SKOLKOVO Dean Talks About Sports Managers Formation

Moscow, Russia, December 06, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Andrei Volkov, Dean of the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, presented a report on “Formation of sports managers” within the framework of the 3rd annual conference “Sports and Business” held by The Vedomosti. SKOLKOVO Dean introduced a concept of the Russian International Olympic University in Sochi and talked about new challenges in modern management and their significance for sports industry.

The Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO was invited as a consultant for development of the Russian International Olympic University concept. Rich experience in developing breakthrough education concepts, accumulated by SKOLKOVO since 2001, and the similarity of the projects determined SKOLKOVO participation in the project.

The Russian International Olympic University will be, like the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, an international management school. Its main goal will be developing efficient managers for the sports industry. Both projects are run on a private basis and are sourced by private investors, thus not using any budget funds. However, the projects de-facto make part of the National Priority Projects programme.

The core competence developed at the RIOU will be the managerial skills and abilities, covering necessary expertise in venue, event, media communications and governance areas.

“The managerial education is seeing a revolution for the past twenty-twenty five years. The classical, basic approach, when the only competences delivered are professional ones, is no longer working in the new circumstances. What we need is to deliver both professional and personal competences, to develop future managers’ behaviour culture. Large-scaled projects, such as the Olympic Games, place their unique demands. Understanding other cultures, mentalities and philosophies is becoming a technical competence”, said Andrei Volkov in his report.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, President and CEO of Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, noted, “Like all the Organizing Committees, we study experience of our predecessors in a minute detail. Every following Olympics must beat the preceding ones and become the part of the Olympics history. Within Olympics-2014 organization, the Committee has developed a unique project – the Russian International Olympic University, totally integrated in the Olympic park. For its successful implementation we need expert experience and knowledge that can be provided by SKOLKOVO specialists. Innovation-based economy is not limited to implementation of high technologies and forefront world experience. Human capital is the genuine base for the innovation. The creation of the Russian International Olympic University in Sochi, opening in 2012, will become a key project in developing a new generation of highly qualified sports managers in Russia.”

###