Meet Alliance Manchester’s MBA Class Of 2022

AN ENTERTAINING CLASS

Agbola’s momentum has carried over to the AMBS MBA, where she started Manchester Matters. Think of it as a platform where her classmates can share more about their lives and passions with their classmates. As VP of the Banking & Finance Club, Aashi Khemka organized a peer networking session that drew over 150 attendees. Along the way, Ishita Prabhu has made a name for herself in competitions, with her team making quarterfinalist in the Amazon Pathways Case Competition. That may not be her biggest achievement thus far at Alliance Manchester.

“I recently shared few of my paintings with AMBS, which will be displayed in the Business School.”

That’s a pretty good story. The same could be said for Dalton Imwalle, who once funded his European vacation from winnings at a casino. When it comes to stories, Shipra Sharma could probably keep her class’ rapt attention for hours.

“I’m a travel and an adventure junkie as I have traveled to 26 countries and lived in five countries including India, Canada, USA, Serbia and England. I’m multilingual and indulged in crazy adventure sports such as skydiving, scuba diving, bungee jumping and ziplining.”

SURROUNDED BY A TOP UNIVERSITY

The Class of 2022 got off to a rocky start, with classes delayed from August 2020 to January 2021. Overall, the class features 104 students from 31 countries, with 85% born outside the United Kingdom. Another 39% of the class consists of women. The class also accepted 39% of all applicants. This MBA class also comes to Manchester with a 635 average GMAT, with scores ranging from 600-680 in the 85% percentile.

Looking for a hidden advantage to the Alliance Manchester MBA program? Look no further than the parent university itself! The University of Manchester is the largest single site university in the United Kingdom. Home to over 40,000 students — including 6,000 internationals — the university also boasts over 500,000 alumni in 190 countries. No surprisingly, Manchester offers courses on more academic subjects than any other academic institution in the United Kingdom. For good measure, the University of Manchester brings prestige to the table. In the most recent Times Higher Education ranking, the university ranked among the ten-best in Europe for teaching excellence. According to the latest QS World Rankings, Manchester placed among the 40-best in the world for research.

In other words, MBAs can find expertise and networks in nearly every subject, industry, and region imaginable at Manchester.

“STUDENT HEAVEN”

Another advantage is the city of Manchester itself. The university is just a one mile drive from the City Centre, making it easy for MBAs to purse their passions and build their networks. Manchester itself is the third-largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom. In fact, two-thirds of companies listed in the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 maintain operations in the Manchester metro. Despite the scale, Omar Kazem refers to the city as “student heaven.”

“The city is small, yet big enough to offer everything you need,” he observes. “You can easily fit in and make new friends as there is a high intake of students from various parts of the world. Numerous events are held across the year, which you can attend and expand your network through them. Moreover, many businesses and multinational companies are based here, which is helpful during your internship search. Furthermore, it is only a two-hour train ride to London, which is one of the largest business centers in the world.”

Yes, Manchester features nearly everything: an airport with 200 direct flights to destinations like Beijing, Dubai, Singapore, and New York City. The city comes with a dynamic nightlife, which synchronizes well with a low cost of living and a high quality of life says Aashi Khemka. Of course, Manchester is synonymous with soccer, being the home of both Manchester City and Manchester United. The latter, of course, is worth $4.2 billion dollars…or $200 million more than baseball’s Chicago Cubs.

Still, it is Manchester’s contrasts that leave Ishita Prabhu in awe. “Manchester’s history as a world-leader in enterprise, innovation, and creativity is inspiring. What appealed to me most was a signage I came across at a construction site while I was exploring the city streets. It read “Restoring the Past and Building the Future”. This to me reflected the philosophy and core value of the city of Manchester, where I find ancient heritage buildings standing juxtaposed with modern towering buildings. A city which respects and revers the past, celebrates the present and heralds the future. Manchester is a city with character and culture. This instantly cemented my sense of belonging to this city.”

AN INTERVIEW WITH XAVIER DURAN

The University of Manchester and the City of Manchester are two topics that P&Q brought up in an August discussion with Xavier Duran, MBA Programmes Director at Alliance Manchester. From new developments to the vaunted Manchester Method, here is what future MBAs can expect at AMBS.

P&Q: What are the two most exciting developments at Alliance Manchester and how will they enrich the MBA experience for current and future MBAs?

Duran: “At Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS), we’re in a unique position in that our research is closely tied to what is going on in the real world – and has a strong impact as a result.

Our £32million Productivity Institute, launched last year and part-funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, is another exciting development that’s already going a long way in helping policy and business leaders across the UK understand how to improve productivity and improve living standards as the economy begins to recover from the impact of Covid-19.

Innovation is one of our core themes and an area in which we’ve seen some really exciting developments. The University of Manchester is a key player in the ID Manchester development, working with industry to create an outstanding innovation district in the city which will play a large role in helping the UK to build back better.

Both of these developments will provide us – and our students – with the platform to explore new ideas and address the challenges facing the world in the 21st century.”

P&Q: What are two other differentiating features of the Manchester MBA program? How does each of these enrich the learning of your MBA students?

Duran: “On our MBA programmes, we have a holistic approach to our curriculum. Modules are not built around traditional disciplinary boundaries, but instead focus on synthesis to highlight interplay of decision making and tensions between different business and management areas.

The three live consultancy projects give 900 hours of client facing time which is more than any other MBA in the world. These are real projects that truly have an impact for our clients. MBA students also undertake an internship. This, combined with the three projects, means our students don’t just graduate with an MBA, they graduate with a Manchester MBA and four new companies on their CV.”

P&Q: Your school is well-known for the “Manchester Method” – where students complete three consultancy projects to gain deep exposure to various industries and functions. Talk to us about how these projects work. Give us a couple of examples of the companies and projects involving your MBA students and the types of results they products and lessons they learned.

Duran: “Our Full-time MBA students will complete three real client consultancy projects while on the programme. These are key learning conduits in the programme – students will not just learn the theory, they are shown how to use the theory to get results.

These projects are spread across the programme with the scope – and requirements from students – increasing through the sequence.

MBA students complete a not-for-profit focused business project as part of their programme. Students undertake 10 weeks of consultancy work free of charge with a local not-for-profit business in order to offer their key expertise to companies that have very little budget for business expertise. Whilst from this project students learn a more charitable mindset, and understand what it is like to work in a role focused on helping others, the environment and the local community.

The final project is the International Business Project, where students have worked with companies from Mastercard to BP. Clients frequently follow up on recommendations made by our MBA student groups, and sometimes these projects lead on to internship opportunities for our MBAs – or even a full-time job offer.

Manchester MBA students also have the opportunity to take part in our Entrepreneurship programme, Venture Further, which enables AMBS and University of Manchester students from all around the world to participate in this co-curricular activity centered around the concept of enterprise and entrepreneurship, whilst addressing urgent social issues in Manchester.”

Next Page: Profiles of 10 Alliance Manchester MBA Students.