Tyndall National Institute

Background

Tyndall National Institute is the national centre for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Ireland. It was created in 2004 by the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment and University College Cork to bring together complementary activities in photonics, electronics and networking research at the National Microelectronics Research Centre (NMRC), several UCC academic departments and Cork Institute of Technology (CIT).

Professor Roger Whatmore was appointed CEO of the centre in 2006 and he undertook to develop a five year corporate strategy for the institute.

Objectives

Prospectus was commissioned to assist with reviewing the first draft strategy and to assist Tyndall in developing a set of workable actions and a detailed implementation plan to enable its delivery. The work also included the engagement of key Tyndall staff in the strategy development process to help engender ownership of the strategy. 

Approach Taken

The first phase of work involved:

• Advising Tyndall on the overall approach to the strategy development process
• Advising Tyndall on the approach and execution of stakeholder consultation
• Reviewing the first draft of strategy.

The second phase of work involved:

• Facilitating key Tyndall staff in reviewing the strategy and developing key actions for each objective
• Facilitating key Tyndall staff in developing a detailed implementation plan with tasks, responsibilities and timeframes to enable the delivery of each strategic objective
• Presenting the completed implementation plan to staff and gaining buy-in to the strategy.

Outcomes

The outcome of this project was the delivery of a five-year corporate strategy providing Tyndall and its staff with a clear direction for the future. The accompanying implementation plan developed with staff resulted in strong buy-in, thereby increasing the likelihood of successful implementation of the strategy over the next five years.