Springboard Certificate in Business Development

Course details

The Certificate in Business Development has been designed to address a current and future skills need for enterprises to trade internationally. Participants on the programme will develop the skills pertinent for all types of businesses to grow their markets in Ireland and overseas. The modules Business Communications, Services Management, Marketing and Organisational Behaviour will develop skills that will influence success for an enterprise trading or planning to trade overseas including the choice of export markets, product/service research and development, technical support and service levels, excellence of front line sales team, building a network of distributors, and the availability of talent.

Upon completion of this course participants should be able to deploy a range of communication skills effectively in professional and business environments. They will also be able to understand and discuss the essential role and nature of service operations and their characteristics, and analyse the role of operations in the development of business strategy. Participants will be able to explain organisational issues arising from working in groups and teams, and identify actions to improve and enhance organisational performance. They will also have developed the skills available to enable them identify key issues and challenges of successful operations, and effective organisational change, in current business environments.

In order to develop participants' language skills IBAT College Dublin has also collaborated with Alliance Francaise Dublin, Instituto Cervantes and the Goethe-Institut, to develop participants’ proficiency in French, Spanish or German, respectively, up to business proficiency level. The College has collaborated closely with these renowned language institutes to ensure that the length and intensity of the language component of the programme will enable eligible participants to achieve the required business proficiency within one academic year.

The primary aim of the language component is to prepare students to use French, Spanish or German competently in a general business context. Students will be introduced to functional language and encouraged to use it effectively in business contexts. The main requirement is that students will enter the programme at one level lower than that which they hope to attain during their studies (Common European Framework of languages). The student’s level will be determined by the aforementioned relevant language institute which will conduct a placement test prior to entry on the programme and it is expected that there will be two class levels.

Modules

• Business Communications
• Services Management
• Organisational Behaviour
• Marketing
• Language Component (French/German/Spanish) – optional

Career & Internship Opportunities

Students who successfully complete the programme will have developed highly transferable skills particularly relating to international communications and business development. Graduates will develop skills that will influence success for a business overseas including the choice of export markets, product or service research and development, technical support and service levels, excellence of front line sales team, building a network of distributors, and the availability of talent. These skills will be particularly applicable for companies trading in English, French, German or Spanish speaking markets.

As part of the programme students will undertake job readiness and job skills training, the aim of which is to develop and support the students while improving their employment prospects. IBAT College Dublin has collaborated with Osborne Recruitment on developing the job readiness component of the course ensuring that Springboard students receive up to date industry information and a holistic career support service. This training seeks to equip students with life skills in order to make them independent job seekers who can contribute meaningfully in the work place.

The training takes the form of a numbers of workshops offered by the careers service and in conjunction with Osborne Recruitment including:

• Researching employers and job searching tips
• Compiling a marketable CV
• Writing effective cover letters
• Interview techniques
• Working as part of a group
• Effective time management

Entry Requirements

• To be eligible for the Springboard Certificate in Business Development course applicants should possess a qualification on (or equivalent to) level 5 on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ)
• Mature students with significant relevant work experience will also be considered
• An IELTS score of 5.5 is required for those applicants whose first language is not English.

Teaching and Assessment

The overall learning strategy for this Springboard programme is to ensure that the assessments used are linked to the learning outcomes for each module of this programme and encompass both formal learning and experiential learning. This requires the use of a wide range of assessment methods and instruments involving an appropriate balance of formative and summative assessment methods linked to the flexible learning methodologies employed by our lecturers. Above all, the assessment methods aim to assess ability to demonstrate the attainment of learning outcomes over the entire programme. This is particularly suited to adult learners who can use learning achieved in a work-based environment and apply it to the academic elements of this programme. Induction programmes have been developed to support student integration within IBAT College Dublin. Academic support facilities (including literacy skills, library use/support, academic writing, examination techniques, etc) are provided for all students on an opt-in basis.