Latest IMI News & Events

Sir Terry Leahy, Group CEO of Tesco plc. has been awarded the Sean Lemass Gold Medal for Business Leadership by the Trinity-IMI Graduate School of Management.

The presentation of the medal was made by Minister of Justice Brian, TD. Lenihan at a ceremony in Trinity College Dublin on January 18th.

Speaking on behalf of the Trinity-IMI Graduate School of Management, Dr Tom McCarthy, Chief Executive of the IMI, said Sir Terry has been selected for the award for his significant business achievements, his entrepreneurial skills and his Irish roots.

Terry Leahy was born in Liverpool in 1956 to Irish parents, his mother comes from Armagh and his father from Sligo. After graduating with a Bsc in Management Sciences from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, he joined Tesco in London in 1979 as a Marketing Executive and was promoted to Marketing Manager in 1981 and then Marketing Director in 1984. In 1986 he was appointed Commercial Director of Fresh Foods and subsequently appointed to the Board of Tesco PLC as Marketing Director in 1992. He was appointed Deputy Managing Director in February 1995. In 1997, and at the age of forty-one, Terry Leahy was made Chief Executive became the youngest person to head up a FTSE 100 company.

Sir Terry Leahy's time as Chief Executive of Tesco has seen the company become the UK’s largest retailer while also enjoying an ever expanding international reach. His appointment as CEO coincided with Tesco’s entry into the Irish Market place.

 Terry Leahy’s significant business achievements and entrepreneurial skills were recognised with a knighthood in 2002, for his services to the retail industry. He was chosen as Britain's "Business Leader of the Year" in 2003 and the Fortune European Businessman of the Year for 2003. In 2005 he was selected as Britain's most admired business leader by Management Today and the Guardian found him to be the most influential non-elected person in Britain in 2007. Sir Terry is an Everton Football Club supporter and a special advisor to the club. He has also been granted the freedom of the city of Liverpool where he is also a Director on the Liverpool Vision Regeneration Board.

 The Sean Lemass Gold Medal for Business Leadership was established in 2006. The award is dedicated in honour of the late former Taoiseach Sean Lemass who was instrumental in the establishment of the Irish Management Institute in 1952.

Sir Terry Leahy is the second recipient of the award. The first recipient of the award was Dr John Malone, Chairman of Liberty Media Corporation. He is the owner of a wide array of international media interests and is a global player in the cable industry. His ancestors are Irish.

The Trinity-IMI Graduate School of Management was launched in October 2005 and brings together the IMI and TCD's School of Business. The School also has a strategic partnership with Babson College in the US, a recognised global leader in entrepreneurship education and an internationally recognised business school.

IMI is currently accepting applications on the MSc in Management Practice and MSc in Organisational Behaviour programmes which are run jointly by the Irish Management Institute and the University of Dublin (Trinity College)

The MSc in Management Practice is a two year degree course designed specifically for chief executives and senior managers. It is designed exclusively for experienced senior managers who: 

• Need to develop their understanding of the complex management issues facing themselves and their organisation
• Find it impossible, because of their senior status in their organisation, to go on either a full-time master's programme or a part-time programme which is not directly related to their own organisation and role
• Have not only innate intellectual ability, but also the seniority and experience to implement real changes in their organisations

The objective is to bring senior managers through real-time general management development, centred around their own job and organisation. The hallmark is authenticity which comes from the practical, action-learning nature of the course. Thus both the individual and their organisation benefit.

Recognising that people learn most effectively from the solution of real life problems, the emphasis throughout is on the application of what is being learned to the individual’s organisation and job. In order to do this a high emphasis is placed on one-to-one personal tutoring and consequently the number which can be taken on the programme in any one year is limited.

An Taoiseach Mr. Bertie Ahern T.D. officially opened the National Productivity Centre at the IMI Campus in Sandyford, Dublin on Thursaday October 4th 2007.

Microsoft and the IMI have come together to create the National Productivity Centre to provide a practical response to addressing the issue of improving Ireland’s productivity.

Our respective expertise in the areas of technology innovation and executive education brings together a range of solutions that will benefit every Irish-based organisation seeking to address their competitiveness issues.The National Productivity Centre is also been supported by Dell, eircom, Fujitsu Siemens and HP.

"Today, the IMI and Microsoft are jointly taking a hugely important step, driving home not only the importance of productivity, but making learning about it far more accessible. For both the smallest company and the largest multinational, the key to sustainable, enduring competitiveness is to strengthen productivity at a pace ahead of its competitors."

An Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern T.D. speaking at the official opening of the NPC.

The National Productivity Centre provides visiting executives with a hands on interactive experience. It includes international best practice and draws on the expertise of a number of leading economic commentators and management practitioners based in Ireland and internationally. The session will also provide real-world sector-specific case studies on how companies around the world are addressing the issue of productivity.

Dr. Phil Nolan, Chairman, the Irish Management Institute commenting at the official opening said: “Our initivative in developing the National Productivity Centre in partnership with Microsoft seeks to provide both the thought leadership and practical assistance for organisations seeking to be part of the next wave of growth.”

Speaking at the launch, Joe Macri, MD, Microsoft Ireland said: “The recognition from business leaders and policy makers that enhanced productivity holds the key to Ireland’s future economic success drove us to partner with the IMI to develop the National Productivity Centre. That’s why bringing together the expertise of both organisations delivers real insight on how to address productivity and gives executives from the private and public sector the opportunity to explore how these kinds of solutions can be applied to their own organisations.”

The National Productivity Centre draws on the expertise and experience of experts and organisations from Ireland and around the world. Its focus is on bringing together this knowledge in the three areas that will have the most positive impact on organisational productivity, namely:

• ICT: Technology can help businesses to increase productivity through improved collaboration and business insight
• Management Capability: Improving management skills is central to increasing productivity
• Innovation: Innovation is central to productivity – but it’s the combination of technological innovation and business innovation that delivers the greatest returns

To learn more visit the National Productivity Centre website at www.npcireland.ie