Getting employer sponsorship
for your MBA
The Open University Business School MBA is an investment in your future that will benefit
you and your employer.
Prepare a business case to show your employer how they can invest in you to benefit their
business. This guide outlines what you need to create an employer sponsorship business
case in seven sections; Why invest in me?
 Why invest now?
 Why choose the MBA?
 Why choose The Open University?
 What impact and benefits can your employer expect?
 What support do I need?
 How can employer support be given?
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Why invest in me?
 Justify your worth for the investment. Demonstrate this with an up to date
resume/Curriculum Vitae or your internal performance monitoring report.
 Obtain managerial support. Value is added if your proposal for an MBA
sponsorship comes via appraisal, your line manager/director or a company
mentor
 Map topics and/or modules to your current job role and likely progression
route. Link this to objectives in your internal performance monitoring report or
personal development plan.
 Outline how you can share your new skills through knowledge transfer to peers
and colleagues in your organisation and how they will benefit from application
in their job role
 Draw on feedback and praise that demonstrates your commitment to your job
and loyalty to the company.
FACT:
The Open University MBA is designed to flexibly
integrate with the demands of your day job and
lifestyle.
78%
of MBA alumni said that their
performance in their current role had
improved whilst taking the qualification
(Source: DJS Research, 2012)
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Why invest now?
 The Open University MBA is a balance of quality teaching, convenient delivery and
practical application in a unique study method of practice-based, action learning.
What you learn today, you can implement tomorrow – creating an immediate impact
in the workplace.
 Develop a range of short term and long term benefits linked to current business
objectives and activity.
 Outline the advantages to be gained from your involvement in the programme and
your association with other participants. Explain that The Open University MBA takes
into account the business issues that you are handling in your workplace, so it could
be of great benefit to your organisation when you work with other/external MBA
colleagues to try to solve them.
 Describe how new knowledge could help improve business performance in current
challenging/prosperous business environment to give an edge against competitors.
FACT:
The Open University Business School has an International
Advisory Board comprising members from a range of public
and private enterprises worldwide, enabling the School to
be in touch with the latest international practice and
providers’ valuable input from outside the university.
“The decision to study for an MBA was definitely the right choice; I have
developed my knowledge beyond marketing which took my career to the
next level and I have gained experience in an international global M & A
process, being involved in corporate strategy at first hand.”[Irene Adler].
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Why choose the MBA?
 Outline your selected programme of study including core modules and choice of
electives highlighting elements that may appeal to your sponsor.
 Explain how the MBA is relevant in the current economic climate to you, your
department and your company and how it will benefit your company’s
performance in the broader business sector.
 Illustrate how the MBA would meet the current and future needs of your
Unit/Company e.g. business integrations, expansions, competition, change
management etc.
 Outline the new skills and knowledge that you would gain from this qualification
and how your company will benefit from these.
 Outline the study pattern that you plan to adopt. Specify how long it will take
and the key milestones along the way.
FACT:
The Open University Business School is home to more
than 23,000 successful MBAs from all corners of the
globe.
”The MBA from the OU appeared to be the
best of all programmes I saw, in terms of
accreditation, the structure of good teaching
materials and integration of professional
practice”.
Ansgar Cordier.
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Why choose The Open University?
 The Open University MBA is ranked 7th in the World for distance learning elements
and 9th in the world overall by Economist Intelligence Unit. The Open University
Business School is also ranked 4th by Business Superbrands in the executive
education and training category (ahead of business schools like Oxford, Manchester
and Warwick)
 Pioneers of distance learning, The Open University Business School is the only triple
accredited business school that specializes in distance learning study mode. This
means that, built over 40 years, no other business school has as much experience
and research in developing a methodology to design their courses and delivery
mechanism, backed by superior technology and expertise, to give the students the
best learning outcomes.
 The Open University is the top UK University in 2012 for student satisfaction which
reinforces the OU’s legacy and the study experience.
 The Open University is highly regarded by the entire business sector- 80% of FTSE
100 Companies at any given time have sponsored their employees on The Open
University programmes.
 There may be a preferred provider or a requirement to meet professional bodies like
CIPD, CIMA, ACCA, etc. standards which you will need to address in your business
case.
FACT:
The Open University Business School is triple accredited
which makes it part of an elite group of top 1% business
schools worldwide.
“Think of the bigger picture and how we can make a
difference into real life, how we can use models, how we
can put theory into practice, and it helped me to make
other people's lives better”. [Rakesh Kumar]
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What impact and benefits can your
employer expect?
 Outline how the company would benefit from your study and the scope of the
returns on their investment.
 The business-academic blend of the programme is developed and taught by a
dynamic mix of business experts and academic thinkers, bringing new thinking
into the workplace.
 The Open University MBA student profile has an average work experience of
more than 14 years across different sectors from the business world who are
mostly middle/senior managers, CEOs and Directors. This provides international
networking and the benefits of sharing best practice.
 The Open University MBA is designed to put learning into action from the first
day of the module. It goes beyond the conventional MBA with its ‘action
learning’ approach which asks students to test management theories
continuously in their work and critically engage with it to devise the best
business solutions for your organisation.
 The Open University MBA programme includes 3 residential school events which
allow students from all over the world to congregate and engage in group
business problem solving with real business problems faced by students’
companies to find business solutions.
FACT:
The Open University is top of the UK universities for
student satisfaction (National Student Survey, 2012).
“Prior to this I'd always had a lack of confidence dealing with finance
and with figures, and doing the financial strategy module really
changed that and transformed me so that I felt confident to be in a
more strategic role.” [Caroline Stevens]
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What support do I need?
 The support you request from your employer will depend on your circumstances and
the company environment. Find out if your company has sponsored anyone before
and is enthusiastic about sponsoring their employees.
 You will need to identify the decision-maker for sponsorship – it may not be your line
manager – and may involve agreement from HR. Find out what is the company
appetite for MBA graduates in recruitment and whether your competitors or your
company advertise to recruit MBAs to add weight to your argument.
 You need to be prepared to answer the question of a lock-in period. Generally a
sponsoring company would want you sign a bond/contract which will bind you to the
company for a length of time. You should bear in mind that it is not clear whether
these are enforceable in law, but also that if you move to a new employer, part of
your initial negotiations could include them buying you out of the lock-in by paying
the forfeiture costs; after all, they will then be reaping the benefit of your MBA.
 Decide what sponsorship you would like and also what you need. You may want your
employer to fund your MBA in full, but they may only be prepared to part-fund it
based on results. In this case, you will need to be able to fund the shortfall and
achieve the results they expect which will add pressure to your study. They may not
be willing to support you at all which may create work life balance tensions for you.
FACT:
Unlike many business schools, The Open University fee
includes the costs of books and study materials,
accommodation and food at residential schools and
tutorials, access to a bespoke e-learning environment and
project supervision, as well as examination fees unless
overseas.
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How can employer support be given?
Financial support can be given by employers in two ways; Full or part sponsorship can be given at the start of each module with the
sponsor identified in the registration process and an invoice being raised
directly to the sponsor organisation. This can be included in budget
processes and requires minimum administration. Where part
sponsorship is give, the student pays the remaining amount by
debit/credit card or through an Open University Student Budget Account
(OUSBA) which spreads payments over a defined period.
 Performance-based sponsorship can be paid to the student dependent
on completion of module and/or achievement of results, or can be linked
to workplace objectives which will benefit from MBA study. Fees can be
reimbursed to the student through company accounting systems.
Study support can be provided by employers in two ways; Study leave can be given to a maximum number of hours or days per
module to enable the student to complete assignments or project work,
or to attend residential schools. This is usually given in addition to leave
or holiday entitlements.
 In-house experience can be offered whereby students are able to
shadow or work in a different area of the business to underpin study
topics or implement projects to achieve business objectives. This may
involve a short secondment period or a less formalised agreement
between managers.
FACT:
Over 40 per cent of The Open University MBA students
receive sponsorship from their employers.
Good luck with your sponsorship business case. If you need any further help,
please contact The Open University Business School Information Line on
+44 (0) 845 366 6035
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