About the Management Development Council

History

The Management Development Council (MDC) was established in 2007 to advise Government on the adequacy and relevance of management development provision in Ireland and to promote a coordinated approach to building awareness and appreciation in the small and medium sized business sector for the value of and need for upgrading leadership and management skills.

Terms of Reference

Terms of Reference (PDF 180KB)

Mandate

For the purposes of the Management Development Councils work, ‘Management Development is defined as “any form of training, either formal or informal, accredited or non-accredited, which enhances the ability of an SME manager to provide direction, facilitate change, use resources, work with people, achieve results, or manage self and personal skills. This would include group taught formal learning external to the firm, as well as informal ‘on-the-job learning’, networking and one-to-one consultancy.”

Building on available and ongoing work, specifically that of the Small Business Forum and the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs the Management Development Council will:

1. Establish the profile, adequacy and relevance of management development provision in Ireland.
2. Identify good practice in management development provision internationally and in Ireland, and examine how such models could be extended or rolled out nationally.
3. Develop action plans to close identified gaps in management development provision in Ireland.
4. Promote the development of a coordinated approach to building awareness and appreciation in the SME sector for the value of and need for upgrading leadership and management skills.

Secretariat & Research Executive and Resources

Secretariat and research services to the MDC are provided by the Human Capital and Labour Market Policy department of Forfás. Contact details for members of the Secretariat are available on the contact us page.