International Masters in Practicing Management (IMPM)
A real alternative to the Executive MBA
The International Masters in Practicing Management (IMPM) is a real alternative to the typical Executive MBA. It is designed for experienced managers who want to do better at the art and craft as well as science of management practice. Its design and processes are inspired by the research into managerial practice by Henry Mintzberg, the management guru, who has taught on the IMPM since its foundation.
Designed around managerial mindsets rather than the traditional functional silos, the IMPM focuses on the very essence of what it means to practise management. It is a programme that never loses its focus on the real world of work, and makes peer-to-peer learning as central as learning from faculty and other world experts.
Throughout the programme, learning takes the form of a constant exchange of ideas and insights, as participants move back and forth between management concepts and their real-life experiences, reflecting upon them individually and together in order to make sense of both. As with many executive masters programmes, the IMPM builds confidence in the realisation of what you already know, but unlike many it also helps to make sense of the sometimes confusing world of management practice and experience.
Find out what makes the IMPM such a unique program in this video, made as participants start their first IMPM module - the Reflective Mindset - at Lancaster University Management School.
Developing worldly leaders
The IMPM is designed for experienced managers from global companies and other major organisations around the world. As with the IMPM's sister programme, the ALP, companies can participate by sending multiple delegates up to a table of 4-6. Individual managers and entrepreneurs can also participate.
Typically participants will be over 35 years of age, with extensive managerial experience.
Over 50 leading companies and organisations from around the world have now participated in the programme. Among them are Motorola, Lufthansa, Alcan, LG, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, AstraZeneca, Fujitsu Ltd, Tata Steel, Marconi, British Telecom, Gaz de France and many others.
Delegates can complete a Diploma after 16 months: a further six months are needed to complete the Masters qualification.
Participant view
How Millie Katana is using the IMPM to develop her work for the International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Uganda. Read more
For experiences of other participants, see the main IMPM website
A truly cross-cultural experience
Phase one of the programme lasts about 16 months and is built around five modules, each lasting 9-10 days, enabling participants to immerse themselves in the culture of the host country as well as becoming deeply engaged in the learning. IMPM participants also spend a week on a managerial exchange at the location of another participant in another country and observe their fellow participant at work and often at home too.
After each module, participants write a reflection paper to connect what they learned on the module to their job and organisation. The task of writing the papers and the wider learning from the programme is supported by tutorial group meetings, and all IMPM delegates work on 'ventures' – programme-long projects which seek to create real change in each participant’s own work environment.
For examples of ‘venture’ projects undertaken by participants, and the impact these have made on their organisations, see the main IMPM website.
An international alliance of top schools
The International Masters qualification is offered by world-ranked Lancaster University Management School and McGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management. Each of those schools delivers a module in its own country, and other modules are delivered in other parts of the world: India, China and Brazil. The participating schools are:
Lancaster University Management School, UK
McGill University Desautels Faculty of Management, Montreal, Canada
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, India
Renmin University School of Business, Beijing, China
EBAPE / FGV, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
"Management is, above all, a practice, where art, science and craft all meet."
