3rd December 2002

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A ground-breaking University of Ulster course is helping to produce a new generation of innovative managers for Northern Ireland’s public and private sectors.

The two year part-time MSc in Innovation Management offered by the School of Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Strategy underpins the government’s Regional Innovation Strategy for Northern Ireland which has just been published.

Innovation is now widely perceived to be crucial to improved productivity, growth and sustained international competitiveness.

Core subjects include globalisation and e-business; managing innovation and change; business process improvement; and entrepreneurship.

Mark Durkin, Head of School said: “This highly innovative course is aimed at professional managers from both the public and private sectors who are in a position to influence the development of creativity and innovation within their respective organisations. This underpins the government’s renewed thrust on the development of an innovative culture in NI.”

Students come from the Republic of Ireland as well as locally, and to date participating companies have included Guinness, Seagate Technologies, Unifi, Donegal, Abbott Technologies, and Pritchitt’s Foods in addition to a number of public sector organisations.

For one student participation in the programme came at just the right time.

Alan Galloway was working with Guinness UDV in Northern Ireland when he joined the course in 1999. “The company was undergoing major restructuring with the introduction of new global systems. Staff, customers and suppliers were all affected by the whole process. What I was learning on the course fitted in perfectly with what I was having to manage at work.”

He subsequently moved to DCC Energy - a group covering 22 companies including well known Northern Ireland energy firms Emo Oil, Fuel Services, Flogas and Cawoods - as IT manager for Northern Ireland and Scotland.

There, again, he found himself managing significant changes in the corporate structures. He said: “It was exciting to do the course and then be involved in the practical aspects of it at work. During our time on the course we also saw how other companies operated and how they managed change in their environment.”

The course is designed to enable participants to critically analyse the innovative potential of their organisations; to assess the impact of technological change and globalisation on their organisations, with particular reference to e-business opportunities; to evaluate how organisational culture and structure impact on innovation and develop skills in managing creativity and innovation as a strategic organisational process.

Course director John Adams said: “The course is offered in eight 3-day blocks over an 18-month period, followed by six months during which students complete their dissertation. This design - rather than the traditional evening classes - is aimed to meet the requirements of busy executives. Instead of having to set aside time every week for the course they participate in intensive bursts, making more use of their valuable time. As well as offering innovation, we have had to be innovative ourselves.”

For further information on the course for which starts in January 2003, contact Mr Adams on 028-90368067 or by email at js.adams@ulster.ac.uk. Additional information can be found on the web-page for the School of Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Strategy at http://www.busmgt.ulst.ac.uk/manage/pcourses/mscim/

For further information, please contact:

Press Office Department of Communication and Development
Telephone: 028 9036 6178
Email: pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk