Master of Business Administration, Business Management: YBINBK18

Descriptions

Today’s business world is complex and involves diverse stakeholders and competing agendas. Success in international business calls for a broad mix of capabilities and skills both in managing processes and operations as well as leading others in networks, organizations and teams. Turku University of Applied Sciences MBA degree in Business Management is designed for those who work or aspire to work in management and development positions in the business. Entry requirement to the programme is a minimum of three years’ work experience in business gained after a bachelor level degree either in business administration, engineering or equivalent international degree.

Business Management programme includes advanced studies in research and development methods as well as in strategies, management and leadership. Individual study planning discussions are taken in the beginning of the studies and also during the studies. The aim with individual study planning is that you can choose those optional studies which best support your own competence and career development. Optional studies can be taken from the offerings of other master programmes.

A central part of MBA studies is master’s thesis, in which you will not only develops the knowledge and skills in a certain study field and specific topic, but you will also have a possibility to enhance the skills of leading teams and work groups. The systemic thinking and futures approaches are relied in studying and this, together with methodological studies, will enhance your abilities to carry out research, development and change projects within an organization.

Structure of the studies:
- Core and Complementary Competence Studies (50 ECTS)
- Elective Studies (10 ECTS)
- Master´s Thesis (30 ECTS)

You will deepen your competence in fields of management of networks, business relationships and project management. In these studies you can focus on the strategic management and leadership of not only business operations, but also of innovative processes, partnerships and networks. The studies aim at developing analytical and decision-making skills for managing and developing partnerships and business relationships in the supply chain and other business settings.

The master’s thesis is a wide research and development project addressed to the topic you wish to deepen your expertise in. The master’s thesis is typically connected to a case company’s business development project and is many times conducted for the student’s employer.

During the master’s thesis process, you will familiarize yourself with the relevant theoretical knowledge and improves the skills to apply theoretical knowledge into practice in the case company studied. Through the thesis process, you will acquire a deep understanding on the topic under research. One of important goals of master’s thesis is also to train the students to mobilize and fulfill organizational development process and changes.

Business Management master degree programme is international in many respects, not only in terms of content. Visiting teachers and experts from our partner universities are regularly invited to join the faculty and bring new, international perspective to the studies.

The student has the possibility to take exchange studies at some of our partner universities. International research and development (RDI) projects offer possibilities to the master students to complete their thesis project in these projects.

Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree studies provide the student with skills and competences for developing business concepts and processes as well as managing organizations and business relationships.

Suitable positions of a MBA graduate are for example Business Development Manager or Expert, Manager or Expert of Supply Chain System processes and operations, Human Resource Manager or Expert, Customer Relationships Manager, Project Manager.

Completion of a master’s degree in the University of Applied Sciences qualifies for doctoral studies in different universities.

Objective

MBA in Business Management aims to equip you with the knowledge, understanding and skills required to deal with the complexities of management in an international context. The programme offers a combination of conceptual frameworks and practical techniques, an in-depth coverage of strategic management in different business concepts, processes and operations as well as valuable tools for developing organizational capabilities and leadership.

Development

In this MBA programme you will learn new theories through independent studies and interactive lectures, workshops and seminars. You will gain more knowledge and practical skills through self-reflection and sharing experiences with student colleagues, thus creating new knowledge in continuous collaboration within the group. You are encouraged to explore your thought processes and develop your critical thinking and decision-making abilities. The master’s thesis is completed at the end of your studies as evidence of your competences.

The programme is working life as well as research and development oriented and thus the studies can be usually connected well with the students’ current employers’ objectives. The programme is built on multiform studies including problem-based learning processes, lectures and seminars, e-learning and independent work. Contact sessions are usually two days long and held approximately once a month.

Further information

Evaluation is targeted both at the programme curriculum contents and implementation, as well as at the learning processes and the study outcomes. In evaluation and development of the programme, continuous dialogue between programme staff and the students is important. The degree programme is evaluated according to the principles of continuous improvement. Feedback is collected via questionnairies and discussions with the group and teacher team. Feedback concerns achieving study objectives, contents and implementation, and the working life relatedness of the programme. The core of student feedback system is Feedback Day discussions held every academic year.

Evaluation leans on different assessment methods. The assessment is done based both on the study outcomes, for example assignment report or a seminar presentation and the process. Feedback is given groupwise and individually.