Australia’s #1 Master of Business Administration from Melbourne Business School is going online, equipping today's and tomorrow's leaders with a premier learning experience wherever they are. 

But, for some, the prospect of online study could raise questions. If you study an MBA online, will you still have access to the enhanced career and salary outcomes that top MBA programs deliver in the real world? 

To answer that question, let’s take a closer look at the Melbourne Business School Online MBA. We’ll explore how you’ll learn, what you’ll learn and the outcomes you can expect from a world-class MBA that fosters business rigour with practical application. 

The MBA landscape in Australia

The traditional view of an MBA is that it is the key to unlocking career progression and promotions after a few years of full-time employment. While motivations vary, many people choose to study an MBA primarily because of job security and career advancement in a competitive market. 

However, the MBA landscape in Australia is evolving. 

Today, more universities are accepting students directly from undergraduate studies into an MBA program without any previous work experience. 

At Melbourne Business School Online, the entry requirements for the MBA include a minimum of two years’ work experience. If you have six years’ work experience, you may qualify for entry without one of the traditional MBA prerequisites — a university undergraduate degree. 

MBA students who have professional work experience often plan to apply their skills in another business sector, upskill in new fields or pursue global business ambitions. MBA students who have professional work experience are also helpful contacts to have in your network. 

Why study an MBA with Melbourne Business School Online? 

Melbourne Business School is the graduate business school of the University of Melbourne with European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD)’s Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) and Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation. In fact, Melbourne Business School was home to Australia’s first MBA, which, as you can imagine, was an on-campus experience. 

However, in addition to being accredited and the number 1 MBA in Australia based on global rankings, there are four more reasons to study an Online MBA with Melbourne Business School Online. Let’s go through them one by one below.  

Quality

To transform the world-class quality of our on-campus MBA into an online format, we’ve applied global best practices in learning design and developed a future-focused learning experience. 

Our learning designers apply expertise in pedagogy and educational technology to build engaging, rigorous online courses that are taught by some of the world's leading academics and industry experts. 

“Course Quality Standards, which are critically informed by several standard, industry-leading, quality measures and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), are the guiding principles for the online learning experience at Melbourne Business School Online,” says Aliki Christou, Head of Learning Design for the Melbourne Business School Online MBA. 

“By meeting these principles, we can ensure we are delivering the quality needed for our high-performing students,” Christou adds.  

Through this high quality learning platform, you will learn from the best and brightest minds in business. Your MBA from Melbourne Business School will also allow you to access cutting-edge research through a future-focused curriculum that is specifically designed to meet the changing demands of the market. 

Connection

One of the greatest benefits of studying an MBA is the opportunity to make quality connections with your peers, academics and industry experts. These are the future business leaders you’re likely to encounter in business environments throughout your career. 

To achieve these connections with other ambitious business minds, the academics, subject matter experts and learning designers at Melbourne Business School Online have built specific features into the Online MBA to facilitate student collaboration. 

“Our aim is to create an authentic, vibrant learning community to ensure students can connect with their peers, faculty and industry in an online and highly interactive manner,” says Christou. 

“We want the online learning experience to be just as powerful in fostering connections and building networks for students as the face-to-face experience.” 

Flexibility

The beauty of part-time online learning with Melbourne Business School Online is that it’s flexible enough to fit around your lifestyle, existing needs and busy schedule. 

You can start your Online MBA at a time that suits you, with six different enrolment intake dates each year.  

Once your studies are underway, you can access the Melbourne Business School Online MBA from wherever you are. You choose your device and your location. 

Practical, future-focused learning outcomes taught by industry experts and world-leading academics

As part of Melbourne Business School, our Online MBA gives you access to academics with global experience and the most skilled professionals in business. With a broad and in-depth curriculum, you’ll develop solid and practical business skills that provide tangible career outcomes. 

The Assistant Dean of our Online MBA program is Professor Jim Frederickson, who is also Professor of Accounting at Melbourne Business School. Before joining Melbourne Business School, Frederickson held academic positions at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Indiana University and University of Utah.  

“The MBA from Melbourne Business School is an experience that, if you let it, can transform your life," he says. "This experience is central in our new Online MBA.” 

What you will learn

The coursework has been designed to enable the leaders of today and tomorrow to meet evolving business problems head on. 

Over a three-year period, you’ll study 16 full and three half-subjects sequentially. That means you can focus on one subject at a time in each study period, while completing six subjects each year. 

Let’s unpack the program structure and key themes you can expect to encounter as you learn alongside a cohort of ambitious business minds. 

Program structure

The 17.5 subjects that make up the MBA are grouped as:  

• Business Foundations 

• Marketing and Operations 

• Management and Strategy 

• Advanced Business 

• Finance, Accounting and Economics. 

The entry requirements for the MBA include a bachelor’s degree or higher, and two years of work experience. If you don’t have a university degree, you may qualify with six years of work experience. 

You’ll also need two confidential professional referees and four personal statements relating to your goals and how you can contribute to the program. 

Key themes throughout the curriculum

Throughout your work experience you’ve probably already noticed several factors that are influencing your business practices, including business fundamentals, sustainability and business analytics. 

These are the key themes that we’ll expand on within the curriculum of the Online MBA. 

Business fundamentals

Business fundamentals have always been the beating heart of an MBA, but our Online MBA takes that theme far beyond indispensable proficiencies such as financial management. 

In addition to the essential competencies of leadership, management and ethics, we also focus on data analytics for decision making. 

The key theme of business fundamentals is also brought into subjects such as marketing, brand management and operations. Bringing these different business areas into the MBA boosts your ability to achieve a competitive advantage from any leadership position. 

Sustainability

While sustainability can refer to many things, it’s an essential component of every real-world business strategy. Sustainability could relate to maintaining a competitive advantage, negotiating digital transformation or minimising environmental impacts from operations. 

In your MBA, you’ll encounter sustainability in subjects such as Business Essentials, Implementing Strategy, Operations, Current Business Issues, and Managerial Ethics and Business Environment. 

Business Analytics

Late last century, every credible business leader was expected to have accounting skills to be able to interpret the Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss reports. 

In this century, it’s also essential to have analytics skills to be able to extract information from data that can be used to make better managerial decisions. 

“The subjects in the MBA will incorporate sustainability and analytics as key themes,” says Dr Damir Mitric, Learning Transformation Director for the Melbourne Business School Online MBA. 

Analytics features in subjects that include Data Analytics for Decision Making, Marketing, Operations, Current Business Issues, and of course, Analytical Decision Making and Optimisation.  

“Understanding the importance of sustainability and analytics and their practice and application in business is imperative for future business leaders,” says Mitric. 

Who is this program designed for?

The Melbourne Business School Online MBA is designed for self-motivated individuals who recognise the impact that a premier MBA in Australia can have on their career goals. 

Entrepreneurs and business owners seeking to build out the gaps in their business skillset might embark on this program to enhance business growth and sustainability. At the same time, this program is designed for professionals who understand the value of entrepreneurship in their current or anticipated business leadership roles. 

You might be looking for a career change, a responsibility elevation or, after a period of work experience, some skills justification. 

The one thing that you’re almost guaranteed to have in common with the extensive network of like-minded peers that you meet in your studies is that you need a high-quality MBA that’s flexible. 

What are career outcomes and opportunities for MBA graduates? 

If you read about executive appointments in the Australian Financial Review, you might have noticed that they tell you whether the appointee has an MBA and where they got it. Whether it’s a start-up, not-for-profit or multinational, an MBA opens doors in the C-suite. 

However, as Jim Frederickson highlights, it’s not just the parchment that brings those career outcomes. It’s the MBA experience of studying that gives graduates a competitive edge. 

“The MBA from Melbourne Business School is so much more than just knowledge. It is listening to a classmate bring their workplace into a class discussion, it is working with people from different industries on real company projects, it is watching presentations by prominent businesspeople, it is late-night discussions with other students, it is networking with alumni, and it is being pushed to not settle for the easy answer,” says Frederickson. 

Let’s take a more micro look at the career and salary outcomes you can look forward to as an MBA graduate. 

MBA career outcomes

According to business consultants MinterEllison, Australian CEOs are more likely to hold a higher degree qualification than the general public. In fact, 27.5 per cent of the CEOs of ASX200 companies are MBA graduates. 

With advanced leadership skills, analytics skills and project management skills, MBA graduates are also popular in human resource departments – as both applicants and executives. 

MBA salary outcomes

Melbourne Business School’s Full-time MBA is ranked number one in Australia for salary increases, with 58 per cent of students reporting increased financial benefits after graduation. 

How much? Well, every salary package is different and often unique to the recipient.  

As a global guide to salary outcomes, McKinsey, Bain and Boston Consulting Group recently increased annual base salaries for MBA graduates in the US because of the shortage of talent in the labour market. According to reports, that base salary was increased from $US175,000 to around $US190,000. 

Why Melbourne Business School Online?

Melbourne Business School Online gives you access to one of the top MBA programs in Australia with a flexible and immersive learning experience designed to adapt to your unique needs and circumstances. 

With six enrolment intakes each year, you could be commencing your MBA in less than eight weeks. 

Melbourne Business School Online – study anywhere, anytime

You can expect a premium online learning experience that is designed for busy professionals. 

You can study when you want, where you want and on whatever device you want. That means you can catch up on coursework on your phone during lunch, on a tablet during commute and on your laptop when you get home. 

Most importantly, you’ll never be learning alone. In addition to your network of like-minded business professionals who are studying with you, you’ll have student support at your fingertips whenever you need it. 

It's the name that opens doors for all 

The Melbourne Business School Online MBA promises accessibility for the ambitious. 

With opportunities to attend online and in-person events and learning available on any device, this MBA is accessible regardless of time zone, work commitments, personal duties or any other factors. 

Learn more about our new Online MBA today.