiple stakeholders, and you have a set of problems and solutions called organisational behaviour. 

This module covers major factors that shape organisational behaviour and effectiveness with the aim of developing your ability to address these factors, particularly as leaders. Specifically, we cover material that spans the three major levels at which organisational behaviour is studied: 

1. The micro or individual level of analysis 

2. The meso or organisational level of analysis 

3. Macro levels of analysis such as industries and markets or cultures and nations. 

We’ll be examining how activities at all three levels either come together or not to enable organisational performance and effectiveness. 

Strategy, at its most general, refers to the purposeful allocation of resources in a competitive environment over relatively long periods of time in the pursuit of specific goals. Strategy is shaped by the underlying market conditions as well as the resources available to management (including the firm’s internal structure, systems, and culture). This integration of the external and internal perspectives provides the basic framework for strategic thinking. 

The strategy module gives you a holistic view of the firm, helps to develop your ability to think beyond day-to-day business activities and challenges you to ask the right questions about a firm’s future. These skills are essential to being an effective general manager. 

Managers are faced with a wealth of data. This module is about turning that data into actionable insights, leading to well-informed decisions for complex business problems. 

We show how to build a model of the business situation that recognises its essential features and takes account of uncertainty. These models can be used first to understand what is happening, second to predict what will happen, and finally to make good management decisions, that take into account risks arising from management actions. 

Throughout the module we will use Excel spreadsheets– so that you will build your skills in this area. The applications are multi-disciplinary with links to finance, marketing and operations. 

Management of technology and innovation plays an important role in shaping firms’ competitive positions. However, in an increasingly complex global environment where technological change is endemic and unpredictable, continuously bringing innovations to market successfully is a formidable challenge. Established firms, in particular, struggle to remain creative, flexible, adaptive and resilient when rapidly changing business and technological environments render their existing competencies less valuable or even useless. Facing this challenge, organisations are recognising the critical role that an entrepreneurial mindset and innovative thinking play in creating opportunities for growth and renewal. 

In this module, we focus on the theory and best practices associated with the process of creating new technologies, products, and businesses, within the boundaries of a large, established corporation. In particular, we will examine: 

Types and sources of innovation 

The diffusion of innovation 

Standards and entry timing 

The management of innovation portfolios and R&D management 

Corporate venturing and open innovation 

Designing innovative organisations 

This module will provide students with a rich understanding of the complexities of managing innovation in established companies. 

The entrepreneurship module introduces you to the different aspects of entrepreneurial thinking, specifically when it comes to innovative businesses. You will be introduced to the concepts of design thinking, technology and innovation, business modelling in nascent markets, entrepreneurial finance and leadership and legal arrangements such as term sheets and shareholder agreements. 

The leadership module will help you become more aware of your personality traits through diagnosis (questionnaire assessment exercises), strengths and weaknesses as a leader through insight (introspection and reflection on one’s traits, habits, and behaviours) and to build on this knowledge to improve your leadership practice through self-development (plans to learn and change to more effectively tackle future challenges). 

Advanced Financial and Sustainability Reporting (On-campus) 

Data Analytics and Visualisation for Business 

Operations 

Operations Management 

Big Data, AI and Machine Learning (On-campus) 

Project Management (On-campus)

Venture Capital Finance 

AI Ventures (On-campus) 

Digital Business Model Design (On-campus) 

Digital Technologies and Digital Transformation (On-campus) 

Entrepreneurial Finance and Venture Capital (On-campus) 

Entrepreneurial Journey 

Entrepreneurial SMARTCamp (On-campus) 

Frugal Innovation: Expanding markets, meeting needs (IB Glocal elective) 

Leading Social Innovation (On-campus) 

Digital Opportunities: Insights from the Startup Nation (IB Glocal elective) 

The Future of Cities (IB Glocal elective) 

Wicked Problems, Systems Dynamics, and Entrepreneurial Innovation 

Advanced Corporate Finance 

Asset Management and Alternative Investments (On-campus) 

Mergers and Acquisitions 

Pricing Strategy 

Private Equity 

Venture Capital Finance 

Asset Management (On-campus) 

Advanced Financial and Management Accounting 

The Fintech Revolution: New Markets, Models and Opportunities (On-campus) 

Clean Technology Investment (On-campus) 

Sustainable Finance and Investments (On-campus) 

Entrepreneurial Finance and Venture Capital (On-campus) 

Blockchain and Applications (On-campus)

Leading YourSelf 

Managing Negotiations 

Digital Transformation: Leading Real-World Change (On-campus) 

Family Business (On-campus) 

Leading and Executing Strategic Change (On-campus) 

Leading Social Innovation (On-campus) 

Strategy and Leadership in a Digital World (On-campus) 

The Future of Cities (IB Glocal elective) 

Applied Strategic Marketing

Brand Management

Digital Marketing

Marketing Analytics

Marketing Analytics: Leading with Big Data (On-campus) 

Market Research

Pricing Strategy

Consumer Behaviour (On-campus) 

Sales Management and Leadership (IB Glocal Elective) 

Advanced Strategy in a Stakeholder Economy

Business Problem Solving

Digital Business

International Business

Breakout Strategy (On-campus) 

Climate Change and Business Strategy (On-campus) 

Design for Business Transformation (On-campus) 

Economics of Information and Intellectual Property (On-campus) 

Energy Business (On-campus) 

Management Challenges in Healthcare (On-campus) 

Strategic Networking (On-campus) 

Strategy and Leadership in a Digital World (On-campus) 

Strategy in Volatile and Uncertain Environments (On-campus) 

Sustainability and Competitive Advantage (On-campus) 

Digital Opportunities: Insights from the Startup Nation (IB Glocal elective) 

Sustainable Transformation Made in Italy (IB Glocal Elective) 

This elective module allows you to put the theory taught on the MBA into practice. You’ll develop specialised expertise by researching a real business issue and influence real commercial outcomes, if your recommendations are implemented by a sponsoring organisation. This module counts as a double-weighted elective. The start date of the Independent Project depends on your programme duration (21, 24 or 32 months). 

The Entrepreneurial Journey is your opportunity to work an idea into a product or service and pitch your proposition to a panel of venture capitalists to compete for a monetary prize. As an elective, the Journey is an optional module. The start date will depend on your programme duration (21, 24 or 32 months). 

The journey is suitable for both those wanting to innovate as intrapreneurs from within an organisation or start their own ventures. You will develop a value proposition, carry out customer discovery research, validate the product or service, and create a fully-fledged business proposal. Throughout the Journey, you will be able to collaborate with the Imperial Enterprise Lab to connect with investors and receive coaching support. 

Your first week on the Global Online MBA will be spent at our campus in London, where you will meet with the rest of your cohort, faculty and teaching/programme staff. This five-day induction will lay the foundations of your Global Online MBA experience. 

By starting your programme on campus, you will be able to develop strong bonds in person through activities and events. You will also meet your study group for the first year of your programme, who will play a significant role in your learning. During this week, you can also speak to a member of our Careers team who will help you develop a plan to achieve your career goals. 

The programme induction week is a compulsory element of your Business School programme and we expect you to attend on campus in London. 

The Capstone module takes place over a seven-day period at our London campus. Alongside a series of lectures on innovation, design and entrepreneurship, you will analyse the innovative needs of a large multinational and develop a business case to help the company grow. This provides you with a practical opportunity to apply what you’ve learnt during the programme, enabling you to think more strategically when faced with the challenges of bringing new ideas to market.  

Global Experience Week is an unforgettable opportunity that MBA students look forward to each year. You’ll learn about the challenges faced by local organisations, and how a country’s business environment affects the way they operate.  

In previous years, students have visited Abu Dhabi (UAE) and Zambia while our 2022-23 cohort were able to choose from the following destinations: 

Brazil – How business can unlock potential to boost productivity 

Kenya – How business can scale while addressing the SDGs 

Nordics (exact destination TBC) – How businesses can be transformed to tackle climate action 

For the Nordics, past destinations have included Reykjavik, Tallinn, Helsinki and Copenhagen. 

The cost of this trip is not included in your tuition fees.  

Anyone choosing to complete the programme in 21 months is not eligible for this trip due to timings. 

The IB Glocal Electives teach students how to explore contemporary global business problems with a local perspective. You will gain a deeper insight into international issues in a particular geography and will benefit from the in-market exposure and teaching the trips provide. 

Led by Imperial College Business School faculty in collaboration with partners at global locations, these intensive four-day study abroad programmes give students who want to enrich their academic curriculum a stimulating experience. Previous locations have included Houston, Milan, Singapore and Tel Aviv. 

The optional Global Exchanges programme allows you to increase your international exposure and build your network by taking advantage of specialised electives at one of our partner schools.