MBA Postgraduate Studies

As of August 2013 I have completed a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) after studying for three years part-time. In early 2010 I went through a selection/consideration process whereby I decided upon Melbourne Business School. The process alone deserves serious consideration, so please read the dedicate article.

The following list of subjects is ordered chronologically, the first nine making up the core subjects that constitute a Postgraduate Diploma in Management. For each subject, I will provide a brief review and general commentary.

1. World of Management, Term 3 – week intensive (August 2010)
2. Managing People, Term 3 (September to November 2010)
3. Accounting, Term 3 (September to November 2010)
4. Financial Management, Term 1 (February to April 2011)
5. Data & Decisions, Term 1 (February to April 2011)
6. Marketing, Term 2 (May to August 2011)
7. Managerial Economics, Term 2 (May to August 2011)
8. Business Strategy, Term 3 (September to November 2011)
9. Managing Processes, Term 1 (February to April 2012)
10. Economics & Public Policy, Term 2 (May to August 2012)
11. Managing Innovation, Term 2 (May to August 2012)
12. Social Impact, Term 2 – weekends (July 2012)
13. Brand Management, Term 3 – weekends (October 2012)
14. Negotiations, Term 3 (September to November 2012)
15. Marketing Communications, Term 1 – weekends (February – March 2013)
16. Marketing Strategy, Term 1 – weekends (February – March 2013)
17. Consumer Behaviour, Term 2 – weekends (April – May 2013)
18. Investments, Term 2 – weekends (May – June 2013)
19. Channels of Distribution, Term 3 (July 2013)
20. Product Management, Term 3 – week intensive (August 2013)

Other topics which will be added to this section include:

• General subject selection (electives)
• Study load balancing for part-time students
• MBA, a social/networking experience

Some general comments on the program that was my experience:

• Whilst I initially began and generally tried to maintain the “normal” part-time load of 2 subjects, the 10-week period of Term 2, 2011 (May to August) was extremely trying given I had just returned to Telstra and was thrust onto an intensely challenging project (“thrown into the deep end” comes to mind).
• As a result of that experience, I reduced my subject load to a single unit, which I endured for two terms, up until May 2012, by which time – Telstra work had eased up slightly.
• Social Impact was my first taste of a “weekend” mode subject where we had two sessions per day over a shortened stretch of five weeks.
• It was this weekend mode that also enabled me to take on three subjects simultaneously, and I also had to take leave for some of the day session/classes.
• Term 3, 2012 with the combination of Negotiations and Brand Management also alleviated some of the assessment pressure in that I only had one take-home exam in November. This worked out well again, because the demands of full-time work at Telstra were increasing again.
• For 2013, the change to a four-term calendar with a lot of 5-week half-term elective subjects on offer, the period of February to June saw me give up most weekends (Saturdays) for classes. This change of pace was again a welcome balance given full-time workload has only been increasing for the same period.
• My choice in electives was as follows:
  • 6 marketing
  • 2 social/entrepreneurship
  • 1 core (Negotiations)
  • 1 financial (Investments)
• This selection of subjects eventuated because:
  • I had heard from various Alumni/seniors that a large strength of the MBS reputation is in marketing.
  • Marketing has emerged as a strong interest area, and I have found it highly complementary to my existing technology/ consulting /business informations systems background.
  • I wholly and readily acknowledge that finance is not for me. However, I did appreciate the subject on Investments and was above average in overall subject grade.