Trinity College Dublin
TCD’s full- and part-time Executive MBA is an intensive, project-based programme for those who want to accelerate their career path or transition into a new industry. It offers a critical mass of learning in all functional areas of business and extensive live-action learning through three company projects across a range of industries and organisations: (1) a multinational or large Irish player; (2) a social enterprise; and (3) an SME that aspires to scale. These projects provide an opportunity to tackle real-world business problems and apply the in-class learnings to conduct problem analysis, create strategies and deliver solutions direct to senior stakeholders. Participants can choose from a range of nine taught electives and two international residency weeks in South Africa and Belgium to ensure their MBA is aligned with their career goals.
TCD now also offers a distance-learning flexible MBA that runs part-time over two years with 80 per cent of the course delivered online with the remaining hours delivered on campus. The programme is designed to bring together students from around the world and is delivered through a virtual learning platform and state-of the-art interactive hub developed exclusively for this mode of delivery. A blend of on-campus and online distance learning, the programme is conducted through fortnightly coursework schedules, with electives, a choice of projects and live virtual lectures on playback. Trinity Business School and the Trinity MBA are triple accredited with AACSB, Equis and Association of MBAs accreditations, putting it among the top 0.6 per cent per cent of business schools globally.
Class size: 50
Fees: Full-time – €36,500; part-time – €18,250 per year
Web: tcd.ie/business/mba
University of Limerick – UL MBA
In the top 1 per cent of elite business schools globally, UL’s Executive MBA is accredited by AMBA, AACSB and Equis and provides students with a first-rate, future-focused business education. Designed to develop confident, strategic and internationally-focused leaders, it equips executives with essential skills to navigate successfully in today’s uncertain world. This two-year, part-time course is structured to challenge strategic thinking processes, enhance communication skills, improve decision-making and critical thinking helping to transform executives into resilient leaders equipped with the skills to excel in a fast-changing world. It is delivered in monthly three-day blocks, scheduled in advance, making it a popular choice with busy professionals. Five key themes shape the programme: internationalisation; managerial vision and competencies; entrepreneurship and innovation; strategic thinking; and leadership. Specialist elective modules further tailor the course to participants’ career goals. Challenging content, high-calibre lecturers and accomplished peers combine to help participants learn, reflect, debate and grow.
Class size: 30-35
Fees: €15,062 per year
Web: ul.ie/mba/
UCC
The UCC CUBS Executive MBA is an AMBA-accredited, two-year, part-time programme for working managers and professionals. It prepares participants to become organisational managers, innovators and leaders. Students will understand how all aspects of a complex organisation interconnect, while also developing their decision-making, self-leadership and ability to lead others in organisational change and transformation settings.
This MBA not only benefits the participant’s career by identifying them as individuals with a high level of leadership ability, but also their organisation through the transformation in their personal effectiveness and judgment. Professional growth is a key element in leadership development and over the two years students explore the scope and nature of their strategic thinking, defining learning patterns that they will utilise throughout their career, becoming innovative leaders, adaptive to change.
Class size: 30
Fees: €13,630 per year
Web: cubsucc.com/executive-mba/
UCD
The Smurfit MBA is highly ranked globally and has a long tradition of excellence, being the first MBA offered in Ireland and one of the first in Europe. UCD Smurfit School is the only Irish member of leading business school alliances group CEMS and the Global Network for Advanced Management (GNAM) and is one of the small number of elite schools worldwide to hold the “triple crown” of Equis, AMBA and AACSB accreditation. As of July 2021, 108 institutions held the triple crown accreditation. Candidates will be challenged and stimulated by an academic curriculum including global case studies, action-learning via global collaboration and international study trips and exchanges. This MBA offers a leadership development programme that focuses on building the necessary skills to communicate effectively, helping students understand themselves better and lead diverse teams and organisations around the globe. The two-year part-time Modular Executive MBA requires just two days on campus per month along with online delivery, offering greater flexibility for busy professionals and those living outside Dublin.
Class size: 30-40
Fees: Full-time – €34,500; part-time – €15,950 per year
Web: smurfitschool.ie/mba
NUI Galway
This AMBA-accredited course is a two-year, part-time programme delivered in a block release format (blocks will be of two or three days’ duration and generally occur at intervals of every three weeks during the semester). The course is structured around three pillars of transformational leadership, innovating success and business for society. Driven by an experienced and dedicated faculty, the Executive MBA integrates an academically rigorous and challenging real-world business education with industry engagement and global learning. It provides graduates with the knowledge, transferable skills and leadership acumen required to lead innovative success and graduates have a proven track record of accelerated career progression. NUIG’s MBA will be celebrating 50 years this year and is planning a number of events and masterclasses with alumni and industry partners, of which its MBA students will have priority opportunities to attend.
Class size: Between 20-25
Fees: €13,850 a year
Web: nuigalway.ie/mba/
Dublin City University
This two-year, part-time programme takes place on a Thursday afternoon and evening, which helps participants to balance the demands of work and their personal lives. As an Executive MBA, the majority of participants have 10 years’ management experience and the programme benefits hugely from the scale and depth of professional experience among participants, who come from a variety of sectors. This is an applied MBA bringing huge benefit to employers as participants can directly use their learnings to the real-life challenges encountered in the participants’ organisations. In addition to advanced study in the business fields of marketing, accounting, finance, technology and economics, the MBA also has a leadership development strand running through the two years to enhance students’ personal leadership style. Additional features of the course include a strategic consultancy project and an international study trip (under review in line with current coronavirus travel regulations). The outcome is ultimately to prepare executives for significant career growth and corresponding responsibility. The course is AMBA accredited, putting it in top 2 per cent of business schools globally.
Class size: 30
Fees: €12,750 per year
Web: business.dcu.ie/course/executive-mba/
WIT
The WIT Executive MBA is a two-year, part-time programme delivered on Thursdays and Saturdays – and a blended delivery model is now in place with face-to-face sessions once a month and online sessions three times a month. The programme exposes students to all areas of business with a strong emphasis on peer learning, leadership, personal development and action-based research. A number of entry points are also available to allow students to join the programme at times that fit with their own schedules. A total of 16 modules are covered and research-led teaching with many practice-based assignments will develop thinking professionals and more effective managers with an ability to see multiple perspectives. An international study trip to Boston allows students to gain insight in an international context while an organisational change research project gives students an opportunity to experience live-action learning in real company projects. Applicants typically have a level-eight degree qualification but WIT allows exceptional cases for managers without a degree background to enter this programme.
Class size: Between 20-25 students
Fees: €8,950 per year
Web: wit.ie/courses/executive_mba_part_time
MTU Cork
Targeted at business professionals from all sectors of industry, this MBA (Strategy) incorporates lectures, expert guest speakers, site visits and live case studies, ensuring it is directly applicable to industry and immediately relevant to the business leaders of the future. It is a two-year, part-time programme delivered online and on campus. Students take modules such as exploring corporate strategy, applied business finance, leadership and organisational behaviour, economics of global markets, international business strategy, contemporary issues in marketing, data analytics, strategic corporate finance, organisational change management, research methods, research dissertation, together with an international business field trip (usually to Leuven and Brussels). This MBA is designed to enhance management and leadership capabilities, confidence and critical self-awareness. It equips students to develop the required skills to enhance their chosen career path, while their organisations will reap the rewards of the knowledge and confidence brought back to their companies, adding considerable value to the workplace. Participants will benefit from individual, professional and personal development and the programme allows students to develop their interpersonal, conceptual, social and decision-making skills.The course runs on Wednesdays (6-10 pm) and Fridays (3-8 pm).
Class size: 20 students
Fees: €6,250 per year
TU Dublin MBA
This part-time Executive MBA equips participants with the leadership skills and strategic mindset needed to drive their careers and their organisations forward. Accredited by AMBA, placing it in the top 2 per cent of business schools globally, this programme is internationally benchmarked, and an approach to continuous improvement has seen several new modules and features added recently.
Key highlights include a week-long Silicon Valley immersion and a personalised leadership development programme. Modules are taught by experienced TU Dublin faculty who are at the forefront of their disciplines and deeply engaged in executive education and research, supported by expert guest speakers. A new postgraduate seminar series allows MBA students to engage with expert speakers from around the world on topics such as emerging technologies, sustainability and cultural intelligence. The programme is delivered over two years and runs on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings in Aungier Street, Dublin 2.
Class size: About 25
Fees: €21,000
Web: tudublin.ie/mba
DBS
This MBA is offered as a full-time or two-year part-time option. As an organisation needs to be flexible in diverse business environments and to change direction at speed, this MBA develops these sets of abilities with a particular focus on a thorough understanding of business management. It offers the opportunity to study advanced theory and practice relating to management, and to develop an appreciation of the causes and significance of managing strategy.
The programme also allows students to study the pure MBA, or choose a specialist route for an MBA award within the following programmes: HRM; project management; finance; information systems; cloud computing or marketing. Included in the programme are lectures and assessment methods that apply the business knowledge required for students to perform as an effective manager in any organisation alongside knowledge and understanding of global business.
Class size: Part-time: 30-40. Size of full-time classes can vary. Delivery will be through a blended learning format
Fees: Full-time – €12,750; part-time – €6,375 a year
Web: dbs.ie/mba
Irish Management Institute – Management Bootcamp
The Irish Management Institute offers a five-day mini-MBA programme multiple times a year. This highly interactive programme is designed to challenge and expand participants’ business knowledge and learn to master the essentials of business practice.
Class size: 10-15
Fees: Non-member fee – €3,445; member fee – €2,845
