Close out assessment report : management training in Lithuania

The project was part of the Management Training and Economics Education Project (MTEEP). The report covers the period 9/97-9/99 against a PACD of 6/00. As the only management training center in the Panevezys region, MTC is well- positioned to serve as a catalyst for developing strategic alliances and collaboration between KTU/P, other educational institutions in the country, and the business community that can further the economic development and integration of the region with the rest of the country. During the last academic year, over 1,642 participants took part in MTC training activities, and the rate of female participation, which ranged from 47% to 60% in 1998 and 1999, is one of the highest in the MTEEP portfolio. In terms of sustainability, MTC has developed a business plan and identified a group of 32 prospective trainers, 14 of whom have completed MTC"s 300-hour Entrepreneurial Training Program. Of the 32, 5 are KTU/P faculty, though only 1 has completed training. Additionally, with the help of an International Executive Service Corps (IESC) volunteer, MTC has completed a business plan through the year 2000 that includes course offerings in three programmatic areas -- management, English, and computer training -- and a projection of revenues. On the down side, although MTC offers a variety of management-related courses, there does not appear to be a structured progression of courses from beginning to more advanced, and management training, which is supposed to be the centerpiece of course offerings, lags behind in terms of income generation and enrollments. Further, only 3 of the 32 potential MTC instructors represent the business community (banking, agricultural company, and stock company). Programmatic sustainability, an important challenge for the immediate future, could be significantly enhanced by developing collaborative relations with other educational institutions and engaging business executives in training delivery. In its quest for sustainability, MTC needs to articulate a strategic vision/plan to guide the development of core programs that will enable it to establish a programmatic niche and maintain a competitive edge. Securing a well-qualified pool of instructors will remain the crucial component of this process. In terms of financial sustainability, MTC has made some significant gains in revenue generation over the past four quarters, but its performance is still characterized by large quarterly fluctuations in revenue levels. It is doubtful that MTC will achieve financial sustainability by the end of the USAID grant period, though it will most likely do quite well. A key challenge will be to reconcile the financial outlays needed for program development with the inability of the small- and medium-scale enterprise (SME) sector, currently MTC"s preferred client, to pay the required market rate for program delivery. To counteract this trend, MTC could develop modules for groups of companies with common interests; a very successful model for this kind of training has been developed by the Management Development Center in Budapest.