10th November 2009
 

Ireland's next generation of business managers gained valuable insights into one of the world's major economies last week, at a half-day workshop run by DCU Business School in conjunction with ChinaGreen.

Students of the MSc in Business Management, MBS in Marketing and MSc in E-commerce programmes, along with businesses from North Dublin, learned about trends and opportunities, and gained tips on doing business in China, now the world's third largest economy.

The workshop followed a key recommendation of the recent Global Irish Economic Forum, which encouraged Ireland Inc. to look East for opportunities.

Speakers included Cathy Holohan, China Market Advisor at Enterprise Ireland and alumnus of DCU, who provided an overview of Enterprise Ireland’s activities in the region and the supports available for companies heading to China.

Deirdre Walsh, Managing Director of ChinaGreen, provided attendees with a practical introduction to China, and doing business there, as well as an overview of the opportunities that exist in China for Irish businesses in 2010.

Dr Theo Lynn, DCU Business School and Pat Ivory, Head of Trade and International Relations at IBEC
 

Deirdre Walsh, Managing Director of ChinaGreen

Kieran McKenna, Aqueduct Investments

Pat Ivory, Head of Trade and International Relations at IBEC, gave an overview of trends in trade with China both from the perspective of the European Union and Ireland.

Presentations were also heard from Kieran McKenna of Aqueduct Investments and Frank Ennis of Porterhouse Group.

Mr McKenna introduced the audience to Aqueduct's new product line and discussed how they used virtual technologies to develop their product design before going to China. Once in China, a movie of Aqueduct's planned product line using Adobe Flash was used to introduce the products to prospective partners. Mr McKenna discussed the process of finding a partner and negotiating with partners.

Mr Ennis discussed Porterhouse Group's plans to participate in World Expo Shanghai 2010. Porterhouse Group is one of the only restaurants in World Expo Shanghai 2010 that does not currently have a facility in the region.

The workshop concluded with a Q&A session chaired by Dr. Theo Lynn.

The workshop was the first of four free half-day workshops focusing on China, Russia (December), India (February) and the Arabian Gulf (March). A number of places at each workshop is available to businesses, alumni and other DCU students. 

The "How to Do Business in..." series is part of DCU Business School's Next Generation Management initiative. This ground-breaking initiative is designed to instil in our students the management qualities that DCU Business School believes essential for the success of graduates, the organisations that will employ them, and the communities that they will serve.

Next Generation Management aims to prepare the next generation of business leaders, who are adaptive and flexible, innovative, and socially responsible and accountable. Particular emphasis is placed on reflective and critical thinking, collaboration, sharing and applying knowledge, and dealing with complexity. The initiative is structured around the major personal, organisational and contextual challenges in modern management and specifically in a post-growth economy.