Time and geography are no longer obstacles for people wishing to study for the MSc in Management at UCD Smurfit Graduate School of Business. The MSc in Management Online (Part-time) programme offers participants the opportunity to get precisely the same qualification as graduates of the full-time in-person programme but with the flexibility of being able to do it online.
“It has the exact same curriculum and premium positioning of the full-time MSc in Management,” explains academic director, assistant professor Tedi Skiti. “Nothing is different on the diploma parchment because the teaching expertise and curriculum is the same, with the same outcomes. The reputation, rankings, degree award and the Smurfit name are all the same. The premium positioning, the access to our faculty and all facilities, including our careers team, are all the same.”
This is the second year the programme has been run online but the first with an exclusively remote cohort of students.
“Last year we had two cohorts, one online and the other in-person,” Skiti points out. “We have put an awful lot of effort into assuring the quality of the offering. It has the same faculty and exactly the same modules as the full-time programme. There has been no compromise on quality.”
The switch to online education delivery during Covid prompted the development of the programme.
“It was a necessity during Covid but then we realised the students really enjoyed the flexibility,” says Skiti. “We have now found the magic formula to offer part-time MSc in Management with the same curriculum as the full-time in-person programme but with all the flexibility offered by online delivery. The quality is the same, but you can do it from anywhere.”
The student experience isn’t just about the curriculum, however, and the Smurfit School has gone to great lengths to ensure participants are not disadvantaged in any way in comparison to their peers on the full-time programme.
“It’s always a challenge to replicate the in-person experience online,” says Skiti. “We have lots of group projects and we place a strong emphasis on promoting networking opportunities. Interaction with faculty is important as well and when students need advice or to discuss something, they get precisely the same service as they would on the full-time programme.”
Programme delivery is mostly asynchronous, with three modules covered in each trimester.
“Each module has three live sessions and they are also recorded so that students can catch up with them later, if necessary,” says Skiti. “A lot of additional content is put up online by faculty members as well. There is a lot of asynchronous engagement but students can still build relationships in real time. This suits people’s different working patterns.”
Programme participants gain a comprehensive understanding of important management ideas, frameworks and models. In addition, they develop their analytical capacity to comprehend and assess real-life business challenges in both local and international settings. As well as that, group work and participation in extracurricular workshops and seminars help to develop personal and professional skills.
Core modules include digital innovation and strategy, global leadership and teams, and building sustainable supply chain advantage.
The digital innovation and strategy module identifies and discusses innovative and sustainable digital business initiatives and demonstrate how these are utilised by organisations to gain and sustain competitive advantage in the marketplace.
The global leadership and teams module focuses on the behaviours within organisations and the impact individuals, teams and structure have on an organisation’s effectiveness. It covers core concepts and theories from the fields of management, organisational behaviour and work psychology that provide a lens and frameworks for analysing issues relevant to individual, leadership and team behaviours in organisational contexts. These concepts, theories and frameworks are considered, discussed and critiqued to fully explore their potential contributions in helping to understand organisational, team and leadership behaviours.
Building sustainable supply chain advantage provides students with an understanding of operations and supply chain management. Topics covered encompass a wide variety of subjects relevant to the decisions concerning the design, mapping and analysis of internal production processes as well as processes that take place outside the organisation, such as the customer journey.
Other core modules include accounting information for managers, corporate finance, human resource management, marketing, economics and markets, business simulation, and managing innovative projects.
Students also have the option of availing of the Smurfit School’s highly rated Global Leadership Programme (GLP). The GLP offers students the opportunity to engage in a diverse range of co-curricular activities which are aimed at helping them become impactful leaders with a global mindset.
“We believe the curriculum is cutting edge,” Skiti adds. “Along with those core modules the applied business project allows students to focus on a specific area of interest to them.”
That flexibility should particularly appeal to working professionals with business schedules who are looking to advance their careers.
“It will also interest carers and parents who find attending classes on campus too much for them with their other life responsibilities,” says Skiti. “The course is also suited to non-business graduates in the sciences, humanities, law and other area who want to move into leadership roles. It is particularly suited to those based outside of Dublin who are looking to study at UCD. This year we have students from Ireland and across the world – from Blackrock to Brisbane.”
Applications are open for the next UCD Smurfit Graduate School of Business MSc in Management Online (Part-time) programme are open now.
“Demand is very high for places and people interested in the programme should get in touch as soon as possible,” Skiti advises.