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Book Launch: The History of CPA Ireland 1926 – 2016

Dr Martin Quinn and Dr Brid Murphy, DCU Business School, yesterday marked the launch of their book on the history of The Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland (CPA Ireland), titled “The History of CPA Ireland 1926-2016: 90 years accounting for Business“. The book is a practitioner oriented output of on-going research collaborations with CPA Ireland, and charts the foundation and growth of the body.

CPA Ireland is one of the main Irish accountancy bodies representing 5,000 members and students. CPA Ireland CEO, Eamonn Siggins commented “CPA Ireland’s foundation occurred against the backdrop of a newly founded State attempting to recover from a War of Independence and a Civil War which had wrought incalculable damage to the fabric of the country’s economy”.

Today, the CPA designation is the most commonly used designation worldwide for professional accountants and the Institute’s qualification enjoys wide international recognition. Its current membership operates in public practice, industry, financial services and the public sector and CPAs work in 48 countries around the world.

CEO, Eamonn Siggins noted “Ninety years of history is well worth celebrating and on behalf of our membership I want to thank Dr Bríd Murphy and Dr Martin Quinn for placing CPA Ireland’s development and growth in the context of nine decades of change in Ireland”.

Photo L-R, Dr. Martin Quinn DCU Business School, Richard Bruton, Minister for Education and Skills, Nano Brennan, President CPA Ireland. Dr Brid Murphy DCU Business School

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DCU Business School welcomes University of Ljubljana MBA Participants to DCU

The Faculty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia is a triple crown Business School with which DCU Business School enjoys a close working relationship in teaching, research and school development.

Recently, participants from the University’s Executive MBA Programme enjoyed a very successful International week in Dublin.  A highlight of their visit was a Masterclass on Leadership with Professor Patrick Flood which they shared with our own Executive MBA students.This provided both groups of students with the opportunity to network and share perspectives on Leadership.

Dr John McMackin, Lecturer in Human Resource Management

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DCU Business School Students participate in Creative Minds Hackathon

A bunch of DCU Business School students took part of the Creative Minds Hackathon in association with the US Embassy and DCU Ryan Academy over the weekend, with some securing the winning ideas.

Three MINT students, Orla Ainsworth (MINT1), Jack Brophy (MINT1) and Ellen Harkin (MINT2) and Olaide Oladimeji (INTB1) were on one of the winning teams ‘Líonra (@LionraHq), a peer-to-peer platform that facilities refugee integration through skills exchange and knowledge sharing’. The aim of project is for newly located refugees to develop a network and create friends in their area through social events during an 8-week programme. Such events would be tailored to the refugees’ interests and would always include locals in the area to ensure that a network of friends is being developed. This also ensures the refugees work on developing their English.

Daniel Kyne from the group ‘Future Roots’ and Oisin Beaudelot from ‘RefReach’ both MINT1 students also took part.

This is only the start of their projects. Congratulations to all our students and wish them luck as they progress their ideas further!

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DCU Careers Service Accounting, Finance, Business & Law Fair 2016

DCU Accounting, Finance, Business & Law Fair 2016

Thursday, September 29th from 12-3pm in The Helix

This is your opportunity to meet top Irish and international employers who are keen to recruit DCU graduates. You will also have the chance to meet graduates who are now working with these companies and can tell you about their experiences in their new careers.

You don’t have to be a business student to attend! Many employers are looking for applications from students of all academic disciplines, so if you want to find out about pursuing a career in Accounting, Finance, Business or Law, don’t miss this event.

We look forward to seeing you there!

List of Exhibitors
Accenture,  A&L Goodbody,  ACCA,  Aer Lingus,  Aldi Stores (Ireland) Limited,  Apex Fund Services (Ireland) Limited,  Arthur Cox,  Aryzta,  Bank of Ireland,  BARBRI International (Friary Law),  BDO,  Calor Gas,  Chartered Accountants Ireland,  Crowe Horwath,  Cruncher,  DAA,  Davy Group,  DCU Business School Postgraduate,  DCU Post Graduate Law & Government,  Deloitte Ireland,  Deutsche Bank,  Dillon Eustace,  Duff & Phelps,  Enterprise Ireland,  ESB,  EU Careers,  EY,  Fidelity Investments,  First Derivatives plc,  Glanbia plc,  Goodbody Stockbrokers,  gradireland,  Grant Thornton,  HedgeServ,  Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard,  Irish Tax Institute,  Kerry Group,  KPMG,  LHM Casey McGrath,  Lidl Ireland Gmbh,  Local Enterprise Boards,  Maples and Calder,  Mason Hayes & Curran,  Matheson,  Mazars,  McCann FitzGerald,  Moore Stephens,  Musgraves,  P&G,  Pepper,  Public Appointments Service,  PwC,  RSM,  Russel Brennan Keane,  RyanAir,   Savills,  Sherry FitzGerald,  SMBC Aviation Capital,  Smyths Toys,  State Street,  Susquehanna International Group Limited,  The Institute of Banking

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DCU Business School MSc in Management enters World’s Top 90

DCU Business School is delighted to announce that it has been ranked for the first time by the Financial Times.

The ranking, which places the MSc in Management among the top 90 in the world, makes  DCU the youngest university to feature. As the Financial Times is considered one of the leading ranking system for business programmes it is a very significant achievement and another international endorsement of DCU’s quality as a young, dynamic university.

The MSc in Management at DCU is a well established programme with a reputation for excellent career development and already has a large community of successful alumni. It is renowned for its innovation and its creative approach to the postgraduate learning experience as seen in its multi-project Next Generation Management and the Practicum industry project.

Professor Anne Sinnott, Executive Dean of DCU Business School puts the success down to DCU Business School’s innovative approach to teaching and extensive industry links, “The ranking indicates that we are placed among the top universities in the world which deliver an MSc in Management Programme and further confirms our position as an innovative and quality business school, which prepares our graduates to be work-ready.”

This success also highlights the strong relationship between DCU Business School and its alumni as their endorsement was critical to this outcome.

DCU Business School is accredited by the AACSB which is the leading international accrediting body for Business Schools and the Financial Times MSc in Management ranking is another acknowledgement of the quality and success of its programmes and graduates.

For more information about the MSc in Management click here.

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My DCU Executive MBA Journey

My MBA journey: “It’s about horsepower not brain power and I think that anyone who doubts their ability to do it, my advice would be to go for it”

Taking on two years of part-time study, whilst working in a full time job and raising a young family is no small task, but as Barry Gavigan (40) found out, it can be very rewarding and can also lead to greater things, career wise.

Gavigan has a degree in engineering from the University of Limerick and works for British Telecom. With years of management experience under his belt, he decided to go for a new job but wasn’t even shortlisted for interview. He began to ask the question, why?

The feedback he was given showed he was pigeonholed into engineering. He decided to take back control and have his management experience formally recognised in the form of a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Dublin City University in 2013.

It wasn’t all plain sailing and he encountered many “peaks and troughs” along the way, but ultimately the hard work paid off.

“It’s a significant investment, both financially and of personal time. The family have to be brought in to it. I had a 4 year old, 2 year old and a newborn in the middle of it and I also changed jobs internally. It does involve a lot of personal sacrifice but it’s not one of these excruciating scenarios, and there are peaks and troughs, like your work life. The real ability is to cope with the workload and stay on top of it. It did mean sacrificing nights out and getting up early to study before the kids got up. It was a trade-off but good support from home was vital.”

As an MBA is usually paid for, or part paid for by the employer, it’s vital that they give full support. “My employer was extremely supportive. The MBA required a half day on Thursdays and other times outside of that, so the employer needs to be very committed towards it as well. British Telecom was very accommodating and flexible. It’s a two-way street, my commitment to them was that my work wouldn’t suffer and they got flexibility out of me in other ways.”

Gavigan says the MBA has broadened his mind and made him understand the value of carrying out a task in a certain way. “You recognise why best practice is used,” he says.

It has also got him a new job in another sector, something he says the MBA gave him the confidence to go for.

Peer learning is another key element of the course and he says the insight into other industries is invaluable. “People frankly and honestly share their experiences and rationale behind why a business has taken a certain line.”

He says he would advise anyone considering the masters to “stop procrastinating” and get on with applying.

“It’s about horsepower not brain power and I think that for anyone who doubts their ability to do it, my advice would be to go for it. Everyone who did it had busy lives and busy jobs but they all juggled it and managed it.”

This article was originally published in conversation with the Irish Times.

To learn more about how the DCU Executive MBA fits with your career goals, download our brochure here.

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DCU Global Business Student To Present Paper At UN Headquarters

A DCU student has been selected as one of 60 finalists who will present papers at the General Assembly of the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Luke McCluskey, a third year Global Business (Spain) student, said he was absolutely over the moon to have been chosen as a winner. The first two years of Luke’s degree were spent in DCU and he is currently studying in Madrid, Spain as part of the programme.

He said:

“I am absolutely over the moon to have been chosen as a winner. I am extremely grateful for everything DCU has given me and I would like to thank all the DCU lecturers I have had since I began my studies, without whom none of this would have been possible. DCU is a wonderful university, and I hope to represent it as best I can at the United Nations”.

The students will travel on an all-expenses-paid trip to New York at the end of this month to present action plans related to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They will attend a Global Youth Forum at Hofstra University, Hempstead New York to help prepare for their presentations.

Luke McCluskey is the first Irish person to win the Many Languages, One World competition which is run by ELS Language Services and the United Nations Academic Impact.

The competition received 3,635 entries from 165 countries around the world. Students had to submit essays written in one of the six UN official languages that was not their first language. Luke submitted his essay in Spanish and discussed the important role that multilingualism plays in fostering global citizenship and cultural understanding.

He was then selected as one of the 60 finalists following an interview process.

Click here to learn more about DCUBS’s Global Business courses.

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The Whats and Hows of Success in Family Business

A team within the DCU Centre for Family Business was commissioned by Fingal County Council to complete this case study. The Family Business Report, Lessons in Resilience and Success: a Snapshot of Multi-generational Family Businesses in Fingal, Dublin was produced by Martina Brophy and Eric Clinton. Their study follows twelve family businesses which are all multi-generational, family-owned and head-quartered in Fingal. Through conducting interviews with these individuals they were able to distinguish needs, challenges and strengths that come with running a family business.

 

“Family businesses are a complex and highly resourceful business type. Knowledge, learnings, resources, values and traditions pass across generations of a family: often, what is found are strategic resources and capabilities that can make a family firm distinctive and competitively advantaged,” writes Dr. Eric Clinton in this study.

 

The report provides a snapshot of 12 multi-generational family businesses in Fingal with family involvement ranging from second to fourth generation. Between them they employ over 3,500 and have turnovers ranging from €1.5 million to in excess of €100m per annum.

Business & Finance, Ireland’s leading business magazine, have covered the topic in an article, Talent in Family Business. Dr. Eric Clinton, Director of the DCU Centre for Family Business, covers a variety of topics within the topic of family business from how much family should get involved to how important it is to become a cohesive team.

Families have an effect in the businesses day-to-day happenings whether it is positive or negative. Thus, through the Family Business study Clinton and Brophy come together and provide information and recommendations on how to run a successful family run business.

 

Check out what the DCU Centre for Family Business is all about:

 

 

 

 

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DCU Executive MBA Student wins Special Award

Congratulations to Doireann Sheelan, a DCU Executive MBA student, who received a Special Award for her individual contribution at the recent MBA Association of Ireland Strategy Challenge competition, held recently at Waterford Institute of Technology.

Doireann was part of team, with fellow Executive MBA Students Kalum King, Neil Curran and James Cannon, who presented on the case study “Turkish Airlines – Widen Your World”. While they did not win the competition (the prize went to WIT) they acquitted themselves admirably receiving great praise from the judges for the depth of their analysis.

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DCU Executive MBA Team (Kalum King, Neil Curran and James Cannon)

This annual competition, hosted by the MBA Association of Ireland (MBAAI), attracts entrants from all the universities and institutes of technology in Ireland that run MBA programmes. Peter McNamara, Professor of Management & Head of School at NUI Maynooth, and Chairperson of the competition, commented: “All four of the teams did a very good job of analysing the case and making recommendations, especially under considerable time pressure.”

The DCU Executive MBA is now recruiting ambitious participants for September 2016.

For more information, visit postgrad.dcu.ie/mba or  email mba@dcu.ie.

 

Pictured is the DCU MBA team with the MBA Association of Ireland President Alacoque McMenamin,

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DCU MBA Blog: Year 1 Experience

In this blog, Kalum King (MBA1) shares his experience of year 1 of the DCU Executive MBA programme:

With the first year of the MBA at DCU now drawing to a close, it feels like the perfect time to reflect on the journey I have been through since the course commenced in September 2015. Like many, I was intrigued by the prospect of what the MBA program at DCU could offer me in terms of knowledge and experience.

My MBA journey commenced with an ‘Induction’ in early September. After the initial meeting with the rest of the class it was clear to me that this was going to be a unique opportunity for us all and would provide an excellent opportunity to learn from each other in a very comfortable but challenging learning environment.

I had often heard that the MBA experience is not just about the lectures, the assignments and exams, but that a key aspect of the experience is the interaction and knowledge sharing with your fellow students. The mix of personalities and calibre of my fellow students was impressive and they had experience within a wide range of industries from the armed forces to pharmaceuticals. The ‘Induction’ was a great way for everyone to transition onto the course and a great opportunity to get to know the group you would be spending the next two years with.

With the ‘Induction’ now over and everyone now comfortable (ish!) with referencing, so began the Semester 1 modules of Marketing, Organisational Behaviour & Change and Accounting for Decision Making. Marketing was a very enjoyable and interesting module, and probably the one I learnt the most from in terms of practical application to the business I work for. A key aspect of this module was a group presentation to be delivered to the lecturer and the rest of the class. My group found ourselves tackling the subject of ‘Digital Technology in the Luxury Goods Market’ and for which we scored relatively well on. Not bad I thought for a group that consisted of people from a range of industries that included public sector, pharmaceuticals and building materials! Straight away the class found themselves being challenged in a healthy way that would ultimately enhance our knowledge base of the subject.

Organisational Behaviour & Change was next up covering key business concepts such as, organisational culture, transformational leadership and (everybody’s favourite!) power. The delivery of this topic by the lecturer was a key highlight for the class. The lecturer’s friendly and natural teaching style really brought the course to life for us all and was very enjoyable indeed.

As a Chartered Accountant myself and having completed many years of study on the subject I must admit I wasn’t thrilled by the prospect of the Accounting for Decision Making module. However, I was impressed by the lecturer’s ability to break down difficult accounting concepts into bite-size chunks for the class and I felt the class responded very well to this approach. I think everyone made it through the class okay!

A couple of exams in January 2016 brought Semester 1 to a close and after a short break Semester 2 commenced.

The topics in Semester 2 included Business Economics, Business Strategy and Managing People & Organisations. Business Economics was an extremely interesting module but highly challenging as well, as we all tried to get our heads round the intricacies of the Irish and Global economy (and this was before ‘Brexit’ !!).

Within the Business Strategy module the class encountered what must be considered as one of the most unique and effective learning tools, known as the ‘Airline Simulation’. This simulation exercise consisted of the groups competing against each other by setting up an airline company (and strategy) and trying to effectively deliver on the company’s strategy within the simulation itself. It really is a brilliant experience and gave opportunity for some groups to obtain ‘bragging rights’ (all in good humour of course!) which I felt added to the overall learning experience.

The final module was Managing People & Organisations which I felt really developed my understanding and thinking process in relation to the topic. By the end of the module I had definitely become a firm supporter of the emerging ‘Evidence Based’ approach to the subject.

I must also mention the fantastic ‘Residency Weekend’ as part of the Enterprise Engagement module. In February 2016 we visited a number of companies in Cork which was a great experience. The companies we visited included Dairygold, Wisetek and Voxpro who kindly facilitated a tour and visit from the class which was a great opportunity for us all and very much appreciated.

Overall, I would describe my experience of the MBA program at DCU as unique, challenging and thoroughly enjoyable. Throughout my first year I have been hugely impressed by the high quality of the program and the overall learning experience from the lecturers to the interaction with my fellow students.

Finally, I would encourage anyone intrigued by what an MBA program can offer to attend one of the ‘taster’ courses held in the DCU Business School. I expect you will be as impressed as I was and I look forward to seeing you next year.

– Kalum King, MBA1

Interested in learning more about our Executive MBA programme? Download our brochure here

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