Hello - I am a senior in-house legal and business affairs executive in the entertainment industry with a traditional purely legal education (French law university degree + UoL LLM). I feel I need a bit of a boost to better understand business and step up from a purely support role (i.e. moving towards a COO role). I have not made up my mind about doing a full executive-MBA which feels like a massive commitment at this stage though not ruling it out but would definitely welcome a sort of basics course in the meantime. Have found this LSE MBA Essentials online course which is over 10 weeks and with a very reasonable price-tag which seems to deliver this essential knowledge that I am looking for and a certificate. Has anyone here got any experience of this course and can advise about it or suggest valid alternatives, including with real-life tuition as that would be my preference? Many thanks!

I suggest you instead look for something that carries academic credit and has serious assessment. The Maryland MBA core is a much better option, as are the Coursera MBA options.

Thank you, Duncan. Though I am familiar with LSE (and based in London) and I think it has a decent reputation in Europe, I have not heard of Maryland or Coursera as schools. What is the advantage of one of those specifically and what do you mean by carrying academic credit and having serious assessment? Thank you!

What about. the Master Business Essentials with Harvard Business School’s Online CORe Program? Is that any good?

Degrees are made up of units of assessment. When completed, they lead to credits. You need a certain number of credits to graduate. Courses that have academic credit are well assessed. Other courses tend to be graded by attendance.

The University of Maryland at College Park is one of the top US universities.

The HBx Core qualification is similar to the LSE course. Again, I think you will gain more from a course that leads to academic credit.

Thank you, I will look at what Maryland has to offer online.

I think both the MBAs partnering with Coursera allow you to take the MOOC element and then only later register for the MBAs. That is a huge saving for real MBAs courses.

I think both the MBAs partnering with Coursera allow you to take the MOOC element and then only later register for the MBAs. That is a huge saving for real MBAs courses.

[Edited by George Patsoulis on Oct 13, 2018]

Yes, you can do the specialization first before you start taking the actual MBA classes (which are more expensive than $500 by the way.) Still a great value.

@samspit - Which course did you end up going for? I am kind of in the same position. I am British, but based in Dubai. Would prefer a short online course as do not have the time for a full-time course nor the spare cash in this current market. I need to up my game as about to launch a new business and know I have some weak areas that need bolstering. Any suggestions or input from your research or final decision? Thanks.

How about one of the Illinois Coursera specialisations?

MBAs partnering with Coursera allow you to take the MOOC element and then only later register for the MBAs. That is a huge saving for real MBAs courses.