Executive MBA

Transforming managers into reflective, responsive, agile business leaders

World-class MBA aligned with cutting-edge development programmes
Unique holistic approach to transforming your business, thinking and networks
Addresses real-world leadership challenges within a global context.

The Executive MBA develops experienced managers into reflective, responsive, agile leaders ready to succeed in a fast-changing, competitive world.

The Aston Executive MBA develops your ability to engage, inspire, communicate and create successful business solutions, and to navigate uncertainty and ambiguity in a global context.

The programme’s creative, forward thinking and holistic approach transforms the content of the MBA. If you are serious about improving your personal performance, and are ready to be challenged, this opportunity will open new horizons for you.

Aligning the Aston Executive MBA to a philosophy of performance has led us to develop a system of benchmarking and measuring improvement, giving you confidence to surpass existing boundaries and become a truly reflective, responsive and agile leader.

Reflective, Responsive, Agile

Increasingly, business is placing intense demands on the modern executive. These experiences require a new agility.

Aston’s management education develops business leaders who can apply their knowledge, engage others and create sustainable solutions.

Organisations are looking for leaders with the confidence to thrive in the context, complexity and connectedness of modern business. This confidence is what the Aston Executive MBA delivers.

How can you improve your own performance?

And that of those around you? Executive Development is a holistic process enabling you to transform your business and personal thinking from the roots up. It turns an often thwarted desire for change into something that is coherent and achievable.

The Aston Executive MBA is unique in the way it embeds personal development principles within the learning experience. It will make you into a rounded leader, equipped with the latest business insight with the means to apply it effectively.

We will develop your ability to perform mentally and physically under pressure, preparing you - mind, body and spirit - to drive improvements in personal and team success. Performance philosophy permeates the whole programme, challenging you to move beyond your existing boundaries and develop true agility.

Altogether different by design

At the core of the Aston Executive MBA (EMBA) programme is developing the ability to perform mentally, physically and mindfully under pressure to solve challenging situations.

Our EMBA is an action-oriented programme designed around performance; learning and transformation. Our aim is to support your development as an 'agile executive': an adaptive, responsible executive who has the ability to perform, engage and lead others through ambiguous, complex and fast-changing global situations.

The EMBA is designed to help you become more global, strategic, leadership-focused. And, to make you think differently, we embrace a holistic approach: exploring body, mind and spirit. Our candidates will combine cutting-edge business thinking with core nutritional, fitness and meditation regimes to engage the whole self. This novel component of the programme has been designed to be original, different, creative and bold while also being pragmatic, providing real and instantly usable tools that you can apply in the workplace

Why the Aston Executive MBA?

Achieve a more strategic and global approach to your business
Master business fundamentals, theory and practices
Be prepared for senior management challenges
Deal confidently with uncertainty and ambiguity
Lead people and organisations
Apply holistic perspectives to personal and organisational performance
Be an executive ready to lead and succeed in the 21st Century

About John Peters - Director of Performance for the Aston Executive MBA

A unique EMBA calls for unique perspectives on leadership. John leads on the delivery of the executive development component of the EMBA. John came to the world's attention in January 1991, when, as a captured RAF pilot during the first Iraqi war, his bruised and battered face flashed onto television screens around the world. John has an international reputation as a compelling motivational speaker and specialises in a strongly experiential approach to leadership development, team building and communication. His clients include MTV, John Lewis, Oxfam, Barclays Bank, Channel 5 and The Cabinet Office. He has written two best-selling books and his film, Tornado Down, was nominated for a BAFTA Award. John is the former Chair of the Association of MBAs. His take on leadership under difficult circumstances gives our EMBA candidates the edge in positioning themselves as agile, capable, informed leaders ready to excel in any situation.

Ready to take the next step?

You can find out more about the Aston Executive MBA by contacting us, by meeting us at one our upcoming events or taking part in a webinar.

To speak with an advisor about any aspect of our unique programme, please call or send us an email:

Tel: +44 (0)121 204 3100
Fax: +44 (0)121 204 3224
email: mba@aston.ac.uk

MBA Office
Aston University
Aston Triangle
Birmingham
B4 7ET

Modules & Consultancy Project

Each Executive MBA candidate completes ten core modules, three challenging executive development programmes and a consultancy project.

The modules in the first year are designed to develop strategic thinking; the second entrepreneurial flair. A concurrent, intensive executive development programme takes a holistic approach to exploring the practical realities of being an leader in the 21st century.

Core Modules

Our core modules cover ten key business disciplines that will shape you in becoming an effective executive. Each module has been created to enhance your understanding of the strategic and functional areas of management, organisations and entrepreneurship in a global business context. You will develop practical knowledge and skills in fundamental business topics that you can apply directly and immediately to any work environment. The core modules are:

Year 1: Developing you as a the Strategist

Organisational Behaviour
Operations Strategy
Strategic Marketing'
Financial Decision-Making
Accounting for Business
Business, Ethics and Responsibility

Year 2: Developing you as the Entrepreneur

Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Corporate Venturing
Business Economics and Strategy
Leadership Development
Strategic Management

Executive Development Programmes

The Executive Development programmes cover:

The Reflective Executive
In The Reflective Executive programme, you will focus on the critical skills that are key to improving, exceeding and transforming your own executive performance levels. Ultimately, you will develop the ability to think through situations rather than merely reacting to them.

In a chaotic world, executives need to avoid distraction and improve their ability to focus, which is at the very root of judgment, character and will. Cultivating a leader's mindset requires effective self-management and heightened levels of attention and awareness.

The Reflective Executive programme addresses this by exploring mindfulness. This is the facility to cultivate the quality of being aware, receptive and accepting of the moment’s experience. This has a transforming potential on how we are with ourselves, how we are with others and how we are with stressful, difficult and challenging situations.

Further, you will explore techniques expressly intended to stimulate and support relevant insights, best practice and lessons from your previous successes, and the skills to effectively capture those through reflective practices.

This module is is delivered through practical workshops on reflective practice, mindfulness, 360 degree appraisals and psychometric analysis. You will also produce a reflective learning journal to capitalise on and contextualise your experience.

The Responsive Executive
This programme is designed to help you develop a performance-focused mindset and the coaching skills necessary to improve the performance of others.

In The Responsive Executive, we place you in scenarios based on real-world leadership and organisational challenges, exploring how you perform under pressure when accurate decision-making is critical.

The ability to coach others to improve performance is a fundamental leadership skill in developing your team, so as well as a dedicated module to develop those coaching skills, you will receive individual guidance from professional coaches so you can put your new skills into practice.

Our wider experiential programme includes business simulations, media training, drama and role-play and outdoor activities.

This module is is delivered through experiential development, peer-to-peer feedback and expert instruction.

The Agile Executive
The Agile Executive programme aims to develop you as a leader who is able transform your insight and knowledge, into tangible solutions and exceptional performance.

To raise the bar to true executive agility, this programme focuses on application. Following preparation including insights on resilience, power and politics, leading in crises, global awareness and communication, and dealing with ambiguity, you will embark upon a business consultancy project that will test your executive abilities to the maximum.

Consultancy Project

The consultancy project is the culmination of the EMBA and the opportunity to apply your knowledge in a real world setting. You will embark upon a week-long business visit to Asia to conduct a consultancy that will contextualise the tools, skills and frameworks that you have mastered throughout the EMBA programme. This provides you with real world challenges to stretch you as a globally-minded leader.

For further details about the consultancy project, or any other EMBA programme information, please contact us:

MBA Advisor
Tel: +44 (0)121 204 3100
Fax: +44 (0)121 204 3224
email: mba@aston.ac.uk

MBA Office
Aston University
Aston Triangle
Birmingham
B4 7ET

Start date: October 2012
Duration of programme: 27 months
Study mode: Block study
Intake: 25
Fee: £24,750
Requirements: Includes consultancy week in a developing country
Funding: Scholarships available
Application process: Information on how to apply & FAQ

Entry requirements:
For direct enrolment onto the Aston EMBA programme, you will need one of the following

A good UK honours degree, or
An equivalent overseas degree recognised by Aston University, or
A degree-level professional qualification.

Plus

At least five years’ relevant post-graduation work experience by the time you start your programme
An official academic transcript of your grades (in English)
Two references – preferably one from an academic referee, the other from your current or previous employer (Two professional references may be accepted from applicants with substantial work experience).

English Language Requirements 2012/13
Applicants whose primary language is not English, or whose previous education was conducted in another language, must submit evidence of satisfactory completion of a standardised English test. The minimum acceptable test scores are: TOEFL 105 with a minimum of 22 in any section (Internet-based exam); or IELTS with a 7.00 overall band score, and no less than 6 in any section.

Students with lower English scores may still be accepted for the EMBA on condition that they successfully complete a pre-sessional English course at Aston University. Please contact us for further details.

Notes
Admission outside of these guidelines is possible for exceptional candidates. If you have extensive work experience but no graduate qualifications, please contact one of our MBA advisers for an informal discussion about your application.

Any Questions?
To speak with an MBA advisor about any aspect of our EMBA programme, please call or send us an email:

Tel: +44 (0)121 204 3100
Fax: +44 (0)121 204 3224
email: mba@aston.ac.uk

MBA Office
Aston University
Aston Triangle
Birmingham
B4 7ET