Personalise your MBA
Flexcore is a set of four key online modules of which you are required to choose at least two. By choosing your preferred modules in this way, you can personalise your MBA to study what interests you the most.
You may take more than two flexcore modules, decreasing the number of elective modules you need to complete accordingly.
Flexcore modules
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).
"One of my key takeaways from the programme so far is keeping an open mind and learning to look at the same problem from different perspectives to find innovative and practical solutions. I’ve also managed to let go of my doubts and have found out first hand that we are generally capable of more than we think."
