University of Hull Global Online MBA

No matter who you are or where you’re from – we know you’ve got the potential to be a brilliant leader.

We’ll start with an overview of the programme, but after that, it’s all about you – your experience, your skills, knowledge, behaviours, and your aims.

You’ll reflect on and analyse your journey so far, using academic literature, inspiring case studies, and personal research to pinpoint areas to develop, skills to hone, and measure your growth throughout the course and beyond. This new level of self-awareness will provide a solid footing as you discover your own leadership style and unique place in the business world.

Right from the get-go, you’ll be developing vital study skills and training in essential systems. As well as a strong academic and theoretical approach, you’ll explore fundamental principles of leadership, including growth mindsets, decision-making, and persuasion.

This module won’t just help you get the most out of your course; it will prepare you for your own transformative leadership journey.

The world has been turned on its head and organisations have been forced to rapidly adapt to survive. Take a look at the wider global economic environment and its impact on business performance.

Equipped with a knowledge of the concepts, tools, and approaches needed to view business through a critical economic lens (micro and macro), explore how global events and trends including AI development, cryptocurrency, the pandemic, and climate change affect decision-making and the way businesses and ventures function.

You’ll develop a global mindset, learn how the market works, and the power individuals and communities have to influence the global economy.

We might not always be able to predict the future, but we can prepare for it.

Every successful business has a clear strategy. It sets out their vision, their mission, and their direction, ensuring each moving part of the business works towards the common goal.

But what happens when things go wrong? By understanding that organisations function within a far larger context – one where ecological, economic, and social systems interconnect; where disruption and challenges are often out of our immediate control – we can begin to develop a holistic understanding of complex systems to create more informed and effective strategies.

Strategy is only relevant in context, and you’ll be encouraged to relate your studies to your own organisational context throughout.

Not only will you gain a sound theoretical understanding of complexity, and how a systems thinking approach improves planning and decision making, but you’ll pick up the tools and practical techniques to form your own strategies in the real world. And with responsible leadership at our core, you’ll be assessing risk and strategic decision making for ethical and social value each step of the way.

In this volatile business landscape, disruption is the norm. Organisations have to be ready and willing to break the status quo. This could mean shaking up their entire business model or revamping their service or product, and it will almost always involve adapting how they reach their customers.

In this highly interactive module, you’ll gain real, hands-on experience. You’ll get to grips with the marketing platforms and analytic tools to understand how organisations use the very latest data and harness the most disruptive digital trends to build sustainable growth for stakeholders.

You’ll learn how to critically evaluate an increasingly competitive, online, and distraction-filled marketplace and identify key trends. You’ll understand the importance of reaching customers with the right product at the right price, at the right time, and through the right channels. By combining insight into the complete brand planning process with the University’s vision for a ‘fairer, brighter, carbon neutral future’, this module will inspire sustainable marketing plans that meet the needs of the organisation, the customers, and the environment – we call this Total Marketing.

Accounting impacts every single aspect of a business.

In this module, you will learn to understand, interpret, and communicate in the language of numbers. Get to grips with the fundamentals of accounting and finance and learn how to apply these principles ethically. You will explore the pivotal role they play in planning and commercial decision making, culminating in the ultimate success of an organisation or venture.

You’ll pick up the practical skills needed to work as an effective manager. Learn to think critically and make complex data-driven decisions, including understanding and analysing financial statements and business cases, appraising investment opportunities, and benchmarking, to inform your future leadership and strategic decisions.

Take a step back to reflect on your leadership behaviours and style. Look inwards, and explore what it takes to become an ethical and socially responsible role model, shaping internal cultures and promoting sustainable development, inclusivity, and diversity.

Examine new ways of working to become a transformational leader in an increasingly volatile and ambiguous business world, where developments such as new technologies and shifting customer demands continually shape the decisions we make as leaders. Discover how to respond to these changes with confidence and integrity and learn to identify innovation opportunities amongst the chaos.

People are your business’s most valuable resource.

In this module you’ll gain a profound understanding of people management within a complex, shifting, and increasingly globalised context.

Split into three main parts, it covers the principles of human resources management, global talent management, and organisational culture. From this, you’ll develop helpful people management strategies to apply to your own real-life experiences – giving you the tools to become a responsible and ethical leader.

From recruiting and managing talent in a global market, to committing to corporate social responsibility; from creating diverse and supportive cultures, to the implications of the psychological contract; and from workforce health and wellbeing to the global paradox; this module covers the full breadth of theories and practices relating to talent and human resource management.

Never before has responsible and ethical supply chain leadership been so crucial to organisations and the world economy. Recent events such as the global pandemic, modern day slavery, the energy crisis and climate change have shone a spotlight on the importance and impact of supply chains.

Learn from academics and high-profile speakers to gain an in-depth understanding of: supply chain strategy and design; sustainability; how to analyse and design effective supply chain operations; how to use data models and simulation games to solve problems and inform decisions and scenarios; the role of warehousing and transport in modern supply chains; procurement; operations management; risk, resilience and project management.

You will become an ethical role model with a reputation for sustainable development in a global supply chain community, acting with integrity and promoting an ethical, inclusive and supportive culture.

The emergence of Industry 4.0 has meant businesses need to rely on technology now more than ever.

Explore themes in pioneering technologies and learn to think critically about how technology can be used – and abused – in an organisation or project.

No previous technical experience is required as you’ll be introduced to cybersecurity from a management perspective, discovering the methodologies used to protect businesses from insider and outsider information security threats.

How do you build an entrepreneurial business?

Learn from leading innovators themselves to discover the importance of entrepreneurship and adaptability in a rapidly changing, technology-driven environment.

You’ll gain the knowledge and framework to create solid entrepreneurial strategies to help businesses thrive in the real world. You’ll develop the confidence to lead by example, encouraging a company-wide entrepreneurial mindset and culture of creativity and innovation.

You will be able to identify opportunities for growth and change, how to adapt and build a more dynamic business, and how to evaluate risk and measure entrepreneurial success.

Put everything you’ve learnt to the test.

This is an exciting opportunity to apply your learnings to a true-to-life consultancy project for an existing client in a supportive, low-stakes setting or lead a project within your own organisation.

Now fully equipped with the advanced tools and knowledge, you’ll carry out high impact, relevant practitioner-based research and use your findings to generate solutions.

Harness your ability as a manager and develop valuable consultancy skills as you design, deliver and manage each aspect of your project; from research, analysis and diagnosis, to presenting your proposals and reporting.

Aiming to be as realistic as possible, this project will prepare you for the real-life challenges you’ll face as a professional and will help deliver return on investment back to your organisation or client.