UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School has retained membership in the prestigious Global Network for Advanced Management (GNAM) for the standard three years term of membership.

Launched in 2012, GNAM includes leading business schools from diverse regions, countries, cultures, and economies in different phases of development. A common motivation of member schools to connect is to position their students, faculty, staff, alumni and other constituencies so that they can deepen their understanding of differences and commonalities in their economies and increase their effectiveness.

Representing a shift beyond traditional partnership models of business school collaboration, the Global Network enables the development of innovative initiatives that leverage the schools’ comparative advantages. Leveraging network efficiencies, utilizing new technologies, building strong institutional and personal relationships, and operating with a minimum of bureaucracy, the Global Network is having a transformational effect on students, member schools, management education, and beyond.

UCD Smurfit School has been a part of the organisation since its founding in 2012.

GNAM has now grown to encompass 32 leading business schools globally, including Yale School of Management, HEC Paris and Renmin Business School in China, among others.

“The UCD College of Business places a strategic priority around maintaining and developing our participation in global networks. Our membership in GNAM perfectly reflects this priority,” said Don Bredin, Professor of Finance at the UCD Smurfit School and UCD College of Business Associate Dean International, Vice Principal for Internationalization and Global Engagement. “UCD Smurfit School has played a leading role in the development of GNAM since its foundation in 2012 and we look forward to this continuing into our new membership term.”

Well known for its MBA 'GNAM Global Network Weeks', GNAM's portfolio of activities has expanded over the years to encompass multiple initiatives including MSc Network Weeks, Virtual Teams, student competitions, executive education initiatives, and global cases among others.

Demonstrating the power of the network, GNAM has recently developed a small network of online courses, also known as SNOCs. SNOCs are modules offered virtually by GNAM members which are exclusively open to their own students and to those of other member Schools. The last year has seen an explosion in the number of SNOCs leading to a highly-impressive array of specialist, for-credit modules which are now available to students across participating Schools.

UCD Smurfit School looks forward to its continued engagement and important work with GNAM.