Executive MBA

Before your programme starts, you will be expected to complete online pre-study modules. These will be available on The Hub, our virtual learning platform.

These include primers in key areas including data analysis, finance, accounting, maths, corporate sustainability, social innovation and ethics.

Your Executive MBA induction will take place on our South Kensington Campus in London. This is the chance for you to meet the rest of your cohort, faculty and programme staff.

This two-day induction will lay the foundations of your Executive MBA experience. As well as a programme introduction, you will partake in several lectures and activities to give you a taste for the programme, as well as attending a special welcome dinner. 

Critical skills for business leaders include understanding the language of accounting and mastering financial analysis in day-to-day and strategic decision-making. This module will focus on:

• The use of accounting for financial management and reporting
• Explaining the techniques of financial and management accounting
• Examining the relevance of these techniques to broader issues such as decision-making and management control in organisations

Additionally, you will gain insights into:

• How business performance is measured
• How business decisions can be structured and analysed

This module will provide you with a foundation in the theoretical tools to analyse modern financial markets and the decisions of corporate firms. The module covers a variety of topics in corporate finance. It focuses on how firms and individuals (investors) make financial decisions.

We first want to understand the role that financial markets play in the economy; the role of financial intermediation. Then, the module is divided in two parts: valuation and capital structure.

Part one: Valuation
This part explains how companies select and value assets that they want to invest in (the left-hand side of the balance sheet). Key topics include:

• Present value techniques
• Basics of financial statements and cash flow calculation
• Investment rules and project evaluation
• Valuation of securities, such as bonds and stocks
• Portfolio theory and the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)

Part two: Financing and Risk Management
This part explores how companies finance their activities and manage risk. It examines the factors influencing “optimal” capital structure. It also looks at how these factors create value on the right-hand side of the balance sheet.

The corporate innovation & intrapreneurship module provides a unique opportunity to enhance your knowledge, skills and experience in:

• Understanding innovation at industry and company level
• Setting up processes and procedures to foster corporate innovation

You will be guided through:

• Different strategies implemented by new ventures
• How corporates adopt ideas from the entrepreneurship community, such as acceleration, incubation, and venture capital as tools for corporate renewal during the live sessions

In addition, you will embark on a live experience through negotiating a term sheet. This is typically used in corporate entrepreneurship and venture capital environments.

This module aims to equip you with the tools and concepts economists use to:

• Understand how market conditions are determined
• Analyse the impact of the economic environment on business performance

By the end of the module, you will develop an understanding of economic forces and the ability to apply economic analysis to problems related to business strategy and managerial decision-making.

This module comprises two parts:

1. Understanding Game-Changing Technologies

• Gain foundational knowledge of selected transformative technologies to effectively identify potential business applications
• Sensitise you to important ethical and societal issues raised by some of these new technologies

2. Exploring business impact

• Examine how a number of businesses have sought to make an impact in the context of a 'grand challenge'
• Discover some of the levers that can be used to drive real impact and change

Please note, this module runs over both terms 1 and 2.

Among business disciplines, marketing is the primary contact point between a business and its customers. Appreciating customer needs and how to marshal the resources of an organisation to meet those needs are crucial skills in today’s business world.
This module develops a general management approach to making, planning and evaluating marketing decisions, from both strategic and tactical perspectives.

You will learn how marketing decisions contribute to overall business performance and how they are affected by organisational and environmental influences. We will define and explore fundamental marketing terms, concepts, principles, ideas and theories. We will discuss the role of marketing in an organisation, explore the link between marketing and customer value creation.

You will learn how to think critically about marketing, how to use the marketing toolkit to gain competitive advantage, learn about the product life cycle and how to build customer relationships, as well as retain their loyalty. We will talk about branding, channels and promotions, and explore the opportunities presented by traditional and digital marketing communications.

This module covers the major factors that shape organisational behaviour and effectiveness. Key topics include:

• An analysis of organisational behaviour at three levels - the micro (individual), the meso (team), and the macro (organisational)
• Examining how activities at each level contribute to organisational performance and effectiveness

You will:

• Learn key concepts to improve organisational performance
• Acquire necessary tools to design organisations that thrive in unpredictable environments
• Develop analytical, problem-solving and leaderships skills
• Understand the dynamics that affect individuals in organisations, including culture, decision-making, group conflict, power structures, and wider social dynamics

The module will focus on a number of themes and will involve a blend of activities. We start the module studying individual aspects of leadership and as the module progresses, we will pay more attention to organisation-based aspects, finishing off with sessions for personal action planning.

All through the module we will keep coming back to the question of ethical responsibilities and spend time thinking through the challenge of responsible leadership.

By the end of our time together, you will not only have a more thorough awareness of the personal and social characteristics that shape you as a leader, but you will have a firm contract for moving forward with your personal leadership action plan.

Thus, this module should be thought of as an initial assessment of your position at the beginning of what is going to be a stimulating personal, group and academic journey.

This module primarily focuses on ‘business strategy’: where and how a single business company or a business unit of a larger corporation competes in its business.
It will also introduce ‘corporate strategy’ which is about how multi-business corporations should make decisions around the scope of the businesses in their portfolio and how they should manage them.
The prime focus is on firms participating in competitive markets, some ideas are also relevant to other kinds of organisations, such as not-for-profit sector.
The module will help you:

• Developing the ability to assess if a strategy is likely to be successful
• Exploring how managers can develop new or improved strategies
• Understanding the organisational process of strategy development and strategy implementation

There are many different ways to approach an understanding of business (and corporate) strategy. This module is based on a framework which sees the role of a strategy in terms of (1) creating value and (2) capturing value.

We will discuss how this core framework relates to other well-known frameworks such as Porter’s five forces and Blue/Red Oceans.
We will also discuss why having an explicit strategy can be both a blessing and a curse – which explains why successful firms often subsequently fail.

Big Data, AI & Machine Learning (On-campus) 

Business Analytics (On-campus) 

Project Management (On-campus) 

Data Analytics and Visualisation for Business 

Operations Management (Online) 

AI Ventures (On-campus) 

Digital Business Model Design (On-campus) 

Entrepreneurial Finance and Venture Capital (On-campus) 

The Entrepreneurial Journey 

Leading Social Innovation (On-campus) 

Venture Capital Finance (Online) 

Mastering Foundational Entrepreneurial Skills

Responsible Digital Innovation: Ethics at Work​

Asset Management (On-campus) 

Finance for Net Zero

The Fintech Revolution: New Markets, Models and Opportunities (On-campus) 

Finance in Cleantech

Entrepreneurial Finance and Venture Capital (On-campus) 

Mergers and Acquisitions (On-campus and online) 

Pricing Strategy (On-campus) 

Private Equity (On-campus) 

Venture Capital Finance (Online) 

Decision Making for Leaders

Family Business (On-campus) 

Leadership (On-campus) 

Leading and Executing Strategic Change (On-campus) 

Leading Social Innovation (On-campus) 

Managing Negotiations

Strategy and Leadership in a Digital World (On-campus) 

Brand Management (On-campus) 

Consumer Behaviour (On-campus) 

Technologies in Marketing

Marketing Analytics (On-campus) 

Pricing Strategy (On-campus) 

Sustainable Marketing & Consumption

Breakout Strategy (On-campus) 

Business Problem Solving 

Climate Change and Business Strategy (On-campus) 

Energy Business (On-campus) 

Global Strategy (online)

Shaping Frontier Markets

Strategic Networking (On-campus) 

Strategy and Leadership in a Digital World (On-campus) 

Sustainability and Competitive Advantage (On-campus) 

Advanced Strategy in a Stakeholder Economy (Online) 

Digital Business (Online) 

The year-long Executive Leadership Journey will enhance your awareness of your own and other’s strengths. You will work closely with a careers consultant throughout the programme. Together, you will develop a plan for your future career trajectory. You will also gain insights into yourself and build essential leadership skills.

Whether you want to accelerate your career within your current organisation, or explore new opportunities, the Executive Leadership Journey will help you maximise your potential.

The Final Project is a formal report consisting of up to 15,000 words. It is completed in the second year of the programme. This project allows you to address a real business problem. You can focus on an issue facing your current employer or an industry of interest.

One of the most important elements of leadership is the ability to create, propose and defend ideas that add value, solve problems or leverage untapped opportunities. During the Final Project, you will demonstrate your analytical skills. You will develop a strategy and implementation plan that adds real value to your employer.

This is a great opportunity to demonstrate your decision-making and leadership abilities. It highlights your potential as a senior business leader.

As part of your elective modules, you will complete two international residencies. You will visit top business schools and organisations. This will give you first-hand experience of international business in other countries. Our residency locations include:

Doing business with China  

This is a one-week residency at a top business school in China. Its purpose is to enable students to appreciate what it takes to do business there. It also focuses on working with Chinese companies and developing supply chains.

The module also provides a perspective on the modern-day role of China in the world. It highlights the ways that the country has become an innovator, especially in consumer digital business. The module involves lectures, company visits and group project work.

Technology and innovation in the US

The US continues to lead in technology-based entrepreneurship and this provides the focus of the trip, though we will also cover the US economy and 'doing business in the US'.

Watch a video about the US residency here.

Future destinations for the Executive MBA residencies are subject to change. Imperial College Business School reserves the right to alter the locations when required. 

Please note that whilst the School covers teaching, accommodation, local travel and some meals, you will be required to pay for flights, transfers and other meals.

Global Experience Week takes place during the summer term. It is an unforgettable opportunity that MBA students eagerly anticipate each year.
You will learn about the challenges faced by local organisations. You will also explore how a country’s business environment influences their operations.

Past Global Experience Weeks have included the Nordics. There, they examined how businesses can transform to address climate action.

You will choose from the following locations aligned with our key topics:

Brazil –  Market Trends in the Marvellous City

Kenya – How can business address inequality?

The cost of this trip is not included in your tuition fees. 

Optional four-day international experiences giving you the opportunity to explore contemporary global business problems with a local perspective. Gain valuable insights into international issues within a specific geography. Benefit from the in-market exposure and teaching that these trips offer.

These trips are shared across the MBA portfolio giving you the opportunity to build new connections. Previous locations have included Houston, Milan, Singapore.

Sustainable Transformation Made in Italy 

The Future of Cities

Sales Management and Leadership

The cost of this trip is not included in your tuition fees.  

The optional Global Exchanges programme allows you to increase your international exposure and connect with a global community. You can also build your network by taking advantage of specialised electives at one of our partner schools.