University launches executive e-commerce MBA

Zayed University yesterday announced the launch of a new executive MBA programme in electronic commerce (E-MBA) - the first activity under a partnership agreement with the Dubai Technology, Electronic and Media Free Zone Authority.

Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and President of Zayed University, said, "The E-MBA programme has been planned and is being implemented with special attention to quality, careful articulation with the UAE business community, clear commitment to the principal tenets of life-long learning, and the prospect of networking with some of the prominent universities of the world."

Sheikh Nahyan made his comments during an inauguration ceremony. Sixty people attended, including the first managers, to enrol as students in the programme, and representatives from their sponsoring organisations. "Technological forces are changing forever the ways we learn and the ways we work.

Organisations are becoming increasingly virtual. People everywhere are linked together in common cause through electronic networks. Our managers and executives need to appreciate and understand the power and purpose of this technological change," Sheikh Nahyan said. The first graduate programme to be offered by Zayed University has its own facilities at the Dubai Media City, and has attracted more than 25 candidates from medium and top management positions in the government and the private sector.

It is offered over four semesters in a two-year period and consists of 12 courses complemented by a series of seminars held by world leaders in e-business education. A portion of each course will be delivered on site in the UAE. The distance-learning component of the programme will rely on videostreaming and web-based instruction from faculty all over the world.

An optional enrichment programme during the MBA will provide students the opportunity to visit premier e-business research centres in the United States. "We firmly believe that our progress as a country and our active participation in the global economy depend on the wise and efficient use of our educational resources," Sheikh Nahyan said.