Curriculum

Get to know the Trinity community and your MBA classmates in the first of two campus immersion weeks in Dublin. Kick start your MBA journey with a dedicated week of onboarding activity. Learn how to operate successfully, both in teams and remotely. Meet your career support specialists and master the online learning platform. Sample modules include: Navigating online learning, Team Building, Wellbeing, Working in Global Virtual Teams, Personal and Professional development, Careers and Support. The Campus Immersion Week will also focus on preparing students for their company projects.

The success of business enterprises is measured by their financial performance and their financial strength. Learn how to communicate effectively in both accounting and financial language

On successful completion of this module the student should be able to

• Explain the key components of balance sheets, income statements and cash flow statements
• Undertake financial analysis of financial statements and identify key trends in performance and financial position of commercial undertakings
• Construct financial statements and do projections in support of business plans Identify the deficiencies in accounting statements and understand the impact of accounting standards on them
• Explain the relation between risk and return and the importance of managing this relation in corporate decision-making

This module introduces students to best practice across all the functions of organisation and develops their analytical & diagnostic skills so they will become competent at integrated strategic analyses.

• Describe the historical and theoretical basis of organisation design and development and their context in terms of value and contribution to organisational life
• Demonstrate a systematic understanding of organisation structures, functions and performance in both theory and practice
• Characterise different organisation types with their respective contexts, structures and management styles, and explain their characteristics, strengths and weaknesses
• Apply models analytically and diagnostically, to identify and apply available design options regarding organisational structures and relationships
• Processes and systems that need to be in place to maintain such structures and relationships, and evaluation of same

The module is designed to develop strategic leadership capabilities through the exploration of models and frameworks that take a holistic perspective on the organisation. Capabilities will be developed through the application of these frameworks and constructs to business situations

On successful completion of this module, the student should be able to:

• Differentiate between corporate, business and functional strategies
• Appreciate Describe the complexities involved in the strategy process
• Evaluate the different strategic challenges facing profit seeking organisations and not-for-profit organisations
• Develop competitive and corporate strategies for a given organisation
• Critically apply various strategic management concepts and techniques
• Explain strategic change processes from a complex systems perspective

The objective of this module is to introduce students to the concepts of business ethics and corporate responsibility, and to illustrate – through theoretical and practical examples – why these concepts are critical to business success in the 21st century.

On successful completion of this module, the student should be able to:

• Explain the main concepts related to business ethics and corporate responsibility
• Describe the relevance of business ethics and corporate responsibility in a professional environment
• Apply relevant theories to ethical decision making
• Analyse and assess the ethics management and corporate responsibility practices of organisations
• Analyse and assess the corporate governance performance of companies in terms of the functioning and composition of the board

The module will support students with developing deeper insights into their own strengths and values and crystallise their individual perspective on sustainable leadership. This will enable students to re-frame their role as leader and respond to the needs and expectations of key stakeholder groups.  It will emphasise the role of teams in organisations and consider the key concepts of systemic thinking and transformational organisational change. 

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:

• Describe sustainable leadership and the attributes of a high-performance team
• Evaluate the role of leadership and teams in the performance of organisations
• Determine the challenges facing today’s leader and provide examples of how their leadership skills and knowledge will overcome them
• Critically apply the tool and techniques from the module, along with reflective insights gained to strengthen their leadership understanding and capabilities
• Reflect on personal and professional growth and demonstrate how reflection has been central to the development of their leadership model and approach to teamwork
• Create and communicate their signature approach to sustainable leadership and illustrate how their leadership works in practice and integrates a sound knowledge of the appropriate literature

This module is concerned with understanding the principles of marketing strategy and with acknowledging the changing nature of marketing in the digital era. While laying out the principles of building an organisation’s marketing strategy, this course aims to help attendants to grasp the full extent of the digital revolution and comprehend the implications for entrepreneurs, marketers, brand managers and consumers.

On successful completion of this module, the student should be able to:

• Acknowledge and address the complexities involved in planning and implementing on organization’s marketing strategy
• Explain the core marketing strategies of competing through managing customer relationships, managing customer service, branding and managing innovation
• To be competent in the use of various digital marketing techniques and tactics as well as a full appreciation of the key issues within digital marketing strategy development and implementation
• To practice the discipline of analysing marketing problems or opportunities, identifying and evaluating alternative solutions and implementing marketing plans

This module will provide a framework to successfully implement analytics and Big Data in an organization. In this framework we will discuss how to acquire data, how to analyse this data and how to transform the resulting insights into strategic, tactical and operational actions.

On successful completion of this module, the student should be able to:

• Develop an analytical strategy for an organisation
• Manage a big data team and project
• Identify analytical techniques and technology for specific business cases
• Adjust the processes and culture in their company in such a way that it facilitates data driven decision making
• Communicate with data scientists and data engineers

This module aims to provide an introduction to best practice modern economics. It outlines those elements of the subject that contribute to informed citizenship and good quality business decision-making in the context of changing global, European and national economic environments.
Having completed this module, you should be able to:

• Explain and apply basic economic terminology;
• Formulate and address economic and public policy issues using the language and approach of economics;
• Articulate economic reasoning and results to others.

The objective of this module is to introduce the foundations of operations and supply chain management as well as explore the current opportunities and challenges companies face in managing their operations and supply chains.  

On successful completion of this module, the student should be able to:

• To define and to describe the field of operations strategy
• To identify the working of manufacturing and service firms from an operations perspective
• To conduct relevant analyses of operational and managerial situations and scenarios
• To apply key concepts in the field of operations strategy such as process, capacity, quality, development, improvement and focus
• To communicate conclusions and recommendations in a professional manner
• To work effectively as an individual in a team focused on reviewing the performance of an operation

This course is designed for leaders who want to think deeply and creatively about the biggest single threat in the history of humanity. Climate change changes not just planetary geology, but all our assumptions about management and organization. Students will be tooled with climate science literacy, then examine assumptions that are built deeply into business philosophy, such as growth, competition, efficiency, production, consumption.

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Recognize and explain the importance of the natural environment to management and organizational thought;
• Become climate literate – to speak in sophisticated scientific, economic, social and psychological ways about climate change;
• Develop the conceptual and methodological tools needed to analyze the interacting systems of nature, organization, economy, public policy, and technology;
• To use a climate lens to critique foundational assumptions in management strategy, marketing, supply-chain, entrepreneurship, accounting and finance;
• To identify factors that encourage system-level organisational-level and consumer-level changes and the factors that contribute to resistance to such changes, which are of a psychological, social and corporate nature.

The second campus immersion week in Dublin gets year two off to an energising start.

The purpose of the MBA Strategic Company Project (‘the Company Project’) is to provide a vehicle for MBA teams to apply their business and leadership skills through addressing a strategic challenge faced by the host (partner) organisation; generally, a large, complex company or organisation operating in a dynamic environment. This is a capstone project that enables the application of academic course learning to practical, strategically significant situations in organisations through real “action learning”, where decisions have real-world consequences, unlike conventional lecture or case-based education.

• Undertake detailed scanning of the external environment including macro-industry, competitor, market and customer analyses
• Undertake a thorough analysis of the host organisation’s internal environment
• Critically assess a business-related issue with the host organisation, and apply a solution to the problem that takes into account the strategic intent, capabilities, resources, mission, values and culture of the organisation, inter alia.
• Critically evaluate the strategic situation facing the host company, and propose an array of suitable remedies or counter-measures, suggesting the preferred course of action.

Tailor your degree with 4 elective modules closing out your MBA taught modules*.

Students may choose to complete this project with their own organisation. The independent company project allows students to partner with an organization on a real-time challenge of strategic importance and independently demonstrate a range of intellectual and practical skills.
On successful completion of this module, the student should be able to:

• Understand a specific aspect of company management in depth.
• Understand and carry out high-level research, gaining familiarity with sources and how to use data, as well as the ability to evaluate and synthesise existing literature and present findings accurately, clearly and concisely
• Influence commercial/productive/stakeholder outcomes through the implementation of recommendations by the organisation under study.
• Communicate, via a report, complex ideas and information in a coherent and structured manner.

The Scaling Project is designed to allow a team of MBA students to work with a small or medium sized enterprise (SME) on a scaling or growth related task of importance to the company’s management team. As an applied component of the Trinity MBA programme, the project affords students the opportunity to integrate and apply their learning from across the MBA as well as pooling career experience of team members in a way that will add real value for the client SME.
On successful completion of this module, the student should be able to:

• Appreciate the unique issues facing high growth and scaling SME’s
• Critically evaluate challenges to SME scaling and growth in the field
• Investigate a business related issue with a client SME, analyse the identified impediment to growth and design a solution to the problem that takes into account the resource configuration and structure of the enterprise
• Explain some of the key characteristics of SME organisations and the unique operational challenges they face

The purpose of this module is to provide an opportunity for MBA teams to apply their business skills and knowledge to a challenge faced by a Social Enterprise (SE). A SE is any organisation with a social mission and can take various forms: non-profit organisation (NPO), non-governmental organisation (NGO), a profit making company, a hybrid, company limited by guarantee, and/or a foundation.
On successful completion of this module, the student should be able to:

• Critically evaluate the concept of social entrepreneurship in the field
• Investigate a business related issue with a social entrepreneur, and apply a solution to the problem that takes into account the social mission of the enterprise
• Explain some of the key characteristics of social entrepreneurial organisations and the unique operational challenges they face

This module focuses on the nature of contemporary international business and strategy development. The evolution of international business as an identifiable academic discipline is as a direct consequence of the growth of multinational business and the emergence of what is widely termed the global economy. Knowledge in this global economy is rapidly transferred given technological developments in communications.

On successful completion of this module, the student should be able to:

• Analyse a business from the manager's perspective in the context of an ever-changing international/global operating environment
• Identify and understand the sociocultural, economic and political factors that impact upon international/global advantage
• Identify emerging trends in the global business environment and motives for internationalisation
• Develop broad, strategic solutions and/or plans of action in response to any combination of market, political, socio-cultural, and /or competitive global force
• Appreciate the operations of multinational enterprises, their subsidiaries and SME born globals

This module provides the opportunity to reflect upon key concepts in entrepreneurship including the entrepreneurial lifecycle and the connection between strategy and entrepreneurship. It allows MBA students to explore Lean Start-Up and Lean Canvassing frameworks as a means of developing a new venture. Finally, the processes involved in developing a business plan and pitching a business concept to potential funders are explored through teams engaging in a classical business planning process of their own from creation, environmental analysis through to the development and presentation of a business plan.

On successful completion of this module, the student should be able to:

• Critically engage with the premise of the entrepreneurial lifecycle where entrepreneurship is not just limited to new venture creation but rather its fundamentals are important throughout the life of any organisation in terms of innovation & creative and disruptive strategy
• Explain the fundamentals of entrepreneurship theory, frameworks and the analytical tools & models used in strategic business planning.
• Critically engage and evaluate Lean Start-Up principles and new venture canvassing techniques
• Source information from a variety of primary and secondary sources, analyse and interpret the data and be prepared to correlate them into a coherent business plan

This module covers the challenges companies face in a rapidly changing world due to a range of disruptive technologies. We will work together to review, analyse, discuss and debate what companies have to do, if not must do, to stay relevant. What worked in the past is no longer acceptable or even tolerated by consumers and based on that, new solutions, products and revenue streams are what consumers, shareholders and stakeholders are looking for.
Having successfully completed this module, the student should be able to:

• Evaluate the importance of industry and technology trends in strategy development
• Understand emerging technologies organisations are using to achieve efficiencies, generate revenue and launch new products
• Analyse the Fintech phenomenon and the ‘Platform Economy’
• Evaluate an organisation’s innovation strategy
• Through a detailed business plan, recommend an emerging technology (e.g. blockchain, RPA, etc.) and how it can be integrated to obtain competitive advantage

The module aims at introducing the core fundamentals of International and Corporate Finance using topical and relevant examples and real time case studies. The module is delivered in an interactive teaching style using multi-media, multi information sources and live market data and encourages student participation and interaction. The module marries the theoretical to what is actually happening in the world of corporate and international finance today. It focuses on the practical application of the theory leveraging the experiential and anecdotal and the lecturer’s deep industry insight.
On successful completion of this module, the student should be able to understand and apply the core principals of international and corporate finance as they pertain to industry today as follows:

• Students will be able to explain the global capital markets and be able to differentiate between asset classes and understand their characteristics, relationships and correlations
• Students will be able to appreciate and apply the theory and characteristics of asset class and capital markets to real world funding scenarios
• Students will gain a practical insight into risk management and derivatives and be able to demonstrate how to apply hedging techniques in corporate and international trades and transactions
• Students will explain the mechanisms and evolution of the corporate funding environment and the implications this has for modern corporate capital budgeting decisions
• Students will be exposed to timely corporate transactions including M&A and be able to appropriately apply the fundamental and theoretical to yield a deeper appreciation of the process, transaction and funding nuances and the ultimate results 
• Students will be able to thoroughly analyse investment opportunities and financial methodologies and communicate their conclusions in a professional manner

This module explores how global management practices need to be modified and adjusted when working in a cross-cultural context. The focus of this module is on identifying cultural differences, understanding cultural biases, and appropriately adjusting management styles accordingly. The module demonstrates that a good level of CQ is required to operate effectively around the globe. Learners gain the knowledge and understanding of various cultures in business to improve CQ.

On successful completion of this module, the student should be able to:

• Perform systematic comparative research, allowing them to identify patterns and distinctions of management practices in various cultural settings, and the risks they present
• Have a heightened awareness of how management practices both affect, and are affected by, the cultural environment in which the manager operates
• Critically assess the leading theories and concepts of this field of study
• Develop enhanced cultural awareness and the ability to self-reflect on one’s own cultural identity
•  certain specific cultural contexts, thereby allowing them to become less ethnocentric and more tolerant of other cultures

This module has the objective of reviewing the financial, control and investment opportunities faced by rapidly growing companies in entrepreneurial settings. The main objective of study is to consider and select financing vehicles which are appropriate to securing the organisations’ money requirements and to understand and analyse the issues in the institutional framework in which those decisions take place.
On successful completion of this module, the student should be able to:

• Identify the core elements of Entrepreneurial Finance sources and apply them to financing deals
• Identify sources of resources and finance
• Demonstrate knowledge of finance techniques and use for strategic acquisition/planning
• Demonstrate knowledge of cash flow financing and analysis
• Engage with elements of financing from both a theoretical and a practical perspective
• Identify growth opportunities and harvest possibilities