business planning lead nottingham university

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Business Administration MBA

• Full-time: 12 months
• Part-time: Not available
• Start date: September 2024
• UK fees: £30,200
• International fees: £30,200
• Entry requirements: 2:1

Course overview

Around the world there is growing employer demand for masters-level business professionals. Our full-time MBA programme will help you develop key theoretical concepts as well as how to adapt and utilise skills in a practical global business environment.

You'll study core modules covering essential areas of management including leadership, marketing, finance, and entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship education is among our foremost strengths, and you will take part in the Ingenuity process - a unique method for encouraging creative problem solving, developed by our Haydn Green Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship . You can also focus on your interests and career goals by choosing from specialist optional modules, covering topics including venture capital, ethics, business intelligence, and change management.

You will also complete a company-based management project, working with a company to help them to resolve real business issues. This is an opportunity to put knowledge into practice, impress a potential employer, and foster good relationships from which you may benefit at a later date.

Market-leading digital systems by SAP are integrated into this course to help demonstrate industrial practice and develop your digital skills . You also have the option to take industry-recognised digital professional qualifications by Microsoft and SAP alongside your course, which will help you stand out to future employers.

A fundamental part of your learning and development is through group work. We provide a management and interpersonal skills programme that all MBA students take part in, helping you form social networks and ease your return to academic life. Working with talented peers from different professional and cultural backgrounds will help you develop a global perspective.

The course includes many opportunities for practical experience and networking, including our international study tours (dependent upon any travel restrictions) where you’ll gain direct experience of global business through meetings with executives, company visits, and sessions with experts. Our unique connections with China and Malaysia also offer a fantastic opportunity to learn about the essentials of doing business in these countries. You’ll also visit companies in Nottingham and London as part of our Business Practice Week to learn first-hand about different types of businesses, their current challenges, and how these relate to the theory you’re studying.

Your personal and professional development is an ongoing conversation throughout the MBA. We offer a range of career development activities to help plan your next career move based on your individual experiences, skills, interests and aspirations. You’ll graduate with all the knowledge, practical skills and confidence you need to stand out to employers and progress as a business leader.

Why choose this course?

Top 40 in the world.

for best MBA sustainability

Corporate Knights Better World MBA Ranking 2023

Gain digital skills

We integrate market-leading digital systems by SAP into our courses and offer the opportunity to take industry-recognised Microsoft and SAP certifications

QS Global MBA Rankings: Europe 2023

Triple accredited

Part of an elite group of business schools worldwide to gain ‘triple crown’ accreditation

EQUIS , AMBA and AACSB accredited

Course content

Our MBA aims to:

• improve your leadership skills
• build your practical management capabilities through engagement with business
• encourage a creative and entrepreneurial approach to problem solving
• develop your understanding of responsible and sustainable business practices
• cultivate a global perspective through a mix of teaching, teamwork and opportunities for overseas business visits

The course consists of core and optional modules, and an individual or group company-based management project.

You will take modules that will put you at the head of a management team, allowing you to develop innovative solutions to problems and crises that may threaten the operation and reputation of a business.

Throughout your MBA, you will encounter senior business figures, practitioners and internationally renowned academics. They will challenge your approach and understanding of important strategic business decisions.

• Course structure

Core modules

Semester one.

In this module you will 'examine the complex cycle of financial reporting, management accounting, corporate financing, and investment within a business.

You will learn how good financial stewardship ensures that financial resources are in the right place, at the right time, and in the right form to sustain the business in meeting the needs of its stakeholders.

You will enhance your financial literacy through the practical experience of developing financial reports, analysing risk, recommending financing, and making investment decisions.

Core to your ethos will be environment, society, and governance (ESG) objectives, sustainable value creation, and responsible investment.

Experienced professionals will share their insights into global capital markets, micro-finance, and funding in the non-profit.

In this module, you will gain an advanced understanding of the function of a wide range of markets for the production, exchange, and consumption of goods and services.

We will examine how people perceive the choices available to them, and assess the associated risks, to make optimal decisions.

We will also explore the nature of competition in dynamic markets, and the approaches that companies take to gain temporary and lasting advantage.

Change is at the heart of our teaching. You will learn about innovation and the impact of disruptive technologies, such as digital platforms that create new markets, and how transformation occurs whilst protecting consumers and building market resilience to achieve lasting social good, and how greater environmental awareness is impacting and changing market behaviours.

Designing, forming, and leading organisations provides people with essential livelihoods. Doing this with a shared sense of purpose enables the organisation to amplify its social good across many markets and countries.

Within a good governance structure, we examine what leaders do to motivate and empower employees, shape cultures, drive change, resolve conflicts and increase inclusion using power and effective decision-making.

We will explore a range of human interaction techniques including motivation and rewards, job design, teamworking, and leadership. From this you will enhance your team-working skills, leadership profile, and your interpersonal effectiveness.

You will hear from experienced and successful leaders of the challenges they faced in their careers and the lessons that were learned leading to their improved practice.

We are all consumers and the targets of marketing activity from many organisations. But do we really understand why these companies do what they do for us? How do they know what products we want, how much we are prepared to pay, where we want to buy them, or how we want to be spoken to?

You will explore how companies create valuable relationships in a context of changing consumer behaviour, varied needs, dynamic market conditions, and unrelenting global competition.

This takes place in an era of improving professional standards as the marketplace rewards ethical marketing, transparency, customer engagement, and responsible consumption.

You will learn through case studies and from discussions with a range of expert practitioners.

Well-designed and well-managed operational systems that align with an organisation’s strategy are central to achieving and sustaining high levels of performance.

We focus on contemporary and emerging practice across the industrial, service, public, and not-for-profit sectors, emphasising high-performing operational processes capable of delivering an organisation’s products and services efficiently and effectively.

You will be able to assess the challenges in managing complex operations, projects, and supply chains to deliver high-quality outcomes, using Lean techniques and Six Sigma. You will understand the critical importance of IT and digitally enabled systems in supporting strong operational performance.

We share insights from business and industry, including analysis of contemporary case studies and expert practitioner views to drive business agility, rapid fulfilment, and customer-focused product variety while promoting resource sustainability and operational resilience.

Strategy is the practice of how an organisation fits within its chosen environment to ensure sustainability, competitive advantage in the good times, and resilience in more challenging times.

You will develop strategic analyses both for the external competitive environment and for the organisation’s internal resources and competencies, establishing priorities for where and how to focus development resources.

Ever mindful of current and emerging global competition you will use creativity and nuance to make clear the organisation’s strategic purpose, giving clarity of role to key stakeholders, and ensuring transparent governance.

Experienced practitioners will share their successes and failures of developing and delivering business, societal, and international strategic interventions. You will learn from a dynamic blend of case studies, cutting-edge research insights, and guest speakers.

Semester two

Identifying, defining, and solving problems is key to a thriving society and economy.

Whether working individually, within an organisation, or setting up a new business, it is your entrepreneurial skills that will enable you to establish new sources of value.

Challenges and opportunities come in many forms. Whether it is the need to develop a circular economy, expand clean technologies, enable regeneration, or ensure resource sustainability for future generations, this module gives you the opportunity to make your mark.

Using the University’s Ingenuity™ creative problem-solving model, you will work in teams, mentored by experienced entrepreneurs, to address a practical entrepreneurial challenge.

This module will integrate your thinking to build your business planning and pitching skills.

How do business leaders recognise their need to be responsible and accountable for their environmental and social impacts? How can they develop effective strategies to address sustainability challenges such as climate change, and how can those strategies play a fundamental role in core company performance and success?

This sustainable business simulation tackles these questions in an innovative way. Students gain first-hand experience of leadership roles in sustainability, and the complexities of creating sustainability strategies to ensure ‘shared value’ for companies, their stakeholders, and the environment. They learn how to defend those strategies in a board conference with experienced business practitioners, and how to approach a sustainability crisis through a simulated press conference with real journalists.

The aim is: student understanding of what is required to be a responsible business leader.

All MBA students complete a management project, giving them the opportunity to put theory into practice. You spend up to six months on a management project exploring current business issues and applying the theories and techniques learned during your MBA to resolve them.

You have three options. Either:

• apply for a project with a real business (company-based management project)
• do a desk-based project
• write a business plan

The specific topic is subject to an approval process. Course members enrolled on a specific MBA variant must undertake a Management Project related to their named variant.

Optional modules

This module examines ethical issues and dilemmas, covering a range of complex and controversial problems relating to business in a global economy. The main concepts and theories underpinning the business ethics field will be introduced, and you shall have the opportunity to apply these to business situations.

More specifically, the module explores pertinent issues of human rights, globalisation and sustainable development, and places these within different philosophical and cultural perspectives. The module also explores the role of professionals from an ethical perspective, and situates these explorations within a political-economic framework.

This module focuses on the key digital technologies that are producing revolutionary change in business right now. Wherever you work – finance, retail, government, manufacturing, consultancy or any service role – your industry and your job is being changed by disruptive technologies as organisations become data-driven.

New uses of data are radically changing how firms produce products and services, how they interact with customers and how they partner together. But the change has just started – this module can help you take advantage of the changes to come.

We will look at the underlying business ideas which drive and make use of technologies like big data analytics, The Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, social media, Web 2.0, and cloud computing. We will discuss how they are being used by different firms to transform their capabilities, their business models and their performance. We will look at how to use these technologies in business examples, the firms that you are interested in and in your own jobs.

This module aims to promote self-directed learning on emerging issues for the future of management. You will be consulted on potential topics during semester one and the process explained. You will be expected select a topic for your studies from a selection that should demonstrate the relevance and importance of the topic for your future business ambitions or personal career development.

The module examines the ethical and practical justifications for the idea that companies should operate in the interests of shareholders and also the counter arguments in favour of a stakeholder perspective.

The module then deals in turn with the major financial decisions made in organisations (capital budgeting, capital structure, dividends, mergers, working capital). Decisions are analysed first in the context of well functioning capital markets. Capital market imperfections and behavioural biases on the part of managers and investors are then considered.

Game theory is used to analyse and predict the outcomes of complex situations involving strategic interactions, ie interactions in which the right choice for us depends upon the choices made by others, and our choices affect how others behave. Managers face strategic interactions within the firm (with other divisions and subordinates) and outside the firm, with suppliers, competitors, customers, regulators, and even capital markets. Examples include pricing decisions in oligopolistic markets, entry or exit decisions, incentive schemes, and optimal timing to release information.

In this module, you will learn the essential tools of game theory, discover their use by applying them to a variety of business situations and cases, and find out which are its limitations. It aims at developing your ability to think ahead and to take into account other people’s possible responses to your actions. More importantly, we’ll discuss how to choose or design the best “game”. After all, “successful business strategy is about actively shaping the game you play, not just playing the game you find” (Brandegurger and Nalebuff, 1995).

The aim of this module to understand the different factors that support innovative performance within firms. First, we look at innovation from an industrial perspective, showing how innovations of product, process and organisational structure can create and destroy markets. Then we consider innovation within an organisation, showing how innovation can be used to address social, environmental and governance challenges. Finally, we look at innovation from a managerial perspective, highlighting the entrepreneurial practices necessary to sustain innovation. We draw upon live cases of innovation within small, fast-growing firms and learn from approaches used to re-vitalise larger firms.

Participants choose which firm they wish to work upon and research the historical innovation performance of that firm and recommend a change programme for senior managers to act upon. This equips participants with the knowledge to manage innovation within their sector of interest and helps build their capability to respond to uncertainty and change.

The International Study Tour (IST) offers an exciting opportunity to appreciate the dynamics of contemporary business practice in an international context. It comprises a mixture of preparatory classroom learning and research, and field visits to organisations in the destination country, and meetings with senior managers.

The IST provides a great opportunity to reflect on the application of theory to practical business management issues in different environments, namely national, corporate and consumer cultural contexts and business environments. A range of sectors, industries, and company sizes are included to maximise alignment to students’ interests.

The IST has visited USA and China. The destination each year is based on the benefit that the destination country adds to the experience but may be affected by regulatory and logistical constraints. Assessment mirrors the innovative nature of the module and includes reflection on personal learning.

The module will include the following topics:

• The meaning, nature and evolution of the field of leadership in an organisational, social, environmental and multi-cultural context
• Critical issues in leadership, including how leaders are selected, development tools that are available, and issues of evaluation - leadership development, styles, motivations and competencies
• Leadership skills for building teams and securing involvement and participation - working collaboratively, ethically and effectively to support a partnership approach to leadership and management development
• Leadership and strategic change - the key roles that leaders play in creating visions and strategies and the implementation of leadership and management strategies to meet current and future organisational demands
• Leadership and sustainable strategic management
• Leading change - how leaders influence and persuade others and the key challenges that organisations and individual managers face

Varying in size and type, projects are literally everywhere. They are vital to all sectors and all business functions and are key platforms for improved performance and enhanced competitiveness. However, many projects are not easy to plan, manage or control, and may fail; they may overshoot the deadline, go over budget, or not meet the specifications. Risks and uncertainty and the choice of the right methodology, further complicate planning and control and affect the chances of successful project completion.

The module develops knowledge of the most important project planning and control methods and techniques, both traditional and contemporary. It enhances understanding on how the variety of project management methods work through in-class applications, readings, and the use of relevant software. It addresses broader issues and challenges of managing projects successfully, including stakeholder engagement and management, risk and uncertainty, the contribution of projects to innovation, and the development of a portfolio strategy.

Why focus on business-to-business marketing? It is believed that between 50% and as much as 80% of all marketing related jobs and associated economic activity are in business markets. New perspectives in business marketing have emerged that focus on intangible resources, the co-creation of value, and relationships in networks of organisations rather than the traditional buyer-seller dyadic view of markets and marketing.

The aim of this module is to provide an introduction to the main theoretical and managerial concepts and issues in the area of business-to-business marketing and strategic market relations. We explore the complex dynamics of networked relationships between buying and selling organisations. Such networks offer organisations the opportunity to learn and create value in novel and innovative ways. However, they also constrain the actions of individual organisations in the network. Thus, strategic market relations require firms to understand how to build, manage, and leverage their market relationships.

Venture Capital and Private Equity (VC&PE) provide risk capital to firms at various stages of their life cycle, from selecting early-stage young firms to identifying late-stage investment opportunities such buyouts.

This module examines how VC&PE firms operate from both the investor and investee perspective. It looks at due diligence, firm section, structuring deals, valuation, managing portfolio firms, and exit. Cases discussed range from seed funding to management buyouts (MBOs) and bolt-ons to turnarounds and are often accompanied by industry experts in class.

Learning and assessment

How you will learn.

You will receive expert tuition in small diverse classes, combining teaching based on innovative current research with a practical understanding of how to lead teams and businesses.

You will develop teamwork skills in group work, engage with businesses and organisations and take part in a personal and professional development programme.

Highlights of your learning experience include:

• international study tours - experience different cultures and realise the direct impact of differing environments on business, taking you from the classroom to the real world
• Business Practice Week - attend company visits in Nottingham and London, learning more about current business challenges and how these relate to theoretical concepts
• the Ingenuity process – take part in a unique method for encouraging creative problem solving, developed by our Haydn Green Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• the company-based management project - work with a company or organisation helping them to resolve real business issues

Embedding digital professional skills

We are working with some of the world’s leading business software providers - SAP and Microsoft – to integrate their systems into our courses. With 75% of employers reporting a shortage of digital skills in their workforce ( QS World University Rankings 2020 ), we will help you gain a working knowledge of how to use data, AI and Cloud so you can develop the skills that employers are looking for in graduates.

We also offer the opportunity for you to take industry-recognised Microsoft and SAP certifications alongside your degree programme. This will enhance your digital capability, differentiate your CV and help you stand out to future employers. Find out more on our digital professional skills website  or watch our video .

How you will be assessed

• Examinations
• Project work

Modules are assessed by a combination of exams and coursework at the end of the relevant semester.

Entry requirements

All candidates are considered on an individual basis and we accept a broad range of qualifications. The entrance requirements below apply to 2024 entry.

• Home / UK students
• EU / International students

Alternative qualifications

Admission to our full-time MBA requires at least three to five years of post-graduation full-time work experience that includes some management experience. The application process will include an interview.

Meeting our English language requirements

If you need support to meet the required level, you may be able to attend a presessional English course. Presessional courses teach you academic skills in addition to English language. Our  Centre for English Language Education is accredited by the British Council for the teaching of English in the UK.

If you successfully complete your presessional course to the required level, you can then progress to your degree course. This means that you won't need to retake IELTS or equivalent.

For on-campus presessional English courses, you must take IELTS for UKVI to meet visa regulations. For online presessional courses, see our CELE webpages for guidance

Visa restrictions

International students must have valid UK immigration permissions for any courses or study period where teaching takes place in the UK. Student route visas can be issued for eligible students studying full-time courses. The University of Nottingham does not sponsor a student visa for students studying part-time courses. The Standard Visitor visa route is not appropriate in all cases. Please contact the university’s Visa and Immigration team if you need advice about your visa options.

We recognise that applicants have a variety of experiences and follow different pathways to postgraduate study.

We treat all applicants with alternative qualifications on an individual basis. We may also consider relevant work experience.

If you are unsure whether your qualifications or work experience are relevant, contact us .

Please note: this is a highly competitive course and there are a limited number of places available. The school reserves the right to close applications when capacity is reached – this may be ahead of the advertised closure date for PGT courses. Early applications are encouraged to avoid disappointment.

Our step-by-step guide covers everything you need to know about applying.

Where you will learn

Jubilee campus.

Jubilee Campus has eco-friendly buildings, alongside green spaces, wildlife and a lake. 

This campus is home to our business, education and computer science schools, as well as a sports centre and student accommodation.

You can walk to  University Park Campus  in around 20 minutes or catch a free hopper bus. Nottingham city centre is 20 minutes away by public bus.

Additional information for international students

If you are a student from the EU, EEA or Switzerland, you may be asked to complete a fee status questionnaire and your answers will be assessed using guidance issued by the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) .

These fees are for full-time study. If you are studying part-time, you will be charged a proportion of this fee each year (subject to inflation).

Additional costs

All students will need at least one device to approve security access requests via Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). We also recommend students have a suitable laptop to work both on and off-campus. For more information, please check the equipment advice .

As a student on this course, you should factor some additional costs into your budget, alongside your tuition fees and living expenses. This includes costs to be considered to take the International Study Tour elective.

You should be able to access most of the books you'll need through our libraries, though you may wish to purchase your own copies or more specific titles.

There are many ways to fund your postgraduate course, from scholarships to government loans.

We also offer a range of international masters scholarships for high-achieving international scholars who can put their Nottingham degree to great use in their careers.

Check our guide to find out more about funding your postgraduate degree.

• Careers advice
• Job prospects
• Accreditation

We offer individual careers support for all postgraduate students .

Expert staff can help you research career options and job vacancies, build your CV or résumé, develop your interview skills and meet employers.

Each year 1,100 employers advertise graduate jobs and internships through our online vacancy service. We host regular careers fairs, including specialist fairs for different sectors.

International students who complete an eligible degree programme in the UK on a student visa can apply to stay and work in the UK after their course under the Graduate immigration route . Eligible courses at the University of Nottingham include bachelors, masters and research degrees, and PGCE courses.

Graduate destinations

Our in-house Postgraduate Careers Team provides expert advice and guidance so that you can make an informed decision about the right career path for you.

Prior to commencing your MBA, you can take part in pre-course careers discussions and take advantage of remote and online support through an online assessment tool which helps you to evaluate your business interests and motivations.

Once on the programme, the MBA Personal and Professional Development Programme combines career exploration and skills development. This is complemented by one to one career coaching.

Increasingly, graduates are required to be cloud and data-ready for the workplace with 66% of employers wanting to see graduates achieve professional qualifications as well as their main degree (CMI 21st Century leaders report). The school works with some of the world’s leading business software providers including SAP and Microsoft, integrating their systems into our courses, as well as offering the option to take their globally recognised professional digital qualifications alongside your course. Our Digital Centre of Excellence will support you so that you can develop the digital skills necessary to pursue your chosen career and stand out to future employers.

Our support continues throughout your time at Nottingham and after you graduate. Business School postgraduates also have access to events and resources provided by the Careers and Employability Service .

Our MBA provides an excellent platform for career enhancement, career change or entrepreneurial activities.

Graduate destinations include:

• management consulting
• finance and accounting
• human resources
• marketing/sales
• information technology
• operations and logistics

Companies and organisations our graduates have gone on to work for include Accenture, Apple, Bosch, Credit Suisse, Deloitte, EY, Fidelity Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan, Red Cross and Santander Group.

Some MBA graduates return to their previous employer in a more senior role. Our Ingenuity Lab has also supported a number of our MBA graduates in starting their own company.

Career progression

86.2% of postgraduates from Nottingham University Business School secured graduate level employment or further study within 15 months of graduation.* Average salary uplifts for our full-time MBA graduates have ranged from 40% to 64% (2015- 2018 period).

Our MBA programme has enabled many of our graduates to experience career enhancements and career changes, and some have gone on to start up their own business or onto PhD studies.

We are 1st in the UK for salary increase and top 10 in the UK for salary and potential to network, as well as 12th in the world for personal development and educational experience in  The Economist MBA 2021 .

* HESA Graduate Outcomes 2019/20 data published in 2022. The Graduate Outcomes % is derived using The Guardian University Guide methodology.

EQUIS accredited

The Business School is EQUIS accredited.

AMBA accredited

The Business School is AMBA accredited.

AACSB accredited

The Business School is AACSB accredited. 

The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) is a national grading system, introduced by the government in England. It assesses the quality of undergraduate teaching at universities and how well they ensure excellent outcomes for their students in terms of graduate-level employment or further study.

This content was last updated on Friday 24 May 2024. Every effort has been made to ensure that this information is accurate, but changes are likely to occur given the interval between the date of publishing and course start date. It is therefore very important to check this website for any updates before you apply.

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New Director of Planning, Performance and Strategic Change – Laura Clayton

March 1st, 2021

Laura Clayton has been appointed as the University’s new Director of Planning, Performance and Strategic Change (PPSC) and will be joining the University on Tuesday 11 May 2021.

Laura joins Nottingham from UCL, where she led large scale strategic projects and change programmes to enhance the university’s services, provide more fulfilling careers and deliver greater investment in its academic mission.

With a career of more than 20 years in higher education, she brings extensive leadership experience gained at both an institutional and faculty level at King’s College London, where she was most latterly Director of Planning & Service Transformation.

The Director of PPSC is a key member of the Registrar’s senior team with responsibility for the development of strategy, planning and performance improvement across the University and works closely with the Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Andy Long.

Laura will lead and develop a highly capable team who will continue to support continuous improvement through effective engagement, collaboration and partnership with academic and professional services colleagues.

On her appointment, Laura said: “I am delighted to be joining the University of Nottingham at such a critical juncture in higher education. Nottingham has a great reputation for global engagement, curiosity, creativity and environmental sustainability. I look forward to working collaboratively across teams to enable the University to achieve its strategic ambitions.

Dr Paul Greatrix, Registrar, welcomed Laura to the role: “I am extremely pleased to be welcoming Laura to the Registrar’s department in this critical role as Director of PPSC. She has an outstanding track record and will, I am sure, be an excellent leader of a very committed and energetic department as well as a great colleague.

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