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Consolidating and Strengthening Cuban Managerial Capabilities

Consolidating and Strengthening Cuban Managerial Capabilities aims to improve the efficiency of the Cuban companies by providing excellent training in the management techniques currently used in Europe. This 42 month project has been made possible by a grant from the European Commission, through the 2009 Annual Action Programme for Non-State Actors and Local Authorities in Development. The project will be implemented under the leadership of EFMD and in cooperation with ESADE business school as a consortium partner and with the Cuban Ministry of Higher Education. It will be supervised by the European Union Delegation in Cuba.
This project builds on the success of the EC-funded D(E)ADE (Diplomado Europeo en Administración y Dirección de Empresas) programmes that were conducted by a consortium led by ESADE from 1996 to 2006. Managers and directors of Cuban companies recognised in D(E)ADE a unique opportunity to access knowledge which has been successfully used by European companies. In return, the programme made it possible to strengthen ties with economically influential institutions and businesses in Europe.

Project Objectives

Promote and develop the use of international and European methods of management in Cuban companies and to encourage the Cuban participants to apply these techniques in their professional life:
  • design and delivery of trainings and seminars targeted at managers (top and senior managers, as well as professors of management)
  • organisation of various actions aimed at promoting and facilitating the effective use of the acquired management knowledge and skills in the professional life of the participants
Consolidate the results of the D(E)ADE programmes in order to:
  • strengthen the contacts between the previous participants (managers and professors)
  • provide them with an actualisation of the knowledge and skills if needed
  • reinforce their motivation to use the acquired competences in their professional environment
Prepare and facilitate the establishment of a Cuba Europe School of Management through:
  • surveying the Cuban needs in terms of management education
  • the presentation and evaluation of different models of management institutions
  • the development of the best adapted scenario for a long term cooperation in the field of management education

    Target Groups

    • Top and senior Cuban managers from national and/or mixed companies (joint ventures between Cuban and European companies)
    • Cuban managers and professors of management who participated in the D(E)ADE programmes (1996-2006)
    • Administrators from the Cuban higher education sector
    • Cuban professors of management
    • Cuban and mixed companies
    • Academic institutions

    Main Activities

    1. Overall academic administration and co-ordination
    • Overall design, supervision, co-ordination, management and control of the project and the institutional relations especially with the authorities, companies, Cuban and European institutions
    • Reporting activities
    • General academic engineering, co-ordination with European and Cuban institutions
      2. Consolidation of the D(E)ADE network (alumni, companies and academic institutions)
      • Consolidation of the alumni network through the organisation of annual meetings and actualisation seminars
      • Development and facilitation of a group of companies and public administrations (“Patronato”) and a group of academic institutions, which will be closely associated to the programme
      • Development and facilitation of a “project supporters group”
      • Consolidation of the network of academic institutions
        3. Continuation and intensification of the D(E)ADE programme
        • Organisation of an annual edition of the D(E)ADE programme and gradual transformation of this programme into an Executive MBA consistent with European standards
        • Organisation of short training seminars in different Cuban universities, in order to associate them to the development of the programm
        • Organisation of specifically designed courses for professors of management
        • Organisation of a teacher training programme for Cuban professors, both in Cuba and Europe
          4. Preparation and facilitation of the establishment of a Cuba Europe School of Management based on the EFMD experience in creating China Europe International School of Business (CEIBS) in Shanghai
          • Analysis of the needs for management education in Cuba
          • Organisation of a study tour in Europe and to the CEIBS campus in China in order to familiarise the Cuban stakeholders with the organisation and structures of Schools of Management
          • Training of Cuban administrators to use quality assurance mechanisms and to manage a school of management
          • Definition of a launch and development plan of the Cuba Europe School of Management or an alternative long term academic cooperation