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March 2012 - fee free international study visit in Rome

CIAPE” - the National Permanent Learning Centre from Rome (Italy), on behalf of the Intouch project consortium (www.intouch-project.eu), would like to invite you to take part in fee free international study visit in Rome. You may apply for a grant - contact your National Agency to pay the course fee for you.


The study visit is entitled “Mobile learning facilitators for non-routine skills development in SMEs”, and it will be held in Rome (IT) – 10-12 October 2012.


The study visit is aimed at developing the new European professional of m-learning facilitator: able to bring ‘non-routine’ competences (transversal key skills for performing non-routine tasks) to SMEs via tailored mobile learning games.


Participants will learn about:

  • the top 10 European skills for competitiveness: communication, planning, conflict management, openness to change, decision-making, teamwork, flexibility, strategic thinking, initiative and learning improvement;
  • the m-learning kit. An open learning environment with much greater interest for adults - extensive use of working scenarios and dynamic interactive games;
  • use of e-HOW for cooperative learning. An online community and a wiki for sharing ideas on how to use skills among SME employees;
  • guidelines on how mobile technologies can be used for teaching, learning and empowering in SMEs.

 

February 2012 - Mobile applications developed with business-user in mind

Exemplas has been working with European partners to develop a series of applications, designed with the busy business owner/manager in mind, that can be downloaded onto common mobile devices. These applications allow you to test your responses to common scenarios that crop up in your business on a daily basis. They have been designed for people who need rapid answers to a range of common problems but may not have the time or money to invest in specialist training or kit. The applications can help businesses to:

  • Gain rapport quickly and easily with your staff and your customers
  • Learn how to provide and receive effective feedback
  • Prioritise your time
  • Resolve conflict
  • Adapt your organisation to a changing environment
  • Clarify your vision and objectives for your organisation

Jan 2012 - Adam Kennard joins the International Team

On 23rd January Exemplas was joined by new recruit, Adam Kennard, to work as a Business Development Manager within the International team. Adam, who has moved to the UK from Greece to take up the post, will focus on driving up Exemplas’ success in securing international donor projects. For the past 3 years he has worked in a similar role for Greek consultancy Euroconsultants S.A, where, as well as business development, he has been intimately involved in technical assistance project development and management activities, in the broad areas of Public Finance Management, EU Funds Coordination and Programming, SME support and Regional Development.


Drawing on past success in securing large-scale technical assistance contracts with the European Commission and the European Investment Bank, Adam will be actively engaged in preparing and coordinating international donor projects in our core focus areas of business support, export & inward investment, economic development and human resource development. He will also broaden and maintain a diverse network of international partners and a pool of third-party/associate expertise.


Adam holds a BSc in Psychology from the State University of New York, and an MA in Political Theory from Swansea University.


Dec, 2011 - Exemplas helps to develop new Business Angels networks in Europe

Exemplas is a key partner in a project to develop and establish Business Angels Networks within the Mediterranean area of Europe. As a result, we have recently developed and delivered 3 training programmes for business support agencies in Greece, Italy and France. Using our considerable experience in this field, we developed a manual for the effective operation of a Business Angel Network, converted this into a comprehensive training and development package and delivered it to business advisers and other business support professionals who will be establishing a similar service in their region.


Each support agency had different requirements including numbers and function of people attending training and differing local issues to address in establishing an effective service. As a result, the training and in-country support was tailored to meet individual needs. All three training programmes was delivered in November and the feedback from the delegates has been overwhelmingly positive. The next stage is to organise a series of conferences, one of them probably in London, to promote the services more widely to potential customers and intermediaries within the financial sector.


Nov, 2011- The Asia Management Development Institute launches
 

New management development provider, the Asia Management Development Institute (AMDI), launches in October with high profile events in Karachi and Dhaka. Its mission is to bring UK competency-based management qualifications to Asia’s rapidly growing business sector.
 

Explosive growth in certain Asian economies has created a huge demand for management training. But this time it is not just a matter of qualifications or even textbook knowledge. Rather Asian managers are realising how important it is to possess the personal skills and competencies that go to make up a really effective manager.
 

The Institute is a joint venture between Exemplas and its long established partner in Pakistan, the Asia Strategy Institute. Together they will bring to Asian business both professional management qualifications from the UK’s Chartered Management Institute (CMI) alongside academic learning and awards from the UK’s University of Hertfordshire.
 

This powerful combination will bring a number of important benefits for learners, namely:

  • Qualifications with global recognition delivered locally
  • Formal equivalence in the UK from the professional and academic domains
  • Learning based on management competence rather than theory
  • Programmes delivered in a way that is practical for people at work
  • Leverage lessons learned by the Western world’s businesses, to create management training systems that can help sustain this economic growth
  • Opportunity for continuous development, via progressive levels and units
  • Local delivery and service support, at local prices.
     

Members of the public are invited to the launches on 29th Nov, at which the keynote speaker will be Narinder Uppal, Director of the CMI’s awarding body, keen supporters of the new Institute.
 

For more information see AMDI’s website at www.asia-mdi.com, or contact holly@asia-mdi.com.

 

Oct, 2011- The EuropeAid Serbia project launch
 

Exemplas, in partnership with German consultancy GFA Consulting Group GmbH (lead company) and two smaller consultancy firms, is delighted to have won a EuropeAid contract worth 2 million Euros.  The project is to build capacity within Serbia for supporting innovation in small companies, of which, a significant part is access to finance.
 

“This is a major win for Exemplas and our first big EuropeAid contract,” commented Hilary Oakley, Director of International at Exemplas.  “For nearly 20 years, Exemplas has been at the leading edge in the delivery of business and enterprise support programmes, and work-based learning activities and skills development of individuals.  We have been building and nurturing meaningful relationships with major international consultancy firms in order to increase our impact in helping developing countries to grow their capacity.”
 

Exemplas, part of the University of Hertfordshire Group of Companies, has an extensive record of successful national and international project management covering employability, enterprise and skills development - working in partnership with private and public sector partners to deliver innovative and robust services to customers. As one of the UK’s largest providers of business support with wide experience of managing complex delivery partnerships, last year Exemplas helped create over 5,000 new businesses across its contracts and supported in excess of 27,000 individuals with skills development and employment related support.

 

Sep, 2011 University of Hertfordshire APEL programme rolled out across the UAE

 

Following a successful pilot in Dubai, the University of Hertfordshire has rolled out its APEL programme across the UAE, putting UK bachelors and masters qualifications within the reach of Emiratis, without ever having to leave home or attend university.

APEL stands for Accredited Prior Experiential Learning.  It is the end point of a process which is designed to draw out the learning that an individual has achieved through their working life, and convert it into credits towards up to 75% of a university qualification. It is based on a tough and robust methodology developed at the University of Hertfordshire.

For those who perhaps never went to university, but are showing university level understanding and business capability each day in their working lives, or those with a degree but who would now like to upgrade to a masters, this could be just the thing for you. APEL is best suited to those with a minimum of 10 years’ middle to senior business experience behind them, which equates to the relevant academic level (bachelors or masters).

If you are in the UAE and would be interested to know more, please contact Jane Carroll at jane.carroll@mk-catalyst.com. Following strong interest in the UAE, more APEL programmes are opening in other countries. To download a channel partner prospectus for APEL, click here.