Executive MBA

Our MBA for high-performing professionals who want to reach their goals with minimal career disruption.

Next intake: April 2024
18 months

Experience an MBA unlike any conventional degree of its kind.

Our Executive MBA is designed for ambitious and motivated professionals with several years of experience in management, delivered in a format that suits their needs.

During four-day modules spread over 18 months, you will live and study at Melbourne Business School from Thursday to Sunday, away from the distractions of work and home. You will also gain international experience with a field study in Asia.

Admission is highly competitive and early applications are encouraged.

Executive MBA Number 1 icon

#1 Executive MBA in Australia

Melbourne Business School
QS World University Rankings, 2023

Number 1 University icon

#1 University in Australia

The University of Melbourne
Times Higher Education, 2022

Student Experience

People come to Melbourne Business School because they want to study with the best.

We attract some of the brightest academics from around the world, who teach in class sizes much smaller than their colleagues overseas and are accessible to you throughout your studies.

Our campus is just four tram stops from the centre of Melbourne and has vibrant communal areas with accommodation available nearby.

We offer opportunities for self-development via a wide range of electives, co-curricular activities, and host regular industry networking events.

Success Stories

Executive MBA student success story, Laurie-Edwards
"The four-day residential study per month really gave me a chance to press pause on work."
LAURIE EDWARDS
Head of Ideation and Portfolio Management – Innovation, Boral
Read more
Executive MBA student success story Renee Shepherd
"It's an amazing challenge. You get more out of it than what the brochures tell you."
RENEE SHEPHERD
Manager, COVID-19 Legislation Policy, Victorian Department of Health
Read more

Subjects and Structure

Executive MBA - Course structure

Download the timetable for 2024 / 2025.

Subjects

Leadership

Effective leadership is about being approachable, visible and courageous in a way that earns trust and provides useful direction for your workplace.

To achieve this, learn how to manage yourself appropriately, lead a team effectively, develop relationships quickly and understand the ways to manage conflict by developing a valuable leadership presence and style.

Financial Management

Knowing how to value an asset, choose a shareholder-valued project or ready a budget are only some of the financial issues facing managers today.

To understand financial management, learn how to financially approach: cash flow, time value of money, shares, bonds and projects. You will gain an understanding of capital markets, the effects of information asymmetry in the financial system, diversification and transfer of risk, the capital structure problem and more.

Ethics and Social Responsibility

Leaders are required to use moral reasoning to analyse and solve the ethical problems that confront them daily – but for some it can be a difficult process.

To effectively reason in any situation, progressively master each of the Four Stages of Learning – Knowledge, Static Problem Solving, Dynamic Social Problem Solving and Leadership – by focusing on two common forms of moral reasoning, Kantianism and Utilitarianism.

Financial Accounting

Accounting is the basis for performance measurement, business contracting, operating, investing and the financing decisions that managers make.

To interpret this information correctly, learn to assess: a firm’s intrinsic value, ROE, the balance sheet, various income statements, cash flow statements, the shareholder equity statement and how each work to distinguish an organisation’s financing, investing, and operating activities to external people.

Managing People

Even if you have been a manager for more than a year and have developed the skills to manage a team, people can still be difficult to manage well.

Discover how the world's best leaders manage their teams to understand the relationship between managing people and organisational outcomes in order to make the decisions that lead your team to successfully completing their tasks.

Marketing

Customers determine an organisation's success, but without an offering that is both appealing to them and delivers on business goals, your organisation is at risk.

To understand the right marketing mix, learn to identify and manage critical market-based assets and ways to: undertake strategic analysis, position products, create marketing plans, understand marketing data, segment and target markets, and contribute marketing to strategic management.

Data Analysis

Data is ever present in each facet of business, creating a need for managers to understand how to harness data in order to make informed and valuable decisions.

Introduce yourself to the fundamental data analysis skills and techniques required to interpret and compute business data, probabilities, uncertain events, statistics and more to solve all the problems challenging decision-makers today.

Business Strategy

When the time comes, every manager will need to contribute to formulating the business strategy – developing the competitive advantage of their functional area.

To understand how to strategise with the firm in mind, learn ways to make the right critical choices, identify which products to run and which market segments to compete in, as well as analyse: internal resources, the external environment, firm capabilities, and the conditions necessary to reach competitive advantage.

Managerial Economics

Without the right analytical and economic reasoning skills, you will never be able to solve the more complicated business problems.

Enhance your skillset to predict what agreements will arise from negotiations with customers or partners, position your firm to do better in negotiations, set the right price, choose product offerings for different market segments, predict the actions of competitors and form strategies to enter different markets.

Managerial Judgement

We suffer from strong biases that hinder good decision-making in management and leadership – and that's because of our sensitivity to various levels of threat.

Based on state-of-the-art neurobiological research, discover how to develop a realistic perception of others, understand biases in decision-making around interpreting information, and appreciate the positive and negative roles that emotions can play in guiding decisions.

Global Business Economics

Even a modest understanding of economics can help managers make more informed decisions and predict the economic business environment.

Learn to understand economic terminology, make informed judgements on questions of economic policy, describe the forces governing the long-run growth and short-run fluctuations in GDP, explain business cycle fluctuations, evaluate the motivations of central banks in conducting monetary policy, of governments in conducting fiscal policy, and more.

Industry Studies in Asia

Fly to Asia for a field-study where you will apply the skills you have developed in preceding modules to organisational challenges in a developing economic setting.

You will walk away with new research skills and an understanding of how to conduct business in a foreign environment, the cultural forces affecting HR management, negotiations and strategy, globalisation and the relationships between the macroeconomic, political and cultural systems of an economy.

Operations

In a competitive global environment, companies face increasing pressure to exceed customer expectations along multiple performance measures, such as cost and quality.

To meet those expectations effectively, learn how to design, manage and continuously improve business processes, develop internal capabilities with sustainable competitive advantage, identify and analyse bottlenecks to form response strategies, leverage inventory, and develop sustainable solutions.

Negotiations

Negotiation is a decision-making process – and the art of securing agreements – in which two or more people must determine how to divide a resource.

To deepen what you already know and have experienced as a young executive, discover how to create a common vocabulary around negotiation principles, critically examine and refine your skills, and identify the practises that lead to optimal outcomes for a spectrum of negotiation problems.

Strategic Consulting for Social Impact

The leadership and strategic challenges of social enterprises and not-for-profits deal with social problems within the community as well as ways to generate cash flow.

Apply your new MBA consulting and strategy skills to address the real-time challenges of a social enterprise by examining how to effectively provide significant benefit to a social enterprise, and resolve the social, management and operational problems in the way of success.

Mergers and Acquisitions

The merger and acquisition pathway to growth has constantly maintained its importance in large firms for well over a century.

Examine the history of mergers and acquisitions and develop an understanding of the elements required for M&A transactions, the reasons behind the continuing levels of such activity and the impact of regulatory considerations on a deal. You will gain practical knowledge on how to go about managing a merger or acquisition.

Corporate Strategy

Without the right management skills required in diversified firms, the delivery of corporate strategy can be a difficult endeavour.

Gain a clear understanding of the differences between corporate and business strategy, the practical application of corporate strategy through diversification, mergers and acquisitions and internationalisation, and how value can be created through corporate economics, capabilities, performance, accounting and marketing.

Innovation

Across all industries and for all managers, the need to understand the most critical and strategic aspects of managing innovation and corporate renewal is growing.

Discover how to develop the leadership skills required to effectively develop and drive innovation, strategic initiatives and radical changes within an organisation. You will learn how to build lasting competitive advantage and prosperity through innovation within any industry, as opposed to short-term optimisation strategies.

Integrative Business Capstone

Gain an overview of the fundamental aspects of innovation management as part of a general management program at the master level.

You will cover strategic, organisational and procedural aspects of managing product, process, and business model innovation in different industrial and competitive environments. This will help you understand the most critical aspects of innovation management and the implications for all major industries including services.

Residential Stay

The program consists of 17 four-day modules and one module in Asia, spread over 18 months. During the four-day modules, students will stay on campus at Melbourne Business School from Thursday to Sunday.

This format lets students fully immerse themselves in the program, without the distractions of work and home. All students receive a private room with en suite, and all meals are provided.

Want to take a deeper dive?

Download the brochure to find out more about studying an Executive MBA at Melbourne Business School.

Meet With Us

Let us answer your questions face-to-face.

Let us answer your questions face-to-face.

The best way to find out more about studying at Melbourne Business School is to speak with us. We can meet with you one-on-one at our Carlton Campus, or schedule a video conference at a time that suits you.

We can assist you with information on subjects and study materials, campus life, funding your course as well as guide you through your application.

If you're interested in studying at Melbourne Business School, please join us for an information session or contact us to arrange a time that suits you.

Investment

Program Fee

The Executive MBA program fee is $119,700 (2024),and can be paid in instalments. It includes:

  • Full tuition for all modules
  • All textbooks, instruments, case material, readings, articles and study notes
  • Residential accommodation (in Melbourne and overseas) for the duration of the program
  • Meals on class days
  • University of Melbourne and international partner institution fees

Please note, an acceptance fee of $5,000 is required to secure your place on the program. This fee will be deducted from the cost of the first module upon commencement.


FEE-HELP

FEE-HELP is available for eligible Australian citizens and permanent residents.


Self-financing

Students who pay their own fees are often able to claim tuition expenses as a self-study tax deduction, provided the degree is relevant to their job. Check with your financial adviser to find out if you are eligible.


Company Sponsorship

Many students share the cost of studying with their employer. Melbourne Business School is happy to provide a business case to share with your employer about the benefits of studying an Executive MBA to the organisation. Please contact us for more information.


Other Costs

The program fee does not include travel costs associated with the field study module in Asia, including airfares, airport transfers, visa charges and travel insurance. Students are also responsible for some meals on class days of the module in Asia, as well as incidental expenses incurred during the module, such as telephone, laundry, car parking and other personal charges.

Students located outside Melbourne are responsible for their own travel costs to and from Melbourne for modules based at Melbourne Business School.

How to Apply

Application Process

Apply

  1. Commence an application to become familiar with the application process.
  2. Meet with us to find out more about the School and program.
  3. Complete and submit your application by the application closing date.

Interview

Shortlisted candidates for each round will be invited to attend a compulsory interview, which can be conducted in person, over the phone or by teleconference. The interview will last approximately 20 to 30 minutes.

Offer

Applicants will be notified of the outcome by email. Offers may include the award of a scholarship.

As limited places are available each round, the selection committee may decide to place an application "on hold" for consideration in the next round.

Please note that entry to the Executive MBA program is highly competitive and meeting the minimum entry criteria does not guarantee an offer to the program. Unsuccessful applications will not be reassessed in following rounds.

We appreciate that considerable time and effort are required to complete an application, however we will not comment on specific factors that may have led to the selection committee's final decision.

Application Deadlines

Closing dates for the Executive MBA program are as follows:

Early Round: 24 April

Round 1: 12 June

Round 2: 7 August

Round 3: 2 October

Round 4: 27 November

The deadline for all applications is 11.59pm AEST.

Late applications may be considered on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us for further advice.

Offers are issued approximately six (6) weeks after the round closing date.

Application Requirements

To apply, you will need to provide:

  • An up-to-date CV showing at least five (5) years of management experience.
  • A copy of your undergraduate academic transcript and (any postgraduate transcripts, if completed)*.
  • Evidence of citizenship or residency (e.g. Passport, Birth certificate or Visa)
  • An excellent command of English, with a copy of your IELTS or TOEFL score** if you are a non-native speaker.
  • Personal statements relating to your goals and how you can contribute to the program.
  • The names and contact details of two (confidential) professional referees.

Meeting these requirements does not guarantee selection.

You are also welcome to supply additional information that you believe will strengthen your application. The School may also request additional information to assist the admission decision.

It is a university requirement that applicants provide evidence that they meet the published entry requirements. Uncertified documentation does not provide this evidence; however we accept uncertified documents for the purpose of selection, and reserve the right to request your original certified documentation at any time.

**For IELTS, you will need a minimum score of 7.0 overall, with no individual score less than 6.5.
For
TOEFL iBT, you will need a minimum score of 102, with a written score minimum of 24 and no individual score lower than 21.
PTE: Overall score minimum of 65, with writing skills of minimum 65 and no other communicative skill below 50

Entry Requirements

  • At least five years of management experience
  • An undergraduate degree
  • English proficiency
  • Two confidential professional referees

For more information, visit our application FAQ's page.

Apply Now

CLOSING SOON
April 2024
Round 4 applications close 27 November 2023
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