Case Studies

CENTRICA – Finance Fundamentals

The Challenge: Centrica's goal was to develop a structured two day training event to provide managers, executives and graduates with a solid understanding of finance (including management / financial accounting, investment appraisal and ratio analysis) that was cost-effective and could be delivered on a large scale across the whole British Gas business.

The Solution: Based on the established IIRMD public Finance for Non Financial Managers course outline, IIR worked closely with the central Learning and Development operations to design "Finance Fundamentals", a company-specific programme. Delivered by an industry experienced Training Consultant, the course has proved incredibly successful in up-skilling the workforce in the essential understanding of financial statements and how they can be used for strategic decision-making in an organisation context.

VODAFONE – Strategic Influencing Techniques

The Challenge: Vodafone had a strong desire to enhance the fundamental influencing skills of key members within the Vodafone organisation. The need was to maximise internal and external communication, negotiation and client relations within this market-leading organisation. 

The Solution: IIR worked in collaboration with business unit heads as well as the Human Resources and Learning and Development function to develop a Strategic Influencing Techniques programme. The two day training event, which has remained on the corporate curriculum for the past five years, has helped participants develop powerful, highly practical influencing and negotiation skills. These skills have been used by participants throughout the group to excel in business development activities, commercial negotiation as well as managing internal projects and liaising with all the stakeholders.

VIRGIN MOBILE - 5 Day MBA

The Challenge: Virgin had a group of middle managers whose career so far had been in one area of the business. They had a desire to develop a programme that incorporates the core learning topics that mirror those featured in an Executive MBA - but are delivered as a series of modules.

The Solution: Created with a customised framework as a backdrop, it allowed participants to understand how the various elements fit together to build a dynamic and sustainable business.
In addition to learning modules, participants also worked in groups dealing with challenges existing in ‘real life’ for Virgin Mobile and strategic opportunities the business may choose to exploit in the future. This helped team members develop strategic perspective whilst encouraging cross-functional working by exposing project teams to all parts of the business.

This element of the programme runs over a period of 6 months culminating in a 45 minute presentation to the CEO, directors and an invited audience of senior managers. So far, a number of recommendations from these projects have either been implemented by Virgin Mobile or have been taken on for formal development.

In December 2006 the client was named best company in the category of ‘Ability to Attract, Develop and Retain Top Talent’ in the 2006 Management Today Magazine/Mercer HR Consulting ‘Most Admired Company Awards’. The ‘mini MBA’ was cited as being indicative of the client’s innovative approach to developing its people.

EPSRC - Successful Project Management

The Challenge: EPSRC wanted to develop a highly structured practical training course that would provide the organisation with the necessary skills to Plan, Build, Implement and Evaluate projects within the organisation.

The Solution: IIR worked closely with the Learning and Development Department to develop a bespoke training programme that is based around EPSRC's learning objectives. As a result, the client now have a fully customised training solution that can be delivered to participants on a case by case basis. As a result of rolling the programme out across the organisation over the past 3 years, EPSRC now have a consistently successful approach to the management of all projects related to the organisation. This means that all stakeholders understand the project process and can communicate, lead and manage all aspects from start to finish in a way that everyone understands as a team.