This course will enable you to address complex problems that face organisations in today’s dynamic international business environment.

The Canterbury Christ Church MBA International is primarily designed for recent university graduates who have little or no prior work experience but are interested in developing a future career in international business and management. The course aims to engage and educate you in preparation for managerial and career roles in the international business arena. The course has a strong emphasis on employability for careers in business, management and policy making.

The MBA International will encourage stringent and critical professional development, engaging you with the systematic review of international business theories, policies and practice. It will reflect an international body of thinking and study, and investigation of international business problems in the current, complex environment.

It will help you gain insights into the latest trends in international business, as well as local private and public sector organisations. With the experience of our leading team of researchers and professional practice tutors, we will ensure the MBA International course maintains a pragmatic focus to enhance your business career.

The course will provide you with the necessary knowledge, skills and expertise required in a dynamic, unpredictable and unprecedented global trading environment. Graduates can also engage in further research on an MPhil/PhD programme.

Internationalisation is a notion which is thoroughly examined and addressed in the course. The MBA International has been carefully crafted to reflect the complex, dynamic and multifaceted character of work-related learning and international business. The focus is very much on the development of the whole person in acquiring the skills and attributes necessary for the leaders, entrepreneurs and policymakers of tomorrow in management, strategy and decision-making and communication. You will also develop a clear understanding of the environment in which international businesses operate in terms of law, economics, marketing, finance and governance, as well as politics and culture and communications. The programme combines blended learning approaches including classroom, online and work-based learning to provide you with a strong mix of practical skills, industry experience, networking opportunities and academic understanding to support personal and professional development.

As well as a strong international element, the programme has active practitioner involvement and brings real-life professional and business situations into the classroom. The individual business plan project provides an opportunity for you to set yourself apart and demonstrate to potential employers a high level of thinking in relation to strategic trends and issues facing modern businesses.

You will need an appropriate Honours degree (minimum 2.2, or equivalent qualification). If you are an international student from a non-UK higher education institution, you will also need to demonstrate English language proficiency, with a combined 6.5 IELTs score (or equivalent).

The MBA International is designed to bring reality into the classroom. The course ensures that formal sessions are interactive with an emphasis on discussion, debate and critique of theoretical concepts, and application to real-world business problems. The examples of professional practice are integrated in each module outline. You will also have plenty of opportunities to hone your presentation skills and to work on group tasks. An important element of your learning process is a lively debate, and consideration of experiences and practices from different countries and cultural background is central to discovering more about the complexities of the fields of international business.

A range of teaching and blended learning strategies will be used, including lectures (on-line and offline), interactive workshops; independent study; guided study; focused readings; student presentations; tutorials and illustrative case-study analyses. You will have the opportunity to offer evidence from your own experiences where this is relevant and will critically examine strategic issues from other organisations. We will make extensive use of the University’s virtual learning environment and other, appropriate online resources for all aspects of teaching, learning, assessment, communication and administration. All modules will have a dedicated VLE platform containing a wide range of learning resources and other material that support, supplement and in some cases provide an alternative to lectures and seminars.

One of the main assessment strategies used on the MBA International is group work. This is because we operate student-centred classrooms which encourages active learning allowing you to work together with other students on the programme. Through discussion and group work in seminars, you will engage critically and directly with a range of contemporary business issues within international business, like globalisation, culture, and their implications for international business strategies.

Writing reports will demonstrate to future employers your ability to present and write in a professional manner. This applies to all business management subjects, and would be a core transferable skill you will need to possess. Through independent study, you will learn to find, assimilate and organise information from a range of source (library books and journals, internet, etc.) and take responsibility for your own learning and skill development. Written assignments will assess your applied knowledge and understanding of key business and management problems. You will be able to critically evaluate findings, and draw on mainstream business, finance, careers, and marketing journals as well as industry style reports.

Presentations and academic posters allow you to demonstrate your ability to integrate, contrast and evaluate ideas and findings and present them orally in a professional manner. It allows you to demonstrate your creative flare and further allows you to give a detailed summary of the research project or aims and objectives of the assessment. The number of ways you can emphasise your key points in presentations is much greater than a written report. It will also help you practice the art of speaking and articulating publicly. Presentations and academic posters also help you practice a skill beneficial to employers and management within the international business. Presentations and academic posters will address your postgraduate skills of communication in all its forms. Presentations in particular will demonstrate professional employability key skills and attributes such as ‘verbal communication skills’ and personal skills such as ‘creativity’ and ‘self-awareness’. These skills are necessary to progress in the major international business fields at a management level.

Assessment will include a combination of practical and written assignments and presentations. Each taught 10 credit module (ECTS) will be assessed by one or more assessments to the indicative value of 4,000 words. At the end of the course, you will submit an individual business plan (as a part of an independent study), ranging between 10,000-12,000 words.

Each module generally has one or two assessments from the following range: written assignments such as essays (includes reflective essays, case study essays, essays that review or critique research or essays based on a trigger), individual and group presentations, research reports, literature reviews; projects, critical reflections and portfolios.

This course is heavily oriented towards international business landscape. Many of our graduate students will leave to pursue careers in management consultancy, as well as work in retailing, manufacturing and services. With a strong emphasis on the development of employment skills, graduates go on to pursue various careers in business, management or policymaking. Graduates from this programme often engage in further research on an MPhil/PhD programme. We actively ensure that the curriculum responds proactively to your needs and your community of practice to support success in your future professional roles.