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The AIB MBA

Designed for busy working professionals, this fully online MBA course is highly flexible and delivered with interactive, bite-sized content and personalised student support.

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MBA (Digital Business Focus)

Lead the way in the digital age

What to expect

Digital transformation is a constant in today’s business world, so having the skills and knowledge to lead not just in response to it – but proactively with it – is essential to an organisation’s future success. The AIB Master of Business Administration offers specialist learning options in Digital Business that will develop your management capabilities in a data-driven business landscape.

Develop in-demand skills with digital-focused subject choices in the areas of Business Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security and Digital Marketing – tailored to your professional goals. Not only will you set yourself apart in the job market, but you’ll be fully equipped to manage business digitisation, be a change agent across industries and thrive in high-tech environments.

As well as mastering a digital business mindset, you’ll deepen your understanding of how digitisation interacts with other business areas, including finance, marketing, human resources management, corporate governance, operations and project management – an essential, holistic business toolkit for building your influence as a leader, executive and business owner.

Graduate with one of the most well-respected qualifications globally – the MBA – and the expertise to meet the digital revolution demand in your industry or sector.

Graduates who undertook digital business focus subjects within their MBA will graduate with a general Master of Business Administration degree, reflected on their official parchment.

Why do an MBA?

No matter what sector you’re in, innovation and technology have created a world that is rapidly changing. It has become increasingly challenging to have the most up-to-date knowledge and experience to stay ahead of the competition.

A Master of Business Administration degree is a highly-regarded postgraduate qualification that teaches foundational business and leadership skills, as well as specialist knowledge, providing you with a pathway to career success.

Why should I study the AIB MBA?

The AIB MBA is a practical MBA for working adults. With no exams, you’ll instead learn from the practical application of theory to real life business problems often based on your organisation or business. An approach designed for immediate career impact.

Our programs foster your ability to understand and apply leading business theories, critically analyse and solve problems, lead and communicate effectively, and make decisions to support the growth of your team and organisation.

Our MBA opens many doors with both current and prospective employers giving you more opportunities for career progression, higher salaries, starting your own business and more.

There’s no limit to what you can do with an MBA from AIB.

*AIB’s standard study load is 1 subject per term with 6 terms per calendar year. To complete the MBA in 12 months, eligibility criteria apply.

DeliveryOnline
Number of Subjects9 core subjects
and 3 elective subjects
Duration12 months accelerated or 2 years standard study load*
Start Dates12 intakes a year
Stages3 stages with 2 exit points
Entry RequirementsPrior degree
or prior experience

The AIB MBA with flexible entry and exit options

The AIB MBA can be broken into 3 stages: a Graduate Certificate in Management (GCM), a Graduate Diploma in Management (GDM) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA), offering flexible entry and exit points.

4 Subjects
4-8 Months
4 Subjects
4-8 Months
4 Subjects

MBA

4-8 Months

The subjects you’ll study

There are 8 core subjects you’ll undertake prior to moving on to your electives, allowing you to tailor your experience to suit your personal, career and business goals. You’ll conclude your MBA with Project, the capstone subject.

Core Subjects
Digital Business Subjects
Project*

Complete the 8 core subjects listed below. Additionally, you’re required to select 3 electives from the electives tab and complete the capstone Project.

Leadership (First Subject)

The subject provides a scholarly and in-depth knowledge of the dynamics of leadership and how it applies to contemporary leadership practice.

On completion of this subject participants should be able to:

  • Demonstrate advanced understanding of leadership theories, concepts, and practice, including both traditional and contemporary forms of leadership.
  • Critically evaluate various modes of leadership with consideration of ethical and socially responsible practice.
  • Effectively communicate and apply relevant leadership principles to address diverse needs of various stakeholders.
  • Develop a critically reflective leadership model for your own development.

Strategic Management (Second Subject)

This subject provides comprehensive knowledge of the strategic management process and gives exposure to the concepts and frameworks that are used in understanding a company’s competitive position in domestic and international markets, and the development of new strategies.

On completion of this subject participants should be able to:

  • Demonstrate understanding of contemporary strategic management theory, concepts and principles.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of how strategy formulation and strategy implementation processes work in contemporary organisations
  • Conduct an analysis of the internal and external environment of the selected organisational context, using appropriate strategic management theories and frameworks to inform future direction.
  • Critically evaluate different strategic alternatives and suggest an appropriate and ethical pathway for a business to build and sustain competitive advantage.

Marketing Management

This subject discusses the importance and strategic role of marketing in today’s globalised and digital business environment. Students learn practical skills that impact on business growth, like how to analyse the market context in which a business or enterprise is operating, segment the market, select an appropriate target market, and recommend strategic and tactical plans that co-create value for the selected target market

On completion of this subject participants should be able to:

  • Demonstrate an advanced understanding of contemporary marketing theory and practice.
  • Evaluate marketing concepts and organisational issues to make evidence-based decisions on creating value for customers.
  • Apply innovative marketing approaches, techniques, and ethical perspectives to recommend an evidence-based solution to the problem of capturing value from customers.
  • Communicate marketing knowledge, skills, and ideas to others in writing clearly, persuasively, and credibly.

Operations Management

This subject provides an in-depth knowledge of issues critical for the efficient and effective management of operations in service, public, manufacturing, not-for-profit, and other sectors.  The subject covers operations management principles, frameworks, and contemporary topics.

On completion of this subject participants should be able to:

  • Demonstrate advanced understanding of operations management principles, frameworks, and contemporary topics.
  • Critically analyse and evaluate operations management issues.
  • Clearly, concisely, and credibly communicate operations management knowledge to others.
  • Apply relevant principles and frameworks to develop innovative and evidence-based solutions for complex operations management issues.

Financial Management

This subject prepares students for effective financial management in organisations. At a foundational level, the subject introduces how a manager can interpret financial statements, identify trends and utilise financial tools and techniques to improve decision making, alongside non-financial considerations including ethics.

On completion of this subject participants should be able to:

  • Demonstrate understanding of core contemporary financial management theory, techniques and practice.
  • Critically evaluate and effectively communicate recommendations to address financial management issues.
  • Apply financial management theory and techniques to professional practice in an ethical manner.

Strategic Human Resource Management

This subject will prepare students for the continuously evolving nature of work in uncertain times and the challenges and opportunities that this presents for organisations in meeting the strategic needs of a diverse workforce.

On completion of this subject participants should be able to:

  • Demonstrate advanced understanding of strategic human resource management theory and its application in practice.
  • Critically evaluate and recommend improvements to existing human resource management strategies.
  • Identify and evaluate different perspectives and contemporary trends, and their impact on strategic HRM.
  • Design and effectively communicate an evidence based human resource management initiative with consideration to ethical concerns.

Corporate Governance*

This subject examines the development, concepts, and significance of the concepts and practice of Corporate Governance, and organisational governance within the context of organisational capacity building.

Pre-requisites: Three AQF Level 8 subjects must be completed before attempting Corporate Governance

On completion of this subject participants should be able to:

  • Demonstrate advanced understanding of contemporary corporate governance theories, principles and regulatory frameworks.
  • Use corporate governance theories and frameworks to interpret the key corporate governance responsibility, structure and function in practice.
  • Critically evaluate corporate governance structure and practices with consideration of needs of various stakeholders, corporate ethics and social responsibility.
  • Effectively apply and communicate relevant theories and frameworks to ensure sound and ethical corporate governance decisions in practice.

Project Management*

This subject develops the critical skills, capabilities and knowledge required to successfully manage projects across all stages of the project life cycle, applicable to all industries: service, public, not-for-profit, private, and other sectors.

On completion of this subject participants should be able to:

  • Demonstrate advanced understanding of project management principles, frameworks, and critical awareness of contemporary approaches needed for managing and leading projects.
  • Critically evaluate, analyse, reflect on, and synthesise information to address complex project management issues in specific contexts.
  • Research, adapt and apply relevant principles and frameworks to develop innovative, ethical, and evidence-based solutions to improving the management of projects.
  • Clearly, concisely and credibly communicate project management knowledge to specialist and non-specialist audiences to inform practice.

Artificial Intelligence for Business

This subject provides an essential overview of Artificial Intelligence (AI) types and their strategic application and integration in industry that is transforming business practice. In the context of organisational leadership in the age of digital disruption, this subject explores the challenges and opportunities of AI as well as the capabilities, limitations and ethical considerations.

On completion of this subject participants should be able to:

  • Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the principal concepts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a business context.
  • Critically evaluate the capabilities and limitations of AI types and their ethical challenges.
  • Analyse the strategic functional, organisational, and industry needs that can be addressed by AI solutions.
  • Develop, justify and effectively communicate appropriate approaches for the deployment of AI.

Cyber Security for Managers

The aim of this subject is to provide in-depth insight into the increasing dangers and frequency of cyber-attacks on businesses and government and how best to prevent or mitigate the damaging outcomes. The likely sources of attacks will be outlined along with the methods more commonly used, inherent weaknesses in systems, examine the risk factors and outline manager’s responsibilities. How to create policies designed to mitigate attacks and how to manage them are included along with disaster planning and recovery. This is not a technical subject on the detailed workings of attacks but rather a management approach to cyber resilience, cyber disaster planning and recovery methods.

On completion of this subject participants should be able to:

  • Describe the need for cyber security in context of the risks, threats, and attack vectors on an organisation’s digital information systems.
  • Analyse weaknesses and vulnerabilities in an organisation’s digital information systems to determine threats and controls for risk management.
  • Design cyber security policies that help mitigate the weaknesses in digital information systems, define organisational data governance protocols and comply with legal obligations.
  • Critically analyse a cyber disaster recovery and contingency plan using contemporary cyber security threats, best practice models and/or frameworks.

Business Analytics for Managers

This subject provides an overview of business analytics concepts and their applications in the business environment.

On completion of this subject participants should be able to:

  • Demonstrate advanced understanding of fundamental concepts and methods in business analytics and what business analytics can do for a business.
  • Critically evaluate and reflect on the business analytics maturity of organisations and organisational readiness for implementing business analytics.
  • Research and apply relevant business analytics methods and frameworks to address strategic, operational, and tactical decision problems in organisations.
  • Effectively communicate business analytics requirements and the relevant findings with various stakeholders including their data expert.

Digital Marketing*

There is an expectation that modern enterprises engage in digital marketing providing positive brand experiences for their customers and other stakeholders. Digital marketing is increasingly important to understand, because customers engage online and offline with brands. This subject is designed to provide students with an understanding of digital marketing. Students will learn about the various types of digital marketing as well as to how to plan, deploy, manage and evaluate a digital marketing strategy.

Pre-requisites: Marketing Management

On completion of this subject participants should be able to:

  • Demonstrate an advanced understanding of contemporary new digital marketing theory and practice.
  • Examine digital marketing theory, measures and practice to create a comprehensive digital marketing audit.
  • Critically analyse various metrics, innovative approaches, techniques and ethical perspective to design a digital marketing strategy.
  • Communicate digital marketing strategies, tactics and measures to others clearly, persuasively and credibly.

The objective of this capstone subject is to undertake a project related to the chosen area of professional focus. Students will identify an appropriate workplace or industry related research problem or opportunity, conduct a concise review of theories and frameworks, engage in identifying secondary data, analyse the data and present findings in a formal business research report.

Pre-requisite: A minimum of 10 MBA subjects (all AQF level 8 subjects and at least 4 AQF level 9 subjects) must be completed before attempting the Project.

On completion of this subject participants should be able to:

  • Critically examine contemporary business theory and practices related to an identified enterprise (or industry) problem or opportunity.
  • Demonstrate ability to apply innovative approaches, techniques, ethical perspectives, and the use of secondary data, to an identified enterprise (or industry) problem or opportunity.
  • Critically evaluate business (or industry) concepts and synthesise existing research, theory, and secondary data to advise business stakeholders on business solutions.
  • Communicate evidenced-based recommendations to stakeholders clearly, persuasively, and credibly.

*When scheduling your timetable, please note that some subjects have pre-requisites that must be successfully completed prior to commencing the subject.

In addition to an MBA Digital Business Focus, the following specialisations are offered by AIB: Finance, Entrepreneurial Management, Logistics & Supply Chain Management, Human Resource Management and Marketing Management.

Prefer not to specialise your MBA degree? That’s ok – our general MBA option allows you to mix & match elective courses to tailor your study program.

Multiple start dates

With the flexibility and convenience of 12 start dates every year you can start your MBA when it suits you.

Upcoming start dates

Study at your own pace

At AIB, students have the flexibility to study at the pace that suits them. Unlike other institutions, we offer many intakes throughout the year, plus the ability to speed up your studies with concurrent subjects, subject to meeting our eligibility criteria or slow it down to make it achievable for you, and schedule breaks in as well when you need them. The AIB MBA is truly flexible to your schedule.

There are 12 MBA terms per year at AIB, with each term running for 7 weeks followed by a 1-week break. Students typically spend around 150 hours per subject (or about 20 hours per week) to complete their MBA, but this varies, depending on your personal level of experience and education.

Learn more: MBA Hours Per Week Study Calculator

Want to know more about the AIB MBA?

MBA Entry Requirements

You don’t need a degree to qualify for an MBA- your experience counts!
Applicants must have ONE of the following:

Minimum 5 years experience

A minimum of five years of relevant work experience, which includes at least three of years management experience, or significant technical experience.

An Advanced Diploma

An Advanced Diploma or Associate Degree (AQF Level 6) or learning equivalent to an AQF Level 6 qualification and at least three years of relevant work experience.

A Bachelor’s degree

A Bachelor’s degree (AQF Level 7) and at least two years of relevant work experience.

Minimum GMAT score of 550

Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) with a minimum score of 550 and at least three years of relevant work experience.
I come from a range of backgrounds: marketing, sales, and also product development. What the MBA did for me was really solidified much of what I’d learned in those roles, and helped me to forge better processes for my employer which is a global company.  
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