LSE MBA Essentials Student Testimonials

In today’s dynamic and competitive business environment, it’s vital to update your management skills if you’re set on building your career.

The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) offers you the chance to do this, on the MBA Essentials online certificate course. During this 10-week course, you’ll increase your strategic, managerial, and leadership skills by focusing on three important principles: Business strategy, key financial knowledge, and human behavioural insights. Watch the testimonial video to hear what past participants thought of the course.

How the LSE MBA Essentials course helped leaders drive their business to stay ahead

The course helped these participants improve their performance and learn to lead with influence. Here are their testimonials:

Akos Jakobsen

Director, Global Compensation and Benefits, Tetra Pak

“The MBA Essentials course provided exactly what I was looking for. It gave me confidence and a refresher in corporate strategy and finance topics, and very sound and solid theoretical knowledge on leadership. The opportunity to engage with other classmates in the forum discussions provides a perfect platform to exchange ideas and challenge each other’s thinking process. The online tool experience is amazing. I had no issues and it’s super user-friendly. The overall course experience is something I can highly recommend to any fellow business leader who doesn’t have the resources (time or financial) to invest in a full MBA programme.”

Marouan Lousef

Manager, Financial Services, Customer, and Operations Consulting, PwC Greece

“This was a great learning experience. The material was of excellent quality and adapted to professionals who need to gain high-level knowledge in various subjects of business and management. The quizzes and written assignments were smartly designed. The discussion forums with like-minded individuals and tutors were very interesting. I think I have learned a lot through this journey and gained confidence in various subjects. The online learning design and support were great. Overall, it was an excellent experience that I would recommend without any reservation to persons who wish to boost their knowledge and careers.”

How the LSE MBA Essentials course helped professionals improve their current role and future potential

David Lomax

“Overall, I considered the course good value for money as one can see the amount of resources and effort that has been put into designing the material and format. I think the course will add value to my career prospects as I hadn’t previously had much formal exposure to the financial aspects of business management. Anybody who has experience of running budgets, but hasn’t had any significant formal financial business training, will find the course useful. It explains many of the reasons as to why we do a whole host of budget tasks, but perhaps have never been told why we do them.”

Liliana Anghel

Consultant, ICON-INSTITUT Public Sector GmbH

“The course is of superior quality both through the delivery of modules and interactive activity. By way of exposure, quality, and quantity of information, the course can be accessed by people with or without management experience. Responses are supervised and verified by professionals who provide you with useful feedback. The course is good value for money. I’ve explored new ideas and issues with people from different countries on different topics, supervised by professionals […] and have updated [my knowledge] with new trends in the financial and management field. This course will increase my career opportunities, especially in the private business area. I recommend this course for those who want professional development, but also for networking.”

Guy Mark Richard Hartley

“For me, the notes and content were ultra clear and well structured. I thought this quality was maintained consistently throughout the 10 modules, with great support from the GetSmarter team in the background. The GetSmarter online learning platform also performed well in that I never had any connectivity problems or ‘slows’, based here in London. There was a fair spread of topics, well balanced between the hard and fast ‘nuts and bolts’ of figure work, and the more diffuse aspects of customer behavioural psychology, and working with corporate culture. I also found plenty of takeouts in that an article or video we were referred to was in a clump of other related articles and videos that were also worth looking at. Importantly, it gave [me] the opportunity to apply theory to practical examples in case-study format, as well as relate previous work experiences to principles that were new to me. A well-constructed and worthwhile course from LSE.”

How the LSE MBA Essentials course provided practical takeaways

Rafael Christoph Herok

Vice President, Mobility Key Accounts & Special Project, Siemens UAE

“[This is an] excellent course, which includes many practical examples that are relevant and useful in daily work. It helped me gain additional insights into peoples’ behaviours, influencing tactics, market views, and strategic directions. I’ve definitely enhanced my knowledge and feel very motivated to focus on my next career step. I highly recommend this course, especially for busy professionals!”

Santiago Escribano

Financial Lead, Vodafone Spain

“The course has been a fantastic experience from both a professional and personal perspective. I’ve developed a series of skills that today are essential for the management of any team, which I’m sure will allow me to move to a bigger role within my company. I also highlight the fact that upon finishing the course, you receive a certificate from the London School of Economics, which is something that many people would like to see in their curriculum. I encourage anyone with a desire to continue developing their professional career to take this course. It’s been an incredible experience of very high quality, where I had the opportunity not only to learn, but also to meet people from all over the world.”

Courtney Bain

Senior CRM Manager, HSBC Australia

“This course has reinvigorated and motivated me considerably over the past three months. I’ve learned so many interesting concepts covering economics, finance, and management that I would have never been exposed to in my marketing career. The continual assessments ensured I stayed on top of my learning every week, and couldn’t put it off and cram for one essay at the end. I believe I’ve absorbed a lot more of the content this way. Despite being in Australia, the time difference had no impact. I could respond to my peers in forums at any time during the week. I would highly recommend the LSE MBA Essentials course to anyone who is looking to challenge themselves and take their career to the next level.”

Who you’ll learn from

Now that you’ve heard from past participants, meet the convenors you’ll learn from throughout the course. The Course Convenor and Co-Designers are expert LSE faculty who have designed this online certificate course to provide you with an enriching, supportive learning experience. You’ll benefit from their vast experience and knowledge in the fields of business management and leadership.

Course Convenor

DR CONNSON LOCKE

Professorial Lecturer in Management, LSE

Connson joined LSE in 2008 from the Boston Consulting Group and her areas of expertise are leadership, negotiation, decision-making, and organisational behaviour. She is part of the academic leadership team for the Executive Global Master’s in Management, LSE’s cutting-edge alternative to an MBA, and also teaches the School’s most successful executive course on campus: Achieving Leadership Excellence. Connson holds a PhD and MSc in organisational behaviour from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BA in sociology from Harvard University. Her research interests include gender and leadership, diversity, and organisational culture.

Course Co-Designers

DR JORDI BLANES I VIDAL

Associate Professor of Managerial Economics and Strategy, LSE

Jordi has been associated with the LSE for over 17 years, having completed his Master’s and PhD, both in Economics, at the School. In addition to being the associate professor of Managerial Economics and Strategy, he also teaches on the Executive Global Master’s in Management programme. He is an expert in organisational economics, leadership, human resource management, and the political economy. Before joining the LSE academic team, Jordi was a Prize Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford University, and a visiting scholar at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

DR BARBARA FASOLO

Associate Professor of Behavioural Science, LSE

Barbara is an associate professor of Behavioural Science at LSE and the programme director for LSE’s Executive Master’s in Behavioural Science. She received her Bachelor of Social Science degree in Italy with distinction and followed this up with a Master of Science degree, again with distinction, at LSE. An expert in choice processes and choice architecture, she has multiple publications in both peer-reviewed academic journals and media outlets, such as the Harvard Business Review. Barbara is the head of the LSE Behavioural Research Lab and is a member of various behavioural science and decision-making associations.

KHAMID IRGASHEV

Chartered Accountant; Lecturer, LSE

Khamid is an ACA and ACCA chartered qualified accountant with considerable experience in various industries, including financial services (banking and insurance), retail, manufacturing, and publishing. Khamid also has a plethora of experience in coaching and leadership, has a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education, and is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy. In addition to his role at LSE, he is an assistant professor at Hult International Business School and a visiting lecturer at West London College. Over the past six years, he has had a leading role in teaching, coaching, and people management at LSE, Edinburgh Business School, University of London, and Hult International Business School.

While working your way towards an LSE certificate of competence, you’ll:

• Discover principles and techniques to effectively influence colleagues at all levels of your organisation
• Understand key economic principles and market forces that drive any business as you learn about the interaction between supply and demand
• Identify competitive advantage and how this is created as you discover the connection between the industry value chain and value creation
• Explore how to use financial tools such as budgeting, cost-volume-profit analysis, costing methods, and investment appraisal techniques to make better business decisions
• Learn to analyse financial statements and annual reports, using ratio analyses and financial insights to gauge the financial performance of a business
• Explore the advantages and disadvantages of vertical integration and horizontal expansion in business
• Improve your financial expertise as you explore the principles of financial accounting, identifying how various stakeholders use financial information
• Gain awareness of common decision traps that leaders fall into and how to become a better decision-maker
• Learn how to influence your peers and decisions made by consumers with nudging techniques as you explore the concept of choice architecture
• Investigate the dynamics of organisational change and culture, and the relationship between culture and leadership
  
  As a world-leading social science university, LSE has 125 years of experience providing working professionals with the skills and confidence to enhance their personal impact.¹ Over this time, 16 Nobel Prize winners and 34 world leaders have taught or studied at LSE. This is your opportunity to learn from eminent thought leaders on an LSE course as you grow your global business network.

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Are you ready to elevate your career? 

Register now to gain key leadership and strategic skills.