Critical need for management + leadership
There are strong indications that we in New Zealand are failing to develop and apply management skills as effectively as we might.
The application of better management and leadership skills is critical to an innovative and growing economy, and to improved social well being. If New Zealand is to improve its economic performance it is essential that businesses are led more effectively and innovatively.
If management skills are seen as critical, then they must be given greater priority in secondary and tertiary education, they must be learned in ways that provide practical workplace benefits.
Looking to the future
New Zealand is passing through social and cultural revolution which affects attitudes and approaches to both learning and work. We are no longer culture made up of Maori, Pacific Islander and European, but melting pot of many cultures from around the world. This cultural diversity is matched by an increasingly global reach of ideas and learning through the internet.
There is strong possibility that traditional academic qualifications offered by universities and polytechnics will become little more than credentials for jobs, with the real skills learnt elsewhere.
In England at present 45 percent of school leavers eventually graduate with degree of some kind, and that rate is closer to 55 percent in the United States. This means that there is an expectation that people applying for jobs will have at least degree, and other qualifications are taken only if they lead to entry to university.
Where does NZIM stand?
NZIM has always been committed to providing learning that is relevant to the learner, is challenging, and leads to real improvement in management competence. To meet the new challenges of education and the workplace NZIM must:
* consult widely with diverse communities
* clearly identify needs
* be responsive to different learning styles and concepts and the needs of local communities
* produce high quality adaptable learning programmes and pathways that meet those needs
* ensure that the programmes are accessible
* evaluate them for their effectiveness.
NZIM as leader
NZIM’s role and vision are well articulated and long respected in the tertiary environment. We will continue to be the leading-edge providers of courses and processes that lead to improvement in management learning, and to set and maintain high standards that act as benchmarks for other organisations. We will better equip first-line, middle and senior managers to meet their current and future challenges, and to develop skills for tomorrow’s managers.
In terms of its educational and training programmes, NZIM uses approaches that ensure that there is real improvement in management practice. Our qualifications are designed to provide supporting structure for adaptable, student-centred, facilitated, work-based programmes.
NZIM has moved away from the provision of theory-based approaches to education towards range of processes and services tied to clear planning and evaluation of their effects. This is leading to the design of radically new models of qualifications and learning frameworks.
In many ways NZIM has been pioneer. It was one of the initial partners in the development of the NZ Diploma in Business, and participated in the first Business and Management Advisory Group set up by NZQA in 1992. It initiated training in occupational safety and health, and has led the development of project management courses, including New Zealand’s first Diploma in Project Management.
NZIM continues to be staunch advocate of national standards and benchmarks in management and in 2001 was instrumental in the development of the Management Development Advisory Council to advise on ways in which management deficiencies and needs can be met.
NZIM plays an active role on the international stage. NZIM continues to be represented on most international management conferences and is hosting the AAMO (Asian Association of Management Organisations) Conference in Auckland in October.
NZIM has recently launched Foundation to provide grants and scholarships to people developing innovative ideas and practices in management.
Focus on learning
NZIM has moved somewhat reluctantly to the formalisation of its programmes into qualifications, because of the danger that the qualification, rather than the learning, becomes the aim. However the popularity of our programmes, we hope, lies more with their effectiveness than with their currency value.
Middle and senior management
Despite the proliferation of MBAs and other academic post-graduate qualifications designed to provide skills for middle and senior managers, there is concern that these programmes are not entirely successful in providing what those managers want and need.
The Trade and Enterprise Ministry has identified the small and micro business area as key area requiring management skills, and also that traditional courses have not been able to meet the needs of small businesses very successfully.
NZIM has developed and administers programme based around mentored action research, which enables small business operators to develop the skills needed to run their business through supported programme of skill assistance. This qualification is currently being progressively offered through numerous centres throughout New Zealand.
NZIM has also reviewed its Certificate in Small Business Management to more clearly meet the needs of small business people, and is offering Business Basics Course through correspondence.
Foundation knowledge and skills
Because enterprise and management have never been recognised as part of the core curriculum in New Zealand secondary schools, there is clear lack of basic understanding about business and management in New Zealand. The NZIM Certificate in Management is now being provided through about 100 secondary schools. It is recognised for NCEA and is considered the major business qualification in secondary schools.
Increasingly NZIM is developing the roles of mentoring, coaching and business supervision as key processes to ensure better management practice. As well as developing high-quality mentoring programme itself, NZIM is increasingly cooperating with other services to put into place nationwide training and accreditation process.
NZIM has always maintained strong regional influence in New Zealand. As well as connections with regional polytechnics and other tertiary providers, NZIM offers short course programmes and occupational safety and health courses in many different regions in the country.
NZIM aims to:
• create an environment that provides incentives and support for today’s managers to develop their leadership and management capability
• ensure the availability of programmes to enhance the capability of today’s managers.
In the longer term NZIM is working towards putting in place an education strategy that will deliver learning that is effective in terms of developing and changing management practice. Much of New Zealand’s management education struggles to keep up with best practice. If we want dynamic and innovative economy, then we need to have dynamic and innovative approach to management education.
• placing greater emphasis on management skills in secondary, tertiary and industry training
• ensuring that courses are designed and evaluated on the basis of their enhancement of management practice
• ensuring that providers have the capability to relate teaching to management practice
• ensuring that management education is forward looking so we are preparing for what will come, not what has been.
The full charter is available for comment from the NZIM website www.nzim.co.nz