Global Executive Master of Business Administration MBA
About this course
Three continents, two years, and one unmissable opportunity — delivered by Nottingham Business School (NBS), and in partnership with South Africa’s Stellenbosch University and Brazil’s Insper Institute of Education and Research, our Global Executive MBA sheds new light on the fragmented landscape of international business. Delivered for and by business experts from around the world, the programme will significantly enrich your knowledge, networks, and professional prospects. The course is designed around three key themes; Developing Mindset; Leading Agile Transformation; and Building and Leading a Resilient Organisation.
You’ll study mainly online at a time and place that fits in with your work/social/home life. Each online module includes two live webinars to facilitate further discussion of the related academic materials with your fellow students and module tutor. We then supplement this with three one-week residentials in three different countries, where you will travel to Nottingham, South Africa and Brazil and put into practice and participate in change management, strategic business planning and global consultancy projects with local businesses.
As your confidence and insights grow, you’ll fundamentally challenge the ways you think about business, innovation, and leadership. More than just an elite developmental experience, the GEMBA is a transformative cultural one; you’ll join a high-calibre, multinational cohort of likeminded business leaders, and collaborate on live consultancy projects. You won’t just be learning about the nuances of international business practice — you’ll be living them.
Achieve your goals and transform as a leader. Apply new knowledge and insights in your own organisation. Become a better, braver, more sustainable leader. This is a challenging, exciting course, developed for bold and dynamic thinkers — business visionaries with innate leadership skills, a history of excellence in management, and the appetite to better-understand the global business environment. If that’s you, we’re here to take your career to the next level.
If you have any questions about our MBA, you can now email our MBA Marketing and Recruitment team.
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Develop global business perspectives
Broaden your horizons with life-changing, week-long study blocks in the UK, South Africa, and Brazil, and collaborate with peers to resolve real-world business problems. -
Study without interrupting your work
Our flexible programme is designed to accommodate the lives of busy senior executives, blending distance learning (80%) with immersive, on-campus residentials split into three separate weeks (20%). -
Achieve instant impact
The programme places a strong focus on practical, experiential learning, empowering you to refine the strategic vision and direction of your own organisation. -
Build worldwide connections
Our diversity is our strength. You’ll meet senior executives from a wide range of industries and backgrounds, and create invaluable connections through our global MBA alumni network.
What you’ll study
The programme’s aims are threefold — to broaden your understanding of leadership in a global context, to inspire bolder and more innovative decision-making, and to encourage greater self-reflection and awareness. Equipped with these enhanced skills and insights, you’ll graduate with the confidence and clarity to access new markets around the world.
As such, our Global Executive MBA benefits both the individual learner and their associated organisations. With each passing module — from Customer-centric Marketing, to Leading Responsible and Sustainable Organisations, to Operations and Supply Chain Management, to the collaborative consultancy projects at home and abroad — the knowledge gained on our programme can be taken and applied in real time, with instant impact, for the benefit of both your business and your people.
Studying in an elite business environment that inspires excellence, you’ll be supported by lecturers with over a century’s teaching and first-hand commercial experience — a highly informed collective of entrepreneurs, directors, and CEOs, whose specialisms range from digital marketing, consumer behaviour and leadership development, to change-management, sustainability, and social mobility. In addition to that, you’ll also have the support of your own dedicated Academic Mentor, who’ll help you to apply new knowledge in your own business environment.
Course structure and content
The Global Executive MBA begins with a comprehensive induction programme that will acclimatise leaners to both their new environment and the challenges ahead — and particularly students who are unfamiliar with university-level study, or who have been away from higher education for some time. It’s a challenging course, but you’ll be guided by a friendly and experienced teaching team, as well as the University’s award-winning student support services.
We have included a full breakdown of the modules you’ll be completing throughout our Global Executive MBA, including the Personal and Professional Development ‘spinal’ unit that runs concurrently throughout your studies.
Stage one - Leading with Purpose
- Induction, Professional Leadership Development and Business Research Project, study online
- Customer Centric Marketing, study online
- Leading People and Organisations, study online
- Leading Responsible and Sustainable Organisations, study online
- Leading Strategy, study online
- Change Management, Nottingham Campus, UK
Stage two - Leading Agile Transformation
- Leading Innovation, study online
- Finance for Strategic Decision Making, study online
- Operations and Supply Chain Management, study online
- Strategic Business Planning, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Stage three - Building and Leading a Resilient Organisation
- Data-Driven Decision Making, study online
- Governing Organisations, study online
- Digital Transformation, study online
- Global Consultancy Experience, São Paulo, Brazil
- Professional Leadership Development, study online
- Business Research Project, study online
Customer Centric Marketing
The Customer Centric Marketing module will enable you to understand the role of marketing, the global marketing context, develop marketing strategy, understand the importance of the customer experience and the interplay with brand. As a result of this knowledge, you will develop skills in applying this contemporary marketing knowledge to a real-world global context.
Leading People and Organisations
Leading People and Organisations takes a multi-disciplinary approach to develop knowledge, insights, and skills relevant to the management and leadership of people and organisations. You will reflect on and develop your leadership and management practice in the context of contemporary organisations in the global setting.
Leading Responsible and Sustainable Organisations
The Leading Responsible and Sustainable Organisations module will create a sustainable mind-set in you as a global leader through your understanding of the interface between ethics, corporate social responsibility, corporate governance and integrated sustainability.
Leading Strategy
Organisations are facing increasing uncertainty and disruption across all areas. Leading Strategy module will provide you an understanding of these issues and as a result you will be able to develop the leadership skills required to ensure long-term organisational success.
Campus Based Module – Change Management
The Change Management module involves you working with a group of your MBA peers as consultants to an organisation facing a complex change problem. Through this work based experience, you will learn how to lead change in complex global organisations and also develop consultancy skills.
Leading Innovation
Innovation skills are highly sought after in the global market-place. As a result of this module, you will have the skills needed to lead and facilitate innovation in complex global organisations.
Finance for Strategic Decision Making
Knowing how to make financial decisions is an essential leadership skill. The module provides you with the knowledge and skills required to evaluate internal and external financial information and use this to appraise corporate financial performance and strategy.
Operations and Supply Chain Management
All organisations rely on systems and processes to operate. As a global leader the module will build your knowledge of how these operate and how critical they are in supporting the delivery of strategic objectives.
Campus Based Module (South Africa) – Strategic Business Planning
Using a live case study organisation, and a real business problem, with a group of your MBA peers, you will be tasked with creating a strategic business plan for an organisation.
Data Driven Decision Making
This module will mean that you see beyond the hype of big data and a result you will be able to navigate your way through complexity, quantity and the ethical and legal issues related to data. Leveraging data in this way will enable you to answer strategically important decisions and thus link you to innovation.
Governing Organisations
As a global leader, you will need be able to operate effectively at board level to ensure the development of a sustainable and resilient organisation and establish the values and behaviours that guide organisational decision making and culture. The module adopts a structural, behavioural and an organisational perspective considering the governance options, behaviours and capabilities required to be an effective senior leader.
Business Research Project
The Business Research Project module aims to enable students to rigorously investigate an issue of management or organisational relevance. Students are expected to focus on a project that is relevant to their organisation and to themselves as a Senior Leader.
Digital Transformation
The ability to navigate and lead the ever-changing digital landscape is an essential leadership skill. The Digital Transformation module will allow you to develop an understanding of the strategic and operational business issues related to contemporary digital products and services for global organisations, with a focus on the technologies, skills and capabilities needed to create and sustain a cutting-edge digital business.
Campus Based Module (Brazil) – Global Consultancy Experience Module
This module provides the opportunity to experience dimensions of international strategic management by working intensively for a period of up to one week in a facilitated study tour including an external consultancy project. As a result, you will development of a range of important skills related to the economic global environment, managing across borders and managing projects. Given the international setting for the assignment, this will include strategies for operating in a culturally different environment and working closely with international collaborators.
Professional Leadership Development Module – spine module which runs throughout the course alongside CPD support events.
Professional Leadership Development will increase your understanding of how to manage your continuous professional development to be a more effective leader and to enable sustained career success. Criticality and reflection are highly effective leadership skills and through this module you will develop your ability to use critical reflective practice for improved individual and organisational performance in the global context.
Your Academic Mentor will guide you and support your personal leadership goals. Additionally, you’ll be supported with an Executive Coach to help your next career steps after you've completed your MBA.
We regularly review and update our course content based on student and employer feedback, ensuring that all of our courses remain current and relevant. This may result in changes to module content or module availability in future years.
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How you're taught
Programme structure
The Global Executive MBA provides you with the flexibility to learn in a way which fits with your work and personal commitments. The majority of your learning happens online; however, this is interspersed with three campus-based weeks in three continents (Europe, South Africa and Latin America) to enhance your overall learning experience.
Each online module runs over seven weeks and during the first five weeks touch points with either your tutor or peers to support your learning are available. At the end of week two, you’ll take part in a short multiple-choice test which will give you confidence that you’re gaining the core knowledge required. The final two weeks of the seven weeks allows you to focus on your final assessment. Throughout, an online tutor will support your learning and be a source of support to you. In week four and six of your module, live webinars will support your learning and provide you with further networking opportunities with your cohort.
The first of the campus-based weeks will be in Nottingham at our award-winning city centre campus. During this time, you will be introduced to the course, make connections with your MBA peers and gain the skills required for success. During this week you will begin your Professional Leadership Development and Business Research Project modules. The following three campus-based weeks will involve live case studies and input from university-based local experts. With the support of a university lecturer, you will work directly with organisations in the specific country you are located to apply your knowledge to real world contexts.
The Personal Leadership Development module runs throughout the course and alongside this module you are assigned an Academic Mentor who will work with you to support your academic, personal and professional growth. You will be encouraged by your Academic Mentor to apply your learning to your organisation to ensure maximum impact to your professional development and career growth.
Careers and employability
Successful completion of the MBA enables access to strategic and senior leader roles in all industry contexts. Students will have a highly sought-after global perspective and global experiences which will open doors to senior, strategic and consultancy roles.
Throughout the course, learners will be encouraged to apply their learning to their workplace. The personal leadership development modules assess your capability to apply your learning to you as a senior leader and to your organisation so there is benefit not only to your personal development and growth but also to your organisation. During the latter stages of your MBA, you’ll work with an Executive Coach to help with your next steps and post MBA planning.
Campus and facilities
Nottingham Business School's professional approach to management education is supported by a suite of state-of-the-art teaching rooms and the latest in communication and information technology. The School provides a high-quality management learning environment, designed to encourage creative thinking about real-world issues.
Entry requirements
UK students
You will need the following:
- A good first degree (typically 2:2 or above) or equivalent professional qualifications, along with 3-5 years professional experience that includes responsibility for managing organisational resources.
- If you do not have an undergraduate degree we can accept 8+ years of appropriate professional experience.
Other requirements:
- Vocational and academic references
When you join the MBA, we assign you an Academic Mentor who will work with you through the duration of the course to help you achieve your career objectives.
Get in touch If you need any more help or information, please contact us at Ask NTU or call on +44 (0)115 848 4200.
Additional requirements for UK students
There are no additional requirements for this course.
International students
You will need the following:
- A good first degree (typically 2:2 or above) or equivalent professional qualifications, along with 3-5 years professional experience that includes responsibility for managing organisational resources.
- If you do not have an undergraduate degree we can accept 8+ years of appropriate professional experience.
Other requirements:
- Vocational and academic references
As part of the application process, we will meet with you to identify your individual training needs. This will allow us to provide personalised support as we assign you an Academic Mentor who will be with you through the duration of the course to help you achieve your training and learning objectives.
English language entry requirements
If English is not your first language you need to show us that your language skills are strong enough for intensive academic study. We usually ask for an IELTS test and we accept some alternative English language tests.
- For 1-year Masters you'll need a 6.5 grade overall with minimum of 5.5 in each component.
English language requirements: See our English language requirements page for requirements for your subject and information on alternative tests and Pre-sessional English.
Additional requirements for international students
There are no additional requirements for this course.
Policies
We strive to make our admissions procedures as fair and clear as possible. To find out more about how we make offers, visit our admissions policies page.
