6 minute read
four: Reimagining Leadership
FOUR: REIMAGINING LEADERSHIP
SUPPORTING & SUSTAINING EQUALITY
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Ardmore Shipping Launched in September 2018 by Professor Thia Hennessy, Dean of Cork University Business School, and Carol Andrews, Chair of the 30% Club Ireland, the CUBS 30% Club UCC Executive MBA Scholarship is designed to help promote women take on leadership roles within companies and organisations.
Two years after becoming its inaugural recipient, Aideen O’Driscoll, is preparing to accelerate her career at Ardmore Shipping after completing the UCC Executive MBA programme.
Originally motivated by her ambition to contribute to the company’s strategic development, Aideen enrolled in the UCC Executive MBA programme and applied for the 30% Club Scholarship. Now the Director of Human Resources at the international shipping giant, Aideen is beginning to fulfil her goal.
“I knew that I would need to broaden my experience and knowledge to progress in my career. That’s when I first began to look at the Executive MBA programme. Given the fact that I was coming from a legal background, I had researched several HR specific postgraduate programmes that would allow me to specialise, but ultimately the MBA aligned with my career ambitions. Obviously, winning the Scholarship made things a little easier for me, but I couldn’t have completed the programme without the support of Ardmore Shipping. I want to repay the company by contributing at a strategic level”. “By its very nature, shipping is a global industry. Without diversity and inclusion, it just wouldn’t work. Ardmore is staffed with international teams both ashore and at sea, and our ships dock in ports all over the world. The pandemic has created significant difficulties for the shipping industry, and this year has been an exceptionally difficult one for our seafarers. We have had to draw on the skillsets of a diverse and multinational team to try to arrange for crew changes, and to get our people home to their families. This has involved responding to a variety of different local regulations and continually changing rules and restrictions, visa requirements as well as hugely limited flight and travel options. When it comes to gender equality, like other industries shipping can do more but we are making considerable progress. I had the privilege to speak at the Women in Shipping Virtual Summit, and the sense of purpose and passion around this topic is evident”.
As part of her successful scholarship application, Aideen drew on her own experiences of working in an industry that has traditionally been depicted as being male-dominated.
As such, throughout the programme, Aideen has been keen to demonstrate that while shipping is a traditional industry, it is becoming more progressive and future orientated.
Aideen’s broad outlook resonated with much of what she discovered during the MBA programme, which facilitates learning through dialogue and debate.
It was during these discussions that Aideen gained insights into how business leaders overcame challenges using a variety of methodologies. The engaging
nature of this unique learning environment resonated with Aideen, who found herself being exposed to people whose skills and knowledge stood apart from her own.
“I’ll miss the interactive nature of the MBA. The ideas that were exchanged during debates and conversations was an education in itself. The group work was extraordinary. You had people from diverse organisations problem solving together. It was a real melting pot that provided tangible networking opportunities”.
The CUBS 30% Club Scholarships underscore the collaborative relationship between CUBS and the 30% Club which form part of the 30% Club’s ambition to increase female representation in executive management positions, so that women occupy at least 30% of positions on company boards.
Three inspiring female innovators at Cork University Business School were awarded 30% Club Scholarships this year, paving the way for Karen Fleming (UCC CUBS Executive MBA), Alice Power (MSc Project Management) and Ciara Magner (MSc Human Resource Management) to become future business leaders and key organisational decision-makers.
According to Professor Anthony McDonnell, head of the Department of Management and Marketing at CUBS, the three scholarship initiatives, led by the 30% Club, are more relevant than ever as we emerge from the pandemic.
“We are delighted to partner with the 30% club to support the advancement of female leaders. While progress has been made over the past decade, there remains a gender gap in leadership positions and Covid-19 has the potential to stall the progress that has been made. These types of initiatives remain vital, so we were delighted to award Karen, Alice and Ciara these scholarships”.
The CUBS 30% Club UCC Executive MBA Scholarship provides successful applicants with 100% tuition fees and are open for applicants from future female leaders for the UCC Executive MBA programme, MSc Human Resource Management and the MSc Project Management programmes.
Another marker of shared success has been the accreditation of the UCC CUBS Executive MBA, which recognised the Business School’s ambition to place sustainability at the heart of business education.
This is embodied in CUBS’ ambitious plan to construct a 20,000 square meter building in the heart of Cork city, which, it is hoped, will receive international certification based on its environmental, social and economic impact.
The vision for the new building impressed and was singled out by the Association of MBAs (AMBA), when it accredited University College Cork’s Executive MBA programme earlier this year.
Administered by CUBS faculty, UCC’s Executive MBA programme secured international accreditation after it met AMBA’s exacting standards by reflecting changing trends and fostering innovation in post-graduate management education. In recent years, the dynamic skills imparted by UCC’s Executive MBA programme have allowed some of Ireland’s emerging business and organisational leaders to confront the unexpected commercial and structural challenges that we have all faced as a society.
€25m CUBS
Building Project
State Capital Grant secured, late 2019
Accreditation Achieved 2020
Karen Fleming
ABOUT THE CUBS IMI PARTNERSHIP
The IMI (Irish Management Institute) joined the UCC family in 2016.
The IMI is a globally ranked provider of both customised and open programmes in executive education, enhancing the University’s capacity to bring executive education to business leaders.
Together, CUBS and IMI deliver high-quality, internationally recognised and accredited business and management education. The partnership is about providing learners with an end-to-end education from undergraduate to executive level.
CUBS and IMI have distinctive areas of activity and delivery. CUBS, for example, has a focus on core business research and education, while IMI are providing highly targeted executive education programmes.
This is an exciting phase of our relationship where our joint vision and achievements are taking shape at the IMI campus in Sandyford, Dublin and in the UCC Centre for Executive Education at Lapp’s Quay in Cork city centre.
We opened the Centre for Executive Education in 2018 and since then, it has become the home for the UCC CUBS Executive MBA, for some of our masters programmes, and for our partnership with the IMI. Our new Advanced Performance Programme will be delivered by expert, research-led CUBS faculty, in collaboration with industry leaders at Lapp’s Quay and on the IMI campus in Dublin.
It has been designed in collaboration with the Irish Management Institute and to help executives embrace leadership creativity and organisational flexibility, equipping them with the strategic skills and toolkit to perform proactively in an increasingly volatile and complex business environment.
Combined, the vision for CUBS-IMI enables the delivery of education and research of the highest quality demanded by students/ participants, employers, community and other stakeholders.
It’s a collaboration that presents clear opportunities for innovation, agility and business-focused programmes and thought leadership.
With CUBS mission to shape responsible leaders for a sustainable future, we collaborate with the IMI on these concepts of responsible leadership, sustainability from an economic, environmental and social perspective, to develop the leaders of today.
Executive Education
Ranking 2020
TOP50
for executive education
67th
position globally
