Designed for ambitious, globally minded students aspiring to excel in international business, the UCD Smurfit School joint MSc in International Management and CEMS Master’s in Management (MIM) joint degree is devised by academic and business leaders, bridging university education and business expertise.
UCD Smurfit School is the only business school in Ireland to offer this unique degree programme, says academic director associate professor Andrew Keating. “CEMS is a global alliance of 33 leading business schools from across Europe and around the world,” he says. “It is focused on international management excellence and member schools are either the best or among the best in their countries and include the London School of Economics, St Gallen Business School in Switzerland, the Bocconi School of Management in Milan and Esade Business School in Barcelona.”
The MIM degree is the product of collaboration between schools in the network, he continues. “The aim is to help shape business leaders of the future. Graduates have an international outlook and are well-trained in data and technology leadership. It’s really about responsible management – our graduates understand their responsibility to themselves, to business, and to wider society and the role of business in society.”
Graduates of the programme are innovative and evidence-based problem solvers, he adds. “They are reflective and resilient leaders who have the creative intelligence to think on their feet and are able to deal with change. None of them have any problems getting jobs.”
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Each school in the network runs its own programme, but there are several common components. “These include global strategy, global leadership and an applied business project,” says Keating. “Being part of this network is really positive. We are able to harness the power of the other 32 really excellent business schools for continuous development and improvement.”
A key feature of the programme is that students spend a trimester abroad in one of the 32 other CEMS partner schools. They spend another trimester in their home school, where they also complete their final business research thesis project, which can also be done remotely. There is also a mandatory internship of a minimum of eight weeks.
Keating explains that students attending UCD for the first trimester complete a block seminar, the CEMS core global strategy module, and two option modules across a range of subject areas. Students who take the trimester at a CEMS partner school complete that school’s curriculum.
Students attending UCD for the second trimester complete a global citizenship seminar, the CEMS core global leadership module, a business project and one option module, which includes the CEMS model United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) module. UCD Smurfit School is one of a limited number of CEMS schools offering this option.
“The UNFCCC is the parent treaty for the annual COP meetings,” he notes. “It’s a COP simulation developed in St Gallen. Eleven schools take part and each year 150 to 200 students participate and learn about sustainability, environmental economics, environmental science and so on. They are assigned countries and spend two days negotiating an agreement. It builds understanding of climate change and the COP process.”
There is also a very strong practical element with students learning applied skills through seminars and company visits. “They learn about working in teams and leadership and other practical skills to help them in their future careers.”
The international internship sees students turn their academic experience into a professional and multicultural work experience before they graduate. The internships usually take place at one of the CEMS network of more than 70 corporate partners. These are mainly multinational firms spanning a broad range of sectors, including consulting, technology, financial services, automotive, pharma and more.
“These companies are very interested in hiring our graduates,” says Keating. “They run applied skills seminars and big global events, including a careers forum every year.”
The language element is also important. “All students have to be fluent in English and need to have a high level of fluency in a second language. They also need a third language at any level. Most students here are fluent in three languages. Irish also counts as a language. Students on the programme can take a range of languages at the UCD Centre for English and Global Languages.”
The programme is primarily aimed at internationally minded students aged between 21 and 25 with a 2:1 or better in a business or related degree, Keating points out. “They tend to be very highly motivated, high achievers who want to pursue leadership roles in international business. UCD differentiates itself by keeping the cohort relatively small. We could fill it many times over, but we keep it to around 50 high-performing students every year. The small class size means the students get to know each other very well. It’s very international and we have 14 different nationalities in the group at the moment. If you are a young person interested in international business, this is the programme for you. It opens the world for you.”
- Applications for UCD Smurfit School joint MSc in International Management and CEMS Master’s in Management are now open at smurfitschool.ie
