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“It was really quite life-changing”: How travel can expand your business horizons
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Mary Gordon undertook the UCD Smurfit Executive MBA, and found that the opportunities to travel were invaluable to her overall experience.
For anyone considering an MBA, you’ll probably have thought about all the tangible skills you would learn on the course, from marketing insights to leadership skills. But the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School MBA goes beyond these skills, really preparing students for every aspect of modern business, and travel is a key aspect of this.
The UCD Smurfit School MBA offers several international travel options designed to foster a global business perspective, including the International Consulting Project in an EU city, the Doing Business in International Markets study tour (previous destinations include Singapore, Tokyo, and Seoul, and week-long Global Network Week (GNAM) exchanges at partner schools such as Yale or INSEAD. For the Full-Time MBA programme, international travel is a core module as part of the programme. For the Executive MBA, travel is optional, but encouraged.
Mary Gordon, who undertook the Executive MBA from 2022-2024 can attest to the value of these programmes. Coming into the course without a background in business, she explains that she was determined to use it as an opportunity to “say yes to everything, and really push myself”, and took up every chance to travel that was offered.
Prioritising connection
Her first trip was to Prague, as part of the International Consulting Project (ICP). The students were given a list of companies to choose from, and she immediately opted for one where she had no previous knowledge of the industry. “What I learned from that trip was that sometimes we bring the best things to the table, the less we know,” Mary says.
“I understood that the key in delivering is knowing your client. I didn’t bring expertise in marketing or business development, but I knew by the way they corresponded with us that they wanted to get to know us.” Mary and her team spent time doing exactly that, and soon came up with a pitch that suited the needs of their company.
Another important learning from the trip, Mary explains, was that you should take a chance. She reached out to the Irish Ambassador in Prague, who invited Mary and her team to her residence for an International Women’s Day event.
“We were all invited to speak about our experience of being Irish, being an international woman working in business, and what does that mean to us,” she says. “So that was a huge opportunity for us, and it was all because I forced myself to experiment, because that wouldn’t have been my natural personality.”
Knowing what you don’t know
Mary’s second trip was to Singapore, for the Doing Business in International Markets (DBIM) module. They visited many different companies while they were there, and what stood out to her, Mary explains, was the vastness of the Asian market.
“From Singapore, I learned you really not only need to know your client, which I learned in Prague, but you really need to know your product. Because for every product you have in the Asian market, there are 5,000 better products. So what I learned very quickly, was you would need to have a massive understanding of your product and the Asian markets. If you’re going to break into the Asian market, that is not something you would do lightly. It reminded me to be humble in business.”
She speaks highly of the organisation of the trip, from the companies they got to visit with cutting-edge technology, to experiencing local culture. “That’s very much the Smurfit experience, they’ve considered everything that would be useful for the students.”
Inspiring experiences
The third trip Mary participated in was to The University of California, Berkeley for the Global Network for Advanced Management (GNAM) module. “It was the absolute privilege of my life,” Mary says simply. “To stand outside Berkeley, I’d never experienced anything like it, and it really showed us that Smurfit is up there with the best in the world. We were part of a global network week on equality and leadership, and it was of all three travelling experiences, the biggest game-changer for me.”
Meeting people from all over the world, Mary explains, she was struck by how they all connected. “We have friends from the GNAM who have visited us from Australia, and I’m still in contact with a friend from Sweden. She is part of H&M and I would never have had exposure to someone who works in that industry.”
She describes the trip, and the opportunity to be part of conversations on equality, and female participation in business leadership as “life-changing”. “I felt like I was part of something much bigger. I came back from Berkeley completely enthused, that doing business, being in a leadership position, it does make a difference.”
It’s something that she says stays with her – in her current role at the Institute of Bankers, “If somebody on my team wants to go for something, I say, ‘do it. You’ve got my full support.’ And as a female in business, if I look over my shoulder and I don’t see a queue of women behind me, I’m doing something wrong.”
The experience is one she would unreservedly recommend to anyone. “The Smurfit experience is top class. It’s a lot of work. You’re very, very, busy, but you’re very well supported by the team.”
UCD Smurfit School will host a virtual event for women interested in undertaking an MBA online on March 12. Register to attend and learn more here.
IMAGE MBA Scholarship
IMAGE is delighted to once again partner with UCD Smurfit School in offering one MBA Scholarship to a female candidate to cover up to 100% tuition fees (valued up to €38,860) for a choice of the Full-Time MBA, or Executive part-time MBA, commencing August 2026. You can read about our current scholar, Heather Cronin, here.
The scholarship is open to all successful female applicants for the MBA who are resident in Ireland. The closing date for applications is April 30, 2026.
To find out more and apply, click here.
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