The University of Manchester Middle East Centre in Dubai has introduced a suite of new, short business courses to the regional portfolio of business programmes designed for senior managers and business leaders. The courses are offered by the Alliance Manchester Business School’s Executive Education portfolio and are delivered by faculty at the Manchester campus.
The first courses will start October 2023. The University already offers a portfolio of part-time master’s programmes to students in the region through the Middle East Centre. These include the popular Global Part-time MBA, MSc Financial Management and MA Educational Leadership in Practice.
For students based in the Middle East, the first four short business courses that are coming up are Leading Digital Transformation; Market focused Strategic Planning; Data and AI for Leaders; and Psychology of Leading People Each of these short courses for senior managers and leaders comprise face to face classes over four consecutive days and can be taken individually (successfully completing any four courses will result in the award of the Manchester Professional Diploma in Leadership). Delegates receive a digital ‘badge’ for each course they successfully complete.
The Alliance Manchester Business School’s executive education portfolio of short courses spans a range of subjects from leadership development to Digital Transformation and entrepreneurship and innovation, among the 18 courses currently available on campus. These range in duration from four days to three weeks and all the courses are delivered in-person on campus in Manchester. Each course aims to transform the latest industry insights, research and visionary thinking into practical skill building, networking and opportunity for students.
Alliance Manchester Business School has over 50 years’ experience of delivering Executive Education around the world and works with a client base spanning six continents and over 30 countries. The School was the recipient of the EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development) Excellence in Practice Gold Award Winners (2021); and was Ranked 3rd in the UK for its customised programmes, Financial Times (2020).
Commenting on the new short courses, Randa Bessiso – Middle East Director at The University of Manchester, said: “Our aim is to create access to Manchester educational experiences for working professionals and not everyone has the time to commit to a demanding academic master’s programme. These short courses for business leaders complement our existing portfolio of programmes. For individuals, the benefits are the development of new leadership skills and new thinking, greater confidence and a professional qualification supporting career development, as well as building an executive network. The benefits for employer organisations are more skilled and effective leads, talent retention and the opportunity for leaders to focus on a relevant business project. We hope to grow the range of short business courses offered through the Middle East Centre, over time.”
The Middle East has developed into the largest and fastest-growing centre in the University’s international network comprising five hubs in key business cities around the world. It is also the most diverse, with students of 105 nationalities. The Middle East Centre has supported 3,200 part-time master’s students based in the region and graduated around 2,100 since opening in 2006.
The University of Manchester is ranked among the world’s top 50 universities and one of the world’s leading universities for impact towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Alliance Manchester Business School’s full-time MBA has been ranked 46th in the world, 13th in Europe and 5th in the UK in the 2023 Financial Times Global MBA Ranking, which also ranks the school 1st in the UK and 7th globally for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), recognising the proportion of teaching hours dedicated to ethics, social and environmental issues.
