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“The Cranfield MBA is a transformative experience through which our students explore their interests, strengths, and weaknesses, develop expertise and mindset, and express their talents to thrive and realise their full potential. This unique programme provides a range of challenges and opportunities for those with a strong desire to grow and make a real impact on businesses, individuals, and wider society. The programme offers a number of features to enable this mission including immersion into the real world of practice, exposure to a diverse range of cultures and management styles, nurturing of unique talents and an impactful and inspiring community”.
Dr Leila Alinaghian Associate Professor (Reader) of Business Relationships and Impact & Director of Full-time MBA
If you are an ambitious individual – ready to tackle global business challenges with clarity and confidence – the Cranfield full-time MBA is designed for you. This immersive 12-month programme is consistently ranked one of the world’s best MBAs. Within our inspiring global community, you will be: supported to unlock your unique leadership potential; challenged to become a strategic leader, critical thinker and innovator; empowered to pursue your professional goals on the international stage. On graduation, you will be poised for success in any sector thanks to expert teaching, real-world projects, 121 career coaching and mentoring.
Overview
- Start date26 September 2022
- DurationOne year (12 months)
- DeliveryYou will be assessed through a mixture of exams, written projects and presentations.
- QualificationMBA
- Study typeFull-time
- CampusCranfield campus
What we offer
You will join a close-knit international cohort of no more than 100 fellow professionals. That’s large enough to challenge your perspectives and introduce new ideas. But small enough to guarantee individual attention thanks to an 8:1 staff to student ratio.
Your tutors are all management and leadership experts, infusing their teaching with the latest insights from their industry experience. They will equip you with an in-depth understanding of business and finance, so you can assert your expertise confidently in any business function or sector.
You will have access Cranfield’s Career mentoring programme, where successful professionals offer advice and guidance to support you through your studies.
You will also receive 1-2-1 career coaching to discover your unique strengths as a leader. We’ll then support you to develop a personalised progression plan to help guide, inspire and accelerate your career after Cranfield.
Who we are looking for
We are looking for candidates who aspire to – or currently hold - senior leadership roles. We also want to work with entrepreneurs eager to grow their businesses and the economy. People with the integrity and vision to drive organisations forward.
You will have proved your potential through at least three years of professional experience, or earned your entrepreneurial stripes by starting a business. And now you are ready for more.
Whether that’s:
- accelerating your current career or confidently changing direction
- developing business acumen to help your start-up skyrocket
- challenging yourself to deliver stronger professional practise
Our intensely personalised MBA programme will develop your unique strengths, to unlock the leader you’re meant to be.
Your Cranfield MBA skillset
Our stimulating curriculum meets you at your current level of expertise and empowers you to move to the next. We’ll support and challenge you to master the skills that make good leaders, great.
- Strategic leadership – Develop your strategic knowledge and self-awareness to provide incisive leadership in any organisation
- Business and financial acumen – Improve your financial and business acuity, so you can apply your expertise confidently in any business function or sector
- Critical thinking – Become a critical thinker who questions the status quo, uses data and insights for decision-making, and strives for continual improvement
- Problem solving – Advance your analytical and creative skills, so you can solve problems using insight, innovation and imagination
- Commercial awareness – Understand the economic drivers behind businesses in all sectors, and how to leverage them for growth and success
- A global perspective – Gain cross-cultural communication awareness and prepare for a career anywhere in the world, thanks to our global student community and the perspectives they bring
On graduation, earlier-stage professionals will be ready to fast-track their careers and pursue leadership roles. Established leaders will be equipped to advance further in their field, accepting greater responsibility and exerting higher influence.
Why the Cranfield MBA?
We know you have a lot of choice about where to study your MBA and we’re delighted you are considering Cranfield.
The quality of our MBA programme is globally recognised.
- UK top 5 MBA (The Economist Which MBA? 2021)
- No. 1 the world for the breadth of its alumni network (The Economist Which MBA? 2021)
- No. 6 in the world for teaching influence (Business School Teaching Power Rankings 2021 compiled for the Financial Times)
- Top 3 in Europe for entrepreneurial education (Bloomberg Best European Business Schools 2021/22)
- Top 19% globally for alumni success and entrepreneurship (QS 2022 Global Rankings)
- No. 2 in the UK and in the top 25 in the world for quality of faculty (The Economist Which MBA? 2021)
Rankings aside, it’s important you find the right fit and make the most of your investment.
Seven reasons to choose Cranfield:
Focus exclusively on management and leadership
We focus exclusively on management and leadership excellence – and have done so for over 50 years. This means everything we do - and everyone you meet – advances your goal to become an outstanding business leader.
Accelerate your career path and earning potential
Position yourself for senior leadership roles – or take your business to the next level of success – thanks to your Cranfield confidence and expertise. Cranfield’s Full-time MBA is ranked in the top 19% globally for alumni success and for payback speed.
Maximise your exposure to expertise
Our small cohort means you are never lost in a crowd. Our programmes are limited to 100 learners, and we have a 8 :1 staff to student ratio. This means you receive generous personal attention from your tutors and plenty of opportunities to contribute to seminars and group work.
Discover your unique path
With 1-2-1 career coaching throughout your course and a leadership development plan, we provide the tools you need to unlock your individual potential and pursue your unique professional calling.
Showcase your expertise with practical projects
Consultancy projects and competitions offer our students an opportunity to put learning into practice. The European Business Plan of the Year Competition (EBPYC) has been running for more than 20 years and allows MBA teams from 12 leading business schools to present their business plan to panels of investors. This year teams from INSEAD, LBS, Bocconi, IESE, Erasmus, and Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship will join Cranfield for the competition.
The Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC) is the world’s largest venture capital competition with over 120 university and graduate school teams competing. VCIC is the only place where students can be VCs for the day and start-ups get an accelerator for the fundraising process.
Cranfield will host the Europe North finals on 3 March 2023.
Make 28,000 new business connections
Our alumni network is ranked number 1 in the world for its breadth and effectiveness. 28,000 Cranfield graduates in 130 countries share your passion for leadership and are potential contacts to help advance your career.
Bring your support network
We know for many of our students that family is why they strive so hard and succeed so frequently. If your partner or family are travelling with you to Cranfield, our worderful campus and community provides a safe space to live and socialise.
Course details
The programme is structured in two main parts. The first part comprises 14 core management modules, including a consultancy skills module and a group consultancy project. In the second part, you will take a further three core modules . You will then choose seven elective modules, which includes the option to complete an internship or company-based project. Leadership development and career development activities run throughout the programme.
Internship
An internship can be a valuable opportunity to help you on your career development journey. The Careers and Employability team at Cranfield work closely with an ever-growing network of businesses to support internships, helping our MBA candidates explore new industries and opportunities. As many of the MBA internship application deadlines are early in year, we encourage candidates to engage early with our careers service to make the most of these opportunities.
Language module
Knowledge of foreign languages is vital in promoting communication, establishing contacts in the international marketplace, and enhancing career opportunities.
We are delighted to offer all Full-time MBA students an opportunity to acquire a working knowledge of a second commercially useful language. Languages are offered at the Beginners or Intermediate level in Business French and Spanish, focusing on spoken rather than written skills. By the end of the course, you will understand and hold simple conversations with a business edge. In addition, you will be awarded a Digital Badge after successfully completing an internal assessment.
Full-time MBA Practice Press Conference
Course delivery
You will be assessed through a mixture of exams, written projects and presentations.
Group Project and Individual Project
Group project
The programme includes a compulsory consultancy project. Working in small groups, you will apply what you have learnt in your core and elective modules to the project. You will help an organisation to tackle a contemporary challenge, researching the problem, analysing data and making recommendations for action.
Individual project
Internships and company-based projects allow you to apply your learning in a real business environment, get experience in a sector of interest, gain international exposure and can support your career progression. You can source an internship or project yourself, or use the School's alumni network or dedicated Careers and Employability Service to help you find the right organisation.
Modules
Compulsory modules
- Applied Organisational Behaviour
- Accounting
- Strategic Operations Management
- Strategic Marketing
- Economics of Organisations and Strategy
- Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation
- Financial Management
- Strategic Management
- Project Management Introduction
- Global Macroeconomics and Business Environment
- Entrepreneurial Finance
- Challenges for Leaders: Managing People and Change
- Data Analytics and Decision Making
- Leadership in Action
- Leading Sustainable Business
Elective modules
Finance
- Corporate Financial Strategy
- Investment and Risk Management
- Managing International Mergers and Acquisitions
Entrepreneurship
- Leading and Managing the Family Enterprise
Strategy
- International Strategy
- Strategising in Challenging Contexts
- Strategic Human Resource Management in the 21st Century
- Driving Value Through the Supply Chain
Leadership
- Leaders as Thinkers: Leadership through Philosophy
- Negotiating in Business and Organisations
- Leading Sales and Customer Management Organisations
- Business Law
Strategy and Leadership
- Managing Strategic Innovation
- International Strategy
Projects
- Independent Project
Accreditation
We are one of an elite group of business schools worldwide to hold triple accreditations from:
Cranfield School of Management is a proud member of GMAC.
How to apply
To apply you will need to register to use our online system. Once you have set up an account you will be able to create, save and amend your application form before submitting it.
Once your online application has been submitted together with your supporting documentation, it will be processed by our admissions team. You will then be advised by email if you are successful, unsuccessful, or whether the course director would like to interview you before a decision is made. Applicants based outside of the UK may be interviewed either by telephone or video conference.
Total fees: £40,175
Payment schedule
Once you have been offered a place on our programme, you will need to pay a £3,000 non-refundable deposit. Your place is not guaranteed until you have paid your deposit. The remainder of the tuition fees is payable at the start of the programme.
Accommodation and living expenses are substantially lower at Cranfield than in major cities such as London; however we suggest you budget an additional £12,000 for accommodation and living expenses, or more if you are bringing a partner and family.
Alumni discount
We are pleased to offer an exclusive 20% discount on all School of Management programmes including our short courses, for all Cranfield University Alumni who would like to return to study here.
Application process
View Application Process guide
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