Master of Business Administration

  Institution: Private: Open University

The objectives of the Master of Business Administration are to:

• Enhance your managerial competences and add value on current managerial knowledge
• Sharpen your analytical and conceptual skills, and
• Improve your employability and managerial career development.

In a hypercompetitive business environment coupled with rapid changes in the socio economic and political scenario and fast technological developments, business organisations’ survival kit is to ensure that it has creative and innovative people who are dedicated and committed towards excellence.

‘Le Prix d’Excellence’ implies that you need a pool of talented personnel with the cutting edge knowledge and competences to cope with the pressing demands of manegerial work.

The OUM MBA provides you the opportunity to enhance your managerial skills and competences without sacrificing your professional and career development.

The MBA programme is designed to enhance managerial skills and capability in managing organisations efficiently and effectively.

Entry Requirements

Normal Entry

• Honours degree in any field; OR
• Bachelor degree in any field with at least 2 years working experience.

Flexible Entry

• Malaysian Citizen AND
• Be at least 35 years old on 1st of January (application year) AND
• Possess STPM/HSC (minimum 1 principal) OR
• Recognised Diploma or equivalent AND
• Possess prior learning experience AND / OR knowledge relevant to the programme applied. AND
• Passed Flexible Entry Assessment;

Programme Structure

Core Courses

• Managerial Economics
  The course discusses economic concepts and decision science methodology which are necessary to help make effective decisions in business and administration organisations. The course focuses on the application of microeconomic analyses to business and administrative problems. Topics include demand analysis, production and costs, price-output determination under various market structures and pricing techniques.
• Organization & Business Management
  This course is an introduction to key concepts in management and organization theory. Its goal is to enable learners to understand the manager’s role, constraints, leverages and opportunities within complex organisations. It stresses the use of behavioural science based on research and the formulation of systematic diagnoses, which in turn will lead to specific courses of action.

  The purpose of the course is to introduce the learner to the different aspects of organisational business management as a clear understanding of management approaches is critical to effectively manage an organisation. This course takes the perspective of a manager who needs to plan, organise, lead and control.

• Accounting for Business Decision Making
  The course is designed for business learners without previous in-depth exposure to managerial accounting. Internal or managerial accounting system provides a unique information environment to assist managers in handling the tasks of planning, control and decision-making.

  Today’s Management Accountants focus on the advisory and consulting services related to strategic planning, organisational control and broad business decisions. Their roles are not only tailored to costing, product pricing, asset and liability management, and investment analysis and performance evaluation, but also extended to financial and business reengineering.

  The type and nature of information supplied by the internal system of Accounting is rather flexible and customized to the needs of managers. It is also a dynamic function that evolves consistently as organisational changes occur. Parallel to the current trend in business, issues of global significance are heavily discussed and explored in this course.

• Marketing Management
  The course will cover the major aspects of marketing decision-making: role of marketing in business organisations; analysis of marketing opportunities; development of marketing strategies; and implementation and control of marketing efforts. The course is interactive in nature, involving discussions, case analysis and assignments.
• Managerial Finance
  The course will focus on theories, concepts, and principles as opposed to institutional materials, although some institutional background is also presented.

  Since this course is required for all MBA learners, and not just finance majors, a great deal of materials will be covered, but in-depth treatments will be left to follow-on courses.

• Business Law
  This course covers the major laws affecting business enterprises in Malaysia. Topics include the laws relating to agency, partnership, sale of goods and hire purchase.
• Research Method
  This course focuses on the research elements, components, and processes in scientific research, its purpose and importance. Various types of research, characteristics of scientific research, methods of reasoning, and hypothetic-deductive method are discussed. Formulating research problems, research objectives, theoretical framework, hypothesis, research design, data collection methods, scale and measurements, reliability and validity, data analysis methods, report writing and presentation are discussed.
• Information Technology for Managers
  This course will discuss organisation and management, elements and infrastructure of Information Technology, Information System, types of computer based Information System and Organisational Information System used in organisational management. The concepts of knowledge management for building an effective Information System for digital firm will be also highlighted.
• Strategic Management
  This course focuses on formulating and implanting short and long-term strategies. As in most private and public organisations, policies and strategies are formulated and implanted in a multi-faceted global environment of social, political, economics, and legal entities. The main purpose of this course is to develop a conceptual framework of general management’s perspective? on strategic thinking and direction in formulating policies and strategies. Learners will be introduced to the latest managerial tools and techniques that should be utilized in assisting the decision-making process. Focus would also be made to evaluate the impact of situations and implications to the total enterprise.
• Human Resource Management

Option 1 (With Major)

• MARKETING
  • Consumer Behaviour:
    The consumer behaviour module provides a comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of an individual consumer, internal factors such as attitude, motivation, personality, perception and external factors such as family, reference groups, social and culture. This module also aims to discuss how individual characteristics and external factors can influence the attitude and change in attitude of a particular individual, process of identifying problems, decision making process and also consumer purchasing decisions. Issues of current and future consumer behaviour will also be discussed.
  • Marketing Research:
    The course focuses on marketing research processes. Various types of research designs, data collection methods and statistical analysis. Research designs such as exploratory research, experiments and test marketing will also be discussed. Various forms of data: secondary, standardised research services and primary data will be elucidated. The course emphasizes on wide range statistical tools that are available to a marketer. The course ends with deliberation on report writing and presentation.
  • Service Marketing:
    This course underlines the meaning and concept of basic service marketing in comparison with marketing tangible goods. It covers the unique characteristics of services such as intangibility, inseparability, variability and perish ability. It also includes considerations of consumer behaviour and ethics concerned with the preparation process of services. Topics relevant to service management include issues of processes, physical design of firm, and human (termination of work training, empowerment and managing consumers). The additional 3Ps to the original 4Ps, issues such as organisation culture, and introductory to service audit will also be discussed.
  • Marketing Strategy:
    The course discusses three major components of marketing strategy:
    • Marketing strategy development which emcompasses major topic like situational analysis and market segmentation.
    • Designing market driven strategiesand programmes which focus what important topic like market tarteging, stategic positioning and devoloping marketing mix strategies, and
    • Implementation and control of market driven strategieswhich look into aspects of marketing plans, implementation of the plan and performence assessment.
• FINANCE (Any 4)
  • Corporate Finance:
    This subject emphasises on theoretical and practical aspects of corporate finance in the formation of corporate financial policies. This subject is also an extension to Financial Management. Special topics including capital structure policy and optimum dividend, agency theory, models of capital asset pricing, the extension of capital budgeting, corporate financing, interactions of financial decisions and investments will also be elaborated.
  • Investment Analysis:
    This course discusses investment concepts, security evaluation and analysis, portfolio analysis, and various forms of derivatives. Important topics covered : Risk and return relationships, financial market behaviour and practices, bond and equity valuation, technical and fundamental analysis, multiple asset portfolio of risk and return trade-off, and various forms of derivatives useful for hedging practices.
  • Bank Management
    The course focuses on the basic theories and their applications to decision-making framework of banks. It also analyses the unique risks faced by the banking institutions and how these risks are to be dealt with. The topics discussed include banking industry and regulations, evaluation of bank performance, managing interest rate risk, managing the cost of funds, bank capital and liquidity and managing bank portfolios.
  • Islamic Financial Management
    The course discusses investment and financing principles in Islamic business organisations. Major topics elaborated are: general limitations imposed upon Muslims, riba-free transactions and zakat; investment and financing tools such as shirka, mudharabah, capital budgeting, etc.; and Islamic Financial System.
  • Basic Concepts in Islamic Finance
    The course provides the foundations to enable students to critically evaluate from the Islamic Perspective the rapidly evolving tools of Islamic Finance and Banking. It discusses the fundamentals of Islamic Economic System, examines trade from the Islamic Perspective to enable students to critically evaluate the contentious tools of Islamic Financing; and provides an in-depth study of Riba as a basis of examining instruments to ensure their compliance with the concept of riba-free elements.
  • Islamic Financial System
    The course begins with the discussions on the basic role and elements of a financial system. It then examines the shortcomings of the conventional system from the islamic perspectives. The course then examines the ideal islamic model, the two-tier mudharabah and the direct financing model. It also discusses the various transitory models. The course concludes with a discussion on markets, institutions and instruments needed for a full-functioning of an islamic financial system.
• HUMAN RESOURCE
  • Human Resource Planning, Recruitment & Selection
  • Industrial Relations:
    This course discusses issues pertaining to work and industrial law. Topics include employment contract, employer and employee obligations, terms and regulations of work as well as management prerogatives. Principles of wrongful behaviour and domestic investigations are emphasized. Also highlighted are matters with regards to industrial relations, workers’ union, collective bargaining and collective agreements. In this module, learners will also be exposed to different types of industrial disputes and resolutions, Employees Provident Funds, Social Security Employee and functions of Industrial and Labor Court to settle discrepancies between employer and employee.
  • Human Resource Development
    Developing effective training programmes is a significant concern for today’s managers. This course is designed to enable learners to understand the theories and conceptual underpinnings of training and development. This module emphasises on structural considerations and processes vital for managers in planning training and development programmes at the micro level. Emphasis is also given to main methods used to train, develop and evaluate employees in an organisation.
  • Compensation Management
    This course is designed to equip learners with the knowledge on one of the functions of Human Resource Management, i.e., compensation administration. The course will focus on the compensation structure development and the importance of equity in compensation distribution (emoluments, incentives and related benefits). The course also discusses various considerations that need to be undertaken in compensation administration. Learners will also be exposed to various techniques of job evaluation, and various forms of short term and long term incentives and benefits.
• ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  • New Venture Development
    The course encompasses virtually every business discipline, as each unit requires learners to address issues in all areas involved in setting up and managing a business enterprise.
  • Entrepreneurship:
    The emphasis of this course is on the aspect of nurturing entrepreneurship culture among learners so they can appreciate the value of entrepreneurship in their daily lives. Learners will be introduced to the fundamental of entrepreneurship: its historical perspective, concept and theory, and the individual entrepreneurial development. Learners will also be exposed to creative and innovative development that will enhance their abilities in identifying business opportunities. Emphasis will also be made on methods of starting a business.
  • Small Business Management
    The course will focus on the effective management of small business venture. Among the topics to be covered are entrepreneurial strategy, business opportunities for small businesses, small business management, marketing and financing.
  • Enterprise Development
    The course is designed to provide a broad overview of the major concepts and processes. The course will focus on: self assessment; entrepreneurial career choices; entrepreneurial decision making; techniques used for evaluating and testing the feasibility of business opportunities; and ethical management of self and start-up.

Option 2 (General)

• Any 4 Elective courses from any specialisations of MBA

Option 3 (Elective Courses/ Master’s Project)

• Any 2 of the following Elective Courses in the chosen specialisation
• Master’ Project in the chosen field of speciailisation, with the exception of MBA (General)

Source: Open University Malaysia (OUM)