# MSc in Operations Management-Oscail



## pennypincher (7 Aug 2008)

I'm looking for some advice on doing the Msc in Operations Management with DCU via Oscail. I'm just wondering how is this qualification viewed in the workplace, is it better than an MBA, and specifically does it provide a respected qualification for a career in Management. I am in the public service and hope to migrate into a Management role over the next few years. I have previous management experience and a Degree.
Thanks in Advance.


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## senanc (7 Aug 2008)

Depends, whats on the curriculum? Starting MSc in Business Analytics (Operations Research) in smurfit in Sept P/T, work with american Multi-National.

Is it quantitive- Applied Probability and Statistics, Decision Support & Business Intelligence, Simulation Modelling and Analysis??

or more management science

Decision Support, Project management, Business Intelligence...etc??

Regardless, an MBA is probably an entirely different beast

Best of luck with it...


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## ontour (7 Aug 2008)

certainly not better than an MBA, and I am not a big fan of MBA's ( unless they are from LSE, MIT, Harvard etc.).  MOPS is a relatively easy masters with quite generic management subjects.  There is a third year to complete a thesis so it is quite a long period of time.

There are very few people doing this course and I firmly believe that the higher you go in education, the more you gain from your classmates.


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## pennypincher (8 Aug 2008)

Thanks for the replies,they've changed the format somewhat this year and condensed the course into 2 years. First year is Strategic Management,Org Change,Project Management and Risk Assessment etc. It's all web based, I have previous management experience and was looking for a course I could bolt on to this.
Just one question how do you know the numbers for the course are low??


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## ontour (8 Aug 2008)

There were about 10-12 graduates of the course this year.  If you want to have a masters and are happy working on your own, it is a relatively cheap and easy way of getting a business masters from a recognised/ respected university.

In hindsight, I would prefer to have a project management certification (Prince, PMP, Six Sigma etc.) than the ops mgt masters  but it is horses for courses.


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## senanc (8 Aug 2008)

To be fair you cant really equate the MSc to the rest of the quals.....

PMP is just a once off, pretty easy (1 month max of study if working in project environment) multiple-choice quiz through the PMI.

SIX SIGMA is more of a continual professional development qual, Red/Yellow belt- quick stats test, Green Belt- project member of a operational excellence team with 2/3 experience of six sigma + exam, Black Belt- opportunity to take on a six sigma project as the PM and receive black belt award..............all in all it might take 4/5 years working in a project environment as apposed to sustaining operations/management

All in all they are all considered quantitative qualifications...To have the option of applying for any general management position and to grown that prospect laterally and outside your current industry you must have an MBA, otherwise someone who does will more then likely get the job...

People are often quite dismissive and patronising towards the "MBA focused" amongst but an MBA from, for example Trinity/Smurfit, shows that you have proven your ambition academically if nothing else, and that kind of competency matters in business...


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## ontour (8 Aug 2008)

Senanc - I completely agree that the quantitive qualifications are completely different. That was my badly made point, that there were more ways to develop your management capabilities than a masters.



> To have the option of applying for any general management position and to grown that prospect laterally and outside your current industry you must have an MBA


 
said by a programmed MBA graduate  There are many different ways of getting a management position outside your current industry whether it be due to contacts, education, geographic location etc. I know many people who have moved industry in management who do not have an MBA. 



> MBA....shows that you have proven your ambition if nothing else


 
It shows that you have deep pockets. If you want to show ambition academically , do a research PHD and create new academic thought.


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## Bootdog (21 Aug 2008)

Pennypincher,

I completed this course in 2005. When I did it, the first year was tutorial-based, onsite in DCU. Then in 2nd year, they introduced the web-based thing & there was war among the 2nd year students. My view was that collaborating with other students & gaining insights into varioius issues from experienced lecturers was where the value in doing the course was. When they made it web-based, they removed 90% of that value IMO. 

What to expect from web-based stuff:
- reading phone-book sized A4 folders of course notes
- sitting for hours online, going through online versions of same
- emailing your co-students (don't expect too much phoning around)
- don't expect any tutorials or face-to-face contact (we fought tooth and nail to get 2 tutorials in the 2nd year!)
- you can email lecturers, but try and explain why you don't understand something in an email ... believe me it gets tiresome!

I wasn't going to complete it after the 2nd year, but opted for doing the thesis over 2 years, so it took 4 years altogether. The only reason I completed it was so that I could say I had completed an MSc.

To answer your questions:

Is it better than an MBA? NO. They don't compare, having been to a couple of MBA introductory lectures in Smurfit school, I don't even know why people make this comparison.  

Does it provide a respected qualification for a career in Management? Yes - I would say so. I've used some of the stuff in work, and it gives a good grounding for understanding whats going on in the typical management environment.
I've described it to people as a Masters in how a business works.
It counts as an MSc in its own right, and it proves that you have the self-motivation to complete an MSc.
DCU is also well respected, so those are two strong positives it has in its favour. (Whether these are fully justified is another question!)

If you're paying for the course yourself, its relatively inexpensive and you'll get value out of it. If your employer is willing to put you through a more expensive course, you might get better value for money going that route...

To sum up:
Would I do it again? Probably not - I'd go for a similar course, with more lecture-based material, and collobaration etc. (you can guess I'm not a fan of the web-based stuff!)

Am I glad I did it? Yes, I did learn some stuff which has been useful in the workplace, but the single biggest benefit has been "Oh I see you have completed a Masters" in interviews ...

PS I've changed jobs since I finished it ... it may have helped me get the job I'm in now (in as much as any MSc in Science/Engineering/Business would have). It certainly did not open any flood-gates for employers looking to head-hunt me - also Oscail don't even have a Careers Officer!


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## pennypincher (27 Aug 2008)

Thanks for that it was exactly what I was looking for. I think it will have benefits in an interview situation and I'll be able to use some aspects of the course in some practical way. If not at least I'll be familiar with the processes and thinking behind some of the topics.


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