aforementioned sense of urgency that was built around the MBA created what, I feel, were the greatest gifts we could have been given: focus and efficiency. With this new-found luxury in hand, we started working on a number of separate micro-MBA projects: curriculum design and getting the programme approved; designing the new hyflex suite for the bespoke needs of the MBA; and revisiting professional services support for the MBA. As the MBA is a multi-disciplinary programme, we took a bottom-up approach and engaged in a very fruitful dialogue with all departments in the business school. We presented the key principles mentioned earlier and together we discovered how we could utilise the strengths of each department, in terms of teaching and research, on the MBA programme. This co‑exploration and learning from each other was was another great gift. Each department was energised to make a significant contribution to the MBA because they embraced it as a common goal for the business school, a shared journey – and one in which they were eager to participate. From this exercise, the MBA programme team was born. They are lovely group of very hard-working, innovative colleagues who designed the backbone and the essence of the programme: the modules. Following open and honest discussions for a number of months, we became a ‘learning organisation’: we planned, we made first attempts, we made mistakes, we adjusted, we went back and fixed the mistakes and the end result was simply commendable. You might wonder about my role as a leader in this. I always compare leaders to the cox in a rowing boat. Even though the cox sits in the opposite direction to everyone else, they are the ones who study the route, the crew and the boat, meaning that their job is to steer in the right direction and motivate the crew. As the MBA director, that was my job in terms of the programme design. Creating a teaching environment to suit everyone My job didn’t end there. Alongside the exciting curriculum development activities, we identified the need to turn our attention towards the mobilisation of the programme in terms of the teaching environment. To this end, we instigated a vital, collaborative team to design and implement an innovative hyflex space for a dual audience: students who attend the class physically and those who participate virtually. This pivotal project was critical to the ability of our new programme to deliver across different modalities of learning; we were acutely aware that without it we could not meet the expectations of our potential learners. This space was also aligned with our core values and designed to meet the needs of neurodivergent and international students – who might, in light of our dedication to sustainability, wish to limit their travelling – and to facilitate parents, or other people with caring responsibilities, who might otherwise be unable to pursue an MBA. Working closely with the IT&D and Estates teams we focused on three core aspects: learner interaction, tutor engagement and social networking. The first challenge in developing this
therefore, that we wanted to create an MBA for responsible and conscientious leaders, managers and employers who support decent work and productivity and who want to transform business, societies and individuals for the better. As a business school, we are fuelled by the need to eradicate poor leadership and management practices, something which we sadly see too often in the news through examples such as the Post Office scandal, or the recent tragedy at the Countess of Chester hospital. Moreover, we put forward our non-negotiable principles that would govern the MBA: sustainability, digital leadership and AI alongside equitable work and wellbeing would be the linchpin of the curriculum design areas. At the heart of our development of the programme was a determination to practise what we preach in how we cultivated shared learning in the application of our knowledge and skills to innovation, along with problem-solving, in programme design. All modules would have to be mapped against the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals and content would be research-informed, given that some 90 per cent of the university’s research impact is classed as either “world-leading” or “internationally excellent”. Our innovative, digitally enhanced, award-winning, pedagogical approaches would be at the heart of the MBA delivery and experiential learning would be adopted. Our assessments would also be authentic, industry-informed and immersive, as we recognise the true value for the MBA student. This is someone with extensive managerial experience who would like to make better evidence-based organisational decisions and not simply rely on the rule of thumb. We wanted the experience to be deeply and truly enriching, hence we stepped away from traditional pedagogical delivery and assessment methods. We set out to offer our students a safe space that would promote cohort learning and best-practice sharing, as well as one where they could apply what they had learned, get creative, take risks – and take a step back to reflect on their own methods. Once the principles were outlined, we had various conversations with senior leaders and key stakeholders within the business school, as well as with the wider university community, in both academic and professional services. The buy-in and trust that senior leadership demonstrated in the new MBA was critical. This allowed for conversations to take place, teams to focus on the MBA against other competing priorities and resources to be dedicated in terms of funds, time and people. Looking back, I am so grateful for the support of the senior leaders whom we worked with in the early days of this journey – they really did put the wind in our sails. Finding strengths despite the challenges What we expected to encounter next were a number of Cyclopes, Laestrygonians and old Poseidon, as per Cavafy’s poem. In modern terms these monsters are referred to as red tape, bureaucracy and everyone’s beloved ticketing system. But the
24 Ambition • ISSUE 1 • 2025
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