UTS Business School is introducing a new Executive MBA program with a focus on flexible learning, transformational leadership and tailored pathways to help professionals excel in an increasingly complex and dynamic business environment.
The new program brings together the Business School’s three specialist MBAs – drawing on the School’s long-standing Executive MBA (EMBA) program, as well as the highly successful MBA in Entrepreneurship and accelerated Advanced MBA program.
Dr Melissa Edwards, Executive MBA Director, says that the innovative, applied structure of the newly-designed EMBA, which is launching mid-year, has been created specifically to meet the needs of today’s changemakers, new business founders and strategic decision makers.
“The program has a core of learning, about a third of the program, which is what you’d expect in a traditional MBA.”
The rest of the program is focused on specialised learning or 'streamed learning' where participants can select subjects within three key streams focused on Corporate Transformation, Entrepreneurship, and – in an Australian first in the Executive MBA space – a third stream dedicated to Indigenous nation building.
“The benefit of the new program is that it gives greater flexibility in enabling people who want to be transformational leaders – whether they’re in the corporate or public sector or by building and scaling their own ventures.”
Dr Melissa Edwards, Executive MBA Director
“The corporate transformation stream is for people who want to focus their change-making efforts within existing corporate environments – be it technological, cultural or organisational change, or product and service transformation,” Edwards says.
“The entrepreneurship stream is for those who want to focus on setting up their own enterprises or in scaling up ventures.
“The third stream provides an opportunity to focus on nation building which is an innovative Indigenous-led approach to governance and economic development.”
Flexibility to create your own learning pathway
The program features a dynamic mix of core and elective subjects, online tutorials combined with intensive in-class learning via leadership labs and strategic design studios. Participants can map their own learning journey – by either exploring subjects across the different streams, or by electing one stream and staying within it.
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“The specialised streams pick up on the strengths we’ve had in the previous programs. The benefit of the new program is that it gives greater flexibility in enabling people who want to be transformational leaders – whether that's in the corporate or public sector, or by building and scaling their own ventures.”
“Participants might have been qualified in a discipline-focused degree maybe 10 or 15 years ago and maybe they want to try to branch out into either a more senior role or in some way pivot their careers,’’ Edwards says.
Participants also work on live projects and industry challenges and are encouraged to bring their own context into the classroom – essentially a ‘bring-your-own-problem’ approach that enables participants to embed their learning in their day-to-day work practices.
The new program has also been designed to support the time-constraints of experienced professionals, supported by UTS’s blended approach to digital and face-to-face learning, as well as offering streamlined Graduate Certificate options.
The new degree also continues the previous programs’ focus on bringing together a dynamic cohort of professionals from a broad range of sectors and backgrounds – with participants coming from a range of roles in IT, health, government and public sector organisations, the legal profession, design and building and early stage as well as more established start-ups.
Embedding entrepreneurial thinking and innovation across sectors
The new EMBA program is designed by four of UTS's leaders in executive education, innovation and entrepreneurship and Indigenous law and business - Dr Edwards, Associate Professor Jochen Schweitzer, Associate Professor Natalia Nikolova and Professor Robynne Quiggin.
“We’ve found that the cohorts across our specialist MBA programs are rather similar in their levels of professional experience and the way that they learn in using applied learning,’’ Nikolova says.
“Often when people come into our experienced MBA programs they’re looking for a pathway change and some way to advance their career and it’s not always clear from the outset which pathway they want to take.
“Similarly we’ve had people who have been in corporate roles and they’re considering a pivot in their careers where they think, ‘oh maybe I want to set up my own venture’.
Edwards says “the EMBA and Advanced MBA have always had an emphasis on ensuring that learning is directly applied to a person’s workplace and similarly in the entrepreneurship MBA it’s been about applying that learning to the development of your own entrepreneurial venture’’.
"In the MBA in Entrepreneurship, some may have joined to explore intrapreneurship within corporates,’’ Schweitzer says. “Or they’ve been working in corporates for many years and want to see what it’s like to set up their own venture.”
“We are creating one EMBA program that has two nomenclatures, so that if you complete all of the entrepreneurship stream you will graduate with an EMBA in entrepreneurship.’’
Bringing Indigenous nation building to the fore
The creation of the EMBA's unique third stream centred on Indigenous nation building is the first time such a comprehensive program has been incorporated within an Australian Executive MBA.
"The nation building stream offers pathways for students interested in building and honing their skills in creating self-determined outcomes for Indigenous communities, community organisations, businesses, government and corporations," says Professor Quiggin, Associate Dean (Indigenous Leadership and Engagement.
"The focus on applied Indigenous governance and economic development grounds innovators to support community aspirations including cultural practice, social or ‘for profit’ enterprises and government or corporate careers".
The nation building stream has been developed and delivered by UTS's Jumbunna-based Indigenous Nations and Collaborative Futures Research team, led by Professor Daryle Rigney. The team has extensive local and international experience in research and practice with Indigenous nation building, and the incorporation of this knowledge within the EMBA is representative of the UTS's long-standing commitment to Indigenous education and research.
“The Indigenous Nations and Collaborative Futures research team at Jumbunna are excited to partner with the UTS Business School on this unique new program. Our collaboration is committed to effective and culturally legitimate self-determination that leads to Indigenous well-being, development and prosperity,” says Professor Rigney.
"We've worked collaboratively across UTS and with industry to bring the most cutting-edge expertise and thinking together in a dynamic program that really reflects the diversity of skills and knowledge that today's changemakers and leaders need to make a truly transformational impact in their sectors and communities," says Edwards.
The next intake for the UTS Executive MBA commences in July.
To learn more about the program: