In Brief
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DownloadThis Spring, all of our Professional Diplomas will be delivered in-person at the IMI Campus to facilitate the best learning experience for participants. We will facilitate a hybrid delivery option should you require it.
Programme dates are as follows:
16, 17 & 18 October 2023
13, 14 & 15 November 2023
11, 12 & 13 December 2023
22, 23 & 24 January 2024
19, 20 & 21 February 2024
25, 26 & 27 March 2024
A candidate’s eligibility for each Professional Diploma or the Professional Master of Business Studies will be determined by a combination of their academic qualifications and/or relevant professional experience.
A primary degree from a recognised third- level institution (NFQ level 8), with a minimum classification of Second Class Honours, will typically be required with five years relevant work experience, at least 3 of which must be at managerial level, however, prior workplace learning will be recognised where applicants do not meet the academic requirement.
This experience may come from a general business or organisational background, or experience working at a management level or in the area specifically related to the Professional Diploma. The candidate may be interviewed by the Programme Director. The IMI Office of the Registrar will oversee all applications, and the final decision on any application shall remain with the IMI Registrar. All applicants whose first language is not English will be required to show evidence of the successful completion of an IELTS or TOEFL test or equivalent as specified within the application form. The English language requirement when using IELTS is a score of 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each individual section or equivalent.
Why choose this programme?
We live in uncertain times and the ability to make innovation a key management process is a critical element in any successful strategy.
The Professional Diploma in Strategy and Innovation will support you in developing and leading innovation in your organisation.

Strategic Influence
Play a key role in defining and delivering your organisation’s strategy.

Sustainable Innovation
Embed innovation as a core function of your organisation, not just a one-off activity.

Future Impacts
Deliver a strategy audit for your organisation.
Programme Director
Programmes themes
- Assess the external macro-environment in the context of your organisation, identify potential game-changing events and possibilities.
- Define your competitors’ positions, map internal and external stakeholders and begin scenario planning.
- Explore innovation management and start defining an innovation strategy.
- Learn about innovation adoption and diffusion processes and how to assess and improve your innovation performance.
- Discover how to create an innovation policy for your organisation
- Learn how to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage.
- Map your own resources and capabilities, while assessing the differences between resource acquisition versus development.
- Gain insights into how to build an innovative organisation.
- Go from ideation to idea prioritisation through to the commercial realisation of a new innovative product or service.
- Read a balance sheet from a strategy perspective and understand different funding options.
- Discover how to build the human capability of an organisation, and how to expand into global markets.
- Go from strategic planning to implementation.
- Create defined key performance indicators and capture the big data that will help drive successful innovation initiatives.
Key takeaways

Identify Opportunities
Evaluate and address the strategic challenges facing your organisation, identifying potential
game changing events and possibilities.

Strategic Mindset
Make strategic sense of the global and domestic business environment. Undertake a key role in the strategy and innovation process.

Commercial Innovation
Bring new ideas to market. Discover how to create an innovation policy for your organisation and how to both assess and improve your innovation performance.