UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School - MBA Experience Day

The UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School MBA has a internationally strong track record and a 50 year history. The school’s part-time Executive MBA programme was one of the 1st in Europe established over 50 years ago.1964 while the full-time one-year MBA was established 25 years ago in 1991.

The UCD MBA core pillars incorporate action learning, global immersion and leadership development into the learning process. These are our core differentiators in addition to excellent academic content, as determined by our ranking as a top 100 business school. Over the last 15 years, we have focused on developing skills and capacities that allow our graduates to thrive in the new economy.

As you would expect from Irelands Leading Business School our international faculty have published in world leading journals, such as Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Review of Management. They have taught in world leading business schools such as Harvard Business School, New York University, Cornell University, London School of Economics, ESMT, and IE Business School. Our faculty have the best research record in Ireland and several regularly provide executive training to leading multinationals and Irish companies. This provides the student with opportunities to interact with thought leaders who shape academic and managerial thinking.

Ensuring a truly global perspective

The UCD MBA is a member of Global Network for Advanced Management (GNAM) an alliance of leading global business schools consisting of a consortium of 29 schools worldwide. Schools include Yale, the University of California Berkeley, IIM Bangalore, London School of Economics, Asian Institute of Management in Philippines and ESMT Germany.

In the first semester of the full-time course, students have the option of visiting one school for a global network immersion week and UCD Smurfit School also hosts global immersion weeks for visiting MBA students.

Another GNAM initiative is known as Global Virtual Teams where students from up to four of the partner universities come together as a virtual team to solve real world business problems.

MBA candidates participate in a one-week International Study Tour as part of the Doing Business in International Markets core module. The tour combines a variety of visits to high-profile companies, presentations and panel discussions from leading executives, government officials and entrepreneurs. Key themes are developed for each destination, creating a unique environment in which to learn about the country’s business and cultural landscape. Previous Study Tour destinations have included China, South Africa, India, UAE, Brazil, Japan and Korea.

The Leadership Development Programme

The leadership development element of the Smurfit MBA is central to the programme. It empowers participants to focus on the skills necessary to communicate effectively, understand themselves, and lead others. It focuses on 3 core areas:

Individual: through a series of workshops, one-on-one coaching sessions, and self-reflection assignments, participants gain insight into how they interact, approach situations, and communicate with others.

Team: each semester students are placed in diverse teams that focus on understanding the emotional and social intelligence of others and improving relationship management skills.

Organisation: once participants discover how they affect themselves and others, they look beyond to how their new managerial toolkit makes them a dynamic leader.

The UCD MBA dedicated Careers Service under the direction of trained and experience recruitment specialists assists students to identify career opportunities and provide support with your career planning.

So why undertake an MBA?

The UCD MBA is a transformational experience. Benefits include personal development, career advancement and exposure to the experiences and expertise of an international network of fellow graduates.

According to Prof Karan Sonpar, Academic Director of the Smurfit MBA, “An MBA gives people an opportunity to step back from their careers and gain better and more rounded skillsets as well as develop their leadership qualities and problem solving abilities. It is also highly valued in business as it shows a willingness to learn and develop oneself which is a very positive signal to employers. An MBA also offers participants the opportunity to develop more generalist skills which are required to lead an organisation.”

Ranking, Accreditation

UCD Smurfit School is the only school in Ireland (and one of less than 75 schools worldwide) to hold the prestigious “triple crown” of accreditation from AACSB, EQUIS, and AMBA. AACSB is the US-based body which awards accreditation following a quality review of degree programmes; EQUIS is the quality improvement system administered by the EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development) throughout Europe and is awarded on the basis of quality controls on the entire range of activities within an institution; and AMBA is a British-based organisation which concentrates specifically on MBA programmes and accredits those which reach its standards.

The Smurfit MBA programmes have featured consistently in the prestigious Economist Intelligence Unit and Financial Times global MBA rankings. The school has consistently maintained its presence in the top 100 in the Financial Times’ highly competitive global full-time MBA rankings and is currently ranked as 70th in the world. The Executive MBA is ranked 74th in the world by the Financial Times.

Earlier this year UCD Smurfit School’s full-time MSc in International Management was ranked 15th globally by the Financial Times, the MSc in Finance was positioned 36th in the world with Smurfit Executive Development Open Enrolment programmes ranked 48th globally by the FT.

These ranking results further cement UCD Smurfit School’s Top 100 global status and highlights the School’s continued progress to achieve a Top 50 international ranking by 2020 – a key objective of a €65 million investment programme and strategy launched in October 2016.

Don’t miss your chance to win the Sunday Business Post MBA Scholarship

The Sunday Business Post, in association with UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, is offering one exceptional candidate the chance of a lifetime! A scholarship to an upper value of €34,500 for the Full-time or Executive (part-time) MBA programme, starting August 2018.

For further details on this scholarship competition and to entervisit here

MBA Experience Day Saturday November 18th 2017 – FIND OUT MORE about the Smurfit MBA

On Saturday November 18th UCD Smurfit School is hosting an MBA Experience Day. This event will showcase Smurfit MBA courses and offer attendees the opportunity to hear from MBA Alumni, current students, MBA admissions and careers. The morning will also feature a Leadership Development session led by Paul Slattery of NxtGEN and an address from Niamh Brennan Michael MacCormac Professor of Management at UCD Smurfit School. Dr Gerry Grenham will also provide tips on preparing for and doing the GMAT aptitude test.

For further details and to registerclick here