Galway City

The company was established by Claire Carroll in 2009, in response to a growing need for an outsourced HR service provider as an alternative to hiring a full time HR Specialist. Claire has extensive HR Management experience in a variety of industries together with a number of years in independent consulting prior to setting up HR Connections.

Claire is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development), and has a BA from NUIG, a Diploma in Employment Law from the Law Society of Ireland, Dublin, and a Diploma in Personnel Management from GMIT (Galway Mayo Institute of Technology).

This course is an interactive course where there is a healthy mix of theory and practical methods of training throughout the course. Although the course is designed for the workplace all learning outcomes can be applied to first aid situations in the home and sporting situations.

Who is the course for?
This is an ideal programme for students who wish:
· to update their Information and Communication Technology development skills

· to learn about information technology with a specific emphasis on software development or database technologies while gaining advanced research skills

· who already work in the area, but would like to gain a recognised Masters qualification

Build the management and leadership capabilities of companies and individuals in this area
Enable graduates to facilitate organisational change and sustainable improvements at the enterprise level through competitive work systems and effective knowledge management

In order to achieve these aims, module assignments and the final year thesis are company-based to enhance their benefit to the company and to the student.

There are also a limited number of free places available for unemployed students who meet the required criteria by ULearning Skillnet.

Please note there are only a limited number of subsidies available for both employed and unemployed students.

Jobseekers please be advised that the Department of Social Protection (DSP) has no mandate to extend welfare support to clients undertaking NFQ Level 9 Programmes. Such programmes cannot be approved by DSP, and on that basis are designated SKN-E. Notwithstanding the above, we may offer a NFQ L.9 place to a welfare recipient. This is conditional on our network informing the individual, during the recruitment & selection phase, that the:

Welfare payment must be relinquished should he/she wish to pursue the programme

Trainee must inform the Social Welfare Local Office (SWLO), prior to commencement, about his/her intention to undertake an SKN-E programme, so that the Office can take the necessary steps to review/withdraw payment

Unfortunately, Skillnets cannot seek exceptional approval from DSP for any jobseekers that wish to accept a place on one of the ULearning Skillnet Level 9 courses.

Managing Technology Projects
• To gain an understanding of the systems approach to management and balance traditional problem solving with systemic thinking.
• To understand project management through handling technology-related work as project work.
• To apply the tools and techniques of project management to maximise the successful delivery of technology.

Product Design and Development
• To provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of process and product development from concept to implementation **or** market introduction in the case of new products. This understanding should be based on knowledge of the various methodologies and tools used by product **or** process development teams. The methodologies and tools will be presented in the context of various models of the overall process and will be illustrated with industrial case studies.
• To provide an overview of today’s process and product development environment, including consideration of Extended Enterprise, Virtual Enterprise, Vendor-Customer co-design and co-makership issues. The nature and operation of shared design and manufacturing partnerships.

Innovation and Technology Transfer
• To provide the student with the knowledge and skills necessary to forecast the future technological needs of their organisations, to evaluate the possible sources of new technology, and to manage the transfer of new products and processes, into *or* out of their organisations.

• Participants will develop the ability to identify new technology platforms of potential strategic importance and to successfully assimilate such platforms into their firms.
• The module will also address the different mechanisms through which firms can gain the maximum return from technologies that they have developed. These include patents, licensing, and trading in technical know-how.

Marketing Technology Products
• To provide an understanding of the key marketing concepts in business generally and technology in particular.
• To be capable of analysing markets for technology products/services.
• To produce a marketing plan for a technology company (their own *or* another actual company).
• To provide the participant with an understanding of the selling process.

Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Present a curriculum in the area of Technology Innovation &, Entrepreneurship that reflects the needs of the user.
• Provide easy to access, state of the art reference material in the area of Technology Innovation &, Entrepreneurship to help learners to understand the essential fundamental concepts involved in the discipline.
• Equip participants with the values, best practices, skills and supporting tools necessary to effectively design, develop and deploy technical projects in their organisations and to empower users to autonomously apply these concepts and tools.
• To provide information on project managing an innovative idea
Technology Finance and Capital
• To ensure that participants understand how investment decisions are made in large corporations and in SMEs. This is a key issue for executives seeking to persuade their superiors *or* Boards of Directors of the efficacy of particular investments in equipment and other assets. It is also a key issue for producers of equipment and other assets since these tools are generally used to guide investment (and hence purchasing) decisions.
• To ensure that participants understand how financial assets (debt and equity claims) are priced in order to build credible proposals for bank and venture capital investment.
• To develop an appreciation of the relation between new manufacturing technologies and cost structures. New manufacturing technologies result in a radical realignment of cost structures and hence impact upon many operational and strategic decisions.

Strategy ,&, Management of Technology
• To introduce participants to the basic theoretical and empirical contributions of management theory and practice, including operations management.
• To provide participants with an overview of the strategy process from conceptual and applied perspectives, introducing the concepts, theories and techniques of strategic management.
• To investigate the main components of strategic management, product life cycles and new technological developments.
• To provide insight into the impacts of value chain analysis, supply chain management and first mover advantages on the competitive dynamics of an industry.
• To highlight the impact of strategic alliances, licensing agreements and corporate venturing on technology leadership.
• To introduce participants to the nature, functioning and evolution of manufacturing, communications, information and emergent technologies in todays global society, allowing participants to assess the impact of technological change.
• To outline the importance of national and international technology policy in the pursuance of a technology driven core competence, including the impact of innovation systems on national and regional groupings.
• To equip participants to contribute effectively to the strategy process and operations function from a direct line *or* staff position.

People Management for Technology Organisations
• To understand the human resource contribution to organisational effectiveness and culture management.
• To evaluate the range of internal and external factors shaping group dynamics, management choice and organisational development.
• To understand the dimensions of the psychological contract and its implications for organisational effectiveness.
• To create awareness of the relationship between quality systems and the development of world-class competitive capabilities: speed, cost, dependability, quality and innovation.
• To develop understanding of HRM problems associated with delayering, team working, re-engineering, downsizing and the introduction of technical change.
• To provide a range of tools and techniques useful to diagnose, audit and resolve human resource problems associated with technology management initiatives.
• To equip participants with an understanding of the complexity of mobilising change initiatives within organisations.
• To equip participants in understanding and utilising the political and power bases within organisations and the role of leadership in managing innovation and implementing change.

Information System &, Software Management
• To consider the role of information technology in actual product development. The material covered here would include prototyping, product data management systems, workflow systems and case-based reasoning (CBR).
• To develop a knowledge about electronic commerce and electronic work and discuss its application to supply chain management.
• To consider how information technology might support the actual management of product development. The material covered would include knowledge management systems, computer-mediated communication, intranets, groupware, and issues to do with knowledge creation, storage, transfer and reuse.
• The objective of this module is: to consider the role of information technology in organisational development, to consider how information technology might support the actual management of continuous improvement in a process/service life cycle, to consider how IT can support the development of the organisation.

Lean Tools &, Techniques
This module will explain the concepts behind the Lean tools, and will examine the various elements involved in effectively using these tools to support the organisation''s Lean transformation. The aims of this module are:
• To describe what Lean actually means
• To inform you of its contextual perspective
• To provide students with a working knowledge of many of the main tools available within the Lean toolbox
• To describe Organisation Planning approaches
• To explain and provide students with Process techniques to support Lean implementation
• To explain how to build quality into the manufacturing process
• To describe and explain the extended Lean enterprise.

Six Sigma
This module will introduce and use the Statistics appropriate for master black belt level Six Sigma. Delivery will include a practical application of software tools to undertake statistical analysis.

Areas covered include:
• History and development of traditional quality control techniques, Statistical quality control, inspection and detection methods, Taguchi and the design of metrics
• Fundamental Statistics, Basic distribution theory, Graphs, histograms, location, spread, Box-plots
• Statistical Process Control, Various types of control charts for both variable and attribute data
• Basic Six Sigma Statistics, T-tests, Regression, Decision making under uncertainty, hypothesis testing and analysis of variance
• Introduction to Design of Experiments
• Advanced Six Sigma Statistics
• Process capability indices
• Introduction to Reliability Theory
• Design of Experiments Fractional and factorial designs
• Taguchi methods, EVOP (evolutionary operation) experimentation.

Ordinary or 3rd Class Honours Undergraduate Degree + 3 years of relevant industrial experience; or

Recognised Professional Qualification + 3 years of relevant industrial experience.

There are also a limited number of free places available for unemployed students who meet the required criteria by ULearning Skillnet.

Please note there are only a limited number of subsidies available for both employed and unemployed students.

Jobseekers please be advised that the Department of Social Protection (DSP) has no mandate to extend welfare support to clients undertaking NFQ Level 9 Programmes. Such programmes cannot be approved by DSP, and on that basis are designated SKN-E. Notwithstanding the above, we may offer a NFQ L.9 place to a welfare recipient. This is conditional on our network informing the individual, during the recruitment & selection phase, that the:

Welfare payment must be relinquished should he/she wish to pursue the programme

Trainee must inform the Social Welfare Local Office (SWLO), prior to commencement, about his/her intention to undertake an SKN-E programme, so that the Office can take the necessary steps to review/withdraw payment

Unfortunately, Skillnets cannot seek exceptional approval from DSP for any jobseekers that wish to accept a place on one of the ULearning Skillnet Level 9 courses.

Marketing Technology Products
To provide an understanding of the key marketing concepts in business generally and technology in particular;
To be capable of analysing markets for technology products / services;
To produce a marketing plan for a technology company (their own or another actual company);
To provide the participant with an understanding of the selling process.

Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Present a curriculum in the area of Technology Innovation & Entrepreneurship that reflects the needs of the user;
Provide easy to access, state of the art reference material in the area of Technology Innovation & Entrepreneurship to help learners to understand the essential fundamental concepts involved in the discipline;
Equip participants with the values, best practices, skills and supporting tools necessary to effectively design, develop and deploy technical projects in their organisations and to empower users to autonomously apply these concepts and tools;
To provide information on project managing an innovative idea

Technology Finance and Capital
To ensure that participants understand how investment decisions are made in large corporations and in SMEs. This is a key issue for executives seeking to persuade their superiors or Boards of Directors of the efficacy of particular investments in equipment and other assets. It is also a key issue for producers of equipment and other assets since these tools are generally used to guide investment (and hence purchasing) decisions;

To ensure that participants understand how financial assets (debt and equity claims) are priced in order to build credible proposals for bank and venture capital investment; To develop an appreciation of the relation between new manufacturing technologies and cost structures. New manufacturing technologies result in a radical realignment of cost structures and hence impact upon many operational and strategic decisions.

Projects
The project phase of the Diploma is an opportunity to pursue a relevant activity related to Technology Commercialisation. Each participant will be required to prepare a proposal; plan and manage the project; collect, analyse and use data where necessary; present their results; and write the project report.