Success with Sage: How businesses can engage with Newcastle University Business School

About Corporate Consultancy Projects

As part of our Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme, students get the chance to participate in a Corporate Consultancy Project. An organisation can work with an MBA candidate to explore a ‘live’ business problem or opportunity. One student carries out the project in July and August. They formulate proposals and make recommendations for management action based on their own research.

The MBA Corporate Consultancy Project aims to develop partnerships between the University and industry. It enhances the employability of our students while addressing the real needs of a collaborating organisation.

Three postgraduate business students sat having a discussion

Sage and its collaboration with NUBS

Based in the North East, The Sage Group plc is the market leader in cloud business management solutions. It supports millions of small and medium size businesses globally. Tim O’Reilly is the Qualifications Manager at Sage and regularly engages with Newcastle University. He saw the value in working with an MBA on a real-life opportunity for Sage.

Tim said that his experience with the MBA programme was “really slick and well planned. From the initial prospecting event to the selection and subsequent project - it couldn’t have gone any better.”

Finding solutions for business challenges

Sage offers free adult education training programmes to unemployed and low earners. They teach them how to use key Sage software in an SME environment. They found that 70% of delegates who use this training programme went into meaningful employment using their new skills.

Sage wanted to work out how to get this successful programme into more training facilities in order to accelerate its offering and increase its reach.

Tim tasked MBA student, Emily Ball, with this challenge.

Positive outcomes

After Emily presented her research and recommendations, she reflected, “The consulting project was the perfect opportunity to apply the learning from my MBA to a real-world business scenario."

Tim said, “Our MBA had a real understanding of the problem we faced. Feedback and information gleaned will form part of our strategy moving forwards.”

How our students can support your business

As part of our immersive MBA at Newcastle University, learners get real business experience. This increases the likelihood of them becoming part of the next generation of leaders. Emily said, “It was a great opportunity to add value to a business while focusing on my own development.”

If you're interested in participating in similar future projects as a corporate partner, Tim has this advice:

“Why wouldn’t you work with an MBA at Newcastle? The students are highly skilled with excellent business acumen. I will be working again with NUBS.”

Want to know more?

To learn more about how to engage with NUBS, please email external.engagement@newcastle.ac.uk