The 2020s is set to be a decade filled with rapid change for businesses.
Rapid technological change will continue, with artificial intelligence predicted to pass the Turing test, humans to receive its first phone call from Mars and 5G powering our new reality of autonomous cars and smart cities.
Consequently, graduates will find a changing landscape of employment — the nature of work is evolving with these new developments as are the skills required to navigate a successful career.
In the UK, one university is preparing its students for these dynamic opportunities to come: Bedfordshire Business School.
In the new decade, this is the place to gain new perspectives and sharpen the skills needed to thrive as industries evolve and workplaces react to the advances of technology. Whether you are a recent graduate, early or mid-career professional, Bedfordshire Business School is the place to be and 2020 is the time to take stock of your readiness to become better and take the next step forward.
Part of the University of Bedfordshire, this is a business school for the imaginative. In education, research and practice, it is always aiming to take the future of business education in fresh new directions. Its unique, ground-breaking approach to teaching through block delivery has seen registrations increase by 30 percent since 2016.
At this international and practice-driven institution, students can pursue a diverse range of postgraduate studies, such as MSc Digital Marketing, MSc International Business, MSc Project Management, MSc Purchasing, Supply Chain and Logistics and MSc Financial Risk Management.
A number of courses have extensions available to cover the key area of data analytics in keeping with rapid technological change, demonstrating Bedfordshire’s approach to futureproofing its graduates.
For its Master of Business Administration programme, students can choose between a full-time traditional MBA or an Executive MBA. The full-time MBA combines core MBA disciplines with subject areas such as Digital Technology Management, Hospital and Health Services Management and Human Resources Management.
What makes Bedfordshire Business’s postgraduate courses stand out is its emphasis on preparing students for an uncertain future ahead. Whether in its MBA or MSc, every course here enhances one’s business competence, develops crucial soft skills and provides practical options to master the complexities of business environments.
It’s also no overstatement to say the professional development students gain from these programmes is immense.
Innocent Motlatsi, a graduate of the Executive MBA programme, is exemplary of this.
At Bedfordshire Business, he learned how to better analyse markets and situations. Working with fellow professionals from different nationalities and cultures, he understood the importance of understanding other cultures and how to build a common culture towards a specific goal with a diverse team. He enhanced his operations management knowledge, sharpening his ability to produce quick delivery and track project timelines more effectively.
“In what became the most intellectually demanding two years of my life I was stretched, developed and given a set of foundation understandings and skills from which so much of everything else has grown.”
“[The course] gave me the time, space, confidence and assistance to achieve my life-changing ambitions. University of Bedfordshire will equip you with the tools needed to take a strategic approach to your personal career development; supporting you through skills-based learning to achieve your full potential.”
The business school boasts an international MBA community of more than 1600 students spread across the globe. At its Luton Campus, there are nearly 500 MBA students at different phases of study making Bedfordshire one of the largest and most vibrant MBA study communities in the UK today.
With this impressive network and suite of skills gained, MBA graduates from Bedfordshire Business stand to become some of the most sought-after and handsomely-rewarded candidates of the new decade.
According to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC)’s Corporate Recruiters Survey 2019, hiring projections for MBA graduates in 2019 remain strong.
More than half (56 percent) plan to increase MBA starting salaries, a greater proportion than those that plan to increase starting salaries for Bachelor’s and direct-from-industry new hires (48 percent each), the survey of 1,202 employers in 45 countries found.
But attractive remuneration isn’t the only thing that is in store for Bedfordshire Business graduates.
A 2019 Universities UK International survey of 16,199 international graduates from 58 participating institutions in the UK found that 69 percent of international graduates from the UK felt they progress faster in their careers compared to their peers educated elsewhere. More than four in five (82 percent) said studying in the UK is worth the investment.
Nine out of ten graduates who studied in the UK report high or very high life satisfaction too. Close to nine in ten non-EU graduates say they are more likely to do business internationally as well because of their UK degree.
Kashif A Mayo, who graduated with an MSc International Business and Management from Bedfordshire, is one example of an international graduate reaping these benefits.
Now a manager for trade marketing in Total, a French multinational integrated oil and gas company, Kashif’s career in this lucrative field has steadily progressed for more than 11 years since graduating.
He credits his durability to Bedfordshire Business: “Every day we deploy business concepts taught in my MSc degree, such as sustainable competitive advantage, market feedback, improved market orientation and efficient use of available information systems to give the best possible results for corporate success.”
He added: “I believe the real unique edge of the degree was that it pushed my self-esteem and personal development, especially in terms of effective communications and task prioritising and management. My Bedfordshire Business degree and UK living exposure were a lasting experience on me, and has equipped me to face and positively respond to current business market dynamics in my professional as well as personal capacities.”
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