Fostering Next Generation Leaders

University College Cork

University College Cork's Executive MBA Programme cultivates entrepreneurship in the context of personal development.

The core elements of UCC's part time Executive MBA programme in the faculty of commerce are an approach to leadership as a developmental
process; a focus on the student as a leader in the making and a curriculum that supports personal and professional growth and change.

The Executive MBA programme at UCC nurtures recent graduates, those in business and owner managers, particularly those in the SME sector, to become more entrepreneurially and commercially driven. Students achieve this commercial and enterprise vision by developing closer linkages with support agencies such as the county and city enterprise boards, by supporting the MBA network in its social and community activities and by constantly striving to adapt the programme's design to reflect competitive and knowledge based challenges.

Creative Finesse

The business and entrepreneurial ethics that UCC's MBA programme aims to instill in the mindsets of students through its teaching philosophy and approach include understanding, co-design, individual responsibility and flair. Entrepreneurship education, within the broad remit of education for development, which we take as the guiding principle of the UCC Executive MBA programme, is very important in the delicate and demanding processes of fostering students as they strive to become better entrepreneurs or managers whatever their chosen fields.

Sector Range

All types of people from a wide range of business backgrounds are represented in each two year cycle of UCC's Executive MBA course. Each class will typically include professionals such as engineers, accountants, administrators and entrepreneurs from the vibrant electronics, pharmachem, services and public and social sectors in the Cork and Munster regions. Guest speakers from local, national and international organisations regularly attend the programme while companies and employers are frequently invited to attend focus groups, open evenings and recruitment presentations.

Bridging The Gap

In general, the need for a deeper understanding of the drivers, processes and outcomes of market-based, innovative, knowledge-based economies and societies is bringing education and entrepreneurship closer all the time. Although evidence for the proposition that the teaching of entrepreneurship results in more entrepreneurial activity is pretty weak, should we be teaching professionals so that their understanding of entrepreneurial processes increases? Definitely!