IMI calls to improve management

A CALL has been made for a Government-led initiative to improve the standard of business management in Ireland, backed by the claim that such a move could provide a €2 billion boost to the economy.

A report from the Irish Management Institute (IMI) claims Irish companies are trailing their international counterparts, in terms of effective ‘best-practice’ management techniques.

The institute said between 2,000 and 5,000 Irish companies, particularly SMEs, are under-performing as a direct result of poor staff and business management.

“The need is for enterprises to be better managed,” said IMI chief executive Dr Tom McCarthy at yesterday’s launch of the Closing the Gap report.

“Twenty years ago, the foundations for growth out of recession, and the doubling in the number of people at work, were laid by initiatives such as graduate conversion programmes.

“Innovative supply-side measures are required today which match need to advantage. The required supply-side interventions involve education and conversion for those already in the workforce,” he added.

The national initiative which the IMI — which is being supported by Enterprise Ireland in its call — is looking for from Government includes a range of measures including funding SMEs for management development training; incentivising firms for improving their management standards; the introduction of an ISO-style qualification measure as a quality target; and benchmarking SMEs to inform them of where they currently are in terms of management standards.

Taking around €350 million-€400m from the existing National Training Fund has been suggested as a means of funding this initiative.

“The low-skilled unemployed will be the focus of most of the Government’s efforts. However, it is vital that measures are taken to improve management. The evidence shows that doing this will preserve and create jobs for the low-skilled unemployed and will drive productivity growth,” Dr McCarthy added.

The IMI report — conducted by management consulting firm McKinsey and the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics — said a small economy, like Ireland’s, can see changes in GDP growth through supply-side measures.