Leadership and Innovation
The Exeter MBA
Lead with Purpose
Gain the skills, knowledge and confidence to lead responsibly anywhere in the world. The Exeter MBA develops responsible leaders and promotes sustainable management for a better world.
The Exeter MBA takes personal transformation and leadership seriously, drawing on both careers coaching and research from the Business School’s Exeter Centre for Leadership (ExCL).
Innovative research-led teaching
Our research-led teaching gives you the opportunity to grow your understanding of how people and organisations work, so you can use this knowledge to improve how you approach leadership.
Continuous leadership development
You will have continuous leadership development opportunities throughout the programme. You will graduate with experience of leading multi-national teams with diverse perspectives, developing solutions for real-world challenges.
Corporate Challenge module
More opportunities to transform your practical leadership skills are found in our Circular Economy Corporate Challenge module. Working to a client brief with finite resources and an ambitious timescale, you will develop the tenacity and confidence needed to add value when solving complex problems in your future career.
Career Transformations module
The Exeter MBA is a unique development opportunity. During your year-long Career Transformations module, you will create a tailored development plan and learn how to utilise your MBA to its full potential to achieve your career aspirations. Through an ongoing reflective process, you will come to understand yourself better, shaping and improving your own skills and behaviour.
Leadership Skills Expedition, Norway
Our optional Leadership Skills Expedition, which takes place in Norway, is designed to give time for deeper reflection. You’ll work in a team to put your leadership skills to the test in a unique natural environment. Learning to reflect and adapt your own abilities to the changing demands of a modern career is key to long term success, and at Exeter you will have all the support you need to do this.
Executive Coaching and Mentors
Students are offered one-to-one executive coaching with external professionals; and can connect with senior alumni as career-relevant mentors during your programme.
“I particularly enjoy the hands-on projects, such as the Circular Economy Corporate Challenge and Global Sustainability Challenge that simulate real business challenges. These projects not only enhance our practical understanding but also foster teamwork skills that are crucial in the business world and have allowed me to work within an industry setting.”
Vartika from India.
Innovate for Change
Our research-led MBA curriculum offers you the opportunity to explore, debate, discover and apply new ways of thinking to lead change.
You’ll engage with contemporary academic and professional research, giving you the edge to create impact in your career through new, innovative ways of thinking. Students will gain practical as well as theoretical insight into the complexity of business, working with research centres and business leaders, and in project teams with colleagues from around the world on real challenges.
In our modules, you will be asked to research an organisation’s effectiveness in using its technology and processes to create value. In our Entrepreneurship modules, you will work with real entrepreneurs to understand their behaviour. You’ll also gain experience of new business models as well as digital disruption and the associated impacts.
Entrepreneurship
The Exeter MBA opens doors to a new world of business opportunity by approaching today’s business challenges with an understanding of tomorrow’s possibilities. Expect to develop your communication skills and entrepreneurial spirit right from the start.
Our ‘Dragons’ Den’ pitching exercise, which forms part of our optional Entrepreneurship module in Term 3, allows you to present your business plan to a team of experienced entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to gain expert feedback.