Ebène, 6 November 2017: Professor Barbara Simpson from the
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, an expert in leadership, is
presently in Mauritius in the context of a research project to develop
leadership programmes for government bodies.
The
National Productivity and Competitiveness Council (NPCC) had sought the
collaboration of the University of Strathclyde and the Civil Service College,
Mauritius, last year to conduct a research study on leadership in the public
sector. The mission of Professor Simpson in Mauritius consists of conducting a research
for which she will meet with a number of stakeholders in the public sector
during this week. The outcome of these interactions will culminate with a
training needs report which will inform the design of leadership programmes for
the public sector.
The project is in line with the NPCC’s strategic plan
2016-2019, “Unleashing Full Potential Through Positive Habits”, which lays
strong emphasis on promoting leadership across all sectors and at different
levels.
It is to be recalled that the NPCC has implemented the
Mauritius Leadership Brand as part of its ambition to promote leadership as an
engine of growth. The aim of the Mauritius Leadership Brand is to build a reputation
for developing exceptional Mauritian leaders with a distinct set of talents
that are uniquely geared to fulfil stakeholders' expectations.
The
project proposes to influence a reengineering of the conceptualization of
leadership modules at the Civil Service College.
“The public sector is constantly evolving to
respond to the new challenges unfurling on both the local and global scenes and
thus, the need for leadership and nurturing talents across all spheres of the
public sector is being increasingly felt. In this bid, promoting leadership
skills has been identified as a critical effort to attain our objectives of propelling
Mauritius to a high income nation in the years to come,” says Mr. Dev
Appalswamy, the Officer in Charge of the NPCC.
“As the world becomes more global, there is
growing need for more collaborative and innovative leadership in the public
sector. The introduction of the Mauritius Leadership Brand is a bold step
towards developing the Mauritians leaders of tomorrow. I am looking forward to
working with a wide range of stakeholders here to deepen and share my
understanding about the Mauritius Leadership Brand,” says Professor
Simpson.
Professor
Simpson will also conduct a public seminar jointly organised by the NPCC and
the University of Mauritius at the R. Burrenchobay Lecture Theatre, Réduit, on
Thursday 16 November at 1400 Hours. In the seminar entitled “New Leadership for
Interesting Times”, Professor Simpson will shed light on the conventional
models of top-down leadership and explain how leadership rather needs to be
more social and relational and why it should engage collaboratively with all
available talents and skills.
About Professor Barbara Simpson
Besides being an
expert in the processes of creativity, innovation and change in organisations,
Professor Simpson is also an expert in leadership-as-Practice and the
performativity of leadership. She has extensively mastered the methods of
inquiry for process research and the pragmatic processes in process research. She
joined the Strathclyde Business School in 2004 where her research activities
focused primarily on the processes of technological learning and small
manufacturing businesses. She also maintained an interest in scientific and
hi-tech innovation and the management of professionals, especially scientists.