MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (MDP)

The day-to-day management of small business is generally solely in the hands of the owners. Like large firms, small businesses face financial, production, marketing and personnel challenges and problems.  Unlike large firms however, small businesses do not tend to have financial, production, marketing, and personnel specialists to deal with these challenges. The owners are very often responsible for all of the operational and management functions within their business.

This unique Management Development Programme was developed specifically to enable owner managers of small businesses to take a critical look at their business and to apply effective management skills across all business functions at a practical level.

The Programme helps participants to improve their business performance and it facilitates the expansion/development of their business. It is aimed at business owners who have been operating their business for a minimum of two years and who have serious ambitions to grow their business. The Programme helps participants to critically examine and plan their long term business strategy for the future.

The Programme has been running for over 15 years  by Blaise Brosnan, The Management Resource Institute http://www.mriwex.ie/and in that time has assisted hundreds of companies throughout the South East in strategically assessing how they could best meet the challenges that arise naturally as part of business growth.

This self assessment is of significant benefit as it affords participants the time and space to constructively analyse and take stock of where their business is at present, where it fits in the competitive landscape and what is happening in the external marketplace in which it operates. This process is guided and facilitated and much of the learning is in the form of peer learning within the group. Taking part in this process allows businesses to appreciate the core competencies that they possess and recognise the competencies they must learn or adapt in order to continue to grow.

In most cases participating business owners have found that the primary outcome of participation on the Programme is the generation of a strategy for future development that takes account of their company’s strengths and weaknesses and recognises its position and the potential markets that exist for future development.

The Programme will run every Wednesday night from 7pm – 10pm for 15 weeks, commencing on Wednesday 17th February in The Pembroke Hotel, Kilkenny.  Two one-to-one mentoring sessions are also included as part of the programme.  The cost of the programme is €250 per participant.  Ten places are available on this highly sought after programme.  If you wish to be considered for a place or discuss further, contact Fiona Deegan, Senior Enterprise Development Officer at the Local Enterprise Office on 056 7752662 or email fiona.deegan@leo.kilkennycoco.ie.