I am a senior Director , with an Engineering background, working in Utilities and Infrastructure Development in the Middle East for the last 24 years. Mainly in GCC countries. My target is to promote my career for the next level as a Chief Executive or Development Officer. I prefer further knowledge in strategies, Business Development in renewable energy, water and sustainability sectors.

Recently I receive an offer from Manchester university , Alliance school to do GMBA through their Dubai Center.
I was promoted for the accelerated path with 18 months and cost of around 33,000 £

Do you think this is the best course fits my objectives?
Any thoughts!

For a senior executive role, I think you'd be better off attending an executive MBA with a cohort of senior managers. HEC, Insead and LBS are the outstanding EMBA programmes in the Gulf. 

Thank you for feedback, as I am self-funding the program, those schools are higher than my budget. They almost 2.5 times Mnachester course 

Yes. If you want CEO roles, you will need to invest.

Yes. If you want CEO roles, you will need to invest.

Try and do a class visit. You are using the ranking the full time degrees, but you are shopping for a part time MBA. The Manchester Global MBA is aimed at much more junior people, and is from a less potent school. Pick any market and compare the #1 to the #4. This is an bigger difference, since Manchester closed its Executive MBA. 

[Edited by Duncan on May 01, 2021]

Great advice Duncan. I thought to catchup the opportunity of travel ban due to covid, and do an MBA with well-ranked university. 
 Would you suggest other schools, with better course but within the same budget ( 50-60k$)

It's worth discussing with someone to weigh up the options. On the one hand, you talk about wanting a senior leadership role that would obviously make a huge increase in your lifetime earnings. On the other hand, you are looking at the sort of investment made by a relatively junior group of people with more modest goals. So, you are limiting yourself to actions that won't lead to your stated goals. 

Align your goals and your actions. 



So, which is your real choice? Do you want a senior leadership role, that would lead from a top EMBA? Or do you want the functional management role that the AMBS Global MBA cohort is destined for? 

[Edited by Duncan on May 01, 2021]

Thank you Duncan, I reverted to the University consultant, who advised that the offerred program is the "Accelerated" Global MBA cohort of seniors with a restricted selection criteria customized for C-level candidates.

I know schools as LBS, INSEAD should be my straight forward target if I need to secure a C-Level seat, but if the "Accelerated " program can provide 80% of the knowledge, networking and collaboration required for the same , then it will be great.

In my Region, I found several AMBS Alumnis who are holding now VP & C-Level seats.
Eventhough, Do you think there is a difference between "Accelerated" or normal GMBA?

 

The accelerated programme is not for C level people. It's primarily aimed at people with at least three years work experience and membership of an accounting body. Compare the outcomes from the school, or from those specific programmes. They are incomparable. 

Hi, a friend of mine showed me this post and just want to share my opinion. I am a UoM MBA alumnus in Dubai. Pardon if I disagree with the opinions stated here. The MBA offered in Dubai is C level. Yes, the price is lower than most, if not all, of the top ranked MBAs in the world, but that's a good thing. The programme is one of the top in the world according to FT and QS. In fact, the latest QS survey which came 1 or 2 weeks back got us at 3rd in UK, 4th in Europe and 5th in the world - https://www.topmba.com/mba-rankings/online-mba-rankings/2021. We also have a very strong alumni network in the region, and the rest of the world.
I understand if I seem biased. Let me just share with you the qualifications when I looked for an MBA before. And I did a lot of research and talked to alumni also.
1. Ranking
2. Price
3. Network
At UoM, I did not have to break the bank (too much) to get access to top ranked education with a network of C level alumni in the middle east that I am partnering with to this day.

Hi, I am a UoM MBA alumnus in Dubai. Pardon if I disagree with the opinions stated here. The MBA offered in Dubai is C level. Yes, the price is lower than most, if not all, of the top ranked MBAs in the world, but that's a good thing. The programme is one of the top in the world according to FT and QS. In fact, the latest QS survey which came 1 or 2 weeks back got us at 3rd in UK, 4th in Europe and 5th in the world - QS Online MBA Rankings 2021. We also have a very strong alumni network in the region, and the rest of the world.


I understand if I seem biased. Let me just share with you the qualifications when I looked for an MBA before. And I did a lot of research and talked to alumni also.
1. Ranking
2. Price
3. Network

At UoM, I did not have to break the bank (too much) to get access to top ranked education with a network of C level alumni in the middle east that I am partnering with to this day.Also, Accelerated is 18 months programme. There will be additional eligibility criteria, depending on which accelerated programme you are interested in.

[Edited by Sean G on May 02, 2021]

Hi Sean. I invite people to search for themselves. Anyone can see the admissions criteria for the accelerated track is not CEO level, and they can use LinkedIn to see the participants  They can also read for themselves that the FT does not rank the AMBS Global MBA.

I agree. People should search for themselves.

But I would like to request also that you be fair in your comments. And you should check for yourself the FT rankings this year and the past few years. AMBS is in the rankings.

Read my comments. The full-time MBA is in the FT ranking, but the Global MBA is not ranked. I have no idea how far back you would need to go before you find MBS in the FT EMBA ranking... Maybe 15 years? 

Why I cannot reply to the post and share the FT link for AMBS ranking?

You need to add a space after the URL to post a link. Here is the FT online MBA ranking: AMBS is not ranked there.  http://mba-rankings.ft.com/rankings/2860

[Edited by Duncan on May 03, 2021]

Here is the FT EMBA ranking, which also does not include AMBS. http://mba-rankings.ft.com/rankings/2848 

AMBS do not have EMBA program, hence not ranked.   

http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-ranking-2021

AMBS is ranked on GMBA only, 30th World and 4th UK

lt gives a message from admin, to review the post before publishing.

Any Way AMBS do not offer EMBA, hence not ranked but they offer GMBA and ranked on FT as 3oth world and 4th UK.

I find also Warwick have impressive credentials, but they are not that popular in Middle east