THE PROJECT

The title of proposed JEP project is: "Development of business training in Montenegro with acronym of DEBUT-M. This project - in case of acceptance - will last for two years between January, 2010 and December, 2011. The primary place the project is University Mediterranean (MU) in Podgorica (and its campus in Bar), and MU is the Coordinator of the proposed project. The Grantholder institution is University of Debrecen, Hungary. In the consortium 3 other European universities participate: Wageningen University, Scottish Agricultural College and Budapest Business School. From Montenegrin side in addition to the coordinating institution of University of Mediterranean; The University of Montenegro, the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro and Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Protection participate in the project. The total number of members in the consortium is eight. The proposed total budget is 440314 Euro with the contribution of the consortium members in cash totaling 56000 Euro, and the requested Tempus grant is 384314 Euro.

The main objective of the DEBUT-M project is to develop partnership between higher education institutes and enterprises by establishing business-oriented training for company experts in Montenegro with the contribution of the four EU universities and the two Montenegrin Universities. The Montenegrin companies are represented by the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro and on behalf of the Montenegrin government: Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Protection also participate, what guarantees the governmental support for the project.

The project has 3 phases, as below:

• Phase 1: Preparation for the training
• Phase 2: Carrying out the trainings
• Phase 3: Evaluation the trainings and to establish further cooperation

In the Phase 1: the trainings will be prepared and this period will last for half a year from the beginning of the project. In the first part we wish to organize a stakeholder workshop where all the relevant stakeholders are gathered and the main purpose of this workshop is to establish the main lines of the company expert trainings based on the short- and long term interest of the companies involved. Based on that, the exact structure of trainings has to be elaborated, than accepted. In the second part of Phase 1 the company experts will be selected for the trainings. Three trainings are planned, based on common principles, as below:

• Commerce and Marketing
• Tourism Management
• European Union Project Management

Experts for the trainings will be sent by the Montenegrin companies according to their needs. Companies will be selected by the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro. The requirements of participation for the experts are: finished higher education degree and appropriate knowledge of English. The following trainee numbers are planned: for Commerce and Marketing training - 30 people, for Tourism Management - 40 people, for European Project Management - 70 people.

Phase 2: Running of the courses. This phase is also shared into two parts. First is the preparation for the specific training, carried out by the staff of both the EU and the Montenegrin universities. In the second phase the training will take place itself. The trainings will be held based on the same principles: the EU staff members provides the theoretical teaching parts, and the consultation as well as practical classes will be held by the Montenegrin Universities' staff, and leading experts of the participating companies. The exact modules in each training will be established during the Phase 1. However, there can be some common study modules in the programmes, like economics, operations research, finance, accountancy, international business, commerce and marketing. In addition to them, there will be some separate courses according to the specialization of the different programmes. Education will be based on modern textbooks and study materials taking into account the leading practice of the International MBA network, and these study materials are free for the trainees, and are financed from the project budget. The staff members of the two participating Montenegrin universities will also participate in the programme, they review the materials and provide practical training for the experts. In this case these trainings can be considered as upgrading courses for them, as well. Since all the education efforts are based on the principles of International MBA Networks, those study modules which are finished successfully by the trainee, can be considered equivalent to the modules of an MBA training, and can be offered for accreditation. The full training, however can not be accredited in each case, since some other training programmes has to be carried out; for example thesis work, and final exam, but there will be an opportunity for the trainees to extend their studies towards an MBA course, after the expire of the project. The Montenegrin universities offer these courses for national accreditation, as well for a national MBA course, which supports the long term sustainability of those programmes.

Phase 3: The study materials will be evaluated by both of EU and Montenegrin experts including the university leaders and participating company leaders as well as other stakeholders. This phase will be at the last quarter of the second year of the project and it will be done separately in case of each study programme. It may involve the evaluation of the programmes by the International MBA Network, as well, and possible accreditation of the study programmes by the Montenegrin national standards. In addition to these main activities above, there are some additional activities, as well, which makes the project more complete. The most important from them is the dissemination of the results which will be done the 3 main directions, as below:

1. Creating and operating of the project website
2. Organising public meetings
3. Printing public relations materials

All the three activities are neccesary for the overall aims of the project, especially the first one (the project website) is a very important activity, since it gives accessibility to the programmes not only for the participants, but also for the general public, as well. In our previous TEMPUS project - TEMPUS JEP 19009-2004 (AHEAD) - which was carried out together with University of Zagreb, Croatia, the most successful development was the creation and operation of the project website, which has got a lot of praise both from the participants and the public, too. For the DEBUT-M project we plan a similar website. In addition to it, some printing materials will be distributed among the stakeholders and the general public. Public meetings will also be organized in order to inform the wider audience about the plans and achievement of the project.

The next important part is the sustainability of the programmes. We consider this project as a first step in order to establish a better tie between Montenegrin scientific institutions and business companies. In order to do it, these programmes have to be incorporated into the regular educational programmes of Montenegrin universities based on the internationally accepted standards, but adapted to the local conditions. The financial future of those programmes is guaranteed by contribution of both the state through the Ministry and the participating companies through the CEM.
Quality control and monitoring will be carried out by the EU institutions, but at the same time the local quality standards are also observed and strengthened. Special characteristic of this programme is the practical orientation in nature, that is why the Montenegrin companies and stakeholders also supervise the programmes. Its primary purpose is to provide a training for their experts to satisfy a long-term, and short-term interests of companies. It will be carried out through a regular review of the programmes, especially based on project website as well as the occasions of monitoring meetings and of the final evaluation meeting (Phase 3). The stakeholders give a real value for the programmes, but the academic quality achievements are guaranteed by the supervision of the EU consortium members and the Montenegrin government accreditation bodies, as well.

Management of the project: the project is headed by University of Debrecen, which has a long-term experience in similar projects and has local knowledge of Mediterranean countries, as well. They recently led two projects: one is dealing with Croatian and the other with Serbian institutions/universities. University of Debrecen, Faculty of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development is represented by László Kárpáti, Vice Dean of International Affairs, who has a long personal experience in different education and research projects. University of Debrecen is the grantholder institution and all the payments will be carried out through it. Coordinator institution for the whole project is University Mediterranean Podgorica representing all the consortium members of Montenegro and providing practical organisation of all the events through out the country. They have a good experience in organizing such events and also their good relationship with the industry would contribute to the streamlined Montenegrin organisation of the project. In case of the other EU member states local professors will manage the project. At Wageningen University, Prof. Wim Heijman has a long-term experience that would support the streamlined organisation and at the same time he is representing the International MBA Network, too. At the Scottish Agricultural College Prof. David McKenzie, Vice Principal is responsible for the local organisation, but at the same he is evaluator for the International MBA Network, as well. At the Budapest Business School the Dean - Krisztina Zimányi - guarantees the active involvement of the College of Commerce, Catering and Tourism in the project and she has experience in similar projects in Europe. For the management purposes the previously mentioned project website is the key instrument, because all the communications - in addition to the personal meetings - will be carried out through this website. This ensures not only the efficient collaboration, but at the same time it will be a very cost-saving method for the project execution.

The equipment to be purchased within the framework of project will contribute to the effective management of the project. Two main items are to be purchased: first is computer and other office equipment which will be set up at the participating institutions, mainly at the University Mediterranean and the University of Montenegro. The second main part of the equipment purchase is soft items, like textbooks and softwares for the trainings. The planned sum will guarantee the effective technical-scientific background contribution for the training programmes.