Programme Outline
The Trinity MBA programme is organised as a set of five Modules, each with a different theme. These themes support the Company Project, the capstone of the Programme, and supported by coursework.
- Module 1- Programme Orientation
- Module 2 - Industry Analysis for Decision Making
- Module 3 - Company Analysis: Managing the Business Functions
- Module 4 - Managing Strategically: Issue identification and analysis
- Module 5 - The Company Project
Module themes are linked explicitly to the stages of the Company Project. As such, the theme for Module 2 supports the Industry Analysis Stage of the project; that for Module 3 supports the Company Analysis & Issue Identification Stage; that for Module 4 supports the Issue Analysis Stages. This support is derived from the integration of the courses taught during the Modules, both with each other and with the needs of the Project Stages.
MODULE 1 - Programme Orientation (Last week of September)
The objective of module 1 is to introduce the participants to the Programme, to College, to the faculty and to each other. These critical objectives are achieved through a series of classroom and group activities which address both the substance of the Programme and the fundamental learning skills needed to benefit from the Programme.
MODULE 2 - Industry Analysis for Decision Making (September-December)
The coursework in module 2 is divided into four groups or streams: core areas of business, the environment of business, fundamental skills, and, the Company Project. Brief summaries of the courses follow.
Core Areas of Business
- Accounting and Financial Management:
This course is the first of five in the area of Financial Management & Accounting. The objective is to give participants a working knowledge of the fundamentals of accounting and finance, including basic financial analysis of business accounts and an understanding of the relevance of capital structure and cash flow to the financial viability of business. - Corporate Finance I:
This course is the second of five in the area of Financial Management & Accounting. The course introduces major topics, tools and techniques for analysis in corporate finance. The objective is to enable participants to understand key financial concepts in order to view business decisions from a financial perspective and to understand the operations of financial markets. - Marketing I:
This course is the first of two in the area of Marketing Management. The course provides a general introduction to the principles of marketing, marketing planning and management. - People & Organisations:
This course is the first of two in the area of People & Organisations. The course deals with the structure, functioning and behaviour within organisations.
The Environment of Business
- Managerial Economics:
This course is the first of three in the area of Economics. the course provides and analysis of the market system, with discussion of the underlying determinants of supply and demand, the role of the firm, the effects of competition on economic performance and the role of government in a modern economy. - Business in Society
This course explores the continuous political and social pressures that business face with an environmental analysis framework. Issues explored include economic competition and strategic refocusing of businesses, changing ethical expectations and human values, the changing role of government's ecological and natural resources concerns and the transformational role of technology.
Fundamental Skills
- Data Analysis:
This course stands alone in its area. The course deals with data collection, description and presentation; estimation, hypothesis testing and regression; time series analysis and quality control.
Company Project
- Case Days:
The series of case study days in module 2 places special demands on the application and practice of analytical skills in industry and competitive analyses. The case days focus attention on development of skills in action research, group and time management, participation, organisational norm setting, and performance management.
MODULE 3 - Company Analysis: Managing the Business Functions (January-March)
The coursework in module 3 is divided into three groups or streams: core areas of business: the environment of business; and the Company Project. Brief summaries of the courses follow.
- Operations Strategy
The course focuses on designing the operations systems to deliver; running the operation through managing inventory, capacity, quality and the supply chain; and improving the operations for gains in customer service and productivity. - Applied Marketing:
This course is the second of two in the area of Marketing Management. The objective is to give participants an understanding of contemporary issues in marketing management, including relationship marketing, customer loyalty and electronic commerce. - IT Enabled Change:
This course is the first of two in the area of IS and IT. The objectives are to enable participants to build an understanding of the fundamentals of information technology, which form the basis of computer-based information systems; to establish a framework for classifying IS in business & management, and to explore the wide variety of systems today. - Human Resource Management:
The course deals with the underlying theories, practice and strategies in human resource management.
MODULE 4 - Managing Strategically: Issue identification and analysis(April-May)
The coursework in module 4 is divided into four groups or streams; core areas of business, the environment of business, fundamental skills, and the Company Project. Brief summaries of the courses follow.
Core Areas of Business
- Strategic Management:
This course builds on the Company Project case days. The course deals with an externally-oriented approach to strategic management. The perspective is that of the strategist, the general manager or the CEO. The issues confronted concern the identification and choice of environment in which the company will compete; the development of a sustainable competitive advantage; and the management of the related organisational processes. - Corporate Finance II:
This course is the fourth of five in the area of Financial Management & Accounting. The objective is to give participants an understanding of a range of issues of concern to CFOs from an international perspective. - Behaviour & Information Technology:
This course is the second of two in the area of IS & IT. The course focuses on the behavioural patterns of distinct social groups that influence the process of introducing IT. Such a focus challenges the dominant logic that attends to economic and technical considerations, establishes a broader behavioural and organisational agenda, and identifies essential challenges for executive management in the context of exploiting IT to enhance strategic performance. - International Financial Statement Analysis:
This course is the fifth of five in the area of Financial Management & Accounting. The objectives are to give participants an understanding of the principles underlying the construction of financial statement for international corporations; the regulatory environment surrounding financial reporting, and enable them to appraise the financial strengths and weaknesses of companies through analysis of published financial reports.
The Environment of Business
- Applied Business Law:
This course is the only one in the area. The course aims to encourage participants to take a critical approach toward law and litigation. Issues include compensation criteria in civil litigation, international product liability, environmental litigation, commercial warfare and labour relations.
Company Project
- Organisational Development:
The series of seminars introduces participants to a systemic framework for understanding the behaviour of people in organisations, how change takes place on different levels of human systems, and process consultation as an approach to helping people to understand and manage their own change processes. - Company Project:
Company Analysis and Issue Identification presentations and reports
Stage II is the company analysis stage which requires in-depth analysis of the company's status in all the core areas of business. Presentations and reports of stage II are completed during module 4. Subsequently, a comparison between the stage I industry analysis with the stage II company analysis is completed to uncover issues that are identified for Stage III. Stage III presentations and reports are completed in module 4.
MODULE 5 - The Company Project (May-August)
The coursework in module 5 is dominated by the completion of the Company Project. As part of the Company Project, general managers from a variety of organisations lead a series of seminars focused on their experiences in managing change in their organisations. These are two taught courses during modules namely Business Planning and Entrepreneurship.
Company Project
- Company Project - Issue Analysis and Recommendations Presentations, Report, and Final Reports:
In Stages IV a chosen issue is analysed in-depth and presented with a report during this module. Subsequently, Stage V recommendations for practical action are also completed in module 5 in presentation and report. Afterward, a culmination of information from the five Company Project stages compiled into one Final Report for submission on the last day of the Programme. These are accompanied by Individual and Group Analysis essays. - Summer Seminar Series:
The series explores the execution of strategies of change in organisations, from the perspective of the General Manager. This timing of the Series is crucial, coming as it does near the end of the term when groups are completing their Company Projects, and individuals are actively preparing for the next phase of their careers.
Fundamental Skills
- Personal Research Essay:
The Research Essay is completed by individual participants, exploring a topic in a specific interest of their choice. The essay requires participants to formulate a research question, identify writings in the area, critically review these writing and draw substantive conclusions based on their reading. - Interview Skills:
Participants are invited to prepare a CV in response to an advertisement for a position of interest. Each participant is interviewed by a professional recruiter, drawn from the Trinity Business Alumni, and feedback is provided.
International Week
Each year the Trinity MBA class spends a week at the Louvain Institute for Ireland in Europe, as part of a project designed to introduce the students to the business contexts and implications of the European Union.
Masterclass Series
The Masterclass Series provides an opportunity to meet with some of Ireland’s top managers and Chief Executives, working both in Ireland and abroad, in Irish and global businesses, and ‘thought leaders’ working in other areas of excellence.
It gives an opportunity to question these top-class practitioners on their business strategies, their organisational change agendas and experiences, and their personal leadership challenges, or, in the case of other areas of excellence, on the development of their ‘thought leadership’ capacities.
The Masterclass also introduces the MBA students to an influential group of opinion-formers in Irish and global corporations, and as such is a key means of establishing the value of the Trinity MBA in the eyes of the global business community.
The sessions on business, and frequently the specialist sessions also, provide the MBA students with an outstanding opportunity to test the theories and models they have learned during the year against the practices of these top practitioners.