Projects

An important aspect of learning on the London Business School MBA is how real-life contexts are incorporated into the course. This is emphasized with the project work conducted on the MBA. There are three major curriculum-based projects.

Organisational Audit 

Each year our Full-time MBA student groups conduct an Organisational Audit as part of their 'Managing Organisational Behaviour' core course. The organisations that participate in the audit benefit from a free investigation into the organisational behaviours and structures that influence their work performance.

The audit is tailored to the individual needs of companies, but centres around a methodology for collecting and interpreting data.  The student group will work with the organisation and agree upon a brief: an agreement of the scope of the investigation and expectations of what is required. They will visit the company on three or four occasions to interview people, conduct focus groups, or administer simple surveys in order to gather information from the relevant parts of the business. They will share emerging findings with the organisation and at the end of the project will present a full written report.

Download the Organisational Audit PDF

The Second Year Project

The Second Year Project is the culmination of your degree.  Working in pairs on a paid consulting basis, students negotiate the terms and timetable with the client. The project offers students the opportunity to apply in practice the knowledge they have acquired in the classroom, as well as gaining valuable commercial experience.

Project themes are extremely wide ranging, cutting across many business functions and industries.  Past project sponsors have ranged from global corporations to start up operations, from private companies, to charities and NGOs.  The commonality, however, is that all these organisations have a significant, tangible business problem which is feasible to analyse and evaluate.  Ultimately it must also be challenging for the students. 

In 2008 the average Second Year Project daily rate ranged from £100 to £300 for between 25 and 30 days work.

Download the Second Year Project PDF

Download the Second Year Project Brief for Employers (Word)

The Shadowing Project (elective)

The Shadowing Project is designed to provide students with an in-depth look at a key management situation.  Students spend time relating organisational behaviour issues to a real life context of management. The manager's role is that of example with the student silently observing them at work for a period of up to five days. 

The purpose of the Shadowing Project is to give students the opportunity to:

• See a real slice of work and test the student's hypothesis/theories
• Develop a deeper understanding of context, opportunities and constraints
• Understand the challenges faced by contemporary managers and how the student's learning addresses these challenges.

Download the Shadowing Project PDF