Author Archives: Nicolas Forsans

Launching the 2015/16 One Planet MBA Programme

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Five years ago our ground breaking One Planet MBA programme at the University of Exeter Business School redefined the purpose of an MBA and the purpose of business education. Embedding the values of responsible management and the principles of Change. For Goodtransformative leadership, our One Planet MBA is specially designed for what we call, “professionals in transition” – individuals like yourself who have worked for a number of years and wish to take stock, reflect on their careers, find ways of leveraging their strengths and discover new opportunities while upgrading their skills and knowledge.

More than ever in 2015 does the One Planet MBA stand for personal transformations. And more than ever will we help you change. For good.

Change. For Good

Business is being challenged by global economic, social and environmental disruptors as never before. They are impacting, not only on business practices and strategies, but also on the role of business in our society. They are re-defining the role of the professional manager, and the expectations placed onto aspiring business leaders. Continue reading →

Celebrating 25 Years of the Exeter MBA

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Our MBA is now 25 years old, and we thought we would celebrate such a milestone with a 25th anniversary event at our partner EY’s London headquarters in the City of London. The event starts at 6pm on 10th June and will involve our students, our alumni (some of them going back 25 years!) and our corporate partners who’ve supported us in recent years.

Our MBA is at the forefront of thinking, and the challenges the corporate world faces today are very different from those of 25 years ago. Continue reading →

The Expert View: our MBA showcased by The Guardian

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The Guardian newspaper, one of the UK’s oldest and leading daily newspaper recently ran a roundtable discussion on the future of business education.

As part of its Sustainable Business Network, The Guardian asked Deans of leading business schools why most business schools had been slow to adapt their business and executive education curriculum in light of the tremendous challenges businesses face today.  Continue reading →

Exeter ranked among the UK’s best universities

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A brief post today when the Complete University Guide has ranked the University of Exeter as one of the best Universities in the UK in its 2015 edition. The University ranks particularly highly in terms of entry standards, student satisfaction and graduate prospects.

The Guide also publishes subject-related league tables, Exeter also ranks in the top 10 for business and management. Our One Planet MBA has a presence in the guide (although there is an error: our MBA is a 12-months programme, not a two years one!)

My One Planet MBA, by Matthew Dearlove

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I am Matthew Dearlove, a full time MBA student at Exeter since September 2013 and here are some of my experiences and feelings about my time on the course so far.

Matthew (far right) and members of the organising team, One Planet Sustainability Challenge 2014

The course kicked off with the six core modules over the first term which concluded with a very busy January that was both rewarding and satisfying. The diverse backgrounds and varying experiences of my cohort have made the challenging learning process very interesting and enjoyable. After completing those core modules we began to integrate with the Executive MBA students on our remaining six modules, which again provided a fresh perspective and outlook on business, particularly within the context of sustainability. Continue reading →

Discovering One-self and Learning Away from the Classroom: our Study Trip in Bogota

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Participants and staff at the start of the week in the forecourt of Universidad del Rosario in central Bogota

Our MBA students have just returned from Bogota, the capital city of Colombia – home to 8 million people, and the largest city in South America. This week-long study trip is integrated in our MBA every year and consists in the delivery of two modules, Sustainability in Context in our full time (i.e. 12 months) programme, and Managing around the World: Roundtables for Practicing Managers for our Exec MBA programme (over 2 years, part time).

A key benefit of delivering those two modules in a different location every year is to provide our students and practising managers with opportunities to “leave the office behind them”, engage with local and like minded practising managers, identify and address key personal challenges, as well as social, economic and environmental challenges that affect the conduct of business in environments away from home. Immersing ourselves into a different environment and culture facilitates reflection and introspection. Last year those two residential modules were delivered in South Africa with our partner Stellenbosch University. This year, we were partnering with a leading Colombian university, Universidad del Rosario in Bogota.

Continue reading →

Gaining hands-on experience through our in-company MBA Consulting Projects

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We are fast approaching the end of the Term, and with it the end of the MBA programme for our full time students this year. After 9 intensive months spent acquiring core business knowledge and skills in Term 1, and developing critical employability skills through our practical, in-company assignments in Term 2, our students are now in the process of formalising their consulting projects with our unique network of corporate partners.

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Take the Fear out of Accounting & Finance with our pre-sessional MBA course

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We know how daunting and full of jargon disciplines such as Accounting, Finance and Economics can be for an MBA student, even for seasoned professionals.  For that reason, and following feedback from our students this year on the MBA we are introducing a pre-sessional, intensive MBA crash course opened exclusively to our 2014/15 MBA students, aimed at equipping them with the basic knowledge and skills that will help them to make the most of quantitative modules in Term 1.

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Meet our Alumni: Karen at Afren Plc

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Karen came to the UK from Nigeria to study the MBA programme at Exeter, benefiting from the £34,000 scholarship from Afren Plc, an independent oil and natural gas

Alongside its core business operations, Afren Plc is committed to supporting the local host communities in Nigeria’s oil rich Niger Delta who may be impacted by its activities, and have in place a number of social investment initiatives that champion this support. Karen had experienced first-hand how the region was impoverished in spite of the oil wealth during her one year compulsory National Service Scheme, and so carrying out her MBA Consultancy Project to evaluate the initiatives Afren Plc had put in place to reduce the burden of poverty by empowering communities resonated with her.exploration and production corporation founded in 2004, operating primarily from Nigeria. The Afren scholarship is one of the many corporate-funded scholarships we offer every year on the One Planet MBA at Exeter.

Linked to the scholarship is an opportunity for a consultancy project scheduled in the summer months at thesponsoring organisation. Linking the scholarship to the consultancy project enables our corporate partners to experience first hand the quality of the students on the MBA, and in some cases recruit them after their studies. That’s what happened to Karen who joined Afren on completion of her MBA project. Continue reading →

Our Unique MBA Suite: a Guided Tour

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When I took over the MBA at Exeter last December, one thing that struck me is how well supported MBA students are, and how critical our unique MBA Suite is in promoting the collaborative mindset that business leaders need to develop to run successful businesses.

Building One, the School’s flagship building, was designed in 2008 with our MBA in mind. Set over three floors, the building is home to our One Planet MBA Suite which occupies the first floor of the building. Here’s a guided tour of our unique facilities…

The School’s flagship building, Building One

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