Enterprise Ireland
Annual Report and Accounts 2006
Annual Report and Accounts 2006
World-class management teams with strong international sales capabilities win business and attract investors. The new model of a knowledge-driven Irish economy needs the leadership of a new breed of Irish managers with a breadth of world-class skills and expertise across the whole spectrum of business disciplines. To achieve export growth it is therefore just as important to invest in building management capability as it is to tackle any other critical area of business development.
Enterprise Ireland placed strong emphasis on enhancing the management capabilities of Irish businesses in 2006. We approved €11.5 million of the Productivity Improvement Fund for training, against a client investment of over €22 million.
In total almost 200 client companies from across all sectors participated in management development programmes. This is a 50 per cent increase on the previous year's participation levels.
Along with continued delivery of existing programmes tailored to the needs of specific sectors, two major management development programmes, Leadership 4 Growth and the International Selling Programme, commenced during the year.
Leadership 4 Growth
The Leadership 4 Growth programme, developed by Enterprise Ireland in association with the Irish Software Association and the Stanford Graduate School of Business in the United States, brings together key players from the business world and academia to fast-track the growth of Irish software companies. An initial tranche of 31 ambitious CEOs from Irish high-growth companies started the first Leadership 4 Growth programme in 2006. The programme provides a major opportunity for participants to enhance their leadership and strategic capabilities through Stanford's world-renowned business faculty.
International Selling Programme
The International Selling Programme enhances skills at management levels in Irish companies. An initial group of 32 participants, with 60 more planned for 2007, came from a wide range of sectors with export sales strategies targeting markets right across the globe. Delivered in association with the Dublin Institute of Technology the programme is totally export sales focused, designed to help Irish companies win international sales and sustain export growth into the future.
Sectoral change programmes
Positive results also came from sectoral change management programmes that employ best practice input from Irish and international expertise. These include the Seafood Processing programme, delivered in partnership with Bord Iascaigh Mhara and the Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education, and the Pork and Bacon Processing programme delivered in association with the Irish Management Institute and the Danish Meat Research Institute. Almost 40 participants on both programmes focused on developing management capability and driving innovation in SMEs.
Access to exernal expertise: the Mentor Network
In 2006, Enterprise Ireland helped 332 companies access the external advice and support provided by our nationwide Mentor Network. The mentors are senior executives with a proven track record of business success who volunteer their services. In 2006, we welcomed to the network a number of new mentors who bring extensive experience of high technology and emerging sectors.
In addition, 26 international mentors were assigned to work with clients in overseas markets.
