Hi,
I'm planning to enrol in Luxury MBA program. I have 10 years of Canadian luxury fashion experience with great track record of success in sales and brand management. I've been out of school for years but do hold two 4 years degrees from accredited universities. NO GMAT
I found out that GCU London is offering the program but not sure what level of accreditation does their MBA have.
Please let me know if you have any information. also I'm open for other MBA programs that have focus on International Marketing and management. I prefer the Uk. Thanks for all the help

Before replying, read the replies to something like this question when it was asked previously
www.find-mba.com/board/20578/1#post-20631
http://www.find-mba.com/board/3931

Generally, with your work experience will learn very little at any MBA without international accreditation (such as Glasgow Caledonian University) since those programmes are aimed at pre-experience students. You don't need to learn more about luxury, but instead about finance, brand management, organisational behaviour etc. To work at the MBA level you'll need to get back to at least the level of mathematics you had at school, so work on your GMAT and get into the best programme you can, not a lightweight programme.

Duncan,

Thank you for replying.
I want to be back to school as soon as Jan. I don't think I can do(or pass) the GMAT with the time frame I'm setting.
Also my degrees are in accounting and business administration, and I really want to stay in the Luxury business as it is my passion.
I want to move to London cause I can study and work.
do you think with my experience and education I can do an EMBA in any of the good schools in London that have focus on Luxury market.
Also I applied for McS in Luxury management at Universitta Cattolica in Milano. Do you think that is better than GCU London MBA.
The idea behind an European school is to make some connections for potential employment in Europe after graduation. HELP

This may seem a little counter-intuitive, but if you wish to pursue a career at a senior level in luxury brand marketing, I would advise steering clear of any MBA course that professes to specialise in that subject.

My reason for making this assertion is that the whole point of a good MBA is to provide students with a good, generalist grounding in best practice in business, in order that they can step out of functional or sectoral silos. Tout a qualification in luxury brand marketing and you may well get hired by the marketing department of, say LVMH, but you may never make it out of that part of the business and into a more senior, generalist, management role.

My advice would be to do a good MBA in the UK or Europe, if that's where you want to work, or otherwise in your native Canada.

Thank you all for your advise here.
it sounds to me that I should be focusing on MBA with international exposure and may be more towards International marketing and global management.
Can you recommend any AMBA accredited and internationally recognized that I can take in the London without writing the GMAT. I could spend up to GB20000.
also anybody knows if I can do part time MBA on a student visa and get a work permit.
Thanks again.

Hi Emily,

On your first question, Sacro Cuore is much better than GCU. Hardly anyone has heard of GCU while Sacro Cuore is a really prestigious university.

I guess the cheapest AMBA-backed schools around London will be Kingston and Westminster. But also look for schools over your budget which offer financial aid.

No, on a student visa you have to study full time.

Duncan,
Thank you for all your help. do you know if I can start in January 2012 at kingston or Westminster. assuming I could get some financial aid or manage to increase my tuition budget to 25000GB, can you recommend any other schools in London that doesn'tt require GMAT for their MBA. Also which of these schools have more international, marketing focus.

Thanks again.
E

Hi Emily,

As a rule of thumb, only for the former polytechnics will have an entry date in January. There's a listing here, http://www.find-mba.com/board/21852 and I mention the accredited programes. Every UK business school will teach wit an international perspective. Larger schools have a better focus on marketing. In terms of January starts at those schools, you will need to read their websites: I don't think they have January starts but please check. Norwich is outside London but they have some good programmes http://business.uea.ac.uk/our-full-time-general-mba that start in January.

However, you really need to overcome the GMAT fear (I don't really accept that you don't have time, since many student just prepare for one or two hours a week). You will also need to use numbers in your post-MBA world and most MBAs that don't ask for the GMAT fail accreditation because they skip the numbers.

Have you considered the GRE instead? Hult International Business School London and Leeds University accept that.

Duncan,

Which is a better MBA, Westminster or Kingston?

For the MBA I am not aware of any data, but at the undergraduate level these two business schools are more or less identical: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2011/may/17/university-guide-business-management-studies Westminster students might do slightly better: http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?r=London&s=Business+Studies

Were I you, I would look carefully at the internship possibilities. Westminster builds one in -- but I don't understand why it's only four weeks. Kingston doesn't mention an internship. So for that reason, and its city centre location, I would choose Westminster. I also think you'll find better networking through its alumni, since the city centre location will bring in some high quality part-time students.

In terms of accreditation though, you still think Westminster is better.also are these two universities better than Galsgow Caledonian university. which one of them you think would be better in terms of Luxury management focus.

Thanks Duncan

Hi Emily. Both Westminster and Kingston have AMBA accreditation, and I think have done for 10 or 15 years at least. They are very stable programmes with good regional reputations.

GCU is a very young university; created in a merger less than 20 years ago. It does not have AMBA accreditation and, of course, it has a small and brand new facility in London with no real brand recognition and alumni network to pull on.

As you can see from other discussions on this discussion board, the MBA is not a very effective route into the generally low-paying Luxury goods market. If you want the best chance of an MBA-level role, then you'd need either to be become a specialist in a business function and work your way up into general management, or attend an MBA with much greater value.

PS Westminster and Kingston have modest alumni networks in the UK luxury market, and mostly they are in sales and marketing roles from Westminster and in sales or creative roles from Kingston. Kingston people seem to be into slightly better known brands; Westminster people are more in high-growth firms. GCU has far fewer: it is more or less starting from scratch and, since its main campus is in Scotland rather than England, it has little to pull on.

You may need to choose between either an MBA type career or work in luxury at any cost, since there are so few MBA roles in luxury - and they go to graduates of LBS, INSEAD, ESSEC etc.

If you want to work in UK luxury fashion, then take a masters or short course at London College of Fashion or Central St Martins and focus on finding work experience. An MBA will price you out of most luxury roles.

Thank you for all the advise.
If I was to forget about the luxury business, do you think an MBA from Kingston would help me find a senior level high paying job in Canada, or Europe or the Middle East if I were to relocate from Canada.
also is Kingston MBA only accredited in the UK or do they have the European accreditation.

Westminster and Kingston both have the AMBA accreditation, which is pretty well respected across Europe. Because of the Bologna accords, all European degrees are mutually recognised. But there are very different outcomes because of the different students, student experiences, brands and alumni networks.

Kingston is not well known outside the UK, so I don't think going to Kingston would be a big advantage over a no-name college unless you wanted to be hired in Britain for a British firm wanting to staff a Canadian subsidiary.

For your 25,000 GBP budget there are some European schools with better student outcomes and more international recognition, like Bath, Birmingham, Bologna, Durham, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leipzig, Mannheim (if you apply early), Strathclyde and Warwick. Bath, Birmingham and Durham are very close to Kingston in price, but have all been ranked by the FT -- which Kingston has not been. Some of those schools also have AACSB and EQUIS accreditation, which is great in North America and Europe: Durham, Lancaster, Mannheim and Warwick. Were I you, I would focus on those four schools, which has the most international portability. I'd rank them like this: Lancaster; Warwick; Mannheim, Durham. I think the highly international nature of the Mannheim programme might be very useful for you. Take a look at http://www.mannheim-mba.com/one-program-five-tracks.html

Both Westminster and Kingston have AMBA accreditation, and I think have done for 10 or 15 years at least. They are very stable programmes with good regional reputations.

I think it depends on your goals, but in London it's a totally average university with a better than average business school. I would totally put it on a par with Kingston. Westminster provides a huge amount of training for the government, especially in statistics and languages.

Hi Emilly - in context to my discussion with Duncan where he asked me to read through few reviews and that how I ended up here. This discussion was held back in 2011 and I am seeking similar insights now in 2015.

I am curious to know what school did you finally pick and if you ended up doing Luxury Management. Pls share your experience.

Thanks - Medhavi

For the UK, LBS is probably your best bet for luxury. I don't think there are many (any?) other accredited UK schools offering concentrations in luxury. Plus LBS is LBS, one of the top schools in the world.