ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF THE IRISH MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE COUNCIL DINNER
ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF THE IRISH MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE COUNCIL DINNER ON 12 FEBRUARY 1998
Over the last while, we’ve all seen how Ireland’s fantastic economic performance has been analysed, scrutinised - and even animalised [the “Celtic Tiger”]- by commentators and experts in newspapers, publications and reports of all shapes and sizes. The statistics, the facts, the figures - they are all out there - and I’m not going to rehearse them here this evening. While this ‘miracle’ didn’t happen when everybody was asleep or looking the other way, I think we can all agree with the general consensus, which is that it has been facilitated to a significant degree by the very welcome level of foreign investment in Ireland.
- True enough, money, and a lot of it, has been at the root of this tremendous growth. And isn’t there a saying that, “If you have talent, and work hard and long, anything in the world can be yours – if you have enough money!”. While investment and the availability of money have been the major influence on the pace of our recent success, I think that to ‘blame’ it all on foreign investors, enthusiastic bankers or European grant aid, is to grossly oversimplify the complex process of development and redevelopment that has been taking place. We all know that investors place their money carefully in places they trust, where they believe it will work well. They certainly don’t throw money at us just because we’re nice people! So what else is behind our great success?
- Clearly, there have been other factors involved. But with most of the analyses that I’ve seen, there is little mention of those who are leading the charge, giving the direction, and managing the different sectors of the economy which have brought about this great success. I imagine that some might be taking advice from the words of the American poet, Dwight Morrow, who said that “The World is divided into people who do things and people who get the credit; try to belong to the first class – there’s far less competition”. Clearly there must be many people ‘doing’ things – maybe that’s why we don’t hear much about them.
Shaw said that “nothing was ever accomplished by a reasonable man” – then he probably hadn’t looked closely enough at women! Thankfully, things have obviously changed quite considerably since Shaw’s time, because Ireland’s position today could not have been accomplished without the commitment of many reasonable men and women - in management, leadership, and in the workplace - people, as Seamus Heaney puts it, with “intelligences brightened and unmannerly as crowbars”. Our unique partnership of unions, employers, farmers and Government, coupled with a professional and talented labour force, have also been a major ingredient in our success.
- But in all sectors of the economy, of course, there are people - people who are dedicated to their task in leadership and management, and who have been able to react quickly and readily to the ever changing circumstances and fortunes of the market place; people who know that the person “who uses yesterday’s methods in today’s work, won’t be in business tomorrow”. These are the people who transformed Ireland into a ‘can do’ culture – who gave it energy and vision, and whose judgement was rewarded with success. That success has built up our self-confidence – our national self-esteem – we are a people not afraid to adapt to change.
- It has been said that in business, change is the only constant. Advances in modern communications and the advent of the information superhighway have added to the pace of change and are profoundly impacting on the way businesses compete, and indeed co-operate. Management theorist Igor Ansoff coined the phrase ‘environmental turbulence’ back in the 1960's to describe the change from a static to a dynamic view of business. That phrase has even more resonance today for enterprises facing the challenges of a globalised, high tech world. The science and art of management is all about meeting the challenge of change, generating competition and yet ensuring that a stable economy is the backbone which allows us to control or harness that turbulence, and use it as a source of energy with which to drive forward.
- Equipping people to be capable of adapting to new challenges and changing circumstances, to harness the resources that are or could be at their disposal – that is the key role of our educational and training institutions. And to meet that educational challenge also requires a frame of mind and attitude that is always ready to address new requirements. And speaking of success and education, I am reminded of the story about the man who had very little education but was very successful in business. At a prize giving in his old school he lectured the young students by telling them that they should “always remember that education is a great thing. There’s nothing like education. Take arithmetic. Through education we learn that twice two makes four, twice six makes twelve, seven sevens make . . . and then there’s geography!”.
- The Irish management Institute has played a major part in the developing Irish economy, through the many education and training programmes which have been tailored to suit the needs of Irish industry. I would like this evening to pay a particular tribute to the many people who have worked with, and in, the IMI to impart the knowledge and skills to managers and leaders, and the future drivers of Irish business. You have responded to the demands of industry and commerce and have been consistently ready to break new ground, to change, and to take new directions when they were required. John Henry Newman put it nicely when he said, “To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often”. That ability to change is essential to your continued success.
- There can be no doubt, that without the calibre of leadership that we are very lucky to have today, we would not be able to sustain the strong position that we are in. There is a professional discipline and commitment across all of the social sectors – people prepared to work long hours, to take risks, to hold their nerve, to work towards a vision. And in an ever changing global economy, where the sands are constantly shifting, the ability to respond to change - to turn the ship about if that’s what it takes - that is the key to survival and to success. You have passed on the key to generations of Irish people so that they can open the doors to the new Ireland, the prosperous country that we have today.
- I said earlier that investors don’t invest here just because we’re nice people. True, they don’t. They come because we are adaptable, educated, dynamic, open – because we have a proven track record of success. But they stay and reinvest because we are a nice people – because this is a very pleasant place to do business. Why? Because our collective ethos is to work to build up our country, to spread the benefits of success to all our people. That is what drives us, not unredeemed greed and selfishness. That is what I am pleased to celebrate with you tonight.