Success Stories

Company Comments

IMPM Testimonial: Alcan Inc. (now part of Rio Tinto)

“Joining the IMPM program enabled Alcan to become involved in a consortium program to support the development of our high-potential managers. The IMPM was also a good complement to the internal programs we were offering at the time,” says Florette Guildford, Director of Management and Executive Development at Alcan Inc.

“The international and multi-cultural exposure the IMPM offers managers, as well as the opportunity to share ideas with a diverse network of colleagues, is invaluable in helping them to enhance their performance in a global and complex business environment,” she says.

“We were attracted by the concept of the IMPM, which focuses on the real-life practices and challenges of senior managers, as well as on the mindsets that are required to meet these challenges and optimize individual and organizational performance. The IMPM was quite unique when Alcan became a founding member over 10 years ago,” says Guildford, “and there have been many innovations in the program since it was launched, which has made it an even better fit for us.”

“Alcan has a well-established process to identify high potential managers within the business, so once the decision was made to join the IMPM it was easy to identify the first group of participants. Based on our experience with the program and the guidelines on candidate selection that are provided by the program administration, we now have a better idea of the ideal candidate profile, which we use in our selection process,” she explains.

“The feedback we get from the participants and the management of their Business Groups is the key measure that we use to determine the relative success of the program. We keep in touch with the participants throughout the program to get first hand feedback on how the program is going and what they see as its major impacts.”

"To support successful participants on the IMPM, organizations do need to be familiar with the concept and content of the consortium program," advises Guildford. "The IMPM is a non-traditional way of teaching managers and it's most certainly not an MBA program. Offering the program in different continents and placing managers outside their natural comfort zone, helps to develop a deeper cultural awareness and is a key strength of the IMPM that sets it apart from most other programs that are currently available,” concludes Guildford.

 

IMPM Testimonial: Lufthansa

“Lufthansa has a clearly defined strategy process that ensures we link our management development programs directly to the business strategy,” explains Dr Michael Christ, Head of Corporate Executive Development at Lufthansa. “Once the key business issues for the year ahead are identified, for example, working successfully across borders and encouraging cross-border communication between managers, we work with several business schools worldwide to select, develop and adapt the most appropriate programs.“

“The IMPM is a very open program that enables participants to choose the direction in which the program develops, depending on the current and developing needs of their organization – and this is one of the reasons why we have invested in it over such a significant period of time,” says Dr Christ.  “In addition, participants are briefed prior to and during the program on the needs of the business, so that every opportunity is taken to focus on Lufthansa-specific content that directly delivers a positive return to the organization.”

“The opportunity to work with and learn from such a diverse range of other organizations, including profit and non-profit making organizations, small enterprises and multinationals, is also a key element of the IMPM for Lufthansa,” adds Peter Brantzen, Program Manager at Lufthansa School of Business.

Lufthansa’s corporate executive development department works with the HR teams of its different business units to analyze the current and potential performance of candidates who will be considered for the IMPM. From the resulting database, as well as senior management feedback, the team presents its recommendations to the company’s Executive Board, which selects the four successful candidates to participate.

“We select managers who are above average in terms of performance and expectation, who have the potential for both vertical and horizontal career moves, and who want to tackle new challenges” explains Dr Christ. “It’s also important, wherever possible, to select managers who are responsible for large teams. Selecting managers in this way, certainly for Lufthansa, makes the IMPM experience particularly valuable for the individual manager, as well as the organization as a whole,” he adds.

“It’s also important to find the right managers who can bring what they have learned back to the organization. It’s not enough to simply change individuals, the program must also impact teams and the organization itself,” says Brantzen.

Organizational barriers to the success of the IMPM within Lufthansa are minimal, according to Dr Christ. “Managers are keen to be nominated and, as such, make sure they can meet program commitments. As well as developing as an individual manager, the program participants are always keen to share their knowledge and experience with their colleagues and managers. This – along with the participants’ enthusiasm – ensures the IMPM has a great reputation within Lufthansa.”

The success of the IMPM for Lufthansa is clearly demonstrated in its managers. For example, the managing director of one of the company’s IT subsidiaries heads an investment committee each month for the business. In each meeting, he is required to make decisions on investments of up to 10million Euro. He recently commented on the support the IMPM has given him to make these decisions, and that if he makes one decision better each month, the investment from Lufthansa’s perspective has certainly paid off.