When Kieran McGowan addresses the Irish Management Institute conference in Killarney this morning, he will probably not refer to the clandestine management training programme he ran when he was head of IDA Ireland. Dubbed the "boy scouts to subversives" system, it aimed to turn diligent and obedient Irish managers of multinational plants into razor-sharp corporate politicians, who would progressively grab more power, influence and security for the operations in the Republic.

That the programme ran so effectively, so quietly, and for so long is an indication of Mr McGowan's operating style - and why he has apparently slotted into his new role as chairman of the IMI with such ease.

"I think there is a lot of compatibility," he says. "The new phase of industrial development is making IMI more central than ever."

Spending on research at the organisation has increased significantly, and now stands at more than £500,000 (€634,870) a year. Much of this is dedicated to finding out how to get multinational companies to deepen their roots in the Republic - an echo of Mr McGowan's IDA programme.

"On the industrial policy side, the Government is trying to get companies here, particularly multinationals, more embedded into the economy, getting more strategic responsibilities added on. And the degree to which that is successful depends completely on the perception by the parent of the competence of the Irish management team. And that puts IMI central to the overall policy," he says.

And in the international sector of the economy, he says, Irish managers are top class.

"It's the subject of enormous comment by senior management in multinational corporations coming over to look at their Irish management. They are terribly impressed with the way things are run here - that is one of the things they say most often."

He also rejects the idea that executives in domestically-owned companies are clinging to old-style management practices, and points to the growing success of companies such as Kerry and Ryanair in their fields.

"I think there is a cadre of management potential that is much better than it was five years ago," he says. "There obviously were some backward practices, but I think they've been disappearing quite rapidly."

There is most room for improvement in the State-owned commercial companies, he says, but the trend towards selling these companies has meant that progress in management practices is now being made quite rapidly.

The IMI has played a vital role in improving the quality of management, he says, and under its chief executive, Mr Barry Kenny, is busier than it ever has been. Revenue, now at £10 million, has increased 20 per cent on last year, and 50 per cent compared to four years ago.

He adds that for a number of years, the organisation has run without a Government subsidy.

The annual conference is also highly successful, he says, acting as a flagship for management development in the State: "We have some outstanding speakers, both international and Irish. It is being opened by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and being addressed by a number of important Irish figures from different sectors, such as Lochlann Quinn, Bernard Collins, Cyril McGuire, Ned Sullivan. There will be a number of international business leaders like Jan Gersmar-Larsen of Dell. Then there is a third category, international gurus, and in particular, probably the most popular and interesting figure in the business world at the moment, Gary Hamel.

"The attendance numbers are quite high, but the quality is as high as its ever been in terms of the number of chief executives coming," he adds.

In the past year, the IMI has been doing a lot more in-company work, rather than managers travelling out to Sandyford to attend courses: "There would be a whole raft of companies where IMI specialists are inside, working with the management, developing strategy."

He says the IMI is very clear in its focus, which is to work with practising managers, operating in the real world of business, rather than offering undergraduate or post-graduate courses. In the future, the organisation is likely to boost its research activity, and to increase its international outlook.

But there are immediate issues to deal with, Mr McGowan adds, topics likely to dominate the coffee-table chat in Killarney.

Such as whether there will be another agreement between the Government and the social partners: "It would be very helpful if there were to be another agreement. They have been very significant over the past 12 or 13 years, and I think companies have got used to that way of doing things. So if it went back to an individual negotiation thing it would be more difficult for them to get up to speed and handle themselves in that environment."

But any new partnership agreement should address a broader range of issues, such as skills shortages, the public sector pay bill and infrastructure.

"The biggest issue by a mile is the availability of workers with the skills that they need at the cost that they need. The second biggest issue is physical and technological infrastructure," Mr McGowan says.

There is also a danger of a widening gulf between PAYE workers whose wage rises are limited by the agreements, and others. Such a gap can generate resentment, and the Government should take some of the steam out of wage negotiations by using some of its extra revenues to reduce PAYE rates.

He would also like to see measures to encourage profit-sharing as part of the deal, but signals a possible hurdle in the negotiation of these. "Profit-sharing can work pretty well in the private sector, but you can't have it in the public sector. And the public sector is a fairly big chunk of employment - and quite bolshie!"

"The only thing they can fall back on in the public sector is productivity-related increases. But some of those can be very difficult to quantify."