Overview
The School MBA is an enrichment course for 16–18 year-old school students in the UK. The course is designed for students to take alongside their A-levels/other post-16 qualifications/ The course is broken up into different modules, with each module consisting of accessible key readings, a video lecture, and an online assessment. Upon completion of all the modules, there is a final capstone assessment, which takes the form of a business plan for a hypothetical business, incorporating the modules covered in the course.
Mission Statement
The aim of the program is to prepare young people to be future entrepreneurs and business leaders. The program is academically rigorous and accessible to students, even if they are not studying Economics/Business in their school studies. The course is designed to prepare students for real careers in business, as well as an ideal piece of pre-university preparation for students intending to study Management at elite universities.
Course Overview
The course is broken into distinct modules, which follow the logical flow of building a business, which students may wish to consider when completing their final capstone assessment.
Phase 1: The Foundations
- Module 1: The Firm
- Key Theory: Transaction costs (Coase) and Asset Specificity (Williamson).
- Key Question: Why do businesses exist?
- Module 2: The Birth of Management
- Key Theory: The Visible Hand (Chandler) and Scientific Management (Taylorism).
- Key Question: Why do businesses exist?
- Module 3: The Economic Environment (Economics)
- Theory: Micro (Market Power, Game Theory) & Macro (Inflation, Interest Rates).
- Key Question: What is the economic context we are operating in?
Phase 2: The Blueprints
- Module 4: Competitive Strategy
- Key Theory: Porter’s 5 Forces, Resource Based View.
- Key Question: How will we beat the competition?
- Module 5: Marketing
- Key Theory: Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning (STP), Behavioural Economics (Sutherland/Kahneman).
- Key Question: Who is the customer and why do they buy?
- Module 6: Innovation
- Key Theory: Schumpeter (Creative Destruction), Christensen (The innovator’s Dilemma)
- Key Question: Where do new businesses come from?
Phase 3: The Execution
- Module 7: Operations & Technology
- Theory: Lean, Supply Chain, Network Effects (Platform theory).
- Question: How do we deliver the product efficiently?
- Module 8: Leadership & People
- Key Theory: Principal-Agent Problem, Culture, Motivation.
- Key Question: How do we align the team?
- Module 9: Enterprise
- Key Theory: Enterprise as a practice, Modern Enterprise, convergence, funding a new business
- Key Question: How do you start a new business?
Phase 4: The Money
- Module 10: Financial Reporting
- Key Theory: The Language of Business (P&L, Balance Sheet, Income Statements and Cash Flow).
- Key Question: How do we monitor the health of a business?
- Module 11: Financial Analysis
- Key Theory: NPV, Time Value of Money, Investment Appraisal.
- Key Question: Is this business worth investing in?
Phase 5: The Launch
- The Capstone Project
- Key Theory: How to Write a Business Plan.
- Key Task: Writing a Final Plan
Feedback
Whilst course is still be developed and in its infancy, all feedback is very appreciated. If you would like to share you thoughts to make the course as strong as possible, please complete the form via the link below.
Thank you in advance!