You have got to hand it to Thomas Bach, the new International Olympic Committee (IOC) President: in the space of three months, he has infused the IOC's Executive Board with a renewed sense of vigour, and of purpose.

I don't know at what point in the IOC top brass's marathon four-day brainstorming session in Montreux it was taken. And it may be a trick of the camera. But I thought I detected one or two rather dazed expressions in the informal Christmas-tree photograph of those taking part that was used to illustrate the IOC's summary of the deliberations.

Serving as an Executive Board member during the early phase of the German's Presidency will not, I suspect, turn out to be a role for the faint-hearted.

Last week's gathering is one stage of a process that we now know will not be completed until around this time next year in Monaco.

The extended get-together in one of the citadels of jazz did, nevertheless produce some not insignificant decisions.

The International Olympic Committee Executive Board appear to have a new sense of purpose under President Thomas Bach ©IOC

Take for example the $20 million (£12 million/€14.5 million) of new money to help combat the twin threats of corruption and doping.

The $10 million (£6 million/€7 million) anti-corruption/manipulation fund looks timely to say the least, while a similar-sized budget to fund new anti-doping research, in particular new detection techniques, may come as a godsend for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), whose finances have been growing ever more stretched.

The Montreal-based agency reported deficits together totalling well over $1 million (£614,000/€728,000)in 2011 and 2012, prompting it to warn in June that it would be forced to scale back activities if the Governments - which contribute 50 per cent of its funding, but which have been desperately hard-pressed themselves in recent times - were not prepared to stump up more cash.

It remains to be seen whether Governments will now respond to the IOC's invitation to match its new contribution, although it is hard to hold out too much hope.

Even if they do not, though, this represents a substantial sum, equivalent to around one-third of WADA's annual budget.

Other moves are very much in line with views expressed by Bach during his successful Presidential campaign.

For example, the decision to encourage 2022 Olympic Winter Games bidders to "make the broadest possible use of temporary and/or dismountable facilities" has the air of a stop-gap measure likely in time to be superseded by a stricter pronouncement.

In his campaign, Bach argued for the establishment of a "limit on the number of permanent facilities".

In time, the new working group on Olympic Games cost management will need to come up with a much wider range of cost-cutting options if the Summer Games in particular are to remain a viable dream for any bar a tiny elite of great, or hyper-ambitious, mega-cities.

I would be most surprised, however, if a limit on permanent facilities is not close to the top of its list.

Thomas Bach seems set to keep his promise of giving new sports, like climbing, the opportunity to join the Olympic programme ©LatinContent WO/Getty Images

The Executive Board's decision last week to use next year's Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing to showcase a particularly wide range of new sports and disciplines - sport climbing, roller sports, skateboarding and wushu - is also very much in line with Bach's advertised thinking.

The German had used a conference call while on the stump to suggest incorporating new forms of sport and physical activity that were fashionable among, and attractive to, young people into the Youth Olympics.

The decision to conduct a feasibility study into an Olympic TV channel will also come as little surprise to those who have been paying attention.

On one level, such a move makes perfect sense given a) its potential appeal to the critical youth market, in conjunction with enhanced social media activity, and b) the wealth of archive footage and content from sports/events with little mainstream TV appeal that could be put at the IOC's disposal.

On another level, however, Bach and his colleagues will need to be extremely careful not to upset the Movement's apple-cart by giving the green light to such a venture.

It is, after all, the spiralling value of live rights to the IOC's flagship events that more than anything explains the impressive upsurge in revenues from which the Movement has benefited in recent times.

If there is the remotest prospect that Olympic TV could somehow undermine that revenue stream, the game would simply not be worth the candle.

David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Cup and London 2012. To follow him on Twitter click here.