Developed as a collaborative programme by the Commonwealth of Learning, Vancouver, and a consortium of four participating universities in Asia, this programme is designed to help professionals working as managers and supervisors in Malaysian organisations, to get an in-depth grasp of management principles and develop skills and capabilities required to function as effective executives in the highly competitive global business environment. The presentation of course content in the ODL ensures that the learners do not have to dislocate from their workplace. The contemporary and highly relevant programme content is supported by online and face to face tutor support, video conference based interaction and residential summer schools.

Programme Features

• Programme offered as an ODL programme with attendant access and flexibility elements suited to the requirements of working adults in Malaysia.
• Content developed collaboratively through participation of COL and leading open universities in Asia.
• Global content adapted suitably to local business environment.
• Learning supported by highly interactive and well designed learning support system, including face to face tutorials, online and telephonic tutoring, video conferencing support, threaded discussions and possible interaction with industry leaders.
• Programme delivery by qualified university faculty members.
• High level of Application Orientation through use of case studies and project work component.

Job prospects

Management graduates of the programme can position themselves for middle and senior level executive positions in national and international organisations, aspire for upward mobility in their own organisations or take up challenging assignments in senior positions in industry or the services sector.

Course Support Activities

Looking at the specific features of the executive MBA  programme, and the expected student profile, the programme delivery incorporates several features of  online students support in addition to the face to face support. The following are the  components of the  programme delivery :

•  Face to face Tutor support: Tutors will engage 5 tutorial sessions per course, to provide Face to face tutorials to the learners, along with e-mail based support in response to student queries. Not more than 25 students are proposed to be assigned to each tutor for a given course. The online  tutorial support will be provided on the basis of a pre announced schedule and students are expected to participate actively in the sessions. A total of 5 tutorial sessions per semester are planned for each course. Tutors will lead discussions at tutorials and provide clarifications on issues related to the course , mark your assignments, provide feedback and advise you as well as monitor your progress. Tutors will also conduct case study discussions as part of the tutorials.

  The online chat session can be conducted either with or without audio and video presentation. Discussions and messages on class projects and case studies can be posted for the entire class or for a specific group of students. There is also the chat log feature containing details of the chat sessions which the learners can view anytime. Tutors and the course coordinators will also conduct online  threaded  discussions on topical themes for each course.

• Video conferencing support : Some interactive  videoconferencing sessions , at least one per course are proposed for each semester, through which learners can interact in real time, with eminent academics and experts from industry. Learners can participate in the sessions from designated regional offices of the university. The sessions are proposed to be conducted from the headquarters. The sessions are also proposed to be recorded and may be accessed later by students who are unable to attend the sessions. The video conferencing facility may also be utilized for conducting Viva Voce for student research  projects under the programme.
• Discussion room for Learner interaction as part of the Wawasanlearn features: This is an interactive environment in which the students can have discussions and post questions among themselves, organize case discussions, experience sharing and other peer interaction. Students are encouraged to form learning communities to enhance their learning through sharing other’s experiences as well as learning about diverse applications of management concepts in different organizations
• Residential school: A residential workshop, spread over a weekend, will be organized once in each semester, in the 18th week of the programme, to provide intensive interaction with acknowledged course experts. Approximately six hours of interaction for each course is proposed, and each workshop is expected to cater for 3/4 courses  at a time. Learners are expected to register on a payment basis for the workshop.  
• Digital Library Access: Registered learners, upon authentication, will have access to electronic library catalogues, databases, e-books, e-journals and other virtual reference resources.

Handy Guide to Management Gurus : Through a collaboration between BBC and COL, Charles Handy, the noted management professor from the London Business School and now an independent writer, was commissioned to prepare "The Handy Guide to The Gurus of Management" as a kind of “essential introduction” to a programme of this type. The Guide is a radio series, a total of 12 programmes lasting 15 minutes each, first broadcast in the BBC World Learning strand of educational programmes, during the last three months of 2001.  The students can now hear this series - which looks at the work of twelve management gurus including Peter Drucker, Tom Peters, Sumantra Ghoshal, Kenichi Ohmae and Bill Gates – online on the BBC World Service Learning English website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/work).

Entry Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree with honours or its equivalent in any field of study.
• Bachelors degree with two years postgraduate working experience at a supervisory level.
• Candidates above 35 years with minimum qualification of STPM/equivalent can apply through the system of Open Entry. The candidates should have two years working experience at a supervisory level and pass the diagnostic test which is known as CEMAT.