MBS in Strategic Procurement

[Henny Penny]

Would anybody doing this course (DCU) or a similar course like to share their experience.
I'm quite interested in doing this - but not sure if I'll be able for it ... no business or finance background ... (science grad but working in unrelated field in public sector). I would really appreciate any advice.

 

[taipan]

Excellent programme. Just completed Year one of two.
Highly reccommended, There's a strong emphasis on business management from a procurement perspective. May be initially difficult coming from a scientific backgroundthough. Contact CEP office in DCU to discuss.

 

[Tanora]

Hi Taipan,
You may also be of assistance to me.My backround is as a buyer in the construction industry but recently made unemployed.I am considering this DCU programme as a way of diversifying out of the terminal construction industry whilst retaining my "procurement" skills.Could you give me some inside feedback as to;
1)Being a two year programme what is the typical student profile?Working and studying part time or studying full time?Age profile/industry backrounds/etc
2)For those students who do not already have a job is there a demand from employers for the programmes graduates or is the course geared towards those who are already employed but want promotion?
3)How many hours per week on average would you commit to the programme?How intense is the workload?
I intend to contact DCU for information but would appreciate further detail of your experiences.Thanks in advance.

 

[taipan]

Hi Tanora,

1) Students (age 30-50) range from Public, Semi State to Private Sector, covering all areas of operations and procurement. Most students work and study part time although with the economical difficulties, this may change somewhat.
2) The course is geared towards students who wish to further themselves in the area of procurement, is not industry dependent and is not any way biased towards students who are employed. I haven't seen any employers contact the university yet but at the end of the day it's a masters and should carry a lot of weight when searching for work in the area.
3) The programme is very intense. Done on block release (3 days per month, 6 months per year) Committed students should have no problem though.

Regards....

 

[neoliberal-X]

Hi Taipan,

You may also be of assistance to me.My backround is as a buyer in the construction industry but recently made unemployed.I am considering this DCU programme as a way of diversifying out of the terminal construction industry whilst retaining my "procurement" skills.

I have also some construction experience and have done the course, I think that is an excellent idea Tanora because the skills are very transferable.

1)Being a two year programme what is the typical student profile?Working and studying part time or studying full time?Age profile/industry backrounds/etc

The class was half & half Public Sector/private sector and even that was interesting. All were in f/t employment and none lost their jobs during the course of study... The most dominant background was purchasing, day to day stuff (about half the class), there were some involved in larger projects though... no single firm/organisation dominated, everybody was from different companies/departments.

Most were middle management with one or two above that, so there were no out of college or starting out people. Dunno ages really!

2)For those students who do not already have a job is there a demand from employers for the programmes graduates or is the course geared towards those who are already employed but want promotion?

When we were in first year there was one or two job leads put about but there was nobody in the course looking really so I cannot answer that. To answer your Q, I would say the latter, I mean they assume a lot of people have a lot of procurement knowledge already. Many of the assignments were geared towards "...go back and look at your purchasing department and..." and one or two of the lecturers hammer you in the marks if you are not doing that. It is too vocational in some respects.

3)How many hours per week on average would you commit to the programme?How intense is the workload?

I intend to contact DCU for information but would appreciate further detail of your experiences.Thanks in advance.

The days you are up in DCU are very intense, your head will be really baked because it is very one-to-one... you cannot slip into the back of a lecture hall and fall asleep and there is no absenteeism really! The group work can be very stressful because as you may well know, procurement people are fairly independent and you can butt heads. There is some unevenness to the modules where one or two could get ramped up a bit and others are nuts, really difficult - but that might be just me!

Overall it was very enjoyable and went very quickly! Our class mates were sound and that helped it a lot! I suppose, in terms of employment I look at the

MBS in Strategic Procurement on my CV and wonder if the ‘Strategic’ bit looks a bit namby-pamby, especially when so many firms are now in survival mode. But you know what, fup it - it was myopia that got a lot of industries (like yours) into the mess they are in and HR people should cop on a bit and look for strategic thinkers in their workforce.

It is a new course and the course Chair; Paul is very proactive so I imagine any/all of my comments could change as they are more than likely updating it year on year!

Best of luck...

 

[Tanora]

Thank you Taipan & Neoliberal X for your feedback,appreciate it.