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PG Courses > Business Studies
The modern business world is an intensely competitive place
for employees. A good first degree used to be enough to get ahead in the job
market. Not any longer. More people are looking to improve their career prospects
through postgraduate education. Anecdotal evidence suggests that demand is growing
rapidly. Specific statistics are hard to come by, but the total number of students
taking taught business-related postgraduate programmes rose by 18.5% in the
past five years.
In the UK and Ireland, academic institutions have responded to the increase
in demand for such education by offering some of the best business-related postgraduate
programmes in the world. The most common types of business and management related
programmes are pre-experience postgraduate programmes and the MBA, which is
normally taken by people with previous job experience.
Pre-experience postgraduate programmes come in two main types - specialist MA
or MSc Master's degrees, certificates and diplomas; or more general qualifications.
Specialist postgraduate programmes cover a wide range of business and finance-related
subjects from finance and accounting, to human resource management and logistics.
Some specialist programmes are accredited by professional bodies.
Specialist postgraduate programmes usually require applicants to have studied
their first degree in a related subject. But there are exceptions. At Manchester
Business School, six specialist programmes are available to applicants with
a degree from any discipline. These include the MSc programmes in marketing,
operations management, and human resource management and industrial relations.
Another group of taught postgraduate programmes target students with some work
experience. The most popular post-experience business-related programme is the
MBA. Most business schools expect their MBA students to have at least four or
five years of business experience.
While the MBA is typically a general business qualification, some business schools
offer MBA programmes that are aimed at post-experience students but are skewed
towards a particular discipline. Warwick Business School, for example, offer
a Master's in Public Administration (MPA) targeted at the public sector.
Taught business-related doctorate programmes are on the increase. Several business
schools offer a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) programme. This is aimed
at high-level executives who may have completed an MBA already.
Some providers also offer certificates and diplomas. These come in two types.
One is the certificate or diploma aimed at students without a first degree in
a business- or finance-related subject. These bring students up to speed while
providing them with sufficient subject knowledge to take a Master's degree if
they wish. The second type is targeted at busy executives. These are usually
short in duration. The idea is to brief programme participants on the latest
developments in a particular area such as finance or marketing. (Click MBA
section for more details)
What's involved
Both pre-experience programmes and MBA qualifications have a similar structure.
Typically a one-year programme will be divided into three semesters. In the
first semester all, or a substantial part, of a set of core modules will be
delivered. These core modules are the educational foundation for the programme
covering the essential basic knowledge the student requires.
In the second semester, the student is often able to select some subjects from
a choice of electives - optional course units. The degree of choice will vary
from programme to programme. The aim is to allow students to shape their study
to fit their own interests and intended career path. Electives are where schools
are often able to strongly differentiate their programmes from competitors.
This is because the electives often reflect the research interests of the teaching
faculty.
Finally, in the third semester, there will usually be a dissertation or project.
This involves a topic chosen by the student and will have an emphasis on empirical
work. The dissertation is particularly important if the student is thinking
of taking a PhD.
With a DBA the programme is usually in two phases. The first is a taught phase
focusing on research support, which will include teaching on research methodology
and philosophy, and quantitative and qualitative methods. The second phase is
traditional self-directed research.
There has been a growing emphasis on teaching research methods in recent years
and even traditional research-based degrees such as the MPhil will often have
taught modules on research methods.
Study and teaching
Study modes and teaching methods are as varied as the range of programmes available.
Specialist postgraduate programmes are generally taught on a full-time one-year
basis. They may also be available as a part-time qualification, usually delivered
over two years. Students can study for an MBA on a full-time or part-time basis.
They can do so on campus or via distance learning.
Teaching methods range from predominantly lecture-based delivery, through group
working, to self-study. Pre-experience postgraduate programmes often involve
teaching methods similar to those of first degrees. Post-experience postgraduate
programmes place more emphasis on group working and peer interaction. For the
MBA, structured lecture-based teaching is often accompanied by case study work.
The case study method introduced by Harvard Business School is a popular teaching
method for the MBA. Project-based work is also common for electives.
The cutting edge research conducted at universities and business schools in
the UK and Ireland feeds into the postgraduate programmes. As a result participants
on taught postgraduate programmes can be sure that they are up to date with
the latest specialist knowledge in their field of study.
Money matters
Acquiring a first-class business education is not cheap. At the top end of the
scale a full-time MBA can cost in excess of £40,000. Add in opportunity
cost (students are missing out on a salary, bonuses and promotions after giving
up work to study) and living expenses and it is a significant expense. Set against
this must be the potential for the MBA to increase earnings.
An MSc or MA in a business-related subject is likely to cost considerably less.
And with most participants yet to begin their career, the opportunity costs
are also lower. A one-year full-time MSc in human resource management and industrial
relations at MBS costs £11,000 for international students. At Cass Business
School, City of London, taking an MSc in logistics trade and finance will cost
£16,000. There are cheaper options of colleges that offer from £5000!
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