Edge issue 12

ISSUE 12 JANUARY 2014 Featuring Economist and journalist Dan O’Brien

Best Paper Prizes awarded by the AIB

MBS Students and Employment Appeals Tribunal Roleplay

NEWS & UPDATES FROM WIT GRADUATE BUSINESS

Dear Colleagues,

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We hope you enjoy reading some of the recent news and updates from the Department of Graduate Business. This semester we had the pleasure of hosting the Irish Academy of Management conference which attracted over 250 delegates from Ireland and overseas. Our thanks again to our sponsors Waterford Crystal and Failte Ireland who supported the event as a Gathering Initiative. We hope you enjoyed the many speakers that we welcomed to the School as part of our graduate business seminar programme and we have included an item on the seminars in this newsletter. Next semester we look forward to our annual conference forum event on Lean Practice and also a dedicated Lean Pharma event in January. We will also host international study programmes for postgraduate students on our MBSI, MBS and MSc programmes

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Many congratulations to our colleague Dr Paul Morrissey, and also to Drs. Padraig McCarthy and Noel Murray on the successful defence of their PhDs and we wish them well in their future careers.

As we near the end of the semester, may we extend warm best wishes to all our students and alumni for the holiday season and for a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Dr Denis Harrington, Head of Graduate Business

• Economist and journalist Dan O’Brien

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• New CEO in Residence for School of Business 3 • Graduate Scholarships supported by Combined Credit Unions

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• School hosts National Irish Academy of Management’s (IAM) annual conference

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• Probus listens to WIT Business School

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• School promotes links with University of Wisconsin

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• Best Paper Prizes awarded by the AIB

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• International study residential for Executive MBA group

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• GIFT project at WIT continues to forge innovative solutions to promote the green economy in Wales/Ireland

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• GFIS programme shortlisted for best new postgraduate course at event

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• MBS Students participate in Employment Appeals Tribunal Roleplay

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• Industry collaborative events for WIT Lean Practice students

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Economist and journalist Dan O’Brien launches Graduate Business Seminar Programme 2013/14 Ideas, insights and inspiration: these traits are among the common themes delivered by the range of entrepreneurs, experts and academics over the course of the 2013 Graduate Business Seminar Series. Through the personal narratives, career trajectories and case studies presented by the external speakers, the one hundred masters and Level 9 students of Graduate Business programmes had the opportunity to engage directly with the change-makers, start-ups and multi-nationals fuelling the nascent Irish economic recovery.

Giving a holistic view of the Irish economic landscape, the Series was launched in early September by Dan O’Brien, the Economics Editor of The Irish Times. In a timely and comprehensive analysis, he sketched the strengths and weaknesses of not only the governmental and international context for the recovery, but also the supports for and contribution of the entrepreneurial activity bubbling away in the background of the Irish political economy. The following speaker, Ms Louise Grubb, then detailed the entrepreneurial reality of building not one, but multiple companies from the ground up, seizing the initiative and growing the confidence to illustrate the opportunities in the Southeast and beyond.

Economist and journalist Dan O’Brien launches Graduate Business Seminar Programme 2013/14

The Series then went on to encompass various academic streams reflected in the Masters programmes: the innovative HR culture embodied in Lake Region of New Ross by HR Manager Helen Barry; the marketing and promotions challenges for the GAA in an increasingly crowded sporting environment by the Director of Communications for the organisation, Lisa Clancy; and the funding and treasury challenges for an Irish success story such as CRH, as delivered in a special evening lecture by its Group Treasurer, Anthony Fitzgerald. The world of academia was well represented by Professor Jorg Prokop of the University of Oldenburg, Germany, on the role of Credit Rating Agencies and – in a characteristically impassioned speech on Bayesian theory – by Professor William Forbes of the University of Loughborough in the UK. The global connectedness of Ireland was woven through the presentations from the opposing sides of Irish investment: the inward flow from the exceptional Salesforce.com story presented by its Irish CEO, David Dempsey, and the outward expansion of Glanbia by its Irish CEO for Global Ingredients, Brian Phelan. The enthusiasm and inspiration of the two speakers acted as clarion calls for the students, who responded with close questioning of the innovation and leadership inherent in the strategic development of both companies.

In a very different vein, but equally instructive and interesting, was the story of Chuck Feeney’s Atlantic Philanthropies as presented by its Director for Ireland, Mary Sutton. The range, depth and substance of Atlantic’s contribution to the educational and social development of Ireland was truly impressive and a necessary balance to the corporate themes explored across the other speakers. Eimear Fleming, a recent graduate of the WIT Masters’ programme, also described her journey through the voluntary sector and the SouthEast Simon community before establishing her flourishing career in the hospitality and consultancy sectors. Her enthusiasm and success will act as an example to the current crop of students in the months ahead.

Dr Sheila O’Donohoe and graduate business students photographed with keynote speaker Dan O’Brien at the recent launch of the seminar programme

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Also pointing the way ahead was Dr Tom McCabe, newly installed CEO in Residence of the WIT School of Business, as he traced his distinguished career in the pharmaceutical sector before resolving to ‘give something back’ in his new role with the School. Dr Pete Lunn of the ESRI was also challenging the students – in his case to consider the realm of behavioural economics in an engaging and interactive session full of examples and games. Finally, the audience was asked to answer the never to be forgotten quandary of ‘who brought the horse to France?’ In a highly interactive seminar, the Marketing Manager for the Irish Dairy Board, Jens Gloeckner traced the evolution of the Kerrygold campaigns across various international markets. In the grand tradition of good showmanship, Mr Gloeckner brought a little something for everyone in the audience. And hopefully everyone in the audience for the Seminar Series, be they from the traditional MBS stream of programmes or from the newer Financial Information Systems or Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship programmes, will absorb the ideas and inspiration as the students forge their careers into the future.

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NEWS & UPDATES FROM WIT GRADUATE BUSINESS

New CEO in Residence for School of Business We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Tom McCabe as our New CEO in Residence for the School for the period 2013-2015. Tom brings extensive senior leadership experience to his role as our new CEO in Residence having previously had positions at: General Electric (GE), Pfizer Inc, Howmedica International, Howmedica Ireland, Boston Scientific Ireland, Boston Scientific International, Gelkaps GMBH and most recently with Teva Pharmaceuticals, Waterford.

Tom is a Chartered Engineer and also earned a Doctorate in Business Administration (Organisational Behaviour) at the Nottingham Business School of the Nottingham Trent University and a Master of Science Degree (Management) at Trinity College Dublin. He was also conferred, as a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers Ireland, is a past Member of the Irish Institute of Training and Development. Served as a Council Member of Pharmachemical Ireland and as President of the Irish Business Employers’ Confederation in the South East and a Vice President and a Director of Waterford Chamber of Commerce.

He also served as a Board member of the Irish Medical Devices Association and as a Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland. The CEO in Residence Programme was initiated by us to further integrate senior practitioner perspectives into our learning environment on a more sustained basis. At it’s core, the challenge of the role is to foster and release the potential of future entrepreneurs, managers and business specialists in the region – as we know, the region critically relies on the generation of these valuable resources in order for it to grow and blossom. This is achieved through meeting with staff and students of the School and engaging with them in a number of activities, including business discussions, lectures, research and master classes over the two year period.

Former appointees to this role have included Mr Sam McCauley, Chairman of Sam McCauley Group and Mr Pierce Casey, Managing Director, Adelaide Capital who through their interactions provided tremendous learning, development and networking opportunities for our students. In addition, the CEO in Residence also provides an important advisory role supporting the valuable work of the School and informing our research and programme development activities.

The initiative provides new and innovative ways for learners to develop valuable skills and business knowledge that reading and lectures alone cannot meet. Equally the programme recognises the important input that business practitioners can bring to academia, a world where theory and practice interact to develop the minds and skills of the learners of today and the business leaders of tomorrow.

For more information on the School of Business see www.wit.ie/business

Graduate Scholarships supported by Combined Credit Unions The Lisduggan, St Dominic’s and Waterford Credit Unions have combined over many years to generously support students at WIT. This has been achieved through sponsorship of the John Hume Scholarship and the Graduate Scholarship.

This year’s scholarship winners are Lisa McGrath (BBS Programme) and Kelly Dunford (MBS Programme). Kelly is undertaking a study in 2013/14 with a human resource management dimension on staff performance in credit unions.

Dr Tom O’Toole remarked “We appreciate the support of our students by the Combined Credit Unions, confident in the knowledge that our graduates and staff will continue to play important roles in credit unions in the years ahead. We also recognise the valuable role credit unions fulfill in our shared community, and the critical contribution they play in financing educational participation across the region.” The Credit Unions also provide educational loans on favourable terms to their members, which, helps many WIT students to cover the cost of their education.

(L-R) John Maher (Lecturer), Mr Pat Murphy (St Dominic’s & Combined Credit Unions, Waterford), Kelly Dunford (Graduate Scholarship Recipient) and Dr Denis Harrington (Head of Graduate Business)

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School hosts National Irish Academy of Management’s (IAM) annual conference This semester the School of Business hosted the national Irish Academy of Management’s (IAM) annual conference ‘Scholarship of Integration: Engaging Communities of Learning Practice’. The conference sought to bring together the Scholarship of Integration by engaging communities of learning and practice.

It featured a number of keynote speakers from the academic and professional realm, including Prof. Ann Cunliffe of Leeds University Business School, UK; Prof. Charles Wankel of St. John’s University, New York; Prof. Thomas Lawton of Tuck School of Business Dartmouth; Cathriona Hallahan, MD of Microsoft Ireland; Michael Veale, CEO Buy4Now and Sam McCauley of Sam McCauley Chemist Group, Ireland. A new dimension to this year’s schedule, involved an ‘Excellence in Practice’ Breakfast Assembly, which was held on campus at WIT. The panel for the assembly COMPRISED key business leaders such as Michael Veale (CEO of Buy4Now), Catriona Hallahan (MD Microsoft Ireland), Maeve O’Connell (MBAAI President) and Barry Downes (CEO, TSSG); and was chaired by Prof. Brian Fynes of UCD. The conference is jointly supported by Failte Ireland under ‘The Gathering Initiative’ and Waterford Crystal.

The conference was attended by over 250 delegates from Irish and international business schools.

Probus listens to WIT Business School academic analyse credit union developments At the invitation of John Caulfield, Probus committee member, John Maher, Department of Accounting & Economics, gave a presentation on the development of Credit Unions in Ireland at the branch meeting held in the Tower Hotel on 22 October 2013. Kevin Hall, Chairman of Waterford Probus introduced the presentation and on its behalf expressed his members’ appreciation for the insight to these important social and economic units within the community.

John discussed current issues and trends shaping their activities, the direction in which they are proceeding, and the opportunities for service within the movement.

The primacy of the credit union mission, the need to adapt to changing circumstances and lifestyles, the responsibility of managing money on behalf of others, and the recycling of funds within communities through credit and the development of electronic platforms for the conduct of credit union members’ business were all highlighted. Afterwards he engaged in dialogue with the attendance on matters of mutual interest.

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Keynote speakers at the recent Irish Academy of Management Conference Professor Thomas Lawton, Tuck Business School Dartmouth, USA and Professor Charles Wankel, St Johns University, New York photographed with Dr Felicity Kelliher, WIT, Professor Denis Harrington, Head of Graduate Business, WIT and Dr Thomas O’Toole, Head of School of Business.

School promotes links with University of Wisconsin Photographed during a visit to the University of Wisconsin is John Maher (Lecturer in Accounting) with Professor of Accounting Bill Millar. John co-delivered a workshop with Prof Millar and met with a number of other businesses in the region during his recent visit to the university.

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NEWS & UPDATES FROM WIT GRADUATE BUSINESS

Best Paper Prizes awarded by the AIB Centre for Finance & Business Research

Dr. Sheila O’Donohoe, Co-ordinator of AIB Centre for Finance and Business Research, Steve Keating, recipient of undergraduate award, John Kehoe, recipient of postgraduate award, Sarah O’Donnell, recipient of postgraduate award, Ger Long, Head of Department of Accounting and Economics, Niall O’Sullivan, recipient of postgraduate award, Deimante Garlauskaite, recipient of undergraduate award, Professor Jörg Prokop, key note speaker, Finance and Banking Professor, University of Oldenburg, Germany.

The AIB Centre for Finance & Business Research in the School of Business recently held the presentation of the best paper awards marking the 5th year of these awards which serve to recognize excellence for the best research papers completed by undergraduate students from the BBS (Economics & Finance) and BA Finance and Investment degrees and best postgraduate dissertations by the MBS (Economics and Finance) and MB in Accounting students.

The School was delighted to welcome the recipients and their families along with the key note speaker, Professor Jorg Prokop, Professor of Finance and Banking at the Centre for Transnational Studies (ZenTra), University of Oldenburg, Germany. An auditor by profession before moving work in academia Professor Prokop delivered a thought provoking presentation tilted: ‘From AAA to D: The Role of Credit Rating Agencies in Financial Markets’. As part of his visit Professor Prokop had also presented to the Doctorate in Business Administration students as well as meeting with staff and PhD students regarding collaborations and staff-student exchange programmes.

The titles and recipients of the Best Paper 2013 are: ‘An Investigation into the Presence of the January Effect and Halloween Effect in the Irish and Japanese markets’

by Steve Keating, now working with State Street International

‘The Impact of Voluntary Auditor Rotation upon Audit Quality: An Empirical Study of FTSE 350 Companies’

by John Kehoe, now working with PWC

‘Is the Size Effect Alive? An Analysis of UK and Lithuanian Markets for the Period, 2003-2012’

by Deimante Seibokiene

‘An Analysis of Japanese Domestic Mergers and Acquisitions: An Acquiring Firm Perspective’

by Sarah O Donnell, soon to start work with JP Morgan

‘An Analysis of the Share Price Reaction to Share Repurchases by UK Companies: 2006-2012’

by Saoirse Gahan, now working in London with Frontier Economics

‘An Empirical Investigation of Mean Reversion Strategies Using the PriceEarnings Ratio: Evidence from the S&P 100 Index’

by Niall O Sullivan, soon to start work with JP Morgan –5–

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NEWS & UPDATES FROM WIT GRADUATE BUSINESS

International study residential for Executive MBA group Waterford Institute of Technology Executive MBA students completed an international management study trip to Boston in September of this year. This was the sixth biennial trip by WIT students and once again an excellent mixture of academic lectures, practitioner talks, company and Boston parliament visits was included.

Monday was a day spent at Suffolk University where WIT has long established links and included lectures on a range of topics such as Supply Chain Management, Innovation, Corporate Crises, Networking and Negotiation Skills. Tuesday was a day of practitioner talks hosted by Professor Liam Fahey of Babson College - this included guest speakers from Du Pont and Active International on topics such as Corporate Marketing, Marketplace Intelligence, Organisational Culture and Developing Insights.

Wednesday saw the group visit the Boston State House (home of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate) in the morning and visit Genzyme in the afternoon where an excellent session by Pat O’Sullivan on leadership was given. Thursday saw the group visit the headquarters of State Street which has extensive Irish links and included a series of talks by senior executives as well as a tour of its trading floor. Later that afternoon, the group visited the headquarters Delaware Life (formerly part of Sun Life Financial) which also has extensive Waterford links.

For more information on the Executive MBA see www.wit.ie/executivemba or contact Dr. Tom Egan, Course Director at tegan@wit.ie

Pictured from)left – Dr. Tom Egan (Executive MBS course director), Richard Hickey, Anne Lucey, Eamon Lonergan, Kevin Quinn, Tom Curran, Mark Rogers, Karen Reynolds, Elaine Sheridan, Jack Doyle, Suzanne Ryan, Dr. Denis Harrington (Head of Department of Graduate Business), Richard Curtis (Vice President, University Relations, State Street Bank), Niall O’Higgins, and Jurgen Wegner.

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NEWS & UPDATES FROM WIT GRADUATE BUSINESS

GIFT project at WIT continues to forge innovative solutions to promote the green economy in Wales/Ireland The Green Innovation and Future Technologies (GIFT) Interreg project is a €2.3 million research project on the application of innovative solutions and future technologies in Irish and Welsh businesses to grow a sustainable green economy. GIFT is a partnership and research collaboration between the Schools of Business and Environmental Sciences and Geography at Bangor University (BU), the School of Business and Department of Chemical and Life Sciences at Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) and the School of Biology and Environmental Science at University College Dublin (UCD). GIFT represents a major milestone for WIT, bringing together, as it does, the Schools of Business and Science to collaborate and pool their interdisciplinary research expertise.

The research and collaboration link between WIT and Bangor University is a well-established one with two other Interreg projects currently underway. These include the Wales Ireland Network for Scientific Skills (WINSS) programme and the Wales Ireland Network for Innovative Photovoltaic Technologies (WIN-IPT).

Now in its third year, GIFT recently held its second Annual Learning Showcase Event (LSE) and Study Tour in Wexford on 2nd-3rd October. The two day event was attended by the GIFT project partners and over 80 green business stakeholders from the Interreg regions of Ireland and Wales.

The occasion provided an excellent opportunity for Irish and Welsh SME’s operating in the green economy to share best practice, exchange ideas and forge cross national relationships to further strengthen the cross national learning community. The event was hosted in the Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters, Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford where Johnathan Derham, of the EPA provided the opening address and offered excellent insights.

Other more recent learning network events include a Walking Tourism Conference held in collaboration with Waterford County Council on 28th November in the Park Hotel, Dungarvan. The conference was attended by the GIFT project partners and over 80 green business stakeholders from the Interreg regions of Ireland and Wales. The occasion provided an ideal opportunity for Irish SME’s operating in the Walking Tourism Industry to hear examples of best practice, what a tour operator looks for while discussing the importance of operating in a sustainable green environment. Opening addresses were provided by Waterford County Mayor Councillor Damien Geoghegan and the Mayor of Dungarvan Councillor Teresa Wright.

Mr Denis McCarthy, Manager of Waterford County Council gave the Local Authorities perspective of walking tourism. Leading walking tourism experts from Ireland and Wales presented and shared their expertise with delegates.

These included David Kay (Ramblers Worldwide Holidays); Peter Hewlett (The Edge of Wales Walk); David MacNulty (Tourism Development International); Dr. Einir Young (Welsh Institute for National Resources at Bangor University); and Gary Breen (Fáilte Ireland). Following an insightful debate on the local walking tourism product Gary Breen commented “the walking facilities and accessibility of the countryside in Ireland have developed enormously and there is great potential in walking tourism, particularly along the Copper Coast”.

“We need to adopt a long-term mind-set in achieveing sustainable green economu goals and recognise the importance of collaborative engagement between academic and support agency actors and the small business community” Dr. Eleanor Owens, GIFT Project Coordinator www.wit.ie/gift

With its partners in Wales, GIFT will continue to share knowledge, perspectives, ideas and experiences and together GIFT network members will forge pioneering solutions in an effort to promote the green economy in the Wales/Ireland Interreg region. The project management committee is hopeful that these relationships will continue long after funding has concluded in June 2014.

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GFIS programme shortlisted for best new postgraduate course at event The MSc Global Financial Information Systems programme was recently shortlisted as best new postgraduate programme of the year at an Awards ceremony at the Mansion House in Dublin. The programme was developed respond to demand from the Financial Services industry, for hybrid finance-technology graduates with a specific focus on the application of ICT to Financial Services.

Developed in conjunction with a number of financial services copanies companies from Ireland and the UK, the objective of the programme is to enable high calibre graduates to rapidly develop quantitative, analytical, and ICT skills and experience, embedded in a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of Financial Services. The programme is implemented over a sixteen month period. The first ten months are spent at WIT, and the final six months comprise of an Internship with a Financial Services organisation.

For further information contact Dr Aidan Duane, Programme Director, MSc GFIS, aduane@wit.ie

MBS Students participate in Employment Appeals Tribunal Roleplay

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Dr Ronnie O’Toole addressing the MSc GFIS students during a visit to the Central bank.

On Wednesday November 27th the Masters in Business Studies (HRM) students, as part of their assessment in the module Employment law in practice, participated in a mock Employment Appeals Tribunal(EAT). Three teams defended their positions as employer and employee in two cases covering many key areas of employment law including ;unfair dismissals, redundancy, employment status, equality and many more.

The tribunal panel was chaired by Mr. Sean Ormonde, (Solicitor, principal of Sean Ormonde & Co Solicitors, Employment Matters). The employer’s position on the tribunal was held by Mr. Paul O’Reilly (Certified Mediator MII, adjudicator).

Anne Marie McGrath (lecturer, HRM) took the employee’s representative role.

The tribunal was attended by undergraduate students who are currently studying employment law on the BBS programme. The external panel members were very impressed with the research and standard of the students’ submissions and enjoyed the lively debate that followed the formal representations.

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Industry collaborative events for WIT Lean Practice students

Tony Ruane Operations Director, HASBRO addressing the Postgraduate Diploma in Lean Practice students.

Twelve of the twenty-two participants from the inaugural year’s cohort chose to progress to the Masters. These students presented their respective research proposals on Friday the 6th December 2013 to a panel including Dr Seán Byrne (Lecturer in Research Methods & Techniques), Professor Denis Harrington (Head of Graduate Business), and Darrin Taylor and Aidan Walsh (Joint Programme Directors of the Postgraduate Diploma in Business/ Master of Business in Lean Practice). These Masters students will present again at the inaugural WIT Lean Research Symposium on Wednesday the 30th of April 2014.

This year’s cohort of 22 students has just presented for assessment their respective groups’ analyses on a real-world live problem within Hasbro Ireland. This is part of our ongoing relationship and collaboration with Hasbro wherein student groups examine data and other information pertaining to an actual operational issue within Hasbro, and utilise appropriate lean tools and techniques to analyse the issue and present countermeasures to resolve the problems identified.

Such practical and applied studies and activities are integral to our approach in WIT, and enable and empower our students to take the knowledge, skills, and know-how into the workplace where they can in turn

Aidan Walsh photograhed at a recent WIT-Genzyme visit.

add value to their employers and clients.

Students also present directly to Hasbro executives who take the students’ findings under consideration with a view to enacting continuous improvement projects. The extensive industry-academia collaboration also includes site visits to, and guest speakers from, lean exemplar organisations committed to operational excellence, including amongst others: Genzyme – A Sanofi Company, DePuy, Lake Region Medical, Hasbro, TEVA, and Lean Unlimited Consultants.

In addition to our programme offerings, the Lean Practice team also coordinate and host several key events at which knowledge, experience, and expertise in lean practice, continuous improvement, and operational excellence can be shared and transferred amongst a variety of manufacturing and services organisations, across the public and private sectors, and between industry and academia. Aligned with Government, Forfás, and Enterprise Ireland positions, such networking, engagement, and integration is a key part of the regional and national context and requirement to improve organisational and overall national competitiveness via several core pillars, of which Lean is one.

In 2014 the Lean Practice team will hold the following events: • WIT Lean in Pharma Seminar Monday 13th of January 2014, 18:00 – 20:30 (Open Event by Booking Only – email: LeanSeminars@wit.ie).

• WIT Lean Research Symposium, Wednesday the 30th of April 2014, 17:00 – 22:00 (Closed Event).

• 2nd Annual WIT Lean Forum, Thursday the 1st of May 2014, 09:00 – 17:00 (Open Event by Booking Only – LeanForum@wit.ie).

For further information on the Postgraduate Diploma in Business/ Master of Business in Lean Practice please contact The Joint Programme Directors: Mr Darrin Taylor (dtaylor@wit.ie) and Mr Aidan Walsh (awalsh@wit.ie)

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