BizBites

Autumn 2011 | BizBites | 1

• INNOVATIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING • STAFF ARTICLES • INTERVIEWS

Autumn 2011

UPDATESJunior Certificate Awards

Dean’s Awards

INSIDEMary Holden

Ray Ryan

Susan Whelan

Conor Kelleher

Dermot Moore

School of BusinessBizBites

PLUS:> Introduction from Thomas O’Toole> John Casey book launch> Rachel O’Dowd Teaching Awards

“To see people develop over the course of a programme is the satisfaction that drives our School. ”

2 | BizBites | Autumn 2011 Autumn 2011 | BizBites | 3

1 Welcome from

Dr. Thomas O’ Toole

2 Staff articles

Mary Holden

Ray Ryan

Susan Whelan

3 Discussion with

Conor Kelleher

Dermot Moore

4 School Update

John Casey Book Launch

Rachel O’Dowd award

5 School of Business Awards

Dean’s Awards

Junior Certificate Awards

INSIDE

Dear Friend,

Welcome to the 2nd issue of our School Magazine. This magazine is edited by Pat Ryan, Lecturer in Economics, and without Pat’s editorial input we would have no edition. The ethos of our magazine is to give you a sense of what is going on inside the School.

The economy continues to feel the effects of the property bubble and the banking collapse. Surprisingly the market for our graduates has continued to be firm. The finance and accountancy sectors are particular strong but graduates in other disciplines have been able to find work. Obviously, students have the capability and ability with business degrees to advance their careers globally but it is great to be able to complement this in Ireland.

We reached a milestone of 500 student work placements in 5 years on our bachelor of business (BBS)(honours) programme. This is in addition to our programme placements across the School. This achievement is possible due to our staff commitment, student performance and by our partnership with employers. Our learning takes place across four zones – undergraduate, executive, entrepreneurial and postgraduate. Hopefully, you will pick up some stories from all of these areas in this edition. For example, from a relatively small region, 2 of our students were placed in the top 10 of the Final Admitting Examinations of Chartered Accountants Ireland. This year we started a doctorate in business administration for practicing managers. One of the companies that participated on our high potential start-up programme closed a funding round of €1million. Our short study programme for our postgraduate students saw over 100 students in Brussels in the European Commission, speaking with entrepreneurs and getting lecturers from our colleagues in Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.

The year since our last edition has been one of excitement in learning, innovation in curriculum, and knowledge engagement with practice. Every day is a stimulating one in the School with discussions on how we prepare students for life and work, meeting our partners, participating in groups to consider the future trends in business education, addressing the fundamentals of teaching, learning and assessment. To see people develop over the course of a programme is the satisfaction that drives our School. These pages give you a sense of that. Hope you enjoy it.

Dr. Thomas O’Toole,Head of School of Business

WELCO

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Developing thinking professionalsfit for practice, fit for life

Dr. Thom

as O’Toole

Welcome to the second edition of the School of Business magazine. We hope that this magazine will keep you updated with the wide range of activities that are happening in the School. We hope you find the articles interesting and useful and welcome your comments and feedback. If you have any suggestions or ideas for future issues please contact the magazine’s coordinator, Pat [email protected] +353 51 845629

For information on studying in the School of Business please contact: Ms. Sandra Haberlin, School [email protected] +353 51 302841

The front cover shows a tall ship sailing into Waterford. The Tall Ships race has come to Waterford twice in the past 8 years utilising the city’s magnificent quaysides. Waterford city and county has a rich maritime tradition.

WELCOME


designed by clickworks


Problem solution involves the group defining the problem. Students take ‘ownership’ of the problem and, hence, their learning. They identify and study those concepts and principles which are relevant to solving the problem. During the learning process, lecturers discuss and guide learners to appropriate resources; they assist learners to identify what they do and do not know, and summarise and link information.

In order to help you understand how exactly PBL works – let’s look at an example. Third year BA in International Business students are currently taking the class, International Marketing Communications. This is a small class; it has 13 learners who were divided up into three groups by the lecturer during the first week of class. Each group contains at least one Chinese student.

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In line with Waterford Institute of Technology’s strategic aims concerning teaching and learning,

the School of Business seeks to create the most beneficial environment for knowledge transfer in its undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, as well as those engaged in research studies.

Indeed, in the augural publication of BizBites, Dr. Thomas O’Toole, the Dean of the School of Business, highlighted that the school seeks to develop its learners into ‘thinking’ professionals by providing a “problem-solving culture that enables them [students] to reflect and practise knowledge transfer.”

The establishment of this problem-solving culture reflects the school’s determination to ensure that student learning matches the needs of society and employers.

Our graduates will need to be able to achieve “… the extraordinary, the surprising, the artistic” rather than standardisation and this is seen to occur through the “critically reflective work behaviour of emancipated professionals” (Kessels and Poell, 2004: 1481). This perspective is reflected in Dr. O’Toole’s words.

Today’s employers require that students have the ability to leverage both their experience (know how) and new knowledge (know what) as well as requiring students to have certain ‘employability’ skills. Employers want graduates who are creative, flexible, willing to learn and share knowledge, effective team players, able to network, good oral and written communicators, as well as being independent, reflective and critical thinkers.

In light of this, and reflecting the contemporary, innovative teaching and learning spirit of faculty at WIT’s School of Business, problem-based learning (PBL) as a teaching and learning approach, was introduced two years ago by several business lecturers. The use of PBL in the business discipline is fairly new, especially in Ireland. PBL faculty members see PBL as key to achieving the high level skills, knowledge and appropriate personal traits to grow and transform enterprises, that is, graduates who are extraordinary, surprising, and artistic.

So … what exactly is this PBL? How does it work? PBL is founded on Dewey’s2 belief that experience is a major source of learning, hence, in a business context, students engage in learning through the solving of relevant business problems – students learn by doing!

1 Kessels, J.and Poell, R. 2004, “Andragogy and Social Capital Theory: The Implications for Human Resource Development”, Advances in Developing Human Resources, 6(2), 146-157.

2 Who was Dewey? Look it up! See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey

STAFF ARTICLES

A teaching and learning approach that seeks to achieve “the extraordinary, the surprising, and artistic” graduateby Dr. Mary T Holden.

Problem-basedlearning: However, PBL is not just about

gaining knowledge about subjects such as leadership, selling a product, budgeting, taxation and employment law but it also concerns developing a student’s ‘employability’ skills. In PBL, students are assigned to groups of 4 to 5 students; they learn individually as well as through knowledge-sharing with other group members.

Students are responsible for their own learning as well as the learning of other group members. The role of lecturers is not to ‘lecture,’ rather, lecturers act as facilitators and mentors in the student learning process. Students are presented with problems using ‘triggers’ such as a picture, a scenario, a video, etc.; the ‘triggers’ reflect real-life, ‘messy’ situations, that is, business problems that are ambiguous, multifaceted, and complex.

In Week 2, students were presented with a ‘trigger’ that illustrated the problem to be solved (see Figure 1). Can you guess what the problem is? Do you see why each group has at least one Chinese student? What do you think their major role has been in each group?

The students identified the problem as being how to market Ireland as a tourism destination to Chinese people. The three groups are currently planning how to promote Ireland in China, using various media such as TV commercials, online blogs, travel agent trade fairs, magazine advertisements, etc. Each group has picked a different target market, for example, one group has crafted their promotional strategy around Chinese ‘honeymooners.’ On April 5th, the three groups held an event (entitled: “The Dragon’s Holiday Fair”) targeted at WIT’s Chinese student population on the top floor of the business school. Together, the entire class also devised an advertising campaign to build awareness of the event, as well as planning the holding of the event itself which included invitations, flyers, commercial material etc. At this event, each group presented ‘storyboards’ outlining their promotion strategy.

Finally, what do business school students think about the PBL approach? The feedback from them has been overwhelmingly positive!

Dr. Mary T. Holden, Lecturer in Marketing. Senior Researcher and Co-Founder RIKON Group.

Figure 1: ‘Trigger’

Brand Ireland

1. Communication

2. Marketing [promotion]

3. International


Entrepreneurs display distinctive characteristics and determination to make their business ventures

succeed. For many years the accepted view of entrepreneurs was that they possessed special inherent traits and personality features e.g., creativity, locus of control and leadership (Gibb, 1990).

More recent academic research from the 1980’s onwards suggests that people become entrepreneurs due to a range of influencing factors, namely, the social, economic and educational background and that these significantly contribute to their decisions to found new enterprises (Henry, Hill & Leitch, 2005). Perhaps more importantly, research has determined that entrepreneurship is a systematic discipline that can be taught and therefore education has a significant role in the new venture creation process (Drucker, 2002).

Much debate has concentrated on the question as to whether entrepreneurs are born or made. Schumpeter (1934) contended that successful entrepreneurs share characteristics that are independent of education, training and upbringing or, in other words, he believed entrepreneurs are born. He describes them as exceptional types and stated that entrepreneurial types require aptitudes that are present in only a small fraction of the population.

Research in the early 1980’s focused on trait and personality characteristics of individuals starting a business (Brockhaus, 1980;1982;1993) and this research supports Schumpeter’s theory. Kets de Vries (1995) states that common traits of entrepreneurs include a need for control; a sense of distrust; a desire for applause and manic defence mechanisms. Chell (2001) added risk taking, need for achievement and a tolerance for ambiguity.

The trait theory view of entrepreneurs has been heavily criticised by a number of researchers. Gartner (1988) criticises the personality trait view of entrepreneurs and looked at what entrepreneurs do rather than who they are. Gartner states that the personality trait view presupposes a static view of entrepreneurs and precludes the view that they can learn, develop and change. This approach is supported by adult education theorists such as Mezirow (1991) who recognises the importance of one’s learning history to personal development. Prospective entrepreneurs must look forward in order to visualise how to make their business grow and succeed. Research by Robinson and Sexton (1994), Bates (1995) and Bowen & Hisrich (1986) suggests that people who start new businesses have a higher level of education than those that do not. They intimate that entrepreneurialism is a series of processes and can be taught. Dorf and Byers (2005) argue

that successful entrepreneurs do not possess a rare gene and quote Drucker (2002) saying, “entrepreneurship is a systematic, organised, rigorous discipline that can be learned and mastered.”

A key principle of the Irish government’s National Development Plan 2007 – 2013 and of previous plans is the commitment to providing education and training in the field of entrepreneurship. There has been a marked increase in the growth of entrepreneurship programmes at all levels of the Irish education system. ‘Junior Achievement’, a global, not-for-profit organisation, operates an enterprise awareness scheme at primary level. At second level there are a number of programmes, one prominent example being the City and County Enterprise Boards Student Enterprise Awards.

At third level there has been a growth in the number of enterprise and entrepreneurship modules taught at graduate and postgraduate level. Gibb (1999) uses the following illustration to represent that it takes time to develop the awareness of entrepreneurship to the point that individuals will take action.

Forfás (2007) asserts that education is central to influencing individuals to become entrepreneurs. Citing the European Foundation for Entrepreneurship Research (2006), Forfás (2007) argues that the earlier and more widespread the exposure

to entrepreneurship and innovation, the more likely it is that students will consider becoming entrepreneurs in the future.

The School of Business at Waterford Institute of Technology has continued to include innovation and enterprise at module and programme level. Many undergraduate courses now include an enterprise module, while the Bachelor of Business (Honours) includes the Year 3 flexible semester New Venture Initiative option, whereby students will start and develop their own business.

At post-graduate level, the Post-Graduate Diploma in Enterprise is offered to participants of the highly- regarded and practical South East Enterprise Platform Programme (SEEPP) which encourages individuals to

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Raymond Ryan, FCMA, MA, BBS (H) is a Lecturer of Accounting at Waterford Institute, with over 15 years lecturing experience at both under- and post-graduate level in the areas of management accounting and entrepreneurial finance. Prior to this he has held a number of senior finance roles with both international and small to medium enterprises in Ireland. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management

Accountants (CIMA) and has served as South- East Ireland Branch President and CIMA ROI Executive Council member. Raymond has also recently served a three year term as Chairperson of the Waterford Sports Partnership, a not-for-profit company tasked with promoting activity and sports development in Waterford and has served as a WIT Academic Council member.

develop High Potential Start-Ups. A more recent innovation is the successful validation of the full time MSc in Business, Innovation, Technology and Enterprise.

Considering the current, difficult economic situation in Ireland, it is imperative that new ventures be created to stimulate jobs growth and economic activity. It is also vital that these entrepreneurs are equipped with the necessary education and skills to successfully promote their business and it is clear that higher education providers such as Waterford Institute of Technology meet this challenge.As Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) said “nothing great is ever achieved without enthusiasm”.

Are Entrepreneurs Born or Made?The age old debateby Ray Ryan

What entrepreneurs do?

What is entrepreneurship?

Why are entrepreneurs needed?

How many entrepreneurs do we have?

I need to take responsibility of my learning, career and life; how to do it ?

Can I become an entrepreneur?

How to become an entrepreneur?

How to manage the business?

LEARN TO BECOME ENTREPRENEURIAL

LEARN TO UNDERSTAND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

LEARN TO BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR

Figure 1: Entrepreneurial Learning

STAFF ARTICLES

Celebrity endorsements are a common and important means for companies to implement their

brand marketing strategies, with vast amounts of money frequently paid to celebrities. For example, according to AdWeek, Catherine Zeta-Jones recently received an incredible $1 million in return for a two-year deal with T-Mobile.

But even that is only half the amount that PepsiCo is said to have paid to Britney Spears for her endorsement of the Pepsi brand. This begs the question: why do companies pay out such staggering amounts to celebrities for their affiliation with brands?

Undoubtedly, a promotional campaign led by a high-profile celebrity provides important differentiation for a product, service or corporate brand in an otherwise competitive and crowded marketplace. This is, of course, especially the case in markets for generics where it becomes extremely difficult for consumers to see meaningful differences between the variety of brands on offer, for example in telecoms or financial services.

The use of celebrity endorsement is also a valuable way to piggyback on the mass familiarity that such stars have in the marketplace in order for companies to boost recognition of their brand names. Indeed, companies attempt to attach themselves to a well-known celebrity in order to gain levels of awareness that might, in the absence of such a relationship, take several years of promoting to achieve. In other words, companies are very often trying to tap into the fame that accompanies high profile celebrities.

The second reason why companies have, up to now, invested so heavily in celebrity endorsement to achieve their branding objectives is to gain from the potential spillover effects from the celebrity to the brand. Put simply, companies often seek to gain from the transfer of the celebrity’s values or possibly their image onto their own brand. This is in the hope that the use of endorsers communicates something familiar and favorable and, ultimately, that consumers will be able

to identify with such people easier than they would be able to identify with a brand. In other words, it can help the brand to communicate a “personality” through an association with a celebrity that the audience is familiar with and with whom they can engage.

The choice also often reflects whether a company is looking to emphasise their existing values or re-position their brand. “Somebody like Coca-Cola would look to Britney Spears to reinforce its position because she is a teen icon and that is the company’s core audience,” explains Gavan Stewart, Founder of Touchdown Brand Affinity Marketing. “Whereas a company like Brylcreem, for instance, which was a pretty tired and dated brand, wanted to work with a celebrity to change and update its image, which is why it hired

David Beckham. So you can reinforce your position or change perception of your brand with a celebrity because the public has a perception of that star.”

The use of celebrity endorsers can clearly result in benefits for firms, but such strategies are also fraught with risk. For example, Reebok’s recent decision to employ movie star Scarlett Johansson to front its campaign has raised eyebrows among both media commentators and consumers, because in this instance there is not a relevant and credible “fit” between the celebrity and the brand and no real reason to expect such a relationship other than the fact that the star is world famous.

Celebrity endorsement strategies also put companies at the mercy of negative spillover effects when a star’s image is tarnished for any of several reasons. For example, when Britney Spears was the face of Pepsi she was famously photographed drinking Coca-Cola. Much more seriously, LA Lakers’ basketball star Kobe Bryant had several of his endorsement contracts ended as a result of a rape allegation in 2003. More recently, firms including Chanel, Burberry and H&M all ended their commercial relationship with Kate Moss when a British newspaper published photographs of the model allegedly snorting cocaine. Celebrities are, after all, human beings and encounter difficulties just like everyone else.

Such scandals though can cause major headaches for a company that has invested, in some cases millions, on an endorsement-based marketing strategy. It is not altogether unsurprising therefore that firms are signaling a shift away from the

8 | BizBites | February ‘10

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traditional endorsement type strategy in the marketing world.

An increasing number of brand advertisements of late include other stakeholders such as customers and staff. Dove is a really good example of a brand that has built a campaign around the general public, featuring consumers of its brand in their “Campaign for Real Beauty”. Essentially, they have used their brand as a catalyst to spark a societal debate and have thereby engendered huge recognition. Whether we as consumers like the “real beauty” approach or not, one must remember the old adage that there is “no such thing as bad publicity”!

Other brand marketers have suggested that we are saturated by celebrities, day-in-day-out in all different mediums and advertisers are starting to sense that too. So we may well see less celebrity endorsements in the future and maybe brands returning to using employees, users or fictional characters that clearly require less money and have substantially less risk attached to them.

A more recent development has been the approach of “celebrity as co-creator of value” for brands. According to a recent article on CNN for instance, during the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Lady Gaga apparently went on the stage in her

role as a creative director at Polaroid to debut the company’s new “Grey Label” line, which she helped conceive and design. “She has changed the way endorsement deals work,” said Rana Florida, chief executive officer of Creative Class Group in a recent article. “She’s putting more of her influence, thought and creative energy into a line rather than just endorsing them.”

While other celebrities have been content to sign their name and face to products and offering themselves as endorsers, Gaga is going way further than that and stamping her creative idea onto the

innovation and design of the brand’s products and was proactively involved in both the development and launch of the brand’s new line.

“Hands on is the only way to describe her involvement in the Polaroid Grey Label line,” according to Scott Hardy, President of Polaroid. “She’s a close part of the working team and we take her direction. It is a much deeper

partnership than just attracting new consumers. She plays an

active role in the product development process.”

In this way, Polaroid wasn’t “just borrowing her brand equity, but they embedded her creativity in the product design.”

A New Generation for Branding and Celebrity Endorsementsby Susan Whelan

Dr. Susan Whelan, Lecturer in Marketing

The use of celebrity endorsers can clearly result in benefits for firms, but such strategies are also fraught with risk.

February ‘10 | BizBites | 9

Outstanding Awardee of the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Science

Dr Susan Whelan of the Waterford Crystal Centre for Marketing Studies in the School of Business at WIT was recently announced as Outstanding Awardee of the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Science (IRCHSS). This award celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Irish Research Council, and was given to Dr Whelan in recognition of her research on brand imitation and visual similarity. At a recent event to mark the occasion, a commemorative book entitled ‘Mosaic: A Celebration of Irish Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences’ was launched. This publication profiles 27 of the 2000 scholars funded by the Council since its inception and of these, WIT was the only Institute of Technology featured.


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Students learn best when stimulated and engaged and see theory being put into practice as

the ‘live classroom assessment’ teaching methodology used by marketing lecturer, Conor Kelleher, shows. He has used the live classroom assessment model at Masters level for five years and, in the past two years, the Cork-born lecturer has incorporated it into modules for his third and fourth year students at the School of Business in Waterford Institute of Technology. “Modules I teach to these groups are assessed through working with a real or live company or organisation. The companies liaise and work directly with us and conduct assessments with our students. Of late, we’ve worked with the Irish Handmade Glass Company here on Henrietta Street and it’s been a fantastic learning experience for the groups.

“We are fortunate that one of our recent graduates is heavily involved in the company. Our students have watched this company develop and grow and it has been assessed at every level by our students at undergraduate and postgraduate level,” Conor explains. Historically, company personnel would put together a brief which would be studied by WIT’s undergraduates and postgraduates. That has now changed. “When we started using the live classroom assessment model, the company would give us a brief and come in at the end, sit in on presentations and award prizes for the best.

“Now the model works even better. Senior company people come in to us from the very beginning and outline the brief. Our students watch companies develop and grow; they have direct access to the company’s top personnel, liaise with them; see how they overcome challenges and get a very clear picture of the realities of being in business and the marketing decisions that have to be made. It’s like doing case studies but at a new, deeper level, where you interact with real people in live marketing scenarios. “The students really engage very well with the Irish Handmade Glass Company. One of its four directors was in the same position they are in a few years ago as a student on the very same programme. We are very dependent on the goodwill of the companies

Students on the MBSI programme at Waterford Institute of Technology completed a live project for new start-up company, The Irish Handmade Glass Company. Pictured is Elizabeth Cox receiving a prize from company director Tony Hayes, on behalf of the winning team. Also included (l-r) Jamil Ahmed, Victor Adebayo, Conor Kelleher (Lecturer), Len Brimson, Derek Smith (Company Director) & Maurice Power.

to help us out and we hope they get lots from the process too. “Graduates who studied companies 12 months ago have told me they are still monitoring their progress today, long after their official links with those companies have ended. “Live classroom assessment is a teaching, assessment and learning methodology which is relatively new in Ireland; it takes

Live Classroom Assessment

a lot of time and effort to set up and monitor and it is demanding of the companies. But it is also a phenomenal learning experience.” All of the focus and data collection is marketing based. Through the live classroom assessment process, undergraduates and postgraduate students examine areas such as business to business marketing and developing business contacts within industry to selling and sales management strategy and international marketing.

Students also research the Irish, domestic market and look at the various different selling roles within their focus company.

“These modules are demanding and they are time consuming but they are exceptionally rewarding and the methodology really works.

Our students learn by doing and develop a very close working relationship with the company. “We’d like to think that the companies get as much out of it as the students and are pretty confident that this is a model which will be used even more in teaching in the future,” Mr. Kelleher concluded.

by Conor Kelleher

Conor Kelleher, Lecturer in Marketing

Our students watch companies develop and grow; they have direct access to the company’s top personnel.


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The School of Business continues to strengthen its ties with universities and colleges across the globe with a growing number of student and lecturer exchanges boosting the Institute’s international profile and giving staff and undergraduates a chance to travel and experience new cultures.

It’s all a labour of love for Dermot Moore, School of Business Study Abroad Co-ordinator. Students who return from abroad don’t just make new friends, they make friends for life, he said. While it all began with the Erasmus programme 20 years ago, the School of Business is now forging its own links with colleges across the globe and there are plans for even more linkages, he revealed.

Students can now choose from locations such as Boston or Helsinki, several different French, German, Spanish and Italian colleges and others in Holland or Prague in the Czech Republic. Numbers have grown from a low of just 10 in 2009 to 26 in 2010 and 27 this year. With new links being forged with further universities in the US and Canada, the numbers opting to study abroad are likely to continue to grow.

“The study abroad elective is designed to allow students to study for a semester in a foreign country, in a university /institute abroad as an integral part of the Business degree programme. It is an opportunity to spend time in a different country, experience different styles or modes of teaching, live in a different cultural environment and meet other students and lecturers from a wide variety of nationalities.

“The student enjoys a rich experience in one

of WIT’s partner universities/institutes while also benefiting from living the experience of the foreign culture. The student’s confidence in his/her own capabilities increases noticeably. It is a unique experience, which will impact on the student for the rest of his/her life.

“Exams were semesterised five years ago so students who went abroad didn’t miss out. Their fellow students were not taking exams – they were on work placement, setting up their own business or combining college with teaching or work in the community.

Those who do go abroad can also take any legitimate module – it does not have to be a business subject. Over the years, our students have chosen to study areas such as Native American Women’s Studies, Nutrition, the War in Vietnam even.

“There have always been very strong links between Waterford and Newfoundland in Canada. The Irish Newfoundland Partnership promoted cultural, trade and music links in recent years. WIT School of Business and Memorial University (MUN) entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU). Under the agreement, we sent four students to MUN annually and we host four Canadian students at WIT. It’s been an incredible experience. From it we’ve also developed an EU-Canada student exchange,

called Tradewinds. Dr. Ray Griffin led the submission and WIT was the lead European partner.

“Tradewinds in an International Exchange programme that provides students with an opportunity to acquire knowledge and competencies that support their future work in regional economic development, entrepreneurship and other contemporary subjects. While studying abroad, students will be earning course credits at their exchange school that will easily transfer back to their diploma or degree program at their home school.

“Partner colleges include Fanshawe College in Ontario; the University of Fraser Valley in British Columbia; Memorial University in Newfoundland; ESC Bretagne Brest School of Management in France and the University of Glamorgan in Wales. We take in our first group of students under this initiative in September and our students go out in January 2012. Staff exchanges are also important and some WIT staff members have already linked up with researchers in Canada.”

While the Irish are renowned for their friendliness, the WIT Business students who travel abroad experience unrivalled hospitality. “Practically every student who has come back from studying abroad says they now have friends for life all over the world. The Irish are a very friendly race but these students have found the friends they meet abroad really take them in. They have their very own UN.”

Lecturers too are benefitting and quite a number of Business lecturers have been involved in partnerships with colleges

across Germany, Holland and Helsinki and Prague to name but a few destinations. “The future looks bright. We even have interest from colleges in Africa, particularly south of the Sahara.”WIT recently became a member of the Averroes programme. Dr. Sheila O’Donohoe led the submission. The project is designed to aid scholarships financed by the European Commission. The Averroès Programme develops university and scientific exchanges between Europe and the Maghreb. Each year the Programme is able to offer exchange scholarships

from Maghreb to Europe and from Europe to Maghreb to more than 300 students (Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate), young teachers (“post-doc”) and academic university personnel for periods ranging from 1 month (academic personnel) to 18 months (Doctorates).

“We are also looking at linkages with African, Australian and European business schools. The stronger the links we forge abroad, the stronger our reputation abroad will be,” Dermot concluded.

Destinations of study abroad (flexible semester) students so far

City Country 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Boston USA 11 4 3 0 5 -

Centennial Canada 0 0 1 0 2 -

Grenoble France 0 0 0 1 0 -

Helsinki Finland 1 0 0 0 0 -

Huelva Spain 0 0 0 4 1 -

Humber Canada 0 0 0 0 3 -

Lueven Belgium 1 0 0 5 0 -

Madrid Spain 0 0 1 0 0 -

Msida Malta 0 0 0 1 0 -

Montpellier France 1 2 1 3 3+1 -

Newfoundland Canada 3 3 2 5 0 -

Nice France 5 4 1 0 4 -

Pau/Bayonne France 0 0 0 0 1+1 -

Prague Czech Rep 6 6 1 4 4 -

Zwolle Holland 1 0 0 3 3 -

Total 29 19 10 26 27

School of Business forging significant international links

While the Irish are renowned for their friendliness, the WIT Business students who travel abroad experience unrivalled hospitality.

Dermot Moore, School of Business Study Abroad Co-ordinator

14 | BizBites | Autumn 2011

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Introduction to Equity Investment Fund Accounting is written by John Casey, Lecturer in the Business School’s Dept of Accounting and Economics, and was published by Blackhall Publishing. It is a comprehensive textbook that addresses the fundamental principles of investment fund accounting. The only book in its field that is specifically written for the general student, it is designed for those who have little prior exposure to investment fund accounting.

The funds industry is an important employer in Ireland. It has weathered the recession well and over 700 jobs are to be created in the sector in 2011. In an age where IT systems can eliminate the drudgery of many investment fund processing operations, it also has a negative effect – the need to understand the underlying transaction is reduced. Over the past two decades the investment fund industry has utilised the benefit of technology extensively but there is a price. It is more difficult to appreciate the impact of the transactions being processed. This is particularly true when errors are made; correcting any errors is

more complex and time-consuming. It is hoped that this book, by taking a step back to the basic accounting, will help to alleviate some of these issues. In this way, it will allow those starting out in the industry to develop a greater understanding of what they are doing and act as a springboard for their future development.

The book was launched by Marion Mulvey from Citi who, in her speech, praised John for his work and noted that this book would be an invaluable help to employees in the Fund Accounting industry.

Rachel O’ Dowd is presented with a Teaching Excellence Award from Professor Kieran Byrne, President of WIT. This Award is presented to teaching staff to mark the their contribution to teaching. Rachel lectures Public Relations and is a member of the Dept of Management and Organisation in the School of Business.

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62 students from Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) were recognised for their excellent academic achievements at the WIT School of

Business Recognition Awards Ceremony in October 2010. The awards were presented to students (who are not receiving degrees this year) whose results placed them in the top 5% of their class in the School of Business.

At the awards ceremony, Joanna Roche from Gorey, Co. Wexford, a student in last year’s BBS Year 3 (Economic Stream) was presented with the Brendan Rowe Medal for receiving the highest average marks of all the students who received awards on Wednesday. Presented by Dr Mark Rowe, the medal is awarded to the best student on the Dean’s List in memory of Mark’s father, Mr Brendan Rowe, who did significant work in establishing the WIT School of Business as one of the best in the country.

Catherine Banville from New Ross, Co. Wexford was named WIT School of Business’s Graduate of the Year. Catherine graduated in September from the BBS (Accounting) and received the honour for achieving the highest overall average marks in her final exams. Tim O’Byrne, a student

of the BA in Accounting, was presented with the John Hume Scholarship from the Waterford Area Credit Unions. This scholarship is for four years and is awarded to first year students who have demonstrated excellent academic achievements.

The students who received the CIMA Awards were Brendan French from the BA Accounting Year 1 and Maliha Walsh from the BBS Year 2. Both students are from Waterford. Dr Thomas O’Toole, Head of the School of Business at WIT commended the students for their hard work throughout the year: “These awards are given to students who have demonstrated excellent academic achievements and whose results have placed them in the top 5% of the students in the WIT School of Business. We are delighted to show our students that hard work is acknowledged and rewarded, not only by WIT but by other organizations and Institutes such as CIMA and the Waterford Area Credit Unions. Well done to each and every student who has worked hard to achieve excellent results in their respective courses, and may this academic year bring you similar successes.”

The Dean’s AwardThe awards recognise the academic excellence of the students whose marks place them in the top five per cent of School of Business students. The picture shows the students who received awards on the night.

Dean’s Awards 2010

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School Celebrates Book Launch Introduction to Equity Investment Fund Accounting by John Casey

Staff Member Presented with Teaching Excellence Award

Pictured at the launch of his book is Mr John Casey (Lecturer in Accounting).

Dean’s Awards 2010

Secondary School students who received an A grade in Junior Certificate honours Business Studies this year were recognised by the WIT’s School of Business and

the Business Studies Teachers Association of Ireland (BSTAI) for their achievement.200 students from the South East region attended the awards ceremony with their parents, Business Studies

teachers and school principals. The ceremony celebrates and recognises excellence in Junior Certificate Business Studies. Students were presented with a certificate of achievement, and schools received recognition plaques. The evening was an opportunity for parents, teachers and principals to celebrate the success of their students and give students an opportunity to view the modern campus and facilities at WIT.

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WIT/BSTAI Recognises Success of

Junior Certificate A Grade Students

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The Brendan Rowe Medal is presented to the best student on the Dean’s list of high achievers. The 2010 recipient was Joanna Roche. The award was presented by Dr. Mark Rowe, in memory of his father, a former head of the School of Business. Also pictured is Dr Thomas O’Toole.

The Chartered Institute of Management Accounting (CIMA) Awards for academic excellence in their accounting results were presented to Brendan French (BA in Accounting year 1) and Maliha Walsh (BBS year 2). Also pictured are Dr Thomas O’Toole, Head of School of Business; Mr. Frank Walsh, Lecturer in Accounting (and CIMA advocate); Mr. Denis McCarthy, Divisional Director CIMA.

The John Hume Scholarship. Pictured back row l to r is Pascal Kennedy, St. Dominic Credit Union, Dr. Tom O’Toole and John Godfrey, John Cooper Lisduggan CU front row Ilonda Parle, General Manager Waterford Credit Union, Tim O’Byrne John Hume Scholarship recipient, Mary Leamy Power WCU and Pat Quinn President Lisduggan Credit Union.

Waterford Institute of Technology/BSTAI Junior Certificate Award recipient Niamh Byrne from the Presentation De La Salle College, Bagnelstown, pictured with Ger Long, Head of Department of Accounting and Economics at WIT. The award was presented for achieving an A’’ grade in her Junior Certificate Honours Business Studies.

Students from Castlecomer Secondary School who were presented with Waterford Institute of Technology/BSTAI Junior Certificate Awards, for achieving an ‘A’ grade in their Junior Certificate Honours Business Studies. Seated from left: Teresa Browne, Ger Long, Head of Department of Accounting and Economics and Laura Brannigan. Back row: Ann-Marie Dinneen, business teacher; Norah Cantwell, Sarah Buggy, Eibhilin Morrissey, Fabian Jacob and Helen Malone, business teacher.

Students from the Presentation Secondary School, Kilkenny, who were presented with Waterford Institute of Technology/BSTAI Junior Certificate Awards for achieving an A grade in their Junior Certificate Honours Business Studies. Seated from left: Megan Morrissey, Ger Long, Head of Department of Accounting and Economics, WIT and Clare Roberts. Back row: Rebecca Lucey, Kate Minogue and Brid O’ Shea, business teacher.

Students from Our Lady of Mercy Secondary School, who were presented with Waterford Institute of Technology/BSTAI Junior Certificate Awards for in recognition of achieving an ‘A’ grade in their Junior Certificate Honours Business Studies. From left: Aoife Barry, Shauna O’ Brien; Ger Long, Head of Department of Accounting and Economics at WIT; Aoife Dennehy and Ciara Giles-Doran.


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Students from De La Salle College who were presented with Waterford Institute of Technology/BSTAI Junior Certificate Awards in recognition of achieving an ‘A’ grade in their Junior Certificate Honours Business Studies, pictured with Ger Long, Head of Department of Accounting and Economics at WIT and business teacher Margaret Walsh. The award recipients were Evin Behal, Sean Birney, Sean Clooney, Tadhg Fitzpatrick, Granit Ismaili, Aaron Mooney, Brendan Murphy, Robbie Pender, Bill Power, Conor Sheehan, Peter Traynor, Kevin Walsh, Tadhg Whelan and Francis Walsh.

Waterford Institute of Technology/BSTAI Junior Certificate Award recipients Cian Ryan, Rory O’; Brien and Shane Keating, all from the CBS Secondary School pictured with Ger Long, Head of Department of Accounting and Economics at WIT. The awards were presented in recognition of achieving an ‘A’ grade in the Junior Certificate Honours Business Studies.

Students from Loretto Secondary School, Kilkenny and recipients of Waterford Institute of Technology/BSTAI Junior Certificate Awards, for achieving an ‘A’ grade in their Junior Certificate Honours Business Studies. Seated from left: Sarah Donohue, Ciara Mahon and Shauna Scannell. Back row: Ger Long, Head of Department of Accounting and Economics at WIT; Christine O’ Neill, Lucy Sherwin, Catriona Twomey, Katie Doheny, Aisling Hennessey and business teacher Olivia Coppinger.

Pictured are students from the Presentation Secondary School who were recipients of Waterford Institute of Technology/BSTAI Junior Certificate Awards, for achieving an ‘A’ grade in their Junior Certificate Honours Business Studies. Seated from left: Fatimah Haruna, Máire Buckley and Michaela Carew. Back row: Frank Scully, business teacher; Kate Cooney, Aisling Ní Cheallaigh, Corinne Power-O’Mahony, Lecturer in Communications, WIT and Anne Casey, business teacher.

Students from the Loretto Secondary School were presented with Waterford Institute of Technology/BSTAI Junior Certificate Awards, for achieving an ‘A’ grade in their Junior Certificate Honours Business Studies, pictured with their Business teacher Alan Murphy, Mary O’ Sullivan, National President, BSTAI; Prof. Kieran R. Byrne, Director, WIT; Tom O’Toole, Head of School of Business, Ger Long, Head of Department of Accounting and Economics and Derek Byrne, Registrar. The students pictured are Zoe Arthur, Eve Corcoran, Zoe Cousins, Emma Cullen, Niamh Cullen, Clara Daly, Eimear Gaffney, Emma Glynn, Niamh Grayson, Aisling Kavanagh, Danielle Kehoe, Leanne Moore, Shauna Murphy, Shauna Nic Aogain, Louise O’Conno, Niamh O’Gorman, Niamh Rafter, Sinead Rowe, Orla Sherwood, Megan Smith, Geirgina Sutton and Shauna Warren

Students from St. Augustine’s College, Abbeyside who were presented with Waterford Institute of Technology/BSTAI Junior Certificate Awards, for achieving an ‘A’ grade in their Junior Certificate Honours Business Studies pictured, seated from left: Ronan O’ Neill, Moylan Brunnock, Molly Lenihan-McGrane and Clara O’Conor. Back row: Mary O’ Sullivan, National President, BSTAI; Marianne Ryan, business teacher; Margo McGann, business teacher; Joseph Moynihan, School Principal and Prof. Kieran R. Byrne, Director of WIT.

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