My experience with the LSE MBA Essentials Online Certificate course

For decades, the manager's image has been of a male in their middle ages with silver hair and a strict figure. Still, the image of the manager in the real world is different and much more diverse. Usually, an entrepreneur may come from various environments. With the rise of tech startups with technical founders, there has been a growing interest in online learning related to management.

I am an Information Engineer at heart. Therefore, my formal education focused on technical and product knowledge, which was highly successful in my career. Still, the lack of formal business education needed to be addressed.

My initial plan was to pursue an offline course to complete my business education and see whether an MBA is a valid choice. Given the current pandemic, the choice for an online course was obvious, and I looked for a course that will help me decide whether or not to pursue an MBA (spoiler: I might not go for an MBA soon!)

After reviewing many courses and being targeted with a high amount of ads (Thanks, Facebook!), I decided to enroll in the MBA Essentials course from The London School of Economics and Political Science. I am writing this review because it has been almost impossible to find online reviews of this course written by graduates. I think this should be an excellent material for all people looking to enroll.

I started this course in May and finished in August 2020, and I can say that my knowledge improved considerably, notably thanks to most of the modules. The course covers such a wide range of topics, and the materials are packed with information, so it’s quite challenging to finish everything on time every week. The minimum of dedicated hours to gain some knowledge from this course is about 8 per week. Otherwise, it is a waste of time. Make sure that you can spare those hours to focus on the information in each module.

Some quick facts:

1. Course duration: 10 weeks

2. Cost/Investment: 3500 pounds (it can be paid in 3 installments)

3. Learning Format: Online, through GetSmarter

4. Commitment: 8–12 hours per week

5. Admission criteria: n/a

The modules in the course are:

• Module 1: Leading with influence

• Module 2: Economics for managers

• Module 3: Competitive strategy

• Module 4: Corporate strategy

• Module 5: Financial accounting

• Module 6: Management accounting

• Module 7: Analysing financial statements

• Module 8: In the mind of the manager

• Module 9: “Nudging” behavior

• Module 10: Organisational culture as a leadership tool

All the students are split into groups of about 20 people, where you interact on different topics. You can also get in touch with any of your peers.

The course is very much self-paced, with a forum where you can discuss it with your colleagues and the instructor. The deadlines are weekly, so you have to go through all the units in a module and to submit three types of assignments: a weekly quiz, a weekly document submission with more expanded exercises, and you have to take part in the small group talks.

Looking back, I believe that this course is useful for most graduates without a formal education background in business and economics. As an engineer, I enjoyed broadening my horizons and learning more about strategy and organizational culture.

I would improve upon having a more case study-oriented approach so students can learn more in-depth about other business examples. Nonetheless, as I said, the material's diversity is so high that there is not enough time in a week, especially if you have a job, to go through everything thoroughly.

I recommend this course to:

• young managers or aspiring managers

• entrepreneurs

• consultants

• graduates from >15 years ago who need a refresh and update on their business knowledge

You should not do this course if:

• You already have a practical and formal understanding of management from your company/employer

• You do not want to move into an exec role (Hey, we don’t all need to be managers!)

Key takeaways:

1. A strong organizational culture can be an asset if you look at the team's lessons and liability if you want to innovate using the same team.

2. Leading by example, is one of the most effective tools in a leader’s toolbox.

3. Horizontal expansion must be taken with a grain of salt. You might encounter numerous issues and therefore perform extensive analysis on the decision.

4. The vertical expansion helps when you need to innovate fast and need control of the whole logistics flow, but it’s a waste of time if you are in a slow-moving industry where this type of move might end up only costing you more money.

5. All your decisions must be communicated timely and transparent, and the team is not there to execute and be a mercenary. If this is the case, you need to do some housekeeping.

6. Decision architecture is a key factor in eCommerce, and there should be more focus there to give the right context for the user to make the best choice and end up having less after-sales support.

I believe that the knowledge gathered in these ten weeks is especially applicable in Product Management. I am now going through these materials again to recap. The learning experience was quite intense and will keep them close to apply the know-how in the projects that I am building.

I hope that my review helped you to choose whether this course is helpful for your career.

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