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SCMP Reporter

IN a city renowned for its business expertise, it is no wonder that Hongkong is home to an ever-increasing number of management development consultancies.

  But with such a broad selection, how does a company decide which consultancy is appropriate?   Is there really a ''correct'' and ''effective'' method of management which is applicable to the business world? Must this method be taught or is it common sense?   According to the Management Development Centre (MDC) of Hongkong, the answer to these questions depends on the type of business involved.

  Set up by the Vocational Training Council in 1984, the MDC is a non-profit management development centre that understands the many and continually changing needs of Hongkong managers.

  Each company has personal needs and generic management answers can be a waste of time.

  In addition to the extensive diversity among companies, Hongkong is a special place and management needs differ from those in Europe or the United States, for example.

  In an effort to comply with the variety of management issues, the MDC focuses a lot of attention on research, ensuring it is capable of meeting constantly changing needs, both in the short-and long-term.

  This explains why teaching programmes, projects, case studies, materials and management information at the MDC are always changing and being updated.

  For example, the centre has just introduced two new and inventive programmes which focus importance on training ''manager trainers'' rather than training individual managers.

    Instead of sending 10 highly trained managers into the business world, MDC sends out 10 highly skilled manager trainers, who in turn spread their expertise to a large number of managers.

  The first of these two programmes is called Train the Management Trainer Series (TMT) and is designed primarily for those who have recently become involved in management training.

    Mr David Crookes, senior adviser and organiser of TMT, said that participants should have a minimum of five years' working experience. A good knowledge of English was necessary.

  Aware that exceptional managers are rare but essential for the growth of any company, TMT ensures that management trainers are effective.

    The programme enables trainers to recognise what instructions a company's manager needs, develop the appropriate courses required, and then deliver them in the most productive way.

  There are even three levels of the management-needs programme; beginner, intermediate and advanced.

  The second new programme offered by the centre is the Skilful Manager Series (SMS), which provides complete course manuals for management trainers.

  Shorter than the four-to five-day TMT sessions, the SMS is a three-day workshop which teaches managers how to effectively deliver their own courses.

  ''During the workshop, trainers receive a manual provided in both English and Chinese versions, containing everything that is needed to operate their own one-day course'' Mr Crookes said.

  The courses are special because they have all been developed according to Hongkong's unique management style and requirements.

   Mr Crookes said they had also been tested with groups of managers and trainers in a variety of local companies to prove their suitability to Hongkong's environment.

  Some of the subjects included in the SMS are: appraisal and counselling, fundamentals of management, leadership, interpersonal skills, principles of interviewing, resolving conflict, and time management.

   The MDC offers a variety of other programmes.

  The centre has an ''interactive video'': an audiovisual system of matriculation adapted specifically for Hongkong businesses, using actors. It is available in Chinese and English.

  Mr Crookes said that ''even if the given message is universal, the format must be appropriately adapted for Hongkong''.

  For example, lessons instructing the development of excellent customer service - whether for Chinese or European managers in Hongkong - could easily incorporate the same instructed message.

  But an interactive video employing purely European actors and with Western-style management conflicts is difficult for Chinese Hongkong managers to relate to.

  Unlike many management consultancies which cater heavily to European subsidiary companies, and who therefore employ Western-style management training, MDC provides training services that accommodate both the Chinese and expatriate community.

  This ensures the managerial development of Hongkong as a whole.

  Furthermore, MDC has overcome many potential obstacles for Hongkong managers.

    For instance, companies who cannot afford to buy these interactive videos are encouraged by MDC to send their managers or manager trainers into the centre for ''free-of-charge'' viewing.

  Hongkong's Conrad Hotel, having sent its employees for a ''staff motivation'' session, is just one of many large corporations that has benefitted from MDC services.



Consulting right path