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Course content
The Exeter MBA (Online) develops mid-career professionals into leaders who can drive digital transformation and harness AI for strategic advantage, with a particular focus on GenAI and emerging technologies. You will study core MBA disciplines including strategy, finance, operations and organisational leadership, enhanced by key emerging business skills such as digital transformation, AI in business and data-driven decision making.
The programme combines live online seminars, interactive learning environments and flexible independent study, delivered by expert faculty and industry practitioners to create a collaborative and practical learning experience.
You will apply your learning through a capstone project, a work-based project within your organisation, addressing real organisational challenges and delivering measurable business impact and return on investment, supporting accelerated career progression.
Modules focus on areas such as AI and Design Thinking, Strategic Foresight, Ecosystems Thinking, and Negotiation and Influence, equipping you with future-ready, practical skills. You will learn alongside experienced professionals, building global business connections and lasting professional networks within a supportive learning environment.
Please note that the module information displayed here is from a previous year and is subject to change.
| Module Title |
Description |
| Business Transformation in a Digital World |
This module is underpinned by Exeter’s approach to strategy and leadership, informed by research in digital transformation, climate and circular economy. It examines strategic leadership in an AI-enabled economy, where GenAI, platform dynamics and persistent uncertainty are reshaping value creation, competition and risk governance. The module covers the evolution of strategy alongside contemporary issues including responsible decision-making, stakeholder legitimacy and organisational culture. Students develop capability in horizon scanning, pattern recognition, assumption-testing and adaptive strategy design under pressure. It also builds skills in ethical influence and negotiation, inclusive leadership and psychological safety to support resilient, high-performing, technology-enabled teams. |
| Business Analytics and Marketing Strategy |
This module integrates marketing and economics for environments characterised by data abundance, attention scarcity and GenAI-enabled decision and persuasion. It develops evidence-based judgement and credible communication, drawing on sustainable economic thinking, business analytics, applied marketing research and customer insight. The module examines value creation and capture across B2C and B2B contexts, supporting the translation of insight into growth strategy. Students design and evaluate multi-channel campaigns, manage customer relationships and expectations, and consider product and service innovation across the lifecycle. A specific focus is ethical narrative and responsible use of GenAI and digital tools to generate insight and build trust through authentic communication. |
| Integrated Financial Management |
This module develops financial management capability for leaders operating in a digital economy shaped by automation, fintech, data and GenAI. It builds practical fluency in accounts, costing, cash flow, performance measurement and financial interpretation, enabling effective dialogue with finance specialists. The module then applies these foundations to investment appraisal, funding choices, capital structure and risk, linking financial logic to strategy and value creation. Learning is supported through cases and workplace-relevant tasks using contemporary tools, dashboards and emerging GenAI applications. Emphasis is placed on decision quality, stewardship and accountability, and on communicating financial insight clearly and credibly to varied stakeholder groups. |
| Leading Dynamic Organisations and Operations |
This module examines operations and organisational behaviour as interdependent systems shaped by technology, culture and structure. It analyses how identity, power, norms and organisational routines influence performance across people, processes, platforms and supply chains. Using systems thinking and the resource-based view, students diagnose where value is created, constrained or lost, and identify leverage points for improvement. The module explores how GenAI, automation and digital platforms are reshaping work design, HRM and coordination, and the implications for culture, resilience and fairness. It also addresses sustainable and circular operations and business model transformation, focusing on practical interventions aligned to strategy and values. |
| Strategic Foresight |
This module develops capability in strategic foresight, horizon scanning and futures analysis to identify emerging forces, shifting customer needs and potential disruptions. It introduces approaches for competing under uncertainty, including transient advantage, diversification, co-opetition and ecosystem strategy, and examines how organisations evolve through continuous adaptation rather than reliance on static competitive positions. Using practitioner-oriented tools and applied case work, students generate and evaluate strategic and business model options for future markets. Emphasis is placed on designing options that are commercially viable and socially responsible, and on translating foresight into actionable choices for strategy, investment and organisational alignment. |
| AI and Design Thinking |
This module develops AI-enabled entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial capability through design thinking and structured innovation methods. It covers need-finding, problem framing, ideation, value proposition design and business model development, with a focus on evidence-based experimentation. A sustained design sprint, linked to a live organisational project, guides students through prototyping, testing, iteration and refinement. The module is informed by ISO 56002/56003 innovation management standards and emphasises value creation and capture, practical experimentation, and cross-functional collaboration. Students build a transferable innovation toolkit enabled by GenAI that supports the initiation, shaping and delivery of new opportunities in their organisational context. |
| Capstone Project |
The programme is book-ended by a 30-credit Capstone Project grounded in the student’s organisational context. The capstone synthesises learning from core and elective modules to address a substantial workplace challenge, using evidence-based analysis and appropriate methods to design, implement and evaluate an intervention. It is structured to produce measurable outcomes and a clear return on investment for the learner. The project provides an opportunity to demonstrate end-to-end capability: problem definition, stakeholder engagement, strategic and operational decision-making, delivery under constraints, and credible communication of impact to senior audiences. |
Entry requirements
2:2 degree plus 3 years’ management experience, or 5 years’ relevant management experience if not a graduate.
As part of the enrolment process, applicants will undertake a brief interview with our Student Recruitment team to verify programme eligibility. Interview responses will be recorded and retained in line with admissions procedures.
Fees and funding
Total fees for this programme are £23,100.
Applicants who are residents in Devon and Cornwall may be eligible for a £3,000 scholarship towards tuition fees. For further details, including eligibility criteria, speak to our team.
Fees are charged per module. You can pay in full at the beginning of the course or as you go by paying for the module or modules you are registered to study in each term.
Teaching and research
Applied Online Learning
The programme combines flexible, 24/7 access to structured, narrative-driven digital content with regular live online seminars, interactive workshops, simulations and authentic assessments, delivered by expert faculty and industry practitioners.
Learning is applied directly to your organisational context, enabling you to solve real-world challenges while balancing study with professional and personal commitments, within a structured and supportive learning experience.
Regular, scheduled live sessions form a core part of the programme, offering opportunities for interactive, collaborative and applied learning. These sessions are timetabled in advance, with a choice of weekly time slots to support different time zones and professional commitments. Led by expert faculty, they provide space for discussion, practical exploration of live challenges and reflective activities, with recordings available where needed to support flexibility.
Research-informed Learning
All modules are grounded in the latest research on digital transformation, AI, leadership and innovation, including practical applications of GenAI in business. You will explore evidence-based strategies and apply global insights to contemporary business challenges, ensuring content is rigorous, relevant and focused on real-world application.
Independent Research
Through the 30-credit capstone project, you will conduct in-depth research on a strategic organisational challenge. This enables you to address a real business issue with measurable outcomes, bringing together your learning across the programme while developing analytical and problem-solving capabilities and demonstrating data-driven decision-making in complex organisational contexts.
Professional Alignment
The Exeter MBA (Online) is aligned with recognised leadership, innovation and professional standards, preparing you for senior leadership and career progression in a global market.
Modules and the capstone project develop skills employers value, enabling you to deliver measurable impact and a clear return on investment, with strong potential for accelerated career and salary progression.
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Clare Hearn
Senior Lecturer
David Butler
Senior Lecturer
Clare Hearn
Senior Lecturer
Clare is a Senior Lecturer in Leadership & Management.
Before becoming a full time academic, she was a highly experienced professional working in leadership roles within the creative industries, and the co-founder of an award-winning experience design agency.
Prior to joining University of Exeter Business School, Clare developed and led a pioneering international MA Management programme for 6 years, for which she won an Innovation in Learning and Teaching Award.
She is passionate about working with leaders to enable them to bring critical analysis, creativity and a flair for responsible innovation to their organisations.
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David Butler
Senior Lecturer
David is a Senior Lecturer in Leadership & Management. He teaches aspects of Leadership, Strategy and Risk Management across various Postgraduate and Executive Education programmes.
Away from the University, David works with Senior Leadership Teams and Boards on issues including critical team dynamics and performance, leadership in crisis, business risk management, and the strategy development process.
He has helped organisations develop risk management strategies and make strategic and tactical operating decisions – often under crisis – in markets including Africa and the Middle East, where the business risks are primarily political, integrity, security (including Cyber) or infrastructure based. His experience covers education, military, government institutions, oil and gas, mining, power, infrastructure, telecoms, financial services, FMCG, retail, and professional services.
He is a former Royal Marines officer and holds a BSc Hons in Astrophysics from UCL, an MBA (Dist) from Warwick Business School, and a Master’s in Finance from London Business School.
In his spare time, David enjoys leading groups, including Gold Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions, into the mountains of North Wales, the Lake District and Scotland. He is a keen mountaineer and holds a Summer Mountain Leader qualification and a British Cycling MTB Level 2 Leader.
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Your Career
Professional recognition
The Exeter MBA (Online) is delivered by a triple-accredited business school and aligned to recognised leadership, innovation and management standards. Completion signals readiness for senior leadership and international, cross-functional roles, demonstrating expertise in managing AI-enabled, digitally transformed organisations in a global business environment, with a clear focus on GenAI and emerging technologies.
Professional capability
Students develop strategic, financial, operational and analytical skills needed to manage complex organisations. The curriculum embeds responsible leadership, innovation, digital transformation and AI-enabled data-driven decision-making, with a growing emphasis on GenAI in practice. The reflective portfolio and capstone project provide clear evidence of your development, demonstrating future-ready capability and measurable workplace impact.
Career development
The programme prepares mid-career professionals for promotion, salary progression or strategic career moves. Through applied learning and the capstone project, you will build experience in leading teams, driving innovation and delivering measurable business impact and return on investment, supporting accelerated career progression.
You will also build lasting professional networks across industries and regions, strengthening peer connections through a collaborative and supportive learning experience.
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