Master in Business Administration
Opening a Digital World of Opportunity Contact

Our Master in Business Administration (MBA) prepares leaders for a technology-driven global business world. With a strategic focus on digital transformation, innovation and experiential learning, our MBA prepares you to lead digital transformation in Africa.

You can focus on General Management or Digital Healthcare Management.

  • NQF Level 9
  • Course Code: MBA19Q
  • 2024 Applications Are Open
  • Closing Date: 31 October 2024

Admission

To qualify for the JBS MBA, you need to have:

  • A four-year undergraduate degree, or A three-year undergraduate degree, and a NQF Level 8 postgraduate degree or diploma

  • A minimum of four years work experience, including at least two years experience in management

  • An NQF Level 4 matriculation pass in mathematics OR equivalent (preferred but not essential)

  • Proficiency in English

  • Successfully completed the admissions portfolio

  • Study permit for South Africa if you are an international applicant

 

Please note that admission to our MBA is a competitive process with limited places available and there are limited places available. Meeting the above requirements does not automatically guarantee your acceptance into the programme.

Submission Checklist:

The following documents are required to finalize your application:

  • Completed Application Portfolio Form(Click here to download the APF Form)

  • Current CV

  • NQF 8 or highest Academic Record

  • Certified Matric Certificate or Equivalent (not applicable to former UJ students)

  • Certified Copy of ID or Passport (not applicable to former UJ students

  • SAQA certificate of your highest qualification (International students)

  • Employment letter entailing role(s) and duration. (Important. Without this, your application will be deemed as outstanding documents still)

NB: The system will reject your application due to non-compliance if we do not receive these documents within 7 days from the date of receiving the first email reminder from us.

MBA Brochure

Download Brochure

New MBA Learning Pathway: Digital Healthcare Management 

We recently introduced a new learning pathway in our MBA, namely, Digital Healthcare Management. The new learning pathway is designed to equip students with the skills needed to lead digital healthcare initiatives in South Africa’s public health care sector.

The public healthcare sector in South Africa has major challenges, including finance, stable energy supply, adequate planning and monitoring, volume of people requiring services, availability of resources (medical equipment, skilled personnel) and mismanagement. These challenges place great strain on the management of the private healthcare sector.

JBS MBA students interested in this learning path will need to enrol for the compulsory module and select three modules of 10 credits each in Healthcare Management.

*Bursaries will be offered subject to availability and funding and merit.

What sets the JBS MBA apart?

We reimagine the future. You reimagine your career. When we designed our new MBA for the digitally transformed world, we were deliberate in our approach. We wanted to create a definitive learning experience necessary for you to make yourself relevant and marketable, now and into the future. Our MBA therefore positions you for success by fine-tuning your critical thinking skills across various disciplines, helping you to harness the vast opportunities that digital innovation affords.

Learning to leverage the possibilities that technology unlocks is critical to ensuring business growth, and this is prioritised both in the subjects we offer and in our approach to teaching and learning. We place special and sustained emphasis on the human aspect of business. You will have opportunities to learn from, and engage, with highly respected local and international faculty and business practitioners, which will open up opportunities for you across the continent and the world.

What you will learn during your MBA

At JBS, our focus is simple: we want to empower you with everything you need to become a business leader in the digital economy. Our MBA is attuned to this, and will give you the essential skills that you require.

THE CORE THEMES IN THE JBS MBA INCLUDE:

  • Emerging technologies of the future

  • Advanced e-commerce platforms for entrepreneurship

  • Ethical Leadership in the digital economy

  • Competitive strategy: Winning in the digital marketplace

  • Operations and supply chain management for the digital age

  • Advanced digital marketing

  • Accounting and financial management

  • Critical thinking for business

  • People management in the new world of work

  • Digital technologies: Cloud computing, mobile, artificial intelligence, and more

  • Quantitative methods and data analytics

  • Economics and International Business

In addition to these core themes, you will also have the opportunity to choose from electives on offer each year these are drawn from topics such as:

  • Virtual reality in a business world

  • Disruptive technologies in areas such as tourism, agriculture and medicine

  • Advanced cybersecurity for business

  • People management for empowerment and collaboration

Teaching Approach

Our approach to teaching is designed to bridge the gap between the present and the future, and between the classroom and workplace. Business leadership is first and foremost a practical and applied skill. Our MBA makes this a reality through our team of executive and leadership coaches who will help you transfer critical skills from the classroom to the workplace by providing one-on-one support. Our coaches come from successful business backgrounds, and are able to help you identify and achieve your goals, and to apply what you have learnt to your career.

Your learning experience at JBS will be intense and demanding, and will involve an engaging combination of debate, dialogue, experiential learning, simulations, and local and international case study analyses. At all times, the content, structure and medium of your studies will be relevant, practical and geared to the technological advances that drive business.

Welcome to the Capstone Project

The Capstone Consulting Project

At the end of your JBS MBA, you will bring together all that you have learnt in the Capstone Consulting Project. This is not a traditional research thesis. Instead, it is a challenging consultancy project where you will explore opportunities for solving real-world problems in a chosen business and devise a innovative solution. You will be guided by a supervisor, who will help ensure your project’s success.

Our International Study Tour elective

As part of the programme, JBS MBA students may choose to go on an optional international study tour, conditions permitting. Potential destinations include China, Argentina, India, Kenya and Ethiopia. This tour offers two weeks of life-changing immersions in the country of your choice, and includes visits to business schools, companies, and government agencies.

Physical and Digital Campuses

JBS is located in Johannesburg, the financial and economic heart of Africa. We moved to our brand-new green and smart campus at the start of 2023, which boasts plenty of space for safe, collaborative working. At JBS, we understand that the digital economy is a global economy.

Our state-of-the-art classrooms are therefore designed to connect you to the rest of the world, while our smart work areas are fitted with the latest technology to support you. As a JBS MBA student, you will form part of an international intellectual network through our close community links with international business schools. Our digitally enabled classrooms will provide access to local and international faculty, as well as guest speakers

JBS MBA Benefits

Our emphasis is on practical, useable learning and skills development that you will be able to apply to your business or organisation in direct and immediate ways. We are focused on ensuring your success by helping you become:

  • A critical systems thinker who embraces complexity

  • An authentic leader with social and digital intelligence

  • A forward-thinking futurist who is in touch with global business developments

Contact Information

For more information

Duration And Course Structure

The JBS MBA takes 24 months to complete, including both module work and the Capstone Consulting Project. There are two streams available, namely, Saturday and early-bird lectures. Both streams have two lectures a week of three hours each.

The Weekender Stream: Two lectures on the same day (Saturday) from 08:00 to 15:00

The Early-bird’ Stream: Two mornings a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) 06:30 to 09:30, with breakfast included

Closing Date

Application closing date for the MBA is
31 December 2024

Fees


The total fee for the MBA is R215,000 (plus an additional fee for UJ IT). It will be billed over the course of the two years of study.

The cost of travel and accommodation for the optional International Study Tour is not included in the MBA fees.

Optional: International Study Tour: $2500 – $5500.