DCU Business School Masters Students Bring Year-Long Consultancy Projects to a Close

DCU Business School Masters students reached the culmination of their year-long Applied Consultancy Projects last Friday, presenting their final group projects and recommendations to their client partners.

The students, coming from a range of Masters programmes, including operations management, digital marketing, international accounting, business analytics and global management, worked across 30 groups, and were matched to clients based on their academic background, reflecting how consultancy works in practice.

The projects began with clients introducing the students to a live business challenge, giving each team the opportunity to explore a real-world issue and develop a practical response.

Over the course of the year, students conducted primary and secondary research, analysed markets and data, tested ideas and worked collaboratively to develop solutions to the challenges presented by their clients. The year-long nature of the project gave teams the time to investigate, refine and optimise their recommendations, before presenting their findings and advice to their clients.

The Applied Consultancy Project provides students with a valuable opportunity to put their Masters-level learning into practice, working with live data and real organisations to solve genuine business and organisational challenges. The experience enables students to develop and demonstrate a range of skills, from research, critical analysis and problem-solving to communication, teamwork and presenting recommendations to senior stakeholders.

Professor Pierangelo Rosati, Professor in Management and academic lead for the Applied Consultancy Project at DCU Business School, said:

“Working on real client challenges gives students the opportunity to turn knowledge into practice. The Applied Consultancy Project builds their confidence, professional skills and understanding of the business environment, while reflecting the strength of our close and ongoing partnerships with industry.”

The projects are sourced from a wide range of organisations across a variety of industries, providing students with the opportunity to gain insight into different sectors and apply their learning in a professional environment.

The Presentation Day marked the culmination of months of research, collaboration and hard work, with students presenting their findings and recommendations directly to their client partners.

Sean Tobin, Growth Manager, .IE, who worked with DCU students on an Applied Consultancy Project, said:

“The Applied Consultancy Project gave us the opportunity to have a team of students focus on a business challenge that we knew could add real value but simply didn’t have the time or resources to explore in depth. The team took the time to understand our industry, our business and the challenge we had set them. They brought a fresh perspective and delivered practical insights that will help shape how we engage and support our wider sales channel. The students were engaged, enthusiastic and driven to find meaningful solutions to the problem statement we provided. I would highly recommend the Applied Consultancy Project to other businesses.”

Bronagh O’Doherty, Global Product Manager, PBC BioMed, and a DCU alumna, understands the student experience first-hand, having once been in their position. She said:

“It was a pleasure for PBC Biomed to take part as an industry partner in DCU’s practicum projects. We were genuinely impressed by the standard of work, professionalism and level of commitment demonstrated by the students throughout the project. It was fantastic to see the effort they put into applying their knowledge to a real-world industry challenge.

Having previously been a practicum student myself, I particularly appreciate the structure of this programme and the value it provides in connecting academic learning with practical industry experience.

A big thank you to the DCU team and to the students involved for making the experience so worthwhile. We’re delighted to have had the opportunity to contribute and look forward to supporting similar initiatives in the future.”

For students, the opportunity to work on a live project with an external organisation provides an experience that goes beyond the traditional academic environment, allowing them to apply their knowledge to real challenges while developing skills that they can take directly into their future careers.

The Applied Consultancy Project Presentation Day celebrates not only the students’ academic achievement, but also the strong relationships between DCU Business School and its industry partners, giving students the opportunity to learn from and contribute to organisations beyond the university.