The Chartered Management Institute report "21st Century Leaders - Building Employability through Higher Education" and its "Management Insights" report (2018) argues that management and leadership is changing. It also reports that poor management is estimated to cost the UK alone £84bn in lost productivity a year and €400bn across Europe. The UK performs better than many other European countries, therefore the project aims to build on this relative success and to develop and transfer a new approach that can contribute to further addressing the issue of poor productivity.

Research such as "The Contribution of Management to Economic Growth: A Review" (Glaister K.W: 2014 - Warwick Business School) argues economic growth relies upon enterprises driving innovation and productivity and that the development of manager who understand the role of performance management and coaching is now becoming an imperative for enterprises whether large or small, or in the private or public sector.

Increasingly, enterprises are having to employ skilled (especially in skills shortage occupations) and unskilled labour from across Europe. Even where people have local/national accreditation, their skills and experience are rarely a perfect match for employers, requiring employers to invest in work-based training and skills development. Increasingly, managers and owner/directors of SMEs are being required to train and develop people - research shows the majority are not trained and competent to train others. Now more than ever before, managers and owner/directors need to be effective trainers and work-based coaches, hence the need for Managers as Coaches.