Full-time MBA programme content and structure

An outline of the Bath full-time MBA’s modules, our Multi-Project Suite and how we teach the programme.

The Bath MBA combines the latest teaching techniques with practical projects. You’ll be able to take what you learn in the classroom and apply it to real business situations.

Leadership and personal development form the backbone of the Bath MBA. You’ll do a series of projects including an individual leadership project. You will also develop your personal skills through our programme of workshops.

You’ll get great opportunities to meet business leaders, network and build relationships through:

our guest speaker series
company visits
the optional international business experience activities
an optional paid internship

All assessment focuses on practical learning: coursework, presentations and other hands-on methods. We avoid exams because we think it’s more important for you to put what you’ve learned into practice.

Please note that the modules and course information below relate to the 2022/23 full-time MBA programme. Optional module choices are subject to change due to factors like topicality, student demand or faculty availability.

Programme timeline

Discover a year of opportunity with the Bath MBA.

All timings are approximate.

September

Orientation

Meet your new classmates and the MBA team

Big Team Challenge: meet a corporate partner and work on a business challenge

October - December

Core modules and the consulting project

Study the first set of core modules.

Consulting in action project: work with an organisation on a real consulting project

Careers: MBA graduate leadership schemes

January - March

Core modules and the change project

Study the second set of core modules.

Change in action project: Work in groups on different aspects of a complex change initiative

Careers: Recruitment into senior/experienced roles

March - May

Core modules and the entrepreneurship project

Study the third set of core modules.

Entrepreneurship in action project: Work as a team on a new business idea. Pitch it to a panel of experts.

Careers: Recruitment into senior/experienced roles

April - June

Optional modules

Tailor your MBA to your interests by choosing four or five optional modules.

July - September

Integrated project

Choose from a group project with a corporate client or an individual project on a topic of your choice.

Careers: Recruitment into senior/experienced roles and internships

September

Optional internship

Add to your CV with an optional internship

December

Graduation

Celebrate your success at one of Bath’s historic venues

Multi-Project Suite

With our unique Multi-Project Suite, you’ll complete four different projects instead of doing a final project focusing on one topic.

The Multi-Project Suite lets you work on a range of business problems with a variety of organisations. It includes individual and group work. Immerse yourself in topics like entrepreneurship, change management and consulting.

The Multi–Project Suite lets you apply what you’ve learned from your core and optional modules, and think creatively about solving real business challenges. You will:

improve your research and consultancy skills
get exposure to different types and sizes of organisation
have real-world project work to add to your CV

Entrepreneurship in action

Work as a team on a new business idea which you’ll pitch to a panel of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs.

Consulting in action

A two-week real consulting project, usually for a small local business or third sector organisation.

Change in action

Work in groups on different aspects of a complex change initiative.

Integrated project

Work in a group with a corporate client on a detailed business challenge, or do an individual project related to a business or management topic of your choice.

The Multi-Project Suite is a big differentiator for Bath. Instead of just doing one big dissertation, we do four independent projects, providing a much broader experience. I have worked with three companies, ranging from a large corporate, to a travel start-up and an award-winning app.

Chris Fey Class of 2017

International business experience

The Bath MBA provides opportunities to build cultural awareness and understanding of the complexities of global business through the optional International Business module.

This optional module aims to foster a deeper understanding of cross-cultural business through a combination of taught and experiential content. Delivered during a week-long trip to an overseas destination (subject to circumstances at the time), this module gives you the chance to visit and learn from organisations and engage with taught content in an international setting.

As part of this module, you’ll have the opportunity to take part in activities such as:

trips to a city, region or country where you can meet with businesses and academics to understand their cultures and approaches to business
virtual visits and interactions with business leaders, company representatives and academic thought leaders

Please note that if you choose this module, you must take part in the trip for which the costs are met by students individually. You should budget approximately £2,500 for this module.

While we aim to deliver the same learning outcomes each year, the location of the trips and whether or not they are conducted in-person, online or cancelled altogether, will depend on the circumstances at that time and may be beyond our control.

Core modules

We’ve designed our eight core modules to give you a solid foundation in the fundamental areas of business.

Business analytics

Learn informed decision-making through collection and analysis of data. Develop your critical skills and learn how to gain insights into decision problems through data.

Contemporary marketing: theory and application

An introduction to the theory and practice of marketing management. Learn to recognise the complexity of buying behaviour in global markets, investigate managerial practices in marketing and develop a contingent approach to markets and managerial options.

Economics of contemporary business issues

Events and developments like Brexit, Covid-19 and blockchain can create both opportunities and threats to business. In this module, you’ll explore contemporary business issues at a macroeconomic level. You’ll learn specialist techniques to help you analyse events and plan for change.

Leadership: self, others and the enterprise

Develop your understanding of leadership, and your strength as a leader. You’ll explore different aspects of leadership in theory and in practice, and how these affect impact. You’ll learn to better understand and improve your own leadership style by reflecting on your own experiences.

Managing operations and supply networks

An introduction to the principles of operations management. This module illustrates how all organisations are essentially defined through their operational capabilities.

Managing people: strategy and practice

You’ll learn about the strategic role of human resource management in organisations. You will gain knowledge of environmental contexts of the sector, technology, legislation, social institutions and cultures.

Strategy

Gain an in-depth appreciation of strategic management thinking and decision-making. You’ll explore strategy issues and how to resolve them. You will also develop your strategic thinking, analysis and judgement skills.

Understanding finance

Gain a knowledge of finance to support the general management function. You’ll learn to appreciate how specialist activities can help meet financial and business objectives.

Optional modules

With almost a quarter of the programme dedicated to options, you can tailor your MBA to your personal interests. You can pick four or five optional modules.

Optional module choices are subject to change due to factors like topicality, student demand or faculty availability. Sometimes we may cancel a choice for unforeseeable reasons.

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Accounting for decision makers

Explore the uses and limitations of financial and management accounting information. You’ll learn to appreciate how specialist activities can help meet financial and business objectives.

Advanced business analytics

Learn how modern analytics techniques can support and improve business decision making. You’ll gain an understanding of how data can help suggest solutions to complex problems.

Defining your career goals

Deepen your understanding of who you are and who you want to become. You’ll learn to improve your self-reflection skills, and how to articulate a clear and compelling narrative about your career goals.

Giving voice to values

You will learn how to identify values conflicts: situations at work which feel in some way wrong. Working together through roleplay and case studies, you’ll learn how to respond to these conflicts safely and productively.

Innovation management

Gain an understanding of the strategic management of product, service and process innovation. You’ll learn how firms create value from new ideas and explore the experiences of successful and unsuccessful innovators.

International business

Gain exposure to a different international working environment, build cultural awareness and understand the complexities of global business. Delivered during a week-long trip to an overseas destination (subject to circumstances at the time), this module gives you the chance to visit and learn from organisations, business leaders and academic thought leaders.

Please note that if you choose this module, you must take part in the trip for which the costs are met by students individually. You should budget approximately £2,500 for this module.

International finance

Gain a good understanding of the financial risks involved in international trading. You’ll learn how international financial markets work, the interrelationships and the language involved.

Knowledge leadership in a global economy

Knowledge management deals with the recognition of human and intellectual capital as core resources. You’ll learn about knowledge management processes, and gain an understanding of the importance of knowledge for competitive advantage.

Leadership mindset

An advanced leadership course. You’ll use experiential learning (reflecting on practice) to examine group processes and dynamics. This will allow you to gain insights about leadership and organisations.

Negotiation

Improve your negotiation skills by learning:

how to better understand people and situations
negotiation strategies
influencing techniques

Based on the latest research, the principles you’ll learn will allow you to influence negotiations while maintaining working relationships.

Risk management

Develop your understanding of the risk management function within a company. You’ll learn to define a company’s risk profile and develop an enterprise risk policy.

Strategic brand management

Understand the principles of brand management
Consider the role and significance of brands
Examine strategies to build, grow and reposition brands
Examine systems for managing brand portfolios
Examine strategies for building a brand-driven organisation

Supply chain management

Examine the concepts and approaches used in purchasing and supply operations, management, strategy and policy.

Sustainable business practices

A workshop approach allows you to delve into the key concepts and tools that support sustainability. You’ll be able to debate and ‘try’ concepts within a specific organisation.

The psychology of decision making

You’ll learn about processes that influence choice, and how decisions can shape organisational life. This module uses material from disciplines including:

cognitive and social psychology
organisational behaviour
managerial cognition

Venture capital finance

Gain an understanding of venture capital funding of entrepreneurial enterprises.

financial contracting and control
relationships between venture capitalists and entrepreneurs
differences between standard and social financing/entrepreneurship
ethical issues

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Optional internship

Add to your CV with an optional internship at the end of your MBA.

With over 300 business partners, our MBA Careers team will help you find the right placement for your career goals. Recent MBA students have interned at Grey Advertising, Perrigo and Bath-based social enterprise The Genesis Trust.

Internships start in September, after you have finished your studies. They can last from three to six months.

Internships are not guaranteed. Places are competitive and we advertise opportunities to students.

Interact with industry

The Bath MBA brings you together with business leaders and organisations.

Business is at the core of the Bath MBA. You will interact with our business partners from your first week. Get insights into different industries and help build your network.

Guest speakers

Hear insights and experiences from a range of leaders from diverse sectors. Our guest speakers will share their thoughts on topics like current business issues, corporate strategies and complex management situations.

Recent speakers have included experts in:

digital and social media
management consulting
data analytics
branding
global trading platforms
private equity
entrepreneurship

Business is at the core of the Bath MBA

Company visits

Visit a range of companies and find out how they manage in a competitive global environment. Recent visits include Jaguar Land Rover, Amazon, Wimbledon Tennis and Wessex Water.

Peer-to-peer learning

Our MBA students come from a range of backgrounds and sectors. Enhance your MBA with student-led peer learning. You’ll share:

your individual experiences
information about your culture and backgrounds
thoughts on topical leadership challenges

Further information

Information about how we deliver the Bath MBA and additional costs.

Teaching and learning

Occasionally we make changes to our course in response to, for example, feedback from students, developments in research and the field of studies or the requirements of accrediting bodies.

You will be advised of any significant changes to the advertised course, in accordance with our terms and conditions.

You’ll learn from academics who are experts in the fields of business, management and finance. Your learning experience will be enriched by the research activities and collaborations of academic staff.

The Bath full-time MBA is a campus-based programme. Most modules are taught in-person, on campus. Occasionally, we may offer guest speakers, individual lectures and/or workshops online. If circumstances mean we have to move to blended or remote learning, we will let you know of any changes in advance.

You will experience a variety of teaching methods including:

lectures
online resources
practical sessions
seminars
tutorials
workshops

Methods of assessment

Exams are not a feature of the Bath MBA. Modules are assessed by a combination of coursework/essays, presentations, in-class participation and portfolios.

Additional costs

Your tuition fee covers tuition and academic materials. Other aspects (e.g. social activities, networking and events) are provided at the University’s discretion and are not part of the tuition fee.

The fee includes the cost of:

essential textbooks
case material
journal extracts

We provide all course materials in digital format.

Some modules involve visits away from the University campus, and you may need to pay some or all of the costs of meals on such trips. We will pay for your transport.

If you choose to take the optional international business module you will be expected to take part in, and meet the costs of, the international business trip. You should budget approximately £2,500 for this.

Regulator

This course is regulated by the Office for Students.

Entry requirements

The academic and professional experience you'll need to apply for our full-time MBA