Cass Business School

Cass is close to the heart of business in more ways than one. Not only do its academic courses equip you to make more of your acumen and expertise, they also fit in with your lifestyle. With a highly successful balance between theory and practise and ... Read more

Current Full Time MBA Student Scott Addison Since starting my MBA at Cass Business School in London not to long ago, a consistent theme has arisen across nearly everything I have done and experienced. The focus is transition: transition from one c ... Read more

Full Time, Executive
MBA Only

Entrepreneurship, Finance, General Management, Information Management, Leadership, Marketing, Strategic Management

No Industry Specification

English

Cass is close to the heart of business in more ways than one. Not only do its academic courses equip you to make more of your acumen and expertise, they also fit in with your lifestyle. With a highly successful balance between theory and practise and an extensive business and Alumni network, Cass Business School opens its doors into a wide range of careers choices.

We offer an intensive and rigorous programme, which offers participants the opportunity to think strategically, tackle complex issues and manage effectively in a global environment.

The Cass MBA is offered in the following three formats:
• Full-time (12 months)
• Executive (part-time evenings 24 months)
• Modular (part-time, one long weekend once a month over 24 months)

Each programme consists of three main elements:

1. The course begins with a core m a n a g e m e n t programme taken by
all participants and assessed by coursework and examinations.

2. Then you move forward to take a range of elective courses. All courses are designed to integrate theory and practice and inform you of the latest business developments and are chosen from options designed to address both breadth and
depth in each subject from which you can design the MBA most suited to your needs.

3. The final element of your MBA focuses on a Business Mastery Project that provides an opportunity to put your skills into practice and develop your managerial capabilities.

The Cass MBA uses innovative delivery methods in addition to formal lectures such as the mentor system which is at the heart of our collaborative learning approach.

International in perspective, The Cass MBA can include trips to many different locations, including Russia, Poland, Argentina, India and China.

An important benefit of the MBA Programmes is the chance to join a worldwide network of managers able to support each other throughout their careers. We maintain regular contact with our MBA graduates and encourage social networking. For most people studying for an MBA is not an end in itself - it is a means to further their career goals.

Acknowledging this, we offer all MBA participants a range of internal and external career services to help you gain immediate and long-term returns to your investment.

MBA Student Profile
Average Age 30
Age range 26-44
Average work experience 8 years
Women: Men 37%: 63%
International 70%

Current Full Time MBA Student Scott Addison

Since starting my MBA at Cass Business School in London not to long ago, a consistent theme has arisen across nearly everything I have done and experienced. The focus is transition: transition from one career to another, from one skill set to a better one, from work to academia, from life in America to Britain.

But then transition is why almost everyone goes to business school. Nevertheless, despite being mentally prepared to pack my bags, move overseas and immerse myself in what I knew would be an arduous programme, there has certainly been more than one shock to my system. After spending ten years in New York City working for a marketing, communications and media-relations agency, jumping right back into an academic setting took some getting used to. This was no more obvious than in my re-introduction to the world of quantitative methods (QM). Any reputable business school the world over will give you a heavy dose of numbers to chew on right from the start, and that has certainly happened here at Cass. It started during our two-week induction and has continued ever since, with no fewer than six hours of coursework between QM and accounting on the first full day of school alone. Some of these topics I haven’t touched in more than a decade, and there are more to come that I’ve never seen before at all.

Pursuing an MBA—let alone a highly-intensive one-year programme such as Cass—is not for the faint of heart. It is a great deal of material to absorb in a condensed period of time, but I thrive in such a pressurised learning environment. In fact, the accelerated MBA model that is standard in Europe was one of the main reasons I decided to pursue my education in London, rather than stay in America. Beyond the obvious benefits, in terms of less time away from the workforce and the opportunity cost, the intensity of the programme—even while matching the quality and quantity of the material being covered by its American counterparts—fosters an individual’s ability to perform faster, better and smarter. The deadlines are firm, timetables accelerated, so time management is of the essence. That’s yet another skill I’m improving as part of the experience.


But the bigger reason I decided to come to London is that, over the last few years, both my personal and professional interests were moving toward more global pursuits. Even though the world was becoming flatter, I had never before lived, worked or studied overseas. What better way to establish a more global career track than to immerse myself in a foreign environment, experiencing new ways of thinking and living? The hustle and bustle of London certainly has a familiar and comfortable feel for me, but this great place is distinctly different from—and in some ways more exciting than—all I’ve known before. But it is a bit startling to know that you are nearly 4,000 miles from home, and even something as simple as a trip to the grocery store is filled with things that are unfamiliar. Flexibility and openness to new things are key, and I now look upon each and every day as a little adventure.


A dependence on team-based working is another component of the programme which required some adaptation. Although I’ve often worked in teams before, both professionally and personally, the MBA is a new level of collaboration. Our team-building process has continued from our very first day of induction through a variety of games, projects and exercises. Our entire class even spent an exhausting weekend together at the Royal Navy base in Portsmouth, learning how to work together better, smarter and faster, enhancing our ability to listen and communicate with each other. Our mettle was really tested when we tackled the Navy’s Disaster Repair Instructional Unit, a giant three-story simulator of a sinking ship. Working together—in teams, of course—we had to plug holes and erect repairs in our ailing “vessel,” even as water was pouring in and the ship was rocking back and forth. Needless to say, all of our teams got the job done, while having a bit of excitement along the way.