My MBA - Edinburgh Business School, Heriot Watt University

Finally! I signed up for my MBA with a local partner to Edinburgh Business School, Heriot Watt University.
"Study with our partners across the globe

Study on-campus in beautiful Edinburgh. Stay at home and enjoy all the support of online distance learning." Both are attractive options. But there is another way to study for your MBA: combine personal study with learning shared with other students.

Edinburgh Business School has an international network of Approved Learning Partners. These partners - and their tutors - offer in-depth teaching programmes and an opportunity to study locally with like-minded individuals.

These partners may be public-sector institutions, they may be executive development centres geared towards providing programmes for business professionals, or they may be private institutions.

Courses may be taught in the local language and fees are charged in local currencies. The qualification that you receive, however, will be exactly the same as the one you would gain if you studied on-campus in Edinburgh or independently." http://www.ebsglobal.net/programmes/mba-approved-learning-partner

Since late last year I did some research on the subjects which were to be covered in the HW MBA and realised that they were areas which I wanted to learn more about. I hesitated with the specialisations understanding instinctively that there were some areas which I wanted to learn more about and there were others which I was not as keen on. Then as life would have it, there was a delay and I started another course partly because I wanted to have a level of learning and development happening in my life as there needed to be a bit more about me than was currently happening. Yes, there were underlying feelings of was this what I wanted.

Then over the weekend I went ahead and signed up for the  HW - MBA. My first course is Marketing, with the reasoning that a subject which I practice and know so little about should come first as I may not approach this subject with the same level of clearheadedness later on in the programme. To be truthful, I associate Marketing with SWOT analysis, having learnt Management and Strategy via ACCA and identifying the cash cows from the other distinctive terms, I now have to read a book  and not only learn the information, but express it in a way which communicates to the examiner that I understand what I have learnt.  As with ACCA, the desire to learn is what will keep me motivated.

Here are some links to the site and the topics covered under the  subject: http://www.ebsglobal.net/programmes/marketing

Topics covered

• The marketing management process.
• Corporate strategies and their marketing implications.
• Business strategies and their marketing implications.
• Environmental analysis: tools to identify attractive markets.
• Industry analysis and competitive advantage.
• Understanding consumer buying behaviour.
• Understanding organisational markets and buying behaviour.
• Measuring market opportunities: forecasting and market research.
• Market segmentation and target marketing.
• Positioning.
• Product decisions.
• Pricing decisions.
• Distribution channel decisions.
• Integrated promotion decisions.
• Marketing strategies for new market entries.
• Marketing strategies for growth markets.
• Marketing strategies for mature and declining markets.
• Organising and planning for effective implementation.
• Measuring and delivering marketing performance.

Here is some information on the Core courses:http://www.ebsglobal.net/programmes/mba-approved-learning-partner-structure

• Core courses
  • Accounting
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Marketing
  • Organisational Behaviour
  • Project Management
  • Strategic Planning
• Elective courses
  • Alliances and Partnerships
  • Competitive Strategy
  • Consumer Behaviour
  • Corporate Governance
  • Credit Risk Management
  • Derivatives
  • Developing Effective Managers and Leaders
  • Employee Relations
  • Employee Resourcing
  • Financial Risk Management
  • Human Resource Development
  • Human Resource Management
  • Influence
  • International Marketing
  • Leadership
  • Making Strategies Work
  • Managing People in Changing Contexts
  • Managing People in Global Markets
  • Managing Personal Competencies
  • Marketing Channels
  • Marketing Communications
  • Marketing Research
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Negotiation
  • Performance Management
  • Practical History of Financial Markets
  • Principles of Retailing
  • Quantitative Methods
  • Research Methods for Business and Management
  • Sales Force Management
  • Services Marketing
  • Strategic Negotiation
  • Strategic Risk Management