Management Express is a Southern Africa regional product designed to support young professionals in their quest for self-development and professional excellence. By young professionals, the British Council means people young not in age but those still in the process of learning.

Management Express is actually a suite of five inter-related products, namely, a management core collection, a management forum, an online community, a monthly newsletter, and a fast track series. The core collection is an annual selection (by management professionals) of books in certain areas. Those areas aim at people studying for professional exams in most common core subjects in BC offices who are interested in supplementary texts and assistance with study skills or people interested in starting or developing their own businesses and others.

The Management Forum is a partnership between the British Council and a network of managers and other professionals interested in improving the management competencies and practices in their countries. It provides unparalleled interaction and collaboration with the brightest minds in management both locally and from the United Kingdom.

The online community is composed of managers from within and outside the country who can discuss management and professional topics using a platform accessed via the BC website.

The content will be provided by way of access to electronic databases via Athens. Whereas the newsletter is a monthly free newsletter focusing on management current thinking, sent to members and accessible via passwords on the websites.

And finally the fast track series is a series of seven ?How To? sessions designed for people eager to learn but who don?t have time to go on courses. The fast track program includes a selection of best books and online resources available on seven different topics.

But despite having different functions, each of these five products is linked to the others. People interested in Management Express, are not compelled to take all five products at the same time. They can choose whatever they want depending on their needs. However, someone who chooses the management forum will still get some books from the core collection since the products are inter-related.

Just a warm-up

The two major guests present for the launch of Management Express were the deputy prime minister and minister of Finance, Rama Sithanen, and John Adair, an internationally acknowledged authority in leadership. He is the first world?s leading professor of leadership studies.

In his speech, the deputy prime minister congratulated the British Council for launching what he called ?an exciting and innovative product?. For Rama Sithanen, the launching of such a product suits the government?s objective of making of Mauritius a knowledge hub.

Following this, John Adair conducted a collective discussion with those present. He answered several questions from the public with charisma, passion and a great sense of humour.

But last week?s conference was just a ?warm-up?, according to Jayshen Ramanah, the Education Projects Manager at the British Council. This week things are really going to get started as members of the public are invited to become members of Management Express. Furthermore, Jayshen Ramanah is confident of the success of this new product. ?Strategically, the British Council has changed this year. The library has become a knowledge learning centre. We have books but we also have e-resources, video conferencing facilities and multimedia. We want to support continuous adult professional development. As manager of this project, I am confident of its success, judging by the response at its launch??