The Malta Institute of Management (MIM) has launched its 50th anniversary celebrations with the publication of a commemorative book with the theme Born to Lead.
The MIM was the brainchild of a small group of young Maltese business executives at the time of Malta’s 1964 independence, when the nation was making the big leap from an economy sustained by activities generated by the British services, to a new era of industrialisation.
In the 1960s Malta saw the rapid growth of the industrial estates followed by the construction of luxurious hotels and restaurants and ancillary services. All this brought about a great need for managers in the different sectors.
With the foresight that they needed to learn how to manage their operations intelligently and effectively in the new challenging environment that lay ahead, the group decided to set out the objectives and establish the institute. Their aim was to develop the standards, and thereby the status, of management.
The book offers a sharing with the institute’s founder, Christopher Calascione, who today is a Benedictine priest. It also presents a general experience along the annals of the MIM and its continued investment in professional management.
Fr Calascione’s walk down memory lane sheds important light on the managerial experience in Malta at the time when the institute came to life: “I remember it as if it were yesterday. Friends of mine and I set up a steering committee to see how we could proceed. We decided to put a small advertisement in a newspaper, calling a meeting at the Phoenicia Ball Room in Floriana, for anyone interested in our ideas. To our amazement we had something like 110 people turning up. We didn’t even know that so many people were involved in management in Malta in those days – I am talking of the first part of the 1960s.”
From the start, the institute was looked upon as a leading professional body in Malta representing all those people at the forefront of management and also to assist and prepare professionals to meet the demands posed by the challenging business environment.
The book delves into the difficulties and challenges faced by the MIM, as well as its performance and achievements, also through evaluations made by past presidents of the institute during their leadership, especially on occasions on special anniversaries.
Fr Calascione’s walk down memory lane sheds important light on the managerial experience in Malta
The publication, which includes a wide selection of photographs, further focuses on the institute’s projects with the Maastricht School of Management and Edinburgh Business School, while two other sections are dedicated to the international conferences organised by the MIM and additional highlights in the life of the Institute.
The book additionally shows how the first decade of the third millennium saw members of the MIM enjoying an efficient and cost- effective access to a number of services essentially in four areas: focused and effective management training and development; up-to-date, relevant and topical management information; opportunities for sharing ideas and concerns and for networking; professional management advice and support.
The institute today runs a wide range of management education and training programmes at different academic levels and of varying duration. Learning solutions include continuous professional development courses and internationally-recognised education programmes in alliance with leading strategic partners in the international education and training sector.
In his golden anniversary message, current MIM president Reuben Buttigieg writes:
“We need to continue attracting young people to the institute. It is through them that we can ensure better and healthier prospects for our institute’s contribution to our nation, first and foremost in the area of professional management.”