Guide to business courses

ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE

Higher Certificate in Business and Accounting (Level 6)
IT Tallaght Two years full-time (with part-time options)

This programme provides grounding in such core business subjects as financial accounting, business administration, management accounting, economics and personal finance. It also places an emphasis on a practical application of the course content.

Graduates can progress to the ordinary degree programme and the honours degree and can go on to gain exemptions from the professional exams from all the main accounting bodies in Ireland.

BSc in Accounting and Finance
Dublin Institute of Technology Three years, full-time

This offers students a clear route into accountancy practice. Students can choose to spend their third year abroad to gain additional experience (making it a four- year programme). It is one of only a small number of undergraduate degrees in accounting that attract the maximum exemptions from one of the bigger accountancy bodies, the ACCA – based on a student’s final results and also on the specific modules studied.

Students engage in critical analysis, apply concepts to practice, engage in independent research, contribute to team work and communicate through problem-solving, case studies, projects, preparation of academic papers, group work and formal lectures with tutorial support.

Bachelor of Business (Honours) in Finance and Investment
Institute of Technology Sligo Four years, full-time
This degree programme prepares graduates for a variety of roles in the financial sector, such as in funds, insurance, banking and accounting. Core subjects include financial reporting, investment funds, management accounting, and information technology.

Students can also choose to take modules in marketing, organisational behaviour, languages and politics. Students can have a work placement in third year or may study abroad for one semester in one of IT Sligo’s European partner institutes.

Professional Diploma in Accounting
Dublin City University Eight months, full-time

A conversion course providing non-business graduates with a solid foundation in accounting and related disciplines, bringing them up to the standard needed for the advanced examinations of professional accountancy and taxation bodies. Subjects include financial accounting, taxation, financial management, management accounting and law.

MSc in Aviation Finance
University College Dublin One year full-time or two years part-time.

This is a new MSc course that aims to advance students’ understanding of all aspects of aviation finance, with specific focus on the practical features of global aviation markets. It encourages students to develop creative and analytical approaches to problem-solving in the aviation finance and leasing sphere, and to enhance interpersonal and leadership skills. Areas such as risk assessment and aircraft valuation, relevant accounting and taxation issues, leasing developments and insurance applications are studied, to equip graduates for a career in the fast-growing aircraft and airline financing industry in Ireland. MSc in Management Accounting University College Cork One year, full-time

This is open to honours graduates from a variety of backgrounds to train as management accounting professionals. It combines technical skills in accounting and business analysis, with developing key competences in team work, business acumen, effective communication and critical thinking. The course is aligned with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountings (CIMA) syllabus and qualification. There are modules on developing independent research skills and the lifelong learning practices required of accounting professionals.

BUSINESS STUDIES

Higher Certificate in Business (Level 6)
Cork Institute of Technology Two years, full-time

Aimed at mature students who want to return to education and find an accessible entry level to a third-level qualification in business studies. Subjects include economics, financial accounting, IT, management, legal studies and marketing.

Business through Arts
Maynooth University Three years, full-time

The official title is BA Arts Joint Honours – Business, but this is essentially a way for students to do a course with one half business and the other half one of a huge number of arts subjects, such as modern languages, humanities and social sciences. Students learn the basics of business, including management, marketing, IT and both functional and strategic aspects of business, and depending on first-year performance, may transfer into a single honours business programme after first year, such as the BBS Business and Management. Students can also add another year to their BA and take a year abroad with partner universities.

Bachelor of Business (Hons) with Entrepreneurship
Galway campus GMIT Four years, full-time

A broad business programme with the opportunity to specialise after second year in a range of areas. In addition to business subjects, the focus is on the development of entrepreneurial thinking, innovation and creativity. Real-world skills’ development and experiences are a focus, as are practical skills relevant to entrepreneurs.

Bachelor of Business (Level 7 or 8)
Institute of Technology Tralee

Both the ordinary and honours Bachelor of Business degrees offer a grounding in the principles and practice of finance, marketing (including digital media and social marketing), management, creative problem solving and information technology. Students spend a semester in third year on work experience or applied industrial practice, either in Ireland or abroad.

BA (Hons) in Business Studies Independent Colleges Dublin Three years, full-time and part-time For this honours degree, students can do a general programme or specialise in accounting and finance, marketing or human resources management. The theory is underpinned by opportunities to learn through experience, including case studies, team learning projects and individual research.

Bachelor (Hons) of Commerce
NUI Galway Three years, full-time

This degree programme gives students a solid foundation in a broad range of business subjects, allowing them to specialise in one of four fields: accounting, business information systems, marketing, economics or human resource management. The three-year degree can be extended to four years where students spend a year of study abroad or one semester abroad and one semester on work placement in Ireland. There are over 90 subjects on offer, including languages and law, and students can also take skills-based modules to develop workplace, interpersonal and lifelong skills.

BA in International Business
University of Limerick Four years, full-time

This programme’s highly flexible curriculum helps students understand how business decisions are taken in a globalised world shaped by political, social and legal issues. The range of business modules include economics, marketing, organisational behaviour, human resources, management, accounting, communications, risk and insurance. Modules are also offered in politics, sociology, history, cultural studies and law, plus a language option in French, German, Spanish or Japanese. An international study or work placement for a full academic year is part of the programme.

Masters of Business (taught)
Cork Institute of Technology Two years, part-time

The aim of this course is to help business graduates develop skills in one of four fields of knowledge: accounting, information systems, enterprise or marketing. Students are required to adopt innovative and creative approaches to business-related issues and analyse critical business and global management problems in a national and international context.

MSc in Entrepreneurship
National College of Ireland Two years part-time, one year full-time

A new course that will look at what makes an organisation or individual entrepreneurial and at the different stages of the entrepreneurial process, such as creativity, innovation and the creation of an enterprise. The course also features an Enterprise Simulation game where students can experience some of the highs and lows of a start-up business in a simulated business environment. With guest lectures from entrepreneurs sharing their story.

BUSINESS WITH TECHNOLOGY

Higher Certificate in Business with Administration and ICT Skills (Level 6)
GMIT Two years, full-time

This course offers an understanding of modern IT in an organisational context and develops a high level of competency in the use of business applications software. Students learn how various elements of ICT such as the integration of telecommunications, computers, software applications and storage enable business users in an administrative environment to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information. It shows how information technology complements the practical and functional areas of business and management.

BA (Hons) in Business Information Systems (Cloud Computing Stream)
Dublin Business School Three years, full-time, four years part-time.

Students learn about the critical role and importance of information technology at all levels in organisations, and receive a grounding in systems analysis and design, database development, programming, web design and network management techniques. Subjects include maths and statistics, entrepreneurship and cloud computing. Graduates will be able to guide organisations to align their IT strategies to take advantage of cloud computing.

MSc IT Enabled Innovation
Maynooth University Two years, part-time

This course provides a broad understanding of IT-enabled innovation including different types of innovation and multiple stages of the innovation process. The course develops the capacity for participants to understand how IT operates both as a function and as a key interrelated resource in an organisational context. This involves understanding people, work processes, relationships, organisation structures and strategies, and how these impact on and are impacted by IT.

MSc Business Analytics
NUI Galway One year, full-time

A specialist course assisting students in blending their existing talents with the technological skills and business knowledge needed to use and manage big data and business analytics in modern knowledge-based organisations. Subjects include business applications programming, enterprise systems, database systems, data science and big data analytics.

MSc in Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Design
University College Dublin Two years, part-time

A new part-time course designed for science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) graduates with a minimum of three years’ work experience. The course combines the academic rigour and theoretical grounding of a traditional master’s with extensive practical experience involving the creation of actual new ventures or new lines of business inside a firm. Best suited to those with a strong STEM foundation and considerable work experience who want to play a leading role in creating new knowledge-based businesses.

MANAGEMENT

BBS in Retail Management
Letterkenny IT Three years, part-time

An ordinary (level 7) degree in conjunction with Retail Ireland Skillnet providing students with the skills, knowledge and competence to become professional retail managers. Subjects include human resource management, business information systems, financial accounting, retail marketing and supply chain management.

BSc Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Dublin Institute of Technology Four years, full-time

Offering a thorough understanding of business and management with a focus on the function of the supply chain in business processes and how that can advance the strategic objectives of an organisation. It equips graduates for roles in manufacturing, purchasing and procurement, quality management, inventory and materials management, forecasting and planning, business and systems analyst, operations and production management, retail support, transport and logistics, consultancy and research.

BA in International Hospitality and Tourism Management
Institute of Technology Tallaght Three or four years, full-time

The ordinary or honours degree aims to help graduates pursue careers in the fast-growing international hospitality and tourism management sectors, including hospitality companies, transport and tour operators, destination and event management companies, state agencies and consulting companies at home and abroad. Students have six-month placement in Ireland or overseas and the opportunity to study French, German or Spanish. Subjects include web design and e-business, media planning, procurement, food and drink tourism, corporate social responsibility, entrepreneurship and sustainable tourism policy and planning.

BA in Sports Management and Coaching
Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown Three (Ordinary) or four years (Hons), full time

A course designed to teach all the skills of sports management and coaching techniques combined with a study of the fundamentals of business and enterprise. Subjects include sports management, accounting, anatomy and physiology, business information systems, marketing and financial management. Graduates can go on to become coaches and trainers or get involved in the management and marketing of sportspeople, events or facilities or set up a sports, fitness or leisure business. You’ll need to be reasonably fit. MSc in Management (Aviation Leadership) Dublin City University Two years, part-time

One of a number of new programmes designed specifically for professionals in the aviation sector here, this part-time executive programme will have elements delivered at Dublin airport and at the Dublin Airport Authority’s academy facility at Castlemoate House. Subjects include aviation leadership and governance, aerodrome operations management, leadership and change.

MBS in Innovation and Leadership
Institute of Technology Letterkenny Two years, part-time

Designed for managers in private sector regional industries to help build their business improvement and innovation skills. As well as covering subjects such as knowledge management, corporate governance, managing change and new product development, the course also focuses on applying these skills at a practical level through workshops and project work.

Executive MBA
Trinity College Dublin Two years, part-time

Tailored for full-time professionals, this high-ranking MBA is one of the oldest, having recently celebrated its 50th year. It also hosts, on average, 20 different nationalities within the 40-strong class each year. Subjects include accounting, HR management, economics, IT management, international finance and organisational behaviour. Students get the opportunity to apply their skills during the programme by engaging with selected social entrepreneurs, SMEs and large blue-chip and multinational firms on various projects.

MSc in Human Resource Management
Dublin Institute of Technology Two years, part-time

A new postgraduate programme aimed at graduates who already have a bachelor degree in a related discipline, such as HRM, business, psychology, sociology and law. Candidates with ordinary level degrees in related disciplines and appropriate work experience may also be considered as non-standard applicants. Graduates develop the knowledge and skills necessary to advance their career as a human resource management professional in a national and international context.

MSc in Risk Management and Insurance
University of Limerick One year, full-time

This programme offers a blend of insurance, risk management and financial services content to help graduates develop their careers in the insurance sector here. Participants can expect to develop the technical capacity, objective reasoning and contextual overview for roles within the growth areas of risk management and insurance. The programme gives students an understanding of prominent risk exposure models and their regulatory context.

MSc International Management
Trinity College Dublin One year, full-time

A high-ranking course, designed for graduates with little or no management experience but who wish to pursue international careers, work within multinational corporations or for SMEs targeting global markets, or set up their own global exporting companies. The programme attracts a particularly wide range of international students. Subjects include international business, cross-culture management, global supply chain management and the economics of global markets. Students can tailor their programmes to focus on marketing, social entrepreneurship or international finance. There is also an opportunity for a residency programme at Fudan University in Shanghai that focuses on Chinese business.

Doctorate of Business Administration
Waterford IT Four years, part-time

This relatively new programme is a post-master’s qualification aimed at senior managers in the public and private sectors. It incorporates a number of campus-based workshops, physical and virtual informal meetings, and independent research. Candidates write a series of academic papers on a topic of choice that would form the basis of a thesis document, which is orally defended at the final stage of the doctoral process. Subjects include reputation management in the public sector, network learning, emotional intelligence skills in accountants, leadership styles and resilience in professional managers.

MARKETING

Certificate in Digital Marketing
Dundalk IT One year, part-time

This popular programme allows students to explore the key concepts, theories and skills needed to develop effectively as an online media specialist. Subjects include e-business, marketing, digital marketing, graphic design and editing and marketing communications.

Diploma in National and International Selling
National College of Ireland One year, part-time

A one year course delivered in partnership with the Sales Institute of Ireland and aimed at salespeople looking to build a successful career in national and international sales. The course will help students understand areas such as negotiation, communications, account management and social media.

BA (Hons) in Advertising and Marketing Communications
Institute of Technology Tallaght Four years, full-time

A practical course that equips students with skills in social media marketing, event management, video production and campaign development and management. The emphasis is on exposing students to real scenarios as evidenced in year four of the programme, when students work in teams and create a campaign for a real-life client. Students also have the option to spend a few weeks on work experience in their fourth year.

MSC in Marketing (Digital Media stream)
Dublin Business School One year full-time or two years part-time

A course designed for graduates who want to move ahead in the marketing and digital media sector. The core subjects include strategic marketing management, research methods, digital media and web marketing practice.