MSc in Management (Operations and Supply Chain)
The MSc Management (Operations and Supply Chain) is designed for students who wish to grow into senior supply chain management or operations management industry leaders, and provides insights into current best practices regarding industry trends, digitisation and future projections.
Given the impact of global supply chain disruption, the demand for highly skilled supply chain professionals is higher than ever, and understanding end-to-end digital supply chain operations coupled with a strong operational skillset is a must.
In DCU Business School, we will support you on your journey towards gaining a critical awareness of current opportunities and new insights into supply chain and operations management in varied environments. You will develop new flexible, transversal skills in business management and be able to apply these to a wide range of business challenges. The programme is designed to provide you with a unique opportunity to develop the hybrid, interdisciplinary knowledge and skills considered essential for modern business development and management.
There is a growing demand globally for graduates of an MSc in Operations and Supply Chain Management domain as supply chains are becoming more disrupted and highly complex due to challenges related to geopolitical events (i.e., Brexit, the Ukraine war, energy pricing, the growing conflict between China and the USA). Consequently, on a global basis, organisations are continuing to make strong efforts to make their operations and supply chains more resilient, and increasingly more adaptable. In addition, there is a strong shift towards more sustainable operations and supply chains aligned with UN SDGs due to the climate change crisis. This is leading to a growing jobs market and in turn an increase in demand for new graduates with operations and supply chain management skills.
According to Telling (2023) [1]:
- Vacancies for Supply Chain managers across UK have risen by 36% since 2019
- Demand for supply chain managers in the USA for the first 2 months of 2023 is 54% higher than during the same period in 2019
- Given the increased disruption and instability, the importance of predictive supply chain analysis at boardroom level has increased
- Investment in supply chain resiliency has increased, there is a crunch in available talent and people with relevant supply chain expertise have come under pressure
The supply chain itself is evolving with the latest tools provided by Industry 4.0 and Digital Supply Chain [2]. Specialist skills and knowledge are required to address emerging challenges such as digitisation, predictive analytics and sustainability, towards modernising and managing such highly complex supply chains [3].
This MSc has been developed with this growing demand, technical advancements and sustainability in mind, and has been designed to meet the future needs of operations and supply chain managers internationally.
The curriculum involves taking part in the following modules (subject to change):
Semester 1
- Operations and Process Management for Resilience
- Strategy in a Global Context
- Business Process Innovation
- Operational Analytics
- International Business: Disruption, Challenges and Sustainability
Semester 2
- Project Management
- Operational Strategy
- Digital Supply Chain Innovation
- Sustainable Transport and Logistics
- Simulation for Decision Making
- Design Thinking & Creativity for Innovation
Year Long
- Building Sustainable and Ethical Organisations
- Global Management Challenges
- Research Methods
Capstone
- Applied Research Project
Given that there is a paradigm shift in how organisations effectively manage their supply chains, the global demand for supply chain and operations professionals continues to surge at a much faster rate than the average for all occupations, with a high average base salary.
As a graduates of this programme, you will grow in confidence as a result of coming to understand the theory underpinning professional practice brought about by your studies. This confidence, together with your increased understanding and knowledge will help you to become a more strategic and meaningful contributor in the workplace, with the ability to engage at a more senior level.
As high-level academic qualifications are becoming increasingly important to organisations’ recruitment and promotion policies, this MSc degree will add long term value to your career.
As a graduate of this programme, you are highly likely to be employable in organisations across a wide range of sectors including the financial services, digital services, supply chain, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, information and communication technologies, aviation, electronics industries as well as in the humanitarian sector.
Requirements
For admission to the M.Sc. in Management (Operations and Supply Chain) candidates must hold:
- A Second Class Honours Grade 1 Degree (H2.1) (NFQ Level 8 or international equivalent) in any discipline. Applicants should possess appropriate quantitative skills. Applicants with an undergraduate degree in Business, Social Science, Engineering, Computing, Maths, Statistics, or Physical Sciences should have sufficient quantitative skills to undertake the program.
- Applicants who have achieved a 2.2 Honours degree in any discipline may still obtain a place. This will depend on availability of places and on obtaining high grades in relevant modules on their undergraduate programme.
- This programme welcomes applications on the basis of recognised prior learning (RPL). Applicants who do not meet the requirements above but who have alternative academic qualifications and/or professional qualifications, along with a minimum of three years’ professional experience, may also be considered for admission to the programme.
- International candidates who are non-native speakers of English must demonstrate required competency in the English language. More information about the English language requirements of DCU Business School can be found at https://www.dcu.ie/registry/english.shtml