It is a common belief that MBA programmes are almost completely academically focused and that this presents the main challenge for students. But this is by no means the case for the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School MBA programme.
“It was the case 10 years ago that MBA programmes were primarily focused on an academic curriculum”, says MBA programmes director Orla Nugent. “But we describe our programme as covering the three elements of IQ, EQ, and RQ - the academic, the practical leadership development, and the reputational area which is covered by our careers development programme.”
The Leadership Development Programme (LDP) runs in conjunction with the academic curriculum and the careers programme and aims to build students’ awareness of themselves, teams, and leadership and to provide them with the tools to continue their development in this area not only while they are completing the MBA course but throughout their lives as well. It is an integral part of the full-time MBA programme and an optional element of the part-time executive MBA programme.
Nugent describes the LDP content as a series of “short, sharp shocks” on a number of themes.
“Most people assume that the hardest bit of the MBA is the academic part. This is not the case. The hardest parts are working with teams and meeting deadlines while trying to deal with everything else going on in your life.
Skills
“That’s why we include personal effectiveness skills such as self-awareness, mind mapping, getting things done, and relationship building within the LDP.”
Another theme is team leadership skills. “In the MBA programme you have to study in groups as well,” explains MBA programme manager for leadership development Michael McDonnell.
“A big challenge is to create high-performing teams and to take learning from one team to another. The leadership skills element of the LDP covers areas like team building, team roles, diversity in teams, recognising and dealing with conflict, and team coaching.”
The third team covers communications skills. “This is the last part and the focus here is very much on the individual,” says MBA careers services manager Brian Marrinan.
“It is about helping them transition from the programme back into the world again. This is particularly important for students on the full-time programme.
“When they initially apply they tell us what they want to achieve out of their MBA but by the time they are finishing their objectives might be quite different. This is where communications skills and the one-to-one coaching on personal effectiveness really help.
“People have certain expectations about the MBA programme before they start and it can be quite difficult to explain it fully to them in advance.
“You really have to go through it to understand it fully and the journey itself helps them find the path they want to follow afterwards. Full-time students have a full day on careers and leadership development every week.”
According to Nugent the programme is subject to constant change. “It’s all about continuous improvement,” she points out.
“Every year we have different cohorts of students and each generation’s needs are different. When students complete the programme we carry out an exit survey and get feedback from them. This year over 80 per cent of them thought the LDP delivered on expectations. We also try to bring in new things as we go on as a result of this feedback as well as what’s going on internationally.”
This led to the introduction of one-to-one coaching to the programme in 2009. This coaching is carried out by experienced businesspeople who have worked at high levels in sectors such as the public service or multinational corporations.
Coaching
“Coaching can have a bit of a funny reputation,” Nugent notes. “But this is aimed at giving students access to someone who has seen and experienced the world and can help them apply what they are learning to their lives and careers once they leave. It is also aimed at helping them develop as people and address any weaknesses they feel they might have.
“When we introduced it in 2009 just 35 per cent of students took up coaching, that’s now up to 80 per cent and that’s very high when you consider that students on the part-time programme are working as well and don’t have a lot of time to access things like coaching.”
One of the core elements of the LDP is the emotional intelligence and self-awareness issues it addresses.
“We are constantly looking at what is happening in the US and other countries and we also have very strong corporate connections and part of the feedback we were getting from there is that MBA programmes could be too academic,” says Nugent.
“The Irish Universities Association had already noted this in relation to third-level courses generally and had identified the sort of life skills that university graduates should emerge with alongside their academic qualifications.
“At the same time, companies like Apple and Google are talking about how quickly their businesses are changing and how they people with massive amounts of flexibility and adaptability. Various elements of the LDP give students a very good opportunity to take a look at themselves and develop those traits.”
Applications are being accepted for the next full-time and part-time MBA Programmes which begin in August. “The full-time MBA takes one year and the part-time executive MBA takes two years and is designed for professionals who wish to further their study while continuing to pursue their career goals,” McDonnell points out.
“We are accepting applications for both programmes all the time with a closing date of July 15th.”
Experience Day
For those considering applying but who want to learn more about the programmes first there is a special MBA Experience Day being held at the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School in Carysfort Avenue in Blackrock, Co Dublin on Saturday, June 15 next.
Attendees will have the chance to attend lectures, take a tour of the campus, participate in a leadership and development session, and network with the MBA team, faculty and alumni over lunch.
To register for the UCD Smurfit MBA Experience Day go to smurfitschool.ie/ mbaexperience
