Meet Alliance Manchester’s MBA Class Of 2022

P&Q: In recent years, there are several areas that have gained increased prominence in business school programming, including STEM, analytics, artificial intelligence and digital disruption. How does Alliance Manchester integrate these concepts across its curriculum?

Duran: “For the Manchester MBA, our consultancy projects reflect trends in business and management.

Issues like artificial intelligence and digital disruption tend to feature prominently. These are built into all our core interdisciplinary units and increasingly through a very digital and tech focused portfolio of electives. Some of these electives include, Managing Disruptive Technologies, the Digital Economy and AI, Information Systems and Digital Strategy, Platform Ecosystem Strategies, Fintech and Blockchain, and Big Data Analytics.”

P&Q: Manchester is known for its bustling commercial and startup ecosystems? What are some of the biggest advantages for MBAs to study in Manchester?

Duran: “Manchester is a diverse and vibrant city with a thriving economy and an energy and entrepreneurial flare.

With many big start-ups rooted here, it provides a lot of networking opportunities for our MBA students.  The Masood Enterprise Centre is a focal point for entrepreneurship at AMBS, meaning our MBA students have the opportunity to frequently engage in activity which includes participating in entrepreneurship competitions.

Amazon is also becoming more dominant across the city, opening more sites encouraging more job opportunities. Amazon, this year, have also been our biggest client with a record number of our MBA students doing their internships with them.”

P&Q: Alliance Manchester offers the best of two worlds: a small intimate MBA cohort coupled with the largest university in the United Kingdom and one of the largest business schools in Europe. How are some ways that the MBA program draws from these resources to increase opportunities available to MBAs?

Duran: “With our MBA class being more intimate, it gives them the opportunity to grow their network and maintain it beyond graduating. Being part of a smaller cohort within a large university gives them access to a large student community and alumni network.

On the programme there is a large portfolio of electives and an extensive pool of expertise leading to focused project supervision. We also have a cohort of 700 Global MBA students per year, meaning over 1,500 current students on the part-time programme. Our Full-Time MBA students are now able to take electives with them, meaning they have the chance to network and work with more senior global colleagues.”

P&Q: What have you learned during the pandemic and the shift to hybrid or remote learning and how will impact the MBA experience going forward?

Duran: “The shift to a virtual method of teaching happened smoothly, given our experience of providing a blended teaching model on our part-time MBA. But ultimately, the Full-Time MBA is a practice-based programme, so remote opportunities are limited. We are planning for more face-to-face time in the coming academic year and the outlook in the UK with current government guidance is making this look more and more likely.”

THE BEST OF THE ALLIANCE MANCHESTER MBA

Here’s what the Class of 2022 cited as the best parts of their AMBS experience so far..

1) Consultancy Projects: “I had no experience working in the UK before starting my MBA. Manchester’s programme offered three consultancy projects with real clients along with an internship. This was a deal-maker for me as I plan to work in the UK after qualifying, and getting to know the country’s working culture was important.”
Aashi Khemka

“It was the applied learning, such as the live consultancy projects or the M&A simulation project (also AMBS is one of the top business schools in the world). If it was just theory, I would not need to go to business school. Applied learning turns the thought theory into tangible learning outputs. Here, you are working in teams and having to adjust and manage all different elements at the same time. Hence, I was learning to prioritise and manage my time effectively, which were some of the most valuable lessons on the Manchester MBA. My undergrad was also an applied learning program and I remember so much of it. As a result, I was able to draw from the experiences in my professional life.” 
Isabelle Schenk

2) Manchester: “I was amazed by Manchester as a city, how it is a true representation of diversity and how it’s at a central part of the UK that’s close to all cities here. Also, as a football fan, I loved how the city has two of the biggest football clubs in the world. On the business side, Manchester has an industrial heritage and a thriving start-up innovation culture. It has a very high rate of startup businesses per capita in the UK, which makes it a very important potential business hub. For me personally, whether it is the business side or its people, I find this city as an incredible place to study.”
Abdelhameed El-Wakeel

“It’s Manchester – we do things different here! I moved here in 2016 and I love the city. With all its grit and edge, it is a very vibrant place full of energy and people are always pushing for the next endeavor to elevate the city to the next stage. There is a big community of entrepreneurs and many tech startups, but also well-established firms have moved to Manchester in the past years. I think this really cements Manchester’s appeal of the new place to be in the UK and as a global hot spot.”
Isabelle Schenk

3) Global Development Institute: “I want to be more involved in the Ghanaian economy. My goal after graduation is to work for a consulting firm and eventually specialize in projects pertaining to global systems of productivity and development. So, Manchester’s location and its famed Global Development Institute (GDI) made it a great place to earn an MBA for my long-term career goals. The faculty from the MBA and the GDI have been a great help putting me in contact with alumni.”
Eugene Annan

4) Masood Enterprise: “Another major push for me was the opportunity that came with the “Masood Enterprise”, which is a part of the university that focuses on stimulating entrepreneurship. I have great passion for entrepreneurship, so I was excited at the possibility of leveraging the bright minds at Masood to develop my business ideas and possibly even generate new business ideas.”
Oluwafikayomi Agbola

Click on the student links below for in-depth profiles of some of this year’s most promising IIM Ahmedabad MBA students.

MBA Student	Hometown	Undergrad Alma Mater	Last Employer
Oluwafikayomi Agbola	Osun State, Nigeria	University of Ibadan, Oyo State	BayRoyal International
Eugene Annan	Houston, TX	Texas A&M University	General Mills
Abdelhameed El-Wakeel	Alexandria, Egypt	Alexandria University	Henkel
James Hall	Winsford, Cheshire	No College	Goblin Gaming
Dalton Imwalle	Columbus, OH	Xavier University	NetJets Inc
Omar Kazem	Alexandria, Egypt	Alexandria University	Continental
Aashi Khemka	Kolkata, India	University of Calcutta	Goldman Sachs
Ishita Prabhu	Mumbai, India	University of Mumbai	Ernst & Young
Isabelle Schenk	Zurich, Switzerland	Swiss Hotel Management School Lucerne	Manchester International Festival
Shipra Sharma	Vancouver, Canada	Simon Fraser University	TELUS