UC MBA Structure
Our mission is to produce leaders capable of growing organisations with purpose and impact which will future-proof organisations; drive digital transformation; innovate to enhance customer value; engage meaningfully in society; and deal with complex global environments.
When can you start?
There are three intakes into the MBA programme (February, May and August), each with a compulsory 2-day orientation, typically the Friday and Saturday before the term starts.
Full-time students take between 14 and 18 months to complete their MBA. The majority of our students do the MBA part-time, which means that you will do the three ”core” courses plus one additional course (from the “expand” group of courses) in the first year of study. You will complete the remainder of the “expand” courses in the second year and “ignite” with your Creative Challenge.
In the third year of study, completing the “master” section of the degree typically takes between 6 months to a year. However, full-time and part-time students have five years to complete their MBA, and we can help you design a flexible programme of study that suits your busy life and personal needs.
Structure of classes and timetable
Our flexible learning format balances the needs of busy individuals while maximizing networking and cohort building in the MBA programme. You can join our programme and study with us from anywhere in Aotearoa New Zealand. Most courses follow the following format:
- Twelve weeks of class with a one-week break during the term.
- Weekly 3-hour (5 pm – 8 pm) lectures. You can attend these lectures in person or via Zoom.
- Plus one compulsory intensive weekend consisting of a full Friday and Saturday on the UC Campus.
For MBAM610 Agile and Innovation-driven Leadership, 11 classes (available on Zoom or in person), as well as two intensive days on campus, are spread across the year. Your Creative Challenge course has six classes spread across five months.
Base
MBAM610 Agile and Innovation-driven Leadership (15 points)
Contemporary leaders need new capabilities and mindsets for creating work-groups that can seize opportunities, overcome challenges, and create new value. These leaders build engaged, high performing teams that are characterised by rapid learning, resilience and innovation.
This course provides leadership development through a blend of personal assessments, practice-related activities, reflection, discussion, and input from practising leaders. The goal is to promote leadership skills and self-awareness that equip participants for an ongoing journey of growth and development as future leaders.
MBAM604 Data Informed Strategy (15 points)
Strategy is about making purposeful, explicit choices on how to build a sustainable competitive advantage and sustainable long-term profitability or impact. In this course, we will discuss various ways of thinking about organizational strategies, what tools are available to guide your thinking, and the importance of data and analytics for both the selection and implementation of such strategies. This course will prepare participants to think strategically, to ask the right questions, to identifying what data is needed to answer those questions and how to transform data into meaningful insights in order to support decision-making.
MBAM603 Innovation by Design (15 points)
The human-centred design thinking approach is a people centric, collaborative, and experimental way of driving innovation to create customer value. It is a pragmatic approach that aims to nurture deep curiosity about an issue, unleash creativity in how to approach it, and ensure clarity when it comes to implementing solutions.
Expand
MBAM601 Digital Transformation and Technology Preparedness (15 points)
Organisations find themselves in a storm of new technologies and competitors. In collaboration with industry, this course provides hands-on opportunities to engage with the latest technologies such as blockchain, IoT and AI. It will enable you to make decisions on the adoption of the best technologies to support your organisation’s digital strategy delivering a breadth of functions for a superior user/customer experience.
MBAM602 Economic Uncertainty and Organisational Agility (15 points)
Economics is a social science. It is “the study of mankind in the ordinary business of life” (Alfred Marshall, 1842 – 1924). This course will introduce you to using the lens of economics - concepts, ideas and principles that will help you gain insights into the everyday behaviour of people, organisations, governments and nations. At the end of this course, you will find that economics is all around you – not just in the world of business but in the whole world. The emphasis is on using economic thinking to understand our complex and uncertain world and become better thinkers and decision makers as a result. You will not have all the answers by the end of this course but you will be equipped with a better set of questions to ask. The course will include a case study in a bi-cultural context.
MBAM615 Managerial Finance, Accounting and Governance (15 points)
This course explores how the analysis of a range of financial information is used to enhance managerial decision-making. It will look at how organisations raise capital and assess the performance of projects and investments. The course will provide students with a framework necessary to understand how important financial decisions are determined within a corporation. It will explore how a range of financial information is used to gain insights and enhance managerial decision-making. The course will also examine how value is created for shareholders and other stakeholders in a firm through investment and financing decisions.
It will look at the ways organisations raise capital and assess the performance of projects and investments. The course will also emphasise cases for good corporate governance practice. The course blends theoretical aspects of managerial finance with industry practice, case studies, discussions, and financial modelling. The emphasis of the course will be on applying the financial concepts, tools, and techniques to solve real-world problems. Some working knowledge of Microsoft Excel will be useful for this course.
MBAM605 Creating Impact-led Enterprises (15 points)
This course integrates sustainability and business practice. It underscores the importance of integrating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations into business results, while also highlighting the risks of overlooking them. Leveraging insights from socio-economic, political, environmental, and business domains, this interdisciplinary course delves into key sustainability issues influencing today's business operations.
Students will examine questions such as: How can businesses reduce their environmental impact and become more sustainable in their operations? How can they integrate sustainability considerations into strategic planning and decision-making processes? How can businesses track and report on their sustainability performance, and use this data to drive continuous improvement? Through case studies and engagement with industry experts, students will gain first-hand insight into how sustainable businesses generate value and inspire loyalty.
Ignite
MBAM620 Creative Challenge (15 points)
This courses focuses on ‘you’ as the project. You will be provided with an opportunity to push your own boundaries and challenge your status quo by establishing a stretch goal, planning an intervention to address the challenge and working to execute it. You will have the support of a coach throughout your challenge.
Master
MBAM614 Business Research Methods (5 points)
This course prepares you to undertake a business research consulting project. You will be guided in identifying the scope of a research project based on information required to address a specific business problem.
MBAM680 Consulting Project (45 points)
On completion of the core courses you will apply this knowledge to your MBA Consulting Project. The project involves working with an organisation to address a practical issue of strategic importance and creating informed solutions. You will be required to implement at least one of the proposed recommendations from your project, in consultation with the organisation.
Elective (10 points)
Every year, we offer multiple electives that allow students to master key areas of management and understand emerging trends, including (but not limited to):
- MBAD606 Marketing in a Digital World (10 points)
Marketing has long rested on its foundations of creating great products and communicating this to potential customers. The future of marketing and corporate/client interactions means marketing now permeates every aspect of both internal and external engagement and, as a result, there needs to be a deeper understanding of how value and engagement can be enhanced through a marketing lens. We explore how digital culture and tools can enhance engagement with stakeholders and improved internal processes, communication and product offerings. The course draws heavily on the role of that value generation, communication, and strategy play in achieving cut-through in an increasingly competitive digital environment. - MBAD653 Negotiating Business Development Across Cultures (10 points)
This course explores the larger framework that sits over contract negotiation: business strategy, management psychology, legal, intellectual property, marketing, supply chain, etc. Understanding and dealing with ‘cultural differentiation’ is integrated throughout the course at conceptual and operational levels. Participants learn to negotiate with greater confidence, superior tactical finesse, and cultural sensitivity under considerable stress. - MBAM613 Societies in Smart Cities (10 points)
This course explores and critiques the evolving nature of smart industries globally, benchmarking practices of leading organisations and governments in smart cities, and developing strategies that support the UN Sustainable Development Goals. **Courses are subject to change. Complete course details will be provided at enrolment or on request. - MBAD670 Financial Technology and Behaviour (10 points)
This course provides you with an overview of two emerging, fast growing and complementary areas in finance, namely, financial technology (fintech) and financial behaviour (also known as behavioural finance). It provides an overview of the recent growth and key trends and opportunities in the fintech ecosystem in a range of business contexts and explores the behaviour of individual investors, professional investors and corporate managers. - MBAD654 Entrepreneurship and Small Business (10 points)
The decision to start business is made hundreds of time each week in New Zealand. In terms of frequency, it is followed by the decision to close a small business. Internationally, New Zealand has a relatively high rate of business start-up, but relatively few of these grow into significant companies. The aim of this course is to develop some practical understanding of the opportunities and problems associated with the start-up and subsequent development of small businesses.
