Looking towards new horizons at the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School

The UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School has doubled the number of participants going through its executive development and education programmes over the past five years and is now looking to build on that growth.

"The university has been developing its strategy for the period to 2020 and we have been doing a lot of work in recent months on our strategy for executive education," says Smurfit executive development director Helen Brophy. "We have been looking at global trends in executive education and where we in the Smurfit school see ourselves going in that context."

She points to recent trends as an indicator to what can be anticipated in the future. “When I look back to January 2012 we were very much still in recession mode. The level of company sponsorship for participants on our open enrolment programmes had fallen significantly since 2008. This didn’t affect overall demand, however. People still recognised the need to upskill and to make themselves more of an asset to their employers for long-term job security. Even in the depths of the recession they recognised the value of this and were paying for themselves to go on the programmes. Overall, during that period about 50 per cent of open enrolment participants were funding themselves.”

Employer sponsorship is on the rise again. “The level of company support has definitely increased and learning and development budgets are rising again,” says Brophy. “There is an increased recognition of the need to invest in people. During the downturn there was a feeling that people development was somehow a luxury or non-essential but that is changing again and organisations are seeing that the strength of their people is key to their success.”

The range of programmes has also grown in recent years. “We now have 22 open-enrolment programmes. People want to become more specialist in certain areas and we are responding to that by developing new courses which are relevant to them and their organisations.”

An important addition to the executive education portfolio came in 2013 with the introduction of the MSc in Business (Leadership & Management Practice). “Participants can earn this master’s degree by completing any three of a suite of diplomas within a five year timeframe,” Brophy explains. “Allowing for three diplomas over five years means participants can take a break for family or other reasons and then come back to it. We currently have eight diploma programmes to choose from and will be adding two more next year. We intend to build this up to between 12 and 15 over the next two to three years as part of our strategy.”

Customised programmes

The enduring popularity of the open enrolment courses has been mirrored by the school’s customised programmes. These programmes see the Smurfit School working with private and public sector clients to create bespoke courses aimed at both developing their people and meeting a specific need within the organisation.

“This is probably the less visible side of our activity,” Brophy notes. “We work with about 40 clients customising programmes for them and a lot of this is done on a confidential basis. When we looked at global trends we found that there is strong growth in this area. Open enrolment courses put the needs of the individual first whereas customised courses focus on the needs of the organisation. Organisations are increasingly investing on a collective basis to address specific skills and capability needs.”

Increased demand in Ireland is across the board. "Multinational companies in sectors like ICT and life sciences have always invested strongly in people development and this is spreading to other industries. We are also seeing growth in demand from indigenous companies as well as they are seeking to compete on international markets. Irish companies in industries like food know they have to attract and retain very talented people if they are to reach their targets and that means investing in those people."

The competitive landscape is changing for business schools as well. “We are in the top 80 or 90 business schools across the world and we work very hard to maintain and improve that position. But business schools everywhere are being challenged by corporate universities in the customised area and by MOOCS [massive open online courses] and SPOOCS [specialised open online courses] in open enrolment. In developing our strategy for the future we are looking at how we can continue to grow in Ireland and how we can leverage our status as Ireland’s number one business school to meet the challenges presented by new technologies and international developments.”

She believes the Smurfit school is well positioned to meet these challenges. “We see new technologies as enablers to classroom learning and not a replacement. Most of our participants tell us that one of the most valuable elements of our executive education programmes is mixing with and learning from their peers, and this would not be possible doing an online course from their homes and offices. Online delivery channels are complementary to what we are doing. Our strategy is to look at how it can enhance what we already have.”

Success in open enrolment has tended to lead to growth in the customised area. “People come through our open enrolment courses and see the value of them and then look at what a customised course could to for their organisations. Many of our corporate client relationships have come about in this way and we are going to continue to develop relevant bespoke programmes for clients in the public and private sectors in future years. Our aim is to help them create new opportunities to drive growth and create value.”