Live learning, Cambridge style
Cambridge attracts brilliant people, and the work done at this university impacts business and society globally.
As a Cambridge MBA in this rich environment, you will learn, explore, connect, follow interests, and pursue future goals in a highly collaborative and innovative community.
Our MBA programme is:
- academically rigorous, broad, highly practical with a focus on team skills
- taught through a blend of workshops, seminars, lectures, small-group work, digital resources and experiential learning
- underpinned by a foundation of core courses, with additional elective subjects for students to choose from
- tailorable to your interests with the Concentrations, which run in the third term.
Academic outline
Team building: project focus
Core courses
- Entrepreneurship
- Management Science
- Corporate Finance
- Financial Reporting and Analysis
- Microeconomics
- Organisational Behaviour & Leadership
- Organisations and Markets: Designs and Incentives
- Management Praxis I
Team project
Cambridge Venture Project (CVP)
Influence and Impact: global context
Core courses
- Macroeconomics
- Operations Management
- Business and Sustainable Development
- Advanced Strategy
Electives
Choose three (chosen in Lent Term)
Concentration
Choose one of the available thematic Concentrations (chosen in Lent Term)
Project
Concentration Project – Board Impact
Application and relaunch
Choose one of the following:
- Individual project
- Work placement
- Research paper
- Lean Six Sigma
- Case Writing Workshop
- International Business Study Trip (IBST)
Supervision
Given the structure of the degree and the class demographic, there are no formal supervisions through Colleges, or during the course of the MBA. However, there are a great many opportunities to link with academic and professional staff throughout the year, and students are encouraged to use these links.
Assessment and feedback
A variety of assessment methods are used during the programme, often several forms used in combination in one course:
- Active class participation
- Formal University written examinations
- Individual written assignments
- Group written assignments
- Group presentations
- Individual presentations
- In-class tests
Please note, several courses are assessed solely by formal exam, particularly the quantitative courses.
Students are given formal written feedback on most coursework assignments submitted during the programme, which is released alongside the marks. The style and content of this feedback is dependent on the style of assessment. There is no formal individual feedback on examinations and in-class tests.
Cambridge MBA projects
A unique feature of the Cambridge MBA are the projects you will do. Three team projects are required, and one optional individual project in the Summer Term. Two of the team projects engage external companies or organisations as ‘clients’, so you and your team will use your learning and experience to delivery real strategic value to your client.
MBA ‘Concentrations’
Concentrations are thematic collections of courses and projects run for MBAs during the second and third terms. Concentrations are run by specialist coaches, who may be a member of our academic faculty or an external business professional, with particular expertise in the given field.
You can choose one Concentration to undertake. As part of this selection, you will select a number of related elective courses. Concentrations also include ‘coach nights’ – sessions run by the Coach and typically involving external speakers – in which students discuss their learning across the related courses. Each Concentration will be concluded with a final team project, during which teams will present their findings in a simulated boardroom situation.
The Concentrations offered are:
Cultural, arts and media organisations provide a unique forum for creativity, self-expression and communal interaction. In addition to the delivery of these social and aesthetic services, however, organisations of this kind are also businesses and are subject to pressures akin to those faced by companies in the wider corporate sector, including value creation, financial planning, market positioning and human resources management.
The balancing of these two demands presents a distinct challenge for cultural leaders, which is further complicated by newly empowered consumers, contemporary shifts in the economic climate and unprecedented levels of technological development and new media. Plotting a course through these challenges requires a style of leadership that combines sensitivity to the demands of artistic organisations with a rigorous understanding of business strategy and operations.
Over the last decade, companies such as Uber, Google, and Alibaba have led the way as digital innovators in transforming the business landscape. The challenge today is for organisations across a wide range of sectors to transform their strategy and ways of organising through digital technologies to be innovative and competitive. Making this transition requires a rethinking and widening the lens of innovation which is now possible with the help of digital technologies.
We will provide methodologies and frameworks as well as critical thinking to help you re-think how you lead the transformation of your organisation through digital innovation. we will look at breakthrough digital innovations such as AI and neural networks, the Internet of Things, Big Data, and blockchain in facilitating new business models across industries including healthcare and financial services. We will also examine how mobile platforms are enabling financial inclusion and clean energy in emerging economies.
The pervasive nature of energy and environment across the economy and within firms means that it serves as a wonderful case study across all aspects of business education: marketing, strategy, economics, finance, operations, ethics and leadership.
The energy sector is not all massive infrastructure and large scale power plants – it involves some of the most exciting start-ups and may offer the first important steps towards the Internet of Things. Energy poses some of the biggest challenges and opportunities not only within the sector but for all firms in the economy.
This Concentration is suitable for students with an interest in energy and environmental issues. No prior knowledge is required although some students have backgrounds in the energy industry or technical fields, and others have a strong interest in environmental issues.
Cambridge is one of the best places in the world to explore your understanding of how entrepreneurship works. This Concentration will give students the skills and knowledge to help them start their own business and grow it successfully, either now or in the future. Students will also develop core ‘enterprising skills’ that will help you as an employee in an organisation, should you decide that you are not ready to start your own business right now.
During this concentration we will consider different types of entrepreneurship; social enterprise, family businesses, blended models, life-style companies, consulting, bootstrapped businesses, venture funded businesses. The concentration sessions and related networking activities will also link you to entrepreneurs in the Cambridge and London communities to gain the benefits of their experience.
The Concentration will enable you to try out your own ideas, learn what it is like to build a management team that will grow your business and also to explore the range of funding mechanisms to provide the finance that most new businesses need.
The Finance concentration is useful for anyone interested in working in finance, be it in banks, investment funds, companies or as an entrepreneur.
In recent years, advances in technology have led to a flurry of innovation in financial markets. This Concentration will focus on several new trends in Finance, all being presented by leading practitioners. Discussions will cover themes including passive asset management, alternative lending and blockchain and digital ledgers.
Sessions with visiting speakers will conclude with a drinks reception and networking.
This sector is very interesting to study: the health sector globally is growing significantly and predicted to experience continued growth for the next 20 years, in terms of the spend for health, investors in the health sector, activated consumers and patients, providers of health services, the life science industry, technology companies, big data and consultancy. The Health Strategy concentration will appeal to those with a background in the health sector who wish to continue their careers in this sector with a broadened or different emphasis, or to those who are new to the sector who wish to explore it as a potential area of employment or interest.
The concentration seeks to draw on the general and business management concepts that students are familiar with and apply them in the context of the health care industry, specifically focused on the particular challenges and opportunities offered by the sector. The Concentration brings in senior global faculty to teach the sessions and the student group has also visited 10 Downing Street, London.
The Marketing Concentration is aimed at students interested in developing a more in-depth and practical understanding of marketing and topical issues in this area. It will provide valuable insights for students wishing to pursue jobs in marketing.
This Concentration gives students the opportunity to see how businesses tackle real world issues and how the boundaries between both these areas overlap in doing so. A key highlight of the module is the contribution of senior industry speakers who use real examples to show how a marketing strategist approaches such issues. The Concentration involves four lectures (mainly by industry speakers), analysis of real-world problems, and a challenging ‘Board Impact’ project. Speakers in this year’s Concentration represent companies including Facebook, Barclays, Marks & Spencer, CNBC, Brunswick, Flock Associates and McKinsey.
The Social Innovation Concentration is designed for students from a range of backgrounds and with a variety of career ambitions who are interested on the role and potential of different types of organisation to drive social change in a sustainable way.
Some participants may wish to build careers in social ventures, non-profits, or governmental organisations. However, given the growing importance that companies are placing on social and environmental issues, it is envisaged that the concentration will also appeal to students intending to pursue careers in leading corporations.
On completion of the social innovation concentration students will understand the opportunities and limitations of social innovation for solving complex societal problems, and understand the similarities and differences inherent in different types of social innovation. Students will also have gained transferable knowledge and skills for careers in social innovation, and successfully applied these skills through the Capstone project.
Increased competition, globalisation and fast changing technologies have made today’s business environment uncertain and dynamic. To survive and succeed in this challenging environment, managers need to think strategically by charting the future directions of the firm, managing the resources, capabilities, and strategic positioning of the firm to create and sustain competitive advantage.
The Concentration will cover a range of key issues relating to strategic management, including: competitive positioning; mergers and acquisitions and strategic alliances; Corporate strategies including portfolio analyses and diversification; as well as the strategic adaptation to environmental disruptions including corporate structuring and turnaround.
Extra-curricular learning
Treks, trips and student groups
The extra-curricular learning opportunity as a Cambridge MBA is wide-ranging and enriching. Support and extend your learning and interests by involvement in:
- International treks, organised by student groups
- Student Interest Groups support initiatives through networking and organising conferences or events
- Engage with the various research centres at CJBS, plus other initiatives such as the Entrepreneurship Centre and more
- Engage with peer-led organisations at the University of Cambridge such as CUTEC – Cambridge University Entrepreneurial Society and Cambridge Union Society.
