MIMCOL’s workload under this pillar is typically a collection of projects, some of them of an ad hoc trouble-shooting nature, which are cascaded from the higher echelons of Government depending on the policy priorities of the day.

Building on from the preceding review of MIMCOL’s experience and organisation, the following is an outline of MIMCOL’s functional areas of expertise, particularly with reference to the business advisory aspect of its activities.

• Policy setting, restructuring and privatisation. MIMCOL provides advisory services on aspects of policy decision-making, restructuring and privatisation. MIMCOL’s advice is based on extensive technical skills and typically draws upon the experience of similar decisions from around the world. MIMCOL also assists in the search and identification of prospective investors and strategic partners, and provides advice on acquisition, divestment and transfer of business. At the outset of each project, MIMCOL carries out an in-depth comprehensive analysis of the subject entity, identifies the major assignment deliverables and provides a focused, customised project strategy aimed at achieving the set objectives. MIMCOL guides its client throughout the various project phases, and where appropriate, provides assistance during due diligence, evaluation and negotiation stages and finally, assists in ensuring a seamless transition to the new organisational scenario. 

• Business management. MIMCOL provides advice to state-owned enterprises operating in a wide spectrum of business sectors, on strategies that help to add value to their business. Such strategies involve decisions on whether and how to enter into new markets and to make new investments, how to set prices and tariffs, how to design or redesign the organisational structure, how to manage the human resource dimension of the business, and how to finance the company and its initiatives. Unlike private consulting firms, MIMCOL’s role does not stop with the provision of advice, but it offers hands-on assistance in the effective implementation of its recommendations. 

• Corporate finance. MIMCOL provides a wide range of services in the finance area, including project feasibility studies, business valuations, business planning, budgeting and financial forecasts, assistance in sourcing of finance, insolvency and winding up procedures. MIMCOL also deals with all financial aspects of restructuring and privatisation projects, including planning and management of IPO projects.

• Human resources. MIMCOL has almost 20 years’ experience dealing with human resource issues in numerous state-owned enterprises. The HR team offers labour legislation advice, guidance and assistance in collective bargaining processes and helps client entities’ management to implement pragmatic, situation-specific HR solutions. MIMCOL conducts organisational and HR analyses and assists management to identify and select key management personnel. MIMCOL has also been responsible for designing of several voluntary redundancy and early retirement schemes and for redeployment of employees previously engaged with downsized government entities. Working closely with organisations across the entire public service as well as private sector companies, MIMCOL finds innovative ways to match its existing resources with employment and retraining opportunities as they arise.

• Technical and ICT. MIMCOL’s team comprises expertise in supervision and effective leadership of projects, both of a technical or infrastructural nature as well as ICT-related projects. With personnel qualified in Information Technology and business management, MIMCOL is able to offer pristine consultancy services dealing with ICT issues. This experience coupled with formal project management techniques and methodologies guarantees that the assistance and guidance given will ensure the success and deployment of any ICT related project. The methodologies adopted are in no way restricted to the ICT industry but are also utilised for other projects independent of its dimension or scope. Over the past years, a vast amount of experience has been gained in the eGovernment sector. MIMCOL’s staff has been at the forefront of this endeavour and as a witness to this is Malta’s achievement as outlined by the Cap Gemini report which ranked Malta as the second best country within the EU on eGovernment related services for the year 2007.