The J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics at NUI Galway is organising a conference and gala dinner to mark the 40th anniversary of the first intake to its Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme.  To celebrate this milestone, the MBA 40 Conference and Gala Dinner which will take place Friday January 25th 2013 in Galway.  All MBA alumni as well as past and current teaching faculty are invited to attend. The conference, "40 Years A-Growing in Business & Management: Learning from the Past, Leading the Future" will draw together a panel of very impressive contributors from business and academia, many of whom are NUI Galway MBA alumni including: Dr Alan Ahearne, Economist & Lecturer, NUI Galway;  Mike Higgins, MD and Head, CIBC World Markets Corp. and Chair of NUI Galway US Foundation;  Seamus Kavanagh (MBA), Vice President, Hollister, Chicago; Paschal McCarthy (MBA), Vice President, GE Healthcare; Prof John Mchale, Chair National Fiscal Council and Chair of Economics, NUI Galway; and Helen Ryan, CEO, Creganna Tactx Medical.  The conference will focus on a number of contemporary business, management and leadership issues and challenges.   “We very much look forward to welcoming back our very successful MBA alumni.  This is a great opportunity for them to return to the University, see the new Cairnes Business School, reconnect with their MBA classmates, and to network with other NUI Galway MBA graduates and potential business partners” said Dr Alma McCarthy, MBA Programme Director.  A number of alumni who are located oversees have registered to attend the event and the conference has received funding from The Gathering.  “The NUI Galway MBA programme is the second oldest MBA programme in the Island of Ireland and is the flagship programme in the School.  The quality of our graduates is reflected in multiple successes in national MBA competitions with many of our alumni holding senior management positions in a variety of organisations nationally and internationally” said Dr Emer Mulligan, Head of the Cairnes School of Business and Economics.  For further information about the conference and gala dinner, please contact the Alumni Office on 091-493750.

NUI Galway’s Executive MBA, in association with the MBA Association of Ireland Western Chapter, recently hosted its fifth Masterclass event. Entitled Maximising Human Potential & Performance: Lessons from Sports Psychology and Business the Masterclass included a line-up of high-profile speakers including Professor Eamon O’Shea, Caroline Currid, Martin Conroy and Seán McGowan, who shared their insights and personal experiences in a discussion chaired by businessman Pádraig Ó Céidigh. Professor Eamon O’Shea is a Professor of Economics at the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics at NUI Galway and has recently been appointed Manager of the Tipperary Senior Hurling Team for 2013. Professor O’Shea was also the coach for the All-Ireland Champions in 2010. Caroline Currid, Performance Coach with the National Athlete Development Academy, has had a profound impact on Gaelic games. She has worked with All-Ireland Football Champions Tyrone in 2008 and helped the Tipperary hurlers and Dublin footballers bridge 10 and 16 year gaps, respectively, attain silverware. Martin Conroy is Director of Continuous Improvement, Global Vascular Operations at Medtronic, Galway. Martin is responsible for developing and deploying the corporate lean strategy across a number of global sites for over 5,000 employees. Seán McGowan, Ocean Rower, spent 118 days at sea alone, crossing the Atlantic in a small boat. He is a qualified Engineer and holds an MBA and assists with organisations in turnaround situations. During the event Seán spoke very personally of his solo journey across the Atlantic and attributes much of his achievement in doing so to the power of the mind. The panel discussed the effects of attitude on human potential and the importance in self-belief concluding that Irish people need the move away from their current negative ‘I’m not too bad’ state of mind to an ‘I’m great’ culture. The power and importance of values and the panel’s failures and success were also discussed by the panel. Dr Alma McCarthy, Director of NUI Galway’s Executive MBA programme, said: “It is an honour and a privilege to receive insights on the psychology of success which are relevant to any context and incumbent on all of us to use the learnings in our personal and professional lives.”

The role of Networking in business has been well known and it is seen as an essential skill for business managers today.  However, the ability to network and how to effectively manage your networks are skills that evade some managers and business professionals.  The Western Chapter of the MBA Association of Ireland (MBAAI) addressed this issue in their seminar entitled “The Importance of Networking” recently held in the J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics at NUI Galway.  The seminar was delivered by Liam Bluett, MBA CIMA of the Ballybane Enterprise Centre.  Liam (formerly Finance Director with Nortel Networks) who has in excess of thirty years experience in executive leadership provided tips and insights into successful networking. This exciting seminar coincided with the launch of the local MBAAI programme of events for 2012/2013.  The Western Chapter of the MBAAI have lined up an exciting array of events and opportunities for MBA graduates to connect and engage over the next twelve months.  The number of MBA graduates based in the West of Ireland has been increasing and represents many business and industry leaders and innovators.  The MBA Association of Ireland both locally and nationally provides a representative voice for those members and offers opportunities to meet and engage with other members both formally and informally. Further details on the seminar, the MBAAI and the upcoming calendar of events for 2012/13 can be obtained from www.mbaassociation.ie, or by email to:  info@mbaassociation.ie.

A team from the NUI Galway Executive MBA class are the proud winners of the MBA Association of Ireland National Strategy Competition 2012 held in DublinSaturday 23rd June.  This is an outstanding achievement for the winning team, the Executive MBA programme, the School, and the University.  The win follows NUI Galway’s success in 2010, when it last entered the competition.  The winning team members are: Myles McHugh, Suzanne Ryan, Mike Parkinson, Ashwin Kher and Roger Sweetman.  “This excellent achievement is testament to the quality of teaching on the programme and I would like to congratulate all involved in teaching the 2010-2012 MBA class” said Dr Emer Mulligan, Head of School.  Many of the best business schools on the Islandof Irelandtook part in the competition including the SmurfitGraduateSchoolat UCD and UCC.  The competition required the team to prepare a strategic analysis and presentation on a Harvard Business Case (eBay, Inc and Amazon.com) over four hours and then present to a panel of judges.  Commenting on the win by the NUI Galway team, Dr Alma McCarthy, MBA Programme Director stated that “the NUI Galway Executive MBA curriculum has a very strong focus on strategy and prepares students to excel as business and strategy analysts.  Winning the MBAAI National Strategy Forum Competition 2012 reinforces the excellent teaching and learning standards provided to students on our programme”. 

The second event in the NUI Galway Executive MBA Masterclass was recently held at the J.E. Cairnes Business School.  Chaired by Pádraig Ó Céidigh, Adjunct Professor and Chair of Aer Arann, the event provided insight into business finance and investment options across the business life cycle from early stage to mature levels of growth. The panellists were:  • Danuta Gray, Chairman, Telefónica O2 Ireland • Ted Webb, Managing Director, IBI Corporate Finance • Martin Kelleher, Partner, Mason, Hayes + Curran • Gerry Mackey, Director, Halo Business Angel Partnership, Westbic Speaking about the challenges for early stage start-ups, Gerry Mackey from Halo Business Angel Partnership said “angel investment is particularly suited to high rish high potential start-ups.  Angel investing is private equity investment where investors contribute to the management of the business.  Angel investment is the credit union equivalent of the venture capital market”.  Many very successful global brands started from angel investment partnerships including Starbucks, Amazon and HP. Danuta Gray, Irish Business Person of the Year 2010 and Chair of Telefónica O2 Ireland talked about growing a very successful publicly quoted company.  Danuta discussed the challenges and opportunities of bringing O2 from a start-up to demerger to acquisition by Telefónica.  She referred to the critical role that organisational culture plays in mergers and acquisitions and highlighted the need for cultures to be compatible.  Ted Webb, IBI Corporate Finance has extensive experience in venture capital and talked about the opportunities and growth in the biotech, medical devices, IT, healthcare and food sectors nationally and internationally.  Commenting on the key challenges of venture capital, Ted said “getting the right level of investment for the right level of equity is critical”.  He talked about the importance of the management and business structure in attracting venture capital investment.  The event was attended by the Executive MBA class, MBA alumni, and the MBA Association of Ireland management team as well as others involved in business in the locality and region. 

Students on the Executive MBA programmes at NUI Galway and at the University of Limerick benefit from the recently announced strategic alliance between the two universities. MBA students will have the option of choosing summer electives in Year One of the programme either at NUI Galway or at the University of Limerick. This alliance provides students with greater choice in their elective subjects and more flexibility to tailor the programme to their particular needs. The alliance also allows for expanded networking opportunities with other MBA students. This year, students are taking two electives from the following list of those on offer in UL and at NUI Galway: Business Negotiations, International Management, Technology Management and Strategic Sales Management.