Action Learning MBA

Programme

The core courses of the Action Learning MBA programme include:

• Operations Management
• Marketing Management
• Human Resource Management
• Information Management
• Financial Management
• Strategic Management
• International Management

Full-Time Action Learning MBA topics:

• Operations Management
• Marketing Management
• Human Resource Management
• Information Management
• Financial Management
• Strategic Management
• International Management

Operations Management

Operations Management is all about processes, organizational structures, strategies, and quality systems. What do these look like in practice? What is the vision of the organization on products, markets, and objectives. How can the quality, efficiency, flexibility, and uniqueness be improved? How can practical experience and insights from literature lead to a vision in this field? You will gain insight into processes within organizations, know how to detect bottlenecks, and learn how to interpret theoretical models and apply them to improve organizational processes.

Marketing Management

The four Ps, the four Rs, and CRM: the traditional pillars of marketing and current trends will be dealt with in this module. You will get insight into what marketing is, the different ideas present in the field of marketing, consumer behavior, market analyses, international marketing, product development and policy, distribution plans, old and new economy, and the role of e-business. The ultimate goal is creating a marketing plan. Lots of attention will be given to underpin and analyse market data. Everybody knows an organization must operate in a market- directed manner, but how is this translated into practice? How can you determine whether or not your organization is market-directed?

Human Resource Management

People form the core of every organisation. Regardless of what the labor market looks like: good people are unique, hard to find, and almost irreplacable. These human resources should be fully exploited. Personal and organisational objectives should be integrated. In this module, you will gain insight into the role of HRM within an organisation. You will learn the difference between classic staff management and HRM, get to know the leading HRM models - such as the Harvard and Michigan models - and the variety of tools which can be used, and learn how HRM strategies can support organisational strategies.

Information Management

The right information at the right moment in time: this is the goal of information management. Due to the growing importance of ICT in organisations, information management is becoming an increasingly versatile and interesting field. While it used to be a job area of techies with a focus on collecting and processing data, nowadays it is important for managers to steer information processes as well. During this module, you will learn what the possibilities and impossibilities of ICT are within an organisation, get to know the latest trends in the field of information science, learn how to make strategic decisions in the field of information management, and learn how to initiate ICT projects while shaping the organisation accordingly.

Financial Management

Every manager is familiar with the problem of having too little financial information to make decisions. If the information is present, the manager should also have the knowledge to interpret and understand it. This module will offer you the tools to accomplish this. You will learn a large amount of financial concepts, such as EVA (Economic Value Added), ABC (Activity Based Costing), budgeting systems, cash flow approach, total cost of ownership, and zerobased budgeting. Moreover, you will learn how to apply these concepts into daily practice, enabling you to become your director’s sparring partner when it comes to finance.

Strategic Management

Strategy is the long-term plan of an organisation, comprising the objectives to be reached, the resources to use, and the channels through which they should be carried out. The knowledge and skills acquired in previous modules will be used in this model to shape the future of an organisation, since in all fields, an organisation should figure out how to convert corporate vision into organisational strategy. How do you shape such a strategy? How do you set out a navigable course? With the help of a SWOT analysis or based on resource-based strategy, where core competencies, knowledge, talent, and technology are regarded as building blocks for the future? There are different approaches to forming a strategy. In this module, you will learn how to assess and use your merits.

International Management

Throughout this module, you will get to know everything about other business cultures, on both a theoretical and practical level. The com plexity which comes along with co-operation between different cultures will be dealt with in great detail. A variety of do’s and don’ts will be reviewed. Using the Seven Dimensions theory of Trompenaar and Turner, different cultures will be examined. You will look at how to gain maximum pay-off from co-operation with organisations located elsewhere, where different cultures apply.

Entry Requirements

To be able to accomplish the career-focused goals this programme aims to achieve, we need you to meet the following entry requirements:

• a bachelor’s degree in a related business field;
• at least 3 years of work experience;
• current employment in a managerial position;
• IELTS score of a 6.5 or higher (or the equivalent of another acceptable certificate).

Costs

Additional condition

Students who live outside of the Netherlands, Luxembourg or Belgium are required to pay the entire tuition fee in advance.