Hello everyone,

I'm a Junior Operation Analyst, 1.5 year's work experience and a technical DipHE in Renewable Energy. Multionational company based in Italy.

I received an offer to top-up from my actual diploma to a BA (Hons) Global Business Management (full online - part time - 18 months duration) with Bournemouth University, and I'm going to accept it, due to the opportunity of an higher education level and starting to integrate also good skills of business management to my technical knowledge.

My ambitious goal?
To achieve general management position, (ex. Country Manager, COO) in one of the country where my multionational company actually operate. Consider that i'm going to work in Brazil for some years with the same company, starting there my international career. I also evaluated many times to move, after a consolidated career, to London.

My needs?
To understand which can be the most prestigious distance learning MSc course in Management/Finance online from accreditated universities (in Europe). In some years I will think about an MBA too (maybe online).

Take in consideration that my possible countries where i would like to develop my career path are Brazil, Spain, USA and/or UK.

Waiting for your feedback, I thank you!!

[Edited by MarCat on Aug 04, 2019]

The Harvard ALM has good international portability: https://www.extension.harvard.edu/academics/graduate-degrees

Otherwise, I think there's a very small number of MSc in management programmes that I think have great brand equity: Birmingham stands out. You might be better off taking a US online MBA and then an EMBA later on.

@Duncan: thanks a lot for your answer. When you talked about the MSc from University of Birmingham, were you referring specifically to the Online MSc International Business? Following link: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/postgraduate/courses/taught/business/online-msc-international-business.aspx

I was checking, for curiosity, the last FT Ranking about "Masters in Management 2018" and I can't find Birmingham listed. Moreover, to be even more precise, I can't find any online MSc in Management/International Business listed on FT. So, for exclusion, I deduce that in order to participate in one of these very prestigious MSC ranked, I should leave my job and invest full time in education.

By the way, I was checking other possibly online MSc (not strictly related to a course in management),and I found on Coursera a MSc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from HEC Paris, 100% online. What do you think about it? Can be effective, by pure imagination, this kind of MSc + additional course/certification in Management?

Thank you in advance for your help.

No, I think HEC program is aimed at a very different market. It's a bit more like a vanity degree. If your goal is to find work in another country, a full time course in that country will be a safer route.

Seeing as you are junior analyst, and that you will work in Brazil for some years, there are some very good analytics degrees online that can help you step up the ladder

There aren't nearly as many specialized master's programs that are available online, versus online MBAs, and you won't find the same level of quality business schools offering them. There are some but you might be better off looking at the Coursera / Illinois MBA program instead. However, I would agree with Duncan that if you want to move to a different country after the degree, you should study in that country.

Thank you all for your answers.

I got in touch with Ashridge Business School.
They are offering, within the executive education, The Masters in Leadership and Management (delivered 100% online). It is 2.5 year program: 3 modules per year (3 months each) with 1 month between each module: so it looks equal to University of Birmingham for the duration.

Question: The Masters in Leadership and Management from Ashridge Executive Education is considered an online MiM (exactly as Birmingham), also if included within the executive education? Which of both can be the best choice?

No. The Hult/Ashridge MiM is its MIB http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/masters-in-management-2018 . The MLM is not a pre experience degree. I am not sure what your goals are, but Birmingham is a much better option for most pre-experience students.

Basically, when I will graduate with my BA in Business Management (distance learning) I will be 27 years old with 3,5 years of work experience (I work full time and study at same time). For this reason I was looking for an online MiM that i could follow without give up my international career already on going.

Based on what you said, I should consider the MIB from Hult Ashridge Executive Education, applying with already some experience of analytics and business development. Both programs (Birmingham and Ashridge) will be Level 7 educational qualification too.

Or maybe, in an extreme case, should I let my career and invest my time in a prestigious 1-year MiM program in Europe (after the completation of my BA Business Management)?

Take in consideration that I'm also interested to apply for an MBA (maybe online) in the next years.

Thank you.

I am not sure what your goals are but, since a British MiM would not be a consecutive masters (which a French or German MiM would be) I think it would replicate your undergraduate degree, especially since Bournemouth has AACSB accreditation.

[Edited by Duncan on Aug 04, 2019]

Actually, my business goal is to achieve a managerial position of operations / business development into renewable energy / utility companies.

My background is mostly analytics/technical, so I need to expand my knowledge on global business, finance, strategy and marketing (all essential skills for future management positions). This knowledge will be covered (just in part) by Bournemouth BA (top up degree, so I will enter directly to Year 3).

Therefore, based on my goals, I am trying to find the best solution that can be a strategic continuation of a BA top-up in Business and Management.

For knowledge, I would suggest you look at the Illinois MBA courses. That gives you a broader curriculum and you don't need to pay for the higher, for credit, element untill you need the act degree

However, if you need career support and guidance, and to be connected with possible firms to join, an in-class, one-year MiM program in Europe would probably be a good option as well. Choose one that's ranked and in a country where you want to work.

I analyzed the Illinois iMBA Non-Credit courses: they are focused on business and corporate strategy, managerial economics, marketing, operations and financial accounting. These courses can be a solid foundation knowledge to integrate with my top-up BA, Business Management, and are for free.

Therefore, considering this extendend pre-MBA knowledge, and checking the core modules from Online MSc International Business from Birmingham, the courses are exactly the same, so maybe this MSc is not worth the money (and additional years of study). How Duncan said, I'm going to replicate the same courses.

Same story with the Master of Liberal Arts, Management from Harvard Extension School, but
they have a strong student network all over the world. In addition, this MLA in Management can be prestigious enough to break into managerial consultancy in the future (BCG, McKinsey), after a solid business experience. What do you think about it?

I took ALM courses in a different programme (journalism) and was highly impressed with the experience. This was back at the time when facebook was starting, and was organised in college networks. I had joined with my harvard.edu account, and was in the Harvard network. As my European friends started to join, I was surprised by how much weight they put on my having taken one class at Harvard. In the end, I found it embarassing so I left the network and stopped using the email address.

So, yes, I think the ALM gets attention and is intriguing to employers. HES is well known People don't think it's HBS or Harvard College, but they know it's a solid, demanding qualification.

The ALM pathway in finance looks especially useful, and might have the least duplication for you.

Thank you Duncan to share your experience. I'm being convinced with HES choice.

Do you think that the ALM pathway can also be a well branded degree for a further long-term decision to move into management consultancy (energy division), after some years of managerial experience within my company? By my LinkedIn research, at worlwide level, only 94 people work in the best consulting firms, with previous studies at HES.

Maybe, in that specific case, the MBA is the only way (with or without company grants).

The most likely route is a top MBA.

A full-time MBA from a top school is certainly the main, tried-and-true route into management consulting.

I am not sure what your goals are but, since a British MiM would not be a consecutive masters (which a French or German MiM would be) I think it would replicate your undergraduate degree, especially since Bournemouth has AACSB accreditation.

For your information, the modules from the MSQM from NYU STERN (directly from their brochure):

Foundations:
Communication • Financial Accounting 1 • Financial Accounting 2 • Microeconomics • The Global Economy • Leadership • Collaboration, Conflict & Negotiation • Foundations of Finance • Corporate Finance • FinTech • Operations • Decision Models • Professional Responsibility • Marketing • Customer Insights • Business Strategy • Corporate Strategy

Business Analytics:
R Programming for Data • Probability and Statistics • Statistical Modeling • Databases for Business Analytics • Data Science and Predictive Analytics