Company Project
Linking the Course Content with the practical world of management
Highly valued hallmark features of the Trinity MBA are the in-depth company projects. Over the academic year the students, in small teams, are required to complete three “in-company” projects. This involves working with blue chip corporates in a major company project, innovative high potential start up companies and social entrepreneurship organisations. These projects integrate the theoretical coursework with action learning around critical issues in live organisations. This is achieved through direct interaction with senior executives who are wrestling with strategic issues within those organisations. The process grounds in reality the practical application of the knowledge acquired during the programme. This means that although they have taken a year out to study for their MBA our students remain immersed in the real world of business during that year.
There are five stages through which the participants must work with their assigned company:
Stage 1 |
Industry Analysis |
Assessing the competitive and market forces at work |
Stage 2 |
Company Analysis |
Assessing the company's strengths, weaknesses and competencies |
| Stage 3 | Issue Identification | Comparison of company's competitive status with the industry's dynamics |
Stage 4 |
Issue Analysis |
In-depth analysis of a particular strategic issue |
Stage 5 |
Recommendations |
Practical, actionable, affordable recommendations to resolve the issue analysed |
During these stages the groups are guided by a former lead partner from a major international consultancy group. For each of the five stages, members of each group are required to orally present their findings initially to faculty of the Trinity School Of Business and then to management of the company. Written reports are also submitted at each stage to the faculty and the company.
What Do Participating Companies Say?
The feedback that we have received from both alumni and the companies involved with these research projects has been very positive. Over 80 projects have been undertaken to date in organisations as diverse as Bank of Ireland, AIB, ESB, TSB, Intel, Brown Thomas, Fones Direct, Irish Life, Mitsubishi Ireland, Cantrell & Cochrane, Project Management Group, AXA Insurances, Arnotts, GE Capital, Fujitsu Consulting, Irish Ferries, Diageo, Independent News & Media, Oglivy & Mather, Clerys , Oracle and Eircom Broadband. Some comments from participating organisations:
- "I am delighted that we participated in the programme and I believe that the recommendations which emerged will, when implemented, achieve the desired result."
- "The presentation of results and recommendations to senior management and the board were most impressive and challenging ... we will reap the benefit of their endeavours."
- "Approach and analysis top class...."
- "..used their initiative and developed an excellent perspective on the problem."
- "...they made a serious 'live' contribution to our debate."
- "We have piloted all their suggestions even before their final recommendations and found that they produced results for us."