Donnchadh wanted to use his professional training and academic qualification by bringing them together and building on the knowledge in a practical way
Donnchadh Ó Madagáin is from Glenageary, Co Dublin. A former graduate of both DCU and UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School before continuing his studies in South East Technological University, completing his DBA.
Prior to studying this programme I:
As a qualified accountant (FCCA), my career to date has spanned a number of industry sectors ranging from banking to higher education. Along the way I added various qualifications relevant to my job, including a Post Grad Diploma in Corporate Governance. I am currently Director of Finance at National College of Ireland in Dublin.
I was drawn to research because:
Having done a number of taught programmes and qualifications over the years, the appeal of doctoral level research was that I could define the parameters - effectively setting my own curriculum.
My motivation for doing a DBA was:
I felt there was scope to bring together my professional accounting training and my academic corporate governance qualification and build on that knowledge in a practical way.
Since I finished my DBA I have:
Now that the DBA is complete, I hope to be able to share the learning and messages from it - both by way of academic conference papers and journals and through the professional accounting education channels. Apart from that (and the day job), I continue to try and improve my beekeeping skills!
The title of my research is:
Exploring the influence of cognitive communication factors on the preparation of financial narrative board reports. I was supervised by Dr Collette Kirwan and Dr Chris O'Riordan.
In layman's terms my DBA is about:
In layman's terms, my DBA is about the influence (often subconsciously, for better or worse) of such factors as the curse of knowledge and intuition on the effectiveness of internal financial reports prepared by management for boards of directors. If report writers are unaware of this, it can pose a risk to the wider processes of corporate governance.
I love research because:
I really enjoyed the research in that it brought together a lot of my earlier academic and professional training but with a whole new perspective.
My advice for anyone considering a DBA at the moment is:
Pick a research topic that is of real interest to you - then you will enjoy the research. The workload is intense but very rewarding.
Why I would recommend studying in Waterford/WIT:
The support, encouragement and enthusiasm of the DBA faculty and supervisors in SETU were huge factors in the success of my DBA. I would highly recommend them. And, while most of your DBA journey may be done at home, the regular visits to the