Tag: MBA

A Master of Business (MBA) degree is the most popular postgraduate program in Australia and internationally. And studying online is fast becoming the preferred way to earn this management masters. Here is a guide to online MBA programs in Australia.

Online MBAs are Popular in Australia

Online MBA programs in Australia are as popular as ever and seem to be overtaking the traditional classroom model. According to official enrollment statistics, more Australians study for an MBA online than exclusively attend a campus.

• An estimated 20,333 Australians studied postgraduate Management and Commerce in 2018 (Extracted from uCube, 23 February 2020).
• By comparison, 18,533 postgraduate business students were classified as “internal” (or on-campus).
• Another 3,380 postgraduate business students were in the “mixed-mode” category.

Why are online MBA’s so popular? In short, because they are convenient. You can study anytime from anywhere. Compare this to some of requirements, including international travel if you are from abroad, of doing a traditional MBA in Australia.

Unsurprisingly, most online MBA students in Australia are working professionals or other busy people who don’t have time to waste. They see the tremendous career advantages of an MBA qualification as worth the challenge of fitting study into their weekly schedule.

Australia’s Best Online MBA Degrees

Modern, flexible and affordable and three of the key qualities that define Australia’s best online MBA programs. That’s according to Online Study Australia, which has ranked the top 3 MBA programs.

Among the best online MBA degrees are the Master of Business Administration (Global) from James Cook University. The program has 3 concentrations: organisational leadership, global perspective and strategy, and data management and analytics.

Also making Online Study Australia’s list is Innovation and Leadership MBA from Ducere Global Business School. Learning is based on doing real online projects in small teams. And the traditional long exam is dispensed with in favour of projects, assignments and quizzes.

Rounding out the top 3 list is the University of Adelaide’s online MBA. As with some other top online MBAs, the program is completed by doing a sequence of units. Students focus on 1 or 2 units at a time, each completed within a series of study blocks of several weeks in length.

Advice for Taking Online MBA Classes

Online MBA classes are difficult, and the culture of online learning differs from the traditional campus programs that most students are used to. Students often find that they have to redefine the way they learn and build new study skills.

Academic advisers normally caution students against underestimating the difficulties of online learning. An online MBA is not any easier or somehow has a smaller workload than other kinds of MBA programs. And students need to be prepared to do the bulk of their learning on their own.

Find out what other online MBA students think

Planning how you will manage online learning is usually preferable to jumping into it nonchalantly. Talking to other online MBA students to find out more about their experiences is a good place to start, and will help you determine if online learning is really the way to go.

For example, online MBA students have reported that “virtual teaming” can be highly beneficial to the learning experience (Kim, Liu and Bonk). Choosing a program that offers this can, therefore, increase your chances of making it to the end.

Develop study strategies

Having strategies to address any academic problems before they arise is a good idea. For example, participating in study groups or online chat sessions with instructors and other students is a good way to guard against apathy.

Sticking to a regular study schedule can also be invaluable to maintaining consistent effort. Even if the university does not require it, this kind of professionalism helps ensures you are able to get your work done on time and achieve learning goals.

Start with a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration

For most MBA programs, you can start by studying for a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration. In Australia, this is a 4-unit courses that typically represents a third of the full MBA program. Entry requirements are lower and you can often be admitted even if you lack a university degree (but have professional experience).

The advantage of doing a Grad Cert is that you can test if an online MBA program is really for you. If it’s not, you can leave after 4 units with new skills and a recognised qualification.

The UTS Business School Master of Business Administration in Entrepreneurship (MBAe) is a unique 12 month intensive MBA designed for entrepreneurs and innovators.

• Think like an entrepreneur through working on live projects;
• Understand what makes your entrepreneurial venture successful;
• You’re enabled to take your business ideas up to venture capital grade.

How the MBA in Entrepreneurship Works

The MBA in Entrepreneurship at UTS is uniquely constructed as three short courses. You can choose how, when and what you need to know whilst developing, with increasing confidence, your own enterprise ideas.

The MBAe helps you gain the necessary skills, meet the right people and develop your entrepreneurial project. It is for people who have ideas and want to see them through either as a start-up entrepreneur or as a change agent in existing organisations.

Dr Jochen Schweitzer, Program Director, MBA in Entrepreneurship

Why UTS Business School?

UTS has a strong reputation in innovation and creativity among global leaders, with a ten-year vision to be a world leader in innovation and creative intelligence research and teaching. As one of the world’s top 10 young universities, you can be assured of a learning environment that is both world-class and tailored to the needs of each MBAe cohort.

Agile, adaptive, applied

We understand that undertaking the MBAe is a significant commitment, not just financially but of your time, and we know you don’t want to put your life on hold while you study. Our subjects allow you to apply tomorrow what you learn today, and to give you the skills to adapt this to meet the unknown challenges of the future.

Position, position, position

The Ultimo precinct has evolved into Australia’s largest and most vibrant creative digital hub. UTS is surrounded by Australia’s highest concentration of startups, creative firms, large technology, media, education and corporate partners, the ABC and the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. All connected by The Goods Line running through the heart of the southern Sydney CBD.

Graduates of Executive MBA programs who participated in the Executive MBA Council Student Exit Survey reported increases in their salary and bonus packages from the start to the end of their programs.

In 2010, the average salary and bonus amounts of students in the survey rose 11.4 percent from the start to end of the program, compared to 9.4 percent in 2009. Students’ average salary and bonus package at the start of their EMBA programs was $127,955, increasing to $142,534 by the end of the program.

The Executive MBA Council conducts the Student Exit Benchmarking Survey to track the perceptions and opinions of EMBA program graduates and to help measure the return on investment of the degree. The survey included 3,674 students from 116 programs.

In addition, 37% of students in the survey reported receiving promotions and 68% reported receiving new responsibilities during their time in the program.

“Executive MBA students continue to do well in this challenging economy,” says Michael Desiderio, executive director of the Executive MBA Council. “Survey data shows the return on investment for EMBA students remains significant.”

Graduates in the survey hang about loyal supporters of the EMBA experience. The survey’s loyalty index helps demonstrate participating students’ satisfaction with their program. The loyalty index is a combination of students’ rankings of program quality (8.4 on a 10-point scale), students’ willingness to recommend their program to a colleague or friend (8.8); and the likelihood of supporting the program as alumni (8.2).

“The loyalty index shows that EMBA students continue to be satisfied with their programs and education experience,” says Desiderio. “It also shows that alumni are willing to stay involved with programs.”

To help prospective students search and compare MBA programs worldwide, the Executive MBA Council recently launched the council’s 300 member programs by geographic location, specialty, start date, program length or tuition. Each program summary includes a brief description and a link to the program’s website.

About the Executive MBA Council

The Executive MBA Council provides a forum for programs to share best practices and gathers industry data for member use. Survey analysis was conducted by Percept Research, an independent market research firm and the council’s research partner.