MBA Project
MBA Project
www.imperial.ac.uk/business-school
On completion of the project they will produce an academic dissertation of up to 20,000 words for assessment, which addresses the challenge set out in your brief. Students will often also produce a shorter Executive Summary and hold a concluding meeting or presentation. Your company can distil information from the dissertation which will offer real commercial or business outcomes. Who? Your company can interview and select from the pool of interested MBA students to ensure you obtain the very best fit for your organisation in terms of skills, experience and personality.
Below are just a few of the organisations that have already benefited through collaborating with us in an MBA final project: Arup Arthur D. Little Atkins Rail BAE Systems Business Intelligence BP BT BskyB DTI Ernst & Young Imperial Innovations Group Plc Laing ORourke Microsoft National Criminal Intelligence Service NHS Pricewaterhouse Coopers Proctor and Gamble Psion plc Singapore Trade Development Board Tetra Pak UBS Warburg
OUR MOTIVATION FOR WORKING WITH AN MBA STUDENT WAS TO BRING IN A FRESH MIND WITH THE TIME, SKILLS, RESOURCES AND ENTHUSIASM TO CHALLENGE OUR CONVENTIONAL THINKING IN THIS AREA. THE PROJECT WAS MANAGED IMPRESSIVELY THE STUDENTS CONCLUSIONS WERE WELL ARGUED AND RESEARCHED, PROVIDING A BREADTH AND DEPTH OF ANALYSIS THAT COMPLEMENTED OUR OWN WORK. THE STUDENTS INSIGHTS DEFINITELY ADDED TO OUR IN-HOUSE PERSPECTIVES. MARTIN TREWHELLA PRINCIPAL, GLOBAL ENERGY PRACTICE, ARTHUR D. LITTLE
Commitment Projects last between six and nine months. MBA students are supervised throughout the project by our academic staff; however we do ask you to identify a liaison contact within your organisation. The liaison contact will need to be available for an initial meeting, possible interim meetings, and a concluding presentation and discussion. We would recommend that regular meetings are held between the MBA students and client company to get the most out of the project. The responsibility for managing the project and liaising with the client will largely fall to the MBA student as part of their continuing professional development. Cost? We do not charge a fee for MBA final projects but we do ask that you reimburse the student for any reasonable expenses incurred (these should be agreed at the start of the project).
Confidentiality All MBA students can sign an agreement to ensure that commercially sensitive projects are treated with full confidentiality. Projects are marked by the Business School faculty (and possibly an external examiner) and copies of reports are displayed in Imperial Colleges library. You may request that commercially sensitive projects are not made available by the library until two years after completion (or longer if necessary). Intellectual property The project is the property of the student, but Imperial College has rights over it for assessment and educational purposes. When a project is sponsored, the organisation is encouraged to utilise the material in the project.
Workspace or location? You will not need to provide workspace for the MBA student, however project meetings and final presentations may be held at your organisations workplace, MBA students will carry out project work either at the Business School or in their own workspace. Next steps For an informal discussion, please contact: Catherine Smith MBA Programme Manager T: +44 (0)20 7594 9864 E: [email protected]
Summary of the process Month Jan Mar Stage Identify a project and submit a brief to Imperial College Business School
(Initially a 50-word outline which will later be developed with the students and academic supervisors into a full, agreed project brief.)
Further details The project is assigned a dedicated academic supervisor and the brief is circulated to all MBA students. You will need to identify a liaison contact within your company.
April
Students express an interest in specific projects. You can view CVs and interview MBA students. At this stage you will need to confirm the timings, level of access and support you are able to provide. Work on the project commences when students write a more detailed proposal clarifying the objectives of the project, in consultation with the client company. Students provide a written report and, if required, may also give a presentation to the client company.
May
Sept*
(*Executive MBA students will complete projects by end Dec)
Project completed and assessed by the students final project supervisor at Imperial alongside a second academic
For more information about our MSc and MBA programmes, please visit www.imperial.ac.uk/business-school/programmes
Imperial College Business School Business School Tanaka Building Imperial College London South Kensington Campus South Kensington London SW7 2AZ campus LondonKingdom SW7 2AZ United United Kingdom T: +44 (0)20 7589 5111 Telephone: +44 (0)20 7589 5111 F: +44 (0)20 7594 9184 Fax: +44 (0)20 7823 7685
www.imperial.ac.uk/tanaka www.imperial.ac.uk/business-school