Business
An unparalleled experience that promotes both personal and academic growth.
Program overview
Studying business courses at SHU in Dingle offers a unique and enriching experience. The program provides short-term sessions in January and Summer I & II, covering diverse fields such as marketing, tourism, and economics. Students can explore essential courses for Foundational Core, Liberal Arts Explorations (LAE), and engage in the Catholic intellectual tradition for Sophomores.
Dingle’s economy, particularly tourism-driven, serves as a real-world classroom. With 11.2 million tourists contributing to 4% of Ireland’s GNP, students gain practical insights into marketing, economics, and tourism. They have hands-on experience studying local businesses and creating marketing plans. Ireland’s impressive tourism marketing ranking, third globally, showcases the country’s economic prowess.
Dingle’s tourism attractions and its status as the 4th largest fishing port in Ireland, provide unique perspectives on business operations. Additionally, students can delve into sports marketing, exploring Gaelic Football, Hurling, Rugby, and Soccer. With a large tourist industry, there are also many sports-related companies, such as surfing, kayaking, paddle boarding, horse riding, cycling, and hiking.
In essence, choosing to study business courses at SHU in Dingle offers students a comprehensive and international understanding of business, with a focus on real-world applications in a thriving Irish economy.
EC 295 – Contemporary Issues in Economics: Ireland
3 Credits
Liberal Arts Exploration
Social and Global Awareness
Offered
Summer 1 Short Term
Faculty
Description
This course is an introduction to the basic economic principles needed to analyze social issues such as prices and allocation of resources, role of incentives, free trade, economic growth, market failure, healthcare, and education.
Learn how international trade and tourism impact the Irish economy. Evaluate competitive and monopoly markets in and around Dingle. Explore social issues such as population, health services and migration.
MGT 299/ CM 299 – Global Strategic Business Communication
3 Credits
Liberal Arts Exploration
- Social & Global Awareness
- Humanistic Inquiry
Offered
Summer 1 Short Term
Faculty
Description
The course provides an integrated, intercultural approach to the study and application of business communication using service-learning, focusing on businesses in Ireland. Specifically, students will examine and analyze cultural diversity as it applies to business communication, focusing on how to analyze and evaluate global business communication practices and strategies and work with an Irish business to help improve business communication through the completion of a team-based service-learning project.
The course will also introduce students to both the hidden (beneath-the-surface) and visible (what we see but take-for-granted given its naturalized appearance) aspects of power that constitute intercultural business communication encounters and relations within the Irish culture.
This course will count as a SCMA Production Elective and can be substituted for any non-required course within the Global Media & Communication minor.
MK 299 - Gamification and the Marketing Mix to Build Tourism
3 Credits
Liberal Arts Exploration
None
Offered
Summer 2 Semester
Faculty
Renee Tacka Ph.D.
Description
Gamification is becoming one of the most widely used strategies in digital marketing. A well-designed game not only attracts more customers, but becomes a source of entertainment. The Dingle peninsula is visited by over 1 million tourists annually, but most of the tourists only explore Dingle Town’s waterfront businesses because that is where their tour buses take them. This course will explore how to plan and implement a gamification strategy in the context of the four Ps – product, price, promotion, and place – to create a memorable travel experience for the visitors of Dingle, while enticing them into a wider experience that distributes the economic benefits of the town’s tourism beyond the waterfront.
MK 299 – Sustainable Tourism Marketing
3 Credits
Liberal Arts Exploration
Offered
Winter Short Term
Faculty
Description
Worldwide tourism is continuing to grow and has been identified as a critical industry for the economies of many different countries, each linking their attractions primarily to cultural identities. Ireland is one of the leading tourist destinations and the country’s tourist leaders have developed this position over decades as Ireland relies heavily on revenue generated from this source. It is estimated that overseas visitor numbers reached 6.29 million in 2011, a 7% increase from 2010. How does Ireland go about creating their specific brand image in marketing Ireland as a ‘holiday destination’? How have they created the Irish mystique that attracts so many tourists each year?
This class will explore these questions in developing a better understanding of tourism marketing and how Ireland has become a leader in this sector. The class will utilize a readings list, case studies, social media and site visits to explore this topic.
SM 265 – Sports Marketing
3 Credits
Liberal Arts Exploration
Offered
Summer 1 Short Term
Faculty
Description
This course will serve as an introduction to the fascinating world of sport business and international marketing. Students will work on an innovative group marketing plan for a professional sports team from the Dingle and County Kerry region of Ireland. Additionally, students will interact with and visit a local school in Dingle.
The stark contrast between Irish and American sports leagues will be identified and discussed. A strong focus will be placed upon both of the following: 1) marketing “of” various sports and sport products, and 2) marketing “through” sport – the latter of which will involve the use of sport as the vehicle to market non-sport products and services.
The course includes site visits to related businesses, and key sport figures in Ireland will be brought into the class as guest speakers to supplement the course material.
