World’s first Masters in Board Practice and Directorship cohort graduates

In collaboration with Romanian business school Envisia, Henley has launched and delivered the world’s first Masters in Board Practice and Directorship (MA BPD), with the first cohort completing the final stage this week. Aimed at both senior leaders with directorship potential as well as experienced practising board members, the Henley MA BPD examines how a board director can be a more effective steward of a company and other organisational entities.

The cohorts comprise of highly influential board directors (Chair, NEDs, CFOs, SiD) and C-suite executives (CEO, top-team) from across private and public sectors including multi-national corporations, institutions, consultancies, associations, hospitality, aviation and financial services. The pioneering first cohort completes the full programme this week, culminating in a conference at Henley’s Greenlands campus – The Board Annual Conference.

Participants have progressed through PGCert stage, PG Diploma stage and the MA stage and this last module sees them presenting the findings of their final academic paper based on six months’ board-level research. Here, they will share their learnings, skills and capabilities on stewardship best practice with the rest of the cohort and faculty.

Professor Andrew Kakabadse, Professor of Governance and Leadership at Henley Business School, said:

“Governance and the oversight of our companies is as important as selling products and services. Our society overlooks at compliance but pays less attention to what it takes for a company to do better in the marketplace. That’s why we created Henley’s MA BPD - one of the first attempts in the world to professionalise the role of the board director and the practice to degree standard.

It's a demanding programme and requires a lot of effort from the learners, but the outcome is a board director who has a strong global and professional outlook, equipped for these challenging times.

We thank Dr Nadeem Khan, the Programme Director, as it has been his substantial efforts that have made the programme a success.”

As each board and the organisational context it faces is unique, Henley’s MA BPD covers what it takes to deliver highly effective boards, director behaviours and governance frameworks across different sectors and settings. Focusing on governance and strategic oversight, the programme provides the knowledge and skills to support effective judgements in board-level decision making and promote longer-term resilience and growth.

The programme is delivered by expert academic faculty, with insights from highly experienced board practitioners. It also draws extensively on the top-team governance research conducted at Henley Business School, which covers more than 20,000 boards across 45 countries.

To find out more about the MA BPD, email custom@henley.ac.uk.