Please can you share your thoughts over which programme will be better: Manchester Global MBA part-time 3 yrs or Warwick DIstance Learning 3 yrs? They both roughly require the same time away from work so that's not an issue.

My background is engineering in the energy industry and I have around 4 years of work experience.

Any insights on pros and cons for both will be appreciated.

Hello msalems,

It's a tough choice, really. I went through the same thought process as you'd probably would have gone through, and like you, I was debating between Warwick and Manchester (although Imperial & Bradford did come in a close 3rd and 4th). IE would have been my top choice if cost and time was not a concern.

To me, I came up with a list of criteria to 'rank' each programme based on my priorities.

I eventually decided on Warwick due to the following reasons:
a) Flexibility of the program
b) Total cost of program
c) Amount of time required away from home

I live and work in a foreign country, and at the time I started the program, I had a 1-year old to take care of as well. As such, flexibility of the program was of primary importance. Manchester's program, although more highly rated, cost marginally more and required me to be in-campus twice a year (as opposed to once for Warwick).

I will (hopefully) complete the program in March 2011, and it has not been an easy journey.

I cannot comment much about Manchester's program (or their faculty and students), but at Warwick, help and support has always been available. Fellow students are helpful and supportive (afterall, we're all in the same boat), plus the administrative staff have been doing an excellent job in running the program. The program is (I feel) quite well balanced, and the lecturers and tutors have been top notched.

If I were to give an advice on what I would do differently 2+ years ago, I would say that it would be good to take a look at all the electives available to a distance learner as the program progresses.

Hope the advice helps.

Good Luck
K

Its a tough choice, one I think most people wanting to a DL programme in the UK face. My first choice were Cranfeild and LSE but they did not have a DL programme.

The most important consideration for me were finance and flexibility. I found the Warwick to be more flexible in terms of timing to complete the MBA and number of hrs of compulsory campus interaction, Being a single mum and a banker, the quarterly presence required by Manchester imposed too much pressure on my leave days as all would be spent in school leaving none for me to rest or for my family, I also had the added cost of travel.

I am unable to comment on content in terms of curriculum or staffing but the following in addition to the flexibiity are warwick strengths

a. Student interaction has been great
b. Tutor feedback and engagament has also been great. There have been a few exceptions and when complaints were made, they were responsive in effecting necessary changes
c. Relevant curriculum and teaching style
d. Good support from Administrative staff, even though I think on line library access/resources can be improved upon

Overall, I have not found much to really complain about but like OB interactionist theorists will say, it depends on my particular circumstances and expectations

Good luck with your choice, we will welcome you to Warwick.

Dokpe

Hi

I can?t offer a comparison with WBS (Warwick) to Manchester, however as I am a WBS student in the 3rd year of the DL MBA programme I can offer the following advice and recommendations:

? One of my concerns before embarking on a DL study route was the isolation and possible lack of support. I need not have worried, the support from WBS has been excellent in all areas and through their innovative use of web classrooms (WBS Live) this has made the learning experience even greater. A guy I work with is studying at Henley and comparing notes his support is not as good.
? Flexibility ? you can tailor the course to fit you. This year due to family circumstance I have opted to do 2 x 5 day face-to-face modules. They allow you to blend learning approaches together.
? Try and attend an MBA fair where WBS feature and meet the staff ? you will see what I mean. Or if possible visit the school.

WBS has excelled for me and I can not recommend the course highly enough. If you are looking for a good rounded MBA from a top school look no further than WBS.

Hope this helps ? enjoy the experience when you decided.

Without any doubt Warwick DL MBA. One of the main differences is around the quality of the DL notes. Warwick's DL notes are of very high quality and covers the subject in a detailed manner which is ideal for studying remotely as well as referencing specific subject/section/framework whenever required. The content is divided into logical chapters and provides additional information about further readings. From what I've seen MBS provides just a few pages per module which is definitely not sufficient for DL mode of study.

Warwick DL MBA also provides the option for tutor marked self assessments which is very helpful for understanding the module as well as preparing for the final assessment

Happy to provide additional insight if required.

email - [email protected]

Thanks everyone for your advice and comments.

I've attended an information session to know more about the Warwick DL programme.

A few other colleagues at work are doing their MBAs from schools where they attend residential workshops for each module face-to-face and they've sort of cautioned me that distance learning wouldn't prove as useful as real interactive learning where you learn more from the experiences of fellow participants but I assume WBS Live replicates the classroom experience.

I agree the Warwick course is flexible and if all works well I intend to take the face-to-face modules too.
How do the syndicate groups function and are they useful?

The Manchester MBA on the other hand is more intensive I imagine and they encourage students to attend 2 modules outside the UK and pay for accommodation, which is attractive.

Anyone from Manchester willing to share their views?

The responses from Warwick DL students is another pointer for you.

Can somebody throw some light on Manchester's part-time (global) MBA programs offered through Dubai Centre. I have been offered a place on part-time MBA from Manchester (Dubai Campus) for July 2010 intake. I have 10+ years of experience in banking/financial services with B. Com. Is it treated at par with full-time Manchester MBAs in the industry ?

Manchester is aggressive, they have centres in Southeast Asia, Middle East and even America, the origin of MBA program! Higher Ranking in FT one of the authorities in ranking MBA, potential to become Europe Harvard! Value for money in term of potential remuneration after graduate.

I have just graduated from their Global Finance MBA program from Singapore/Malaysia in year 2011. The program is practical and meaningful if you actively participated in group discussion and actively involved in Blackboard discussion with professor and fellow students. The exam is open book, marking standard is tough for certain subjects, but overall the workshop is fun and certain subjects professors are ethusiatics, professional and knowledgeable but not everyone! Recently, revamped Global MBA program offers some interesting subjects with practical projects and assignment wihout traditional examination, I believe is the right move toward its goal to become Europe Harvard.

Hope the above help your to make decision.

Regards
Benjamin

As a Manchester graduate, I have to disclaim this nonsense about "its goal to become Europe Harvard". Our first goal is to teach the possessive apostrophe to our MBAs, and after then it is to be among the top 25 universities in the world by 2015. We are currently, in various rankings, 26th, 30th and 44th.

Manchester has had steady progress in recent years, while Warwick has been more fitful. That's also reflected in the salaries our MBA graduates win. But there's quite a gap between that and the Ivy League.

Duncan, you misinterpreted my message, I did not say "Manchester's goal is to become Harvard Europe", I just say it has potential to become Harvard Europe due to their strategic direction and leadership. "Harvard Europe" is just an anology as no doubt Harvard is still a "model business school" in the world to follow!

If I am not wrong, the current CEO of MBS is an American, dissertation citation is using Harvard Referencing System, Harvard Business Review is one of the strong recommendation to MBAs, a lot of readings and cases of our MBA subjects still drawn heavily from Harvard Business
School. Nevertheless, MBS has used it's "Manchester Method" to teach it's students, that does not mean it should shy away from learning and using "Harvard Case Method" to teach it's students, in fact certain courses are using "Harvard Case Method" like International Business Strategy which I have personally experienced it. I have personally attended Harvard executive program taught by Harvard professor.

I hope that clarify my message and beneficial to potential MBAs.

Benjamin

You wrote about Manchester and "its goal to become Europe Harvard". That's a direct quote from you. "Its" is a pronoun standing for the University of Manchester. Therefore you wrote that the goal of the University of Manchester is to become the Harvard of Europe. That is not the goal of the University; nor is the goal of MBS to become the HBS of Europe. MBS is a full-service state school; HBS is a private school without undergraduate, master of science or executive masters degrees. They are quite different goals. Every top business school that teaches in English uses Harvard cases: do you think this is something unique to Manchester?

PS You mean its, not it's.

I am half way through the P/T MBS Global MBA, and so far have been very impressed (I'm a CIMA qualified, senior manager in healthcare, with 7 years work experience, 4 as a middle/senior manager). I chose MBS over Warwick, Lancaster and Imperial (got admits from all 4) because of the wide ranging syllabus, international quality of the faculty, reputation and ranking.

What is clear is that MBS do throw some of their best staff at supporting this course, which is not the same for others I've read about.

The course requires you to attend a centre for 3 days per module, which includes a formally assessed presentation/report/case while you're there. The use of online teaching for some modules via web-lectures etc is pretty good.

I disagree with the comment on study resources, as each module uses 1 or 2 textbooks, a study guide (written by the MBS lecturer), numerous journals/cases as well as a structured study plan. this coupled with independent research for study papers is more than appropriate and again better supported than other P/T or D/L MBA courses friends and colleagues have studied on.

In all honesty, Warwick and MBS will both provide a decent program based on my research. If you are looking for international reputation though, MBS has the clear edge.

Duncan, What I am saying is MBS' goal to become "Harvard Europe" means "aim to be No.1 or a very influential business school in Europe" just like the London Business School in UK where you graduated from if I am not wrong you have described yourself in my linkedIn professional network.

Our purpose here is to offer potential MBAs our experience with the school, every individual has a right to express his or her opinion or comment regarding MBS, I respect your comment on the school but that does not mean you are right, unless you are the CEO of MBS or worked with the CEO very closely, otherwise on what authorities or sources you think your comment on the school is absolutely right?

I think your guess is not better than my guess. So let's respect each other' opinion and be fair, receptive to others, ok?

Benjamin

I am not guessing when I write about the top 25 vision. I know my comment is right. Read http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/facts/vision/ to see the University´s vision. I studied at both LBS and MBS and have both a degree and an alumni contribution award from Manchester.

I have no objection to you stating your opinion, but you were not doing that - you were saying that the university´s goal is to become the Harvard of Europe, and on that you are mistaken (unless you have have a reference).

Come on Duncan, like Harvard university, Manchester university has different schools pursuing different objectives, an overall aim of a University does not represent the aims of different schools. Again, vision is an intended strategy not the actualized strategy not to mention the possibility of emergent strategy ove the periods of time. Instead of naively reliance on vision statement, my inference was drawn from the courses I studied very recently, the leading professors I spoke to, the expansion plan they took recently, the alumni I have spoken to recently... I believe these are what the potential MBAs would like to know about rather than some slogan or PR undertaken by the school.

Finally, my inference is not absolutely right, neither yours! I only want to share my thoughts to potential MBAs not stating who is right and who is wrong here, I honestly believe
The potential MBAs know how to judge which school suits their needs ultimately, right?

Ps stop the argument now and help but not direct potential
MBAs to make decision.

If MBS has a different strategy from the University, then that would be mentioned somewhere. Look through the alumni magazine and the website and you find no references to becoming the Harvard of Europe.

If the goal is to be one of the top European business schools, then in what sense does that mean being the "Harvard" of Europe rather than the "Stanford". It's nonsense, and it's misleading to present your view of Manchester's vision as the schools.

Your statement is dafamatory to me, ps learn how to respect people before people respect you.

contitnue to publish this kind of statement will make you liable to libel! I reserve my right to take necessary legal action.

Good joke, 7x7. You're a really entertaining guy. But please do Manchester a favour and stop this ridiculous argument.

How can I libel you if you're here under a fake name? See you in court! LOL.

;-)