The MBA Business Mastery Project

I’m David, the MBA Corporate Relationship manager in the Business School's Postgraduate Careers and Professional Development Team. A vital part of my role is engaging with firms to create opportunities and networks for our talented MBA students. One of the initiatives I enjoy most is talking to firms about the MBA Business Mastery Project (BMP) that students undertake towards the end of their MBA. The BMP provides students with an invaluable opportunity to integrate all they have learnt across the span of their programme.

The Business Mastery Project is a detailed research study that MBA students design, conduct, and manage in its entirety. The objective of the BMP is to provide insights and conclusions that are of real value to management. There are a few different formats the BMP can take, for example, students can undertake a Business Plan BMP, this type of project explores the creation of a new business or business unit. However, I get involved with the ‘Company BMPs’ where students have the opportunity to work on a specific real-world business problem in conjunction with an organisation.

Students can approach organisations themselves to undertake a company BMP; however, our team also source some opportunities for our Full-time MBA students. The industry sectors we source the BMPs from are diverse and dependent on market needs, and student interest. Over the last few years, students have had fantastic success in projects from many sectors including; FMCG, Investment Banking, Tech, Venture Capital, Fintech and Legal Tech.

Benefits to students

The company BMP allows students to apply their MBA knowledge to a real business problem. They are demonstrating to future employers their skills and application of MBA knowledge.  

Some of the benefits of a company BMP for students include :

• The opportunity to apply MBA knowledge to a real-life business issue
  • Apply skills to a business problem and solve challenges with productive outputs
• Gain experience in a sector, function or company of interest
  • A fantastic opportunity for students looking to make a career change
• Gain local experience
  • A vital consideration for students looking to break into a new marketplace
• Establish and open networks
  • Networking is a crucial element of continued success, and students have the opportunity to expand their professional networks through the BMP.

Employer benefits: a win-win

Let’s not forget the benefits to project hosts and the companies who benefit from the students’ innovation and productivity during the BMP.  Companies get to:

• Acquire the latest business strategic thinking
• Obtain fresh, objective insights
• Receive practical recommendations to take forward.

A BMP is a win-win for students and project hosts.

A company BMP is a challenging but rewarding piece of work; it pushes the students to deliver valuable consulting insights within a set time parameter with an organisation. Students apply their newly acquired skills, gain market and sector knowledge while expanding their professional network.