By Tino Matienga (Student Recruitment Manager, One-year MBA)
At LBS we aim to influence the way in which the world does business. This is why we ensure that learning goes beyond the classroom, and we make sure that we provide a hands-on experience too!
We believe that for you to have a global outlook/understanding you must experience it firsthand. This includes working in unfamiliar markets, understanding and tackling business challenges within a new context – these are all ways in which you can enhance your global outlook.
This is where the experiential learning part of the One-year MBA programme comes in.
Hands on experience through LondonCAP
Where better to gain a hands-on experience with some of the world’s most popular brands and emerging start-ups than in London? As a One-year MBA student you will have access to LondonCAP, which capitalises on our business connections within the London business community.
Designed to put you at the forefront of influencing business decisions, LondonCAP, is an optional 10-week credit bearing consulting project, where you step into the role of consultants and collaborate to solve business challenges. Run over a period of 10-weeks, you will have a chance to choose across a range of potential clients from industries such as banking, sport and finance. You will be given an initial brief of the current challenges and in groups of 4-6 you will spend the next few months putting together recommendations, and finally presenting your findings in the final week.
Previous clients our students have worked with have included BBC, Nike, McLaren, F1, British Fashion Council and more.
Global perspective through our Global Experience
Led by faculty, our Global Experience is a week-long immersive course that you can choose based on your interests and career goals. From a range of different destinations, you will have the chance to engage directly with local business leaders on real life business challenges that they are facing.
Each location will have a specific theme, which is the focus for the duration of that week and is curated to give you new perspectives, a global mindset and connections that will go beyond your time at LBS.
So, what does a Global Experience look like in reality? Each experience provides a deep dive into the business culture of the destination through company visits, workshops, expert panels and guest speakers.
Picture yourself undertaking different experiences from collaborating with asset management clients in New York or exploring sustainable supply chains in Luxembourg, through the experiential learning element of the One-year MBA you have the chance to apply theory in real world context, which brings your learning to life in a powerful and practical way.
Behind the scenes: The Global Experiences team
The Global Experiences are unique part of the One-year MBA. However, what is equally as important are the team that work tirelessly to put it all together. We caught up with Associate Director, Fiona Garcia, from the Experiential learning team, who was able to provide more insight into the global experiences module:
How does experiential learning complement the academic curriculum of the One-year MBA, and what unique skills or perspectives do students typically develop through these hands-on projects?
Experiential learning opportunities at LBS allow students to apply and consolidate their learning and challenge themselves through transformational experiences. Skills our students tell us that they gain from these experiences include problem solving, strategic thinking, leadership and the habits of self-reflection.
In your view, what makes experiential learning particularly valuable for MBA students who already bring professional experience to the programme?
These courses are designed to connect students’ experience with the latest in academic theory, and innovations within a variety of organisations and geographical locations. Students also value the opportunity to see inside a diverse range of organisations, to have a dialogue with business leaders to learn from their experiences and to make comparisons between different business environments.
The experiential learning team plays a key role behind the scenes — how do you work with students and companies to ensure these projects are both academically and practically meaningful?
The success of these courses is down to close collaboration between the Experiential Learning team, our faculty colleagues and our business partners in the contexts and organisations we work in. Particularly in project work, we work closely with the sponsors to define a meaningful scope that meet business
You can find out more about our Global Experiences here.