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| Keynote speakers |
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HUNGARIAN CONSULTANCIES IN THE FACE OF
THE ORGANISATION LIFECYCLE MODEL |
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Summary |
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The presentation introduces the results of a
research, which focuses on the similarities and
differences of the development of several Hungarian
consultancy companies, comparing them with the
simplified lifecycle model of Adizes.
The main issues are:
- Do the consultancies go through all the
phases of the lifecycle model?
- What specific characteristics do the
different phases have in the life consultancies?
- How have the managers of consultancies dealt
with the typical problems of each phase to be
able to reach the next level?
The presentation pays special attention to the
practical experiences of the crucial points,
possible mistakes, and ways to transcend the
re-emerging problems of the different phases.
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Bio Data |
Andreas Kovacs,
Managing Director, MCS Management & Controlling Vezetési Tanácsadó Kft.
Hungary,
Szertics Gergely,
Economist , OD consultant, MCS Management & Controlling Vezetési Tanácsadó
Kft., Hungary, |
Szertics Gergely, is employed by
MCS Management & Controlling-Service Management
Consulting Ltd.
Qualifications
,1999 - 2006,Corvinus University of Budapest,
Faculty of Business Administration; Management and
Organisation;
,1991 - 1999.,Batthyány Kázmér Grammer School,
Szigetszentmiklós
Other qualifications and skills
,2007,OD training,Concordia
,2007,Open space training,ISIS Berlin
,2008,NLP Practitioner training,Hermann István
Professional fields
- ,Organizational development
- ,Diagnosis and development of
organizations
- ,Developing organizational culture
- ,Business process harmonization
Professional experience
,OD consultant,1,5 year
Project references
- ,2007-2008,Nemzeti Hírközlési
Hatóság,organizational culture diagnosis,
designing the development fields, coaching
- ,2007-2008,MTV Networks Hungary
,business process harmonization
- ,2007,VIVA (Z+ Zrt.),organizational
development diagnosis
Presentations, courses delivered
- ,2007-2008,Corvinus University of Budapest –
Management and organization,Organizational
theory course
- ,2008,Heller Farkas szakkollégium,Theories
of management fashions
Association memberships
,SZMT: Hungarian association of organizational
developers,
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STRATEGY EXECUTION - HOW
A MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT CAN HELP? |
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Summary |
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The most important factor today that separates
winning companies from less successful ones is - not
only their ability to formulate superior strategies
but - their state of readiness to effectively
implement them. But most managers are trained to
plan rather than to execute. Instead to understand
the critical factors needed to align people to
execute the strategy, they believe that execution is
primarily the job of employees lower down the
organization. This mentality has to be overcome and
managers have to take an active role in ensuring
that the right people are in the right places and
possess the requisite competencies and
decision-making authority to execute the strategy.
This is even more important for those employees that
work on the front- line of the company, like sales,
delivery, service, reception and alike. They are
often the only face customers see or see first and
have therefore immense impact on creating customer
loyalty which in most of the companies decreases
rapidly. Managers have to ensure that the voice of
the customers dictates the actions of the employees.
But first managers alone have to learn how to see
through the eyes of their customers. Today’s leaders
needs to ensure that everyone at all levels,
divisions and locations in company understands the
strategy and is inspired to act on it.
Are we adding value? Does the customer care? Are the
employees empowered and able to put the customer
first? These are the starting questions managers
need to address before starting the journey. And how
can a management consultant help managers to become
aware of these crucial facts and act on them? How he
or she can gain a credibility and desired attention
of a potential client? What is the know - how needed
to act successfully as a management consultant
today? How many consultants are trully successful?
How do we measure their success? |
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Bio Data |
Amadea Doboviąek,
MSC, MBA |
She lives in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where she
founded Publi Una Strategic Marketing Consultancy in
1998, and is currently its managing director. She
has been involved both in practical consulting
projects as well as in executive development and
training programs focusing on aligning marketing and
sales management policies with current business
strategies.
She holds an MBA (2000) and a Master of Science in
Management (2004), both from IEDC Bled School of
Management. She is preparing her doctoral thesis at
the University of Ljubljana in cooperation with
University of Cambridge.
She is a member of the Slovenian Association of
Managers and of the Association of Management
Consulting within the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce
which awarded her with Feniks 2005 for the best
consulting project of the year.
She is author of the book “Strategic sales
management” being the first professional book in
Slovenia dealing with the strategic aspects of this
particular topic.
She has also taught executives in different
management education institutions all over Slovenia,
most extensively at CISEF within the Faculty of
Economics, University of Ljubljana |
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INVESTMENT PROJECTS, FINANCE AND
MANAGEMENT |
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Summary |
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New forms of financing Consulting
Services :
In an era of liberalization and globalization and
growing competitive environment, mergers and
acquisitions have taken place in different sectors
such as pharmaceuticals, aviation,
telecommunications, banking, insurance, broking and
financial services, cement industry, metals, iron
and steel etc. have taken place in India as also
globally. Issues raised by regulatory bodies such as
European Commision, Competition Bill (in India) etc.
are considered.
In all such amalgamation proposals, the consultant
has to carry out due diligence exercise, examine
books of accounts, calculate contingent liabilities
etc. so as to determine enterprise value of the
business. The consultant has also to determine swap
ratio and arrive at share exchange formula and also
to calculate cash component if any.
Future of Consultants :
Thus, the role of consultants in investment
projects,finance and management is ever increasing
and promising. And I wish fellow consultants best of
business in negotiating such assignments and
subsequent implementation thereafter. |
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Bio Data |
Bhanubhai C. DALAL |
Mr. B. C. Dalal is in the consultancy profession
since last 25 years, main areas of specialization
being commercial banking, loan syndication, export
promotion, feasibility studies, tourism,
investments, public relations and global brand
building for well known corporates. He has travelled
widely in countries of Western and Eastern Europe
and South East Asia. He has signed MOUs with
consultants from Finland, Luxembourg. Signing of
MOUs with consultants from Czech Republic and
Hungary is in progress.
Earlier, he was in the banking field for a period of
about 20 years with 2 leading Indian Banks in a
supervisory managerial position. His qualifications
are : B.Com. (Hons., Bombay University) CAIIB
(India). He also participates actively at the Annual
General Meetings (AGMs) of well known Indian Cos. In
Bombay and at upcountry centres and makes various
suggestions at such gatherings for their improved
performance in the future and the same are
acknowledged at corporate executive level.
He is a member of IMCI (Institute of Management
Consultants of India), BMA (Bombay Management
Association), EU Chambers of Commerce, Indo French
Chamber of Commerce and Industry and CCI Club in
Bombay. |
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CONSULTING SERVICES MARKET ANALYSIS IN
THE SOUTHEAST EUROPE REGION" |
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Summary |
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The presentation will cover key trends and
issues within the Croatian and regional markets for
consulting services, from the perspective of client
segments, typicall project nature and scope,
competitve landscape of consulting firms, as well as
evident market development trends, including
opportunities for development. |
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Bio Data |
Daniel Lenardic,
PhD, MBA
Director,
Business Advisory
Services
KPMG Croatia |
• B.Sc., M.Sc and Ph.D degrees in Computer
Engineering, University of Zagreb
• DSM postgraduate degree in Business Management,
University of Zagreb
• Masters in Business Administration (MBA)
University of Edinburgh Business School and ENPC
School of International Management, Paris, France
• Director, Business Advisory Services, KPMG Croatia
• Daniel is the Director responsible for business
advisory services of KPMG in Croatia and
Bosnia-Herzegovina.
• Projects that Daniel has worked on have spanned
areas of business strategy and planning, financial
modelling, market research and feasibility studies,
corporate restructuring, organizational development,
business process improvement, performance
management, operations management, IT systems
advisory, as well as due diligence engagements.
• Daniel has broad experience working for a number
of clients in the financial services,
telecommunications and media, consumer markets and
retail industries, as well as public services.
• Prior to joining KPMG in early 2001, Daniel worked
on a number of organisational and IT related
projects, predominantly within the financial
services industry. |
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STANDARDIZATION IN MANAGEMENT
CONSULTANCY |
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Summary |
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Objectives:
To present international sets of standards, relevant
to the profession of management consultancy and its
clients, in particular, the ‘CMC® (Certified
Management Consultant) seen internationally as a
mark of consistency and excellence in the practise
of management consultancy as well as the European
Standardization on Management Consultancy, a
“Service standard” that can be viewed as another
development in the evolution of the standards
concepts worldwide.
There is a growing need for clarity about what can
be expected from a management consultant. Clients
increasingly insist on more transparency with regard
to what management consultancy actually involves and
how management consultants work. Successful
management consulting is always based on two
aspects: First of all, the consultant must have the
knowledge and experience to serve the client’s
needs. Secondly, the relationship between consultant
and client should be based on mutual trust. Clarity
in the way management consultants works, and how the
process of consultancy develops, can lead to a
successful outcome.
The need for clarity resulted in the fact that
Consulting has become an international professional
community with its standards, ethics, education,
qualification, codes of conduct and professional
institutes. The consulting competency is no longer
the “magical secret” of the chosen few in an
organisation but skills necessary for the support of
making everyday business operate effectively.
Today clients want to get more value and other value
for money from consultants and management
consultants have to adhere to that, if they take
their job seriously and contribute to the client’s
corporate governance. Clients do no longer accept
the “one size fits all”-approach or standardized
solutions, they rather seek tailor made solutions
and long term utility of implemented concepts. This
means:
- Shift from “advising” to
“implementation”
- Reduced “time to solution”
- Productivity and return on investment
- Innovative and global thinking
- Professional competency
- Qualification standards.
This leads to the following questions:
- What are the required qualifications of
management consultants? How can qualifications
contribute to the consulting industry’s
reputation?
- What is the contribution of standards
to use and provide consulting services reliably,
with no more than a reasonable risk?
- How can qualifications be standardized
and/or certified in order to contribute to the
consulting industry’s reputation?
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Bio Data |
Prof. Dr. Gerd Prechtl,
CMC
Dr. Ilse Ennsfellner,
CMC
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SME FINANCE AND
MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
The role of management consultants
in SME finance |
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Summary |
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Small businesses in all surveys complain about
difficulties with „access to finance“. Not only the
recent financial crisis has made it complicated for
them to identify and manage the most suitable way to
finance their growth. Financial institutions on the
other side, willing to support SME development,
hardly can accept the often very specific SME way of
doing business. What can management consultants do
to interrelate between both parties? How can they
avoid possible conflict of interest, when SMEs just
want them to bring the money or to develop a
convincing business case? And what can other players
do to support SME development? Aren't RDAs facing
the same problem of conflict, when writing business
plans and issuing state guarantees for these
projects? Shouldn't banks be more flexible in their
decision making? And shouldn't they launch the whole
spectrum of financial instruments as well known from
EU countries also in pre-accession countries like
Croatia? And what will be expected to be the future
role of the government in enterprise development. Is
the privatisation to be stopped or even withdrawn,
and will at the end only SMEs be the last private
activity in the economy after the crisis? Do
management consultants as in the role of an economic
think tank have an answer to these questions and can
they show us a perspective? |
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Bio Data |
Dr Klaus RICHTER,
Managing Partner,
Xeops Consultants, Koeln/Paris
DE/FR
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Klaus Richter
is a graduate from University of Goettingen in
Germany and received the doctor degree in 1981. He
is a management consulting professional since
decades and focuses on private sector investment
projects (strategy, due diligence, cross cultural
integration) as well as public policy advise to
governments in Europe on regional and economic
development issues. He has served several years in
Russia and other CEE and SEE countries, partly on EU
or WB policy development and capacity building
projects. As interim manager he held CEO positions
e.g. in a Business School in cooperation with INSEAD
and in an Investment Holding preparing and
implementing a public offer. He also knows Croatia
very well. |
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IMPACT OF ICT ON COMPETITIVENESS AND
INNOVATION IN CROATIA AND BUSINESS CONSULTING ROLE |
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Summary |
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ICT industry is critical for each country, as a
driver of productivity and improved services
quality, especially in a public sector, and as a
very important industrial sector itself. It is
obviously that investments in new ICT in each firm
are growing and pushing up productivity, but is
necessary to do it in correct way. The question
today is not - whether ICT but how and how much ICT.
In practice there are presented many mistakes in
deciding about ICT. Because of that, investments in
ICT are very big business risk.
The main goal of this presentation is to get correct
view in this field. The following subjects will be
shown: parameters and maturity of ICT industry in
Croatia, impact of ICT on competitiveness in
Croatia, relationship between ICT and innovation and
current position of ICT service market and further
expectations.
The state of ICT industry in Croatia will be
discussed – the profile and structure of that
market, number of ICT firms, spending in ICT in
Croatia, comparison with others, the future outlook
and forecasting.
Also, there will be explanation of connection
between competitiveness - ability of the country or
a firm to ensure the sustainable growth of
productivity, employment and quality of life under
conditions of globalization and technological
changes, and ICT.
ICT is also powerful driver of business innovations.
The rate of ICT innovations through technological
changes and the impact of its pivotal role for
business performances will be shown.
As ICT is developing rapidly and exponentially, new
knowledge in transforming its ability into business
practice is necessary. Croatian ICT services market
is continually maturing. Its profile makes 13
segments and forecast is that each of them will be
growing up. The main parameters of Croatian ICT
service market will be discussed. |
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Bio Data |
Dr Zdravko Krakar
University of Zagreb
Faculty of Organisation and Informatics,
Varaľdin, Croatia
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Zdravko Krakar is a professor at the Faculty of
organization and Informatics and a senior consultant
in ZIH – Center for business excellence. He has
Ph.D. in Information Science. The main areas of his
interest are IT management, Quality and Metrics in
Information Science, Integrated Management Systems,
Engineering and Reengineering of Business Processes,
Revision and Control of Information Systems and
Management of Information System Security.
He is an author of published 75 scientific papers, 7
books in the authorship and co-authorship in 220
professional papers and more then 250 popularization
articles. He has done over 90 trainings on different
conferences and forums of scientific and
professional associations and leading ICT companies.
He is a leader of scientific project: Developing
methodology of IT management.
He is a member of Croatian Academy of Engineering,
Information systems audit and control association
(ISACA), Technical committee for Standardization in
State Office for Standardization and Metrology,
Technical commission for Quality Assessment of
software in Croatian Chamber of Commerce etc. |
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RUSSIAN CONSULTING MARKET |
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Summary |
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Year-to-date may be characterized by new
important trends in Russian economy and politics.
There occurred replacement of the political leader
of the country with the following alteration of the
political situation. In the field of economy the
tendency of aggregating capitals in the group of
backbone monopolist companies keep on its
development.
Russian consulting market also continues to develop.
Among important tendencies which can be pointed out
in the context of development are as follows:
1. Rising level of requirements to the quality of
consulting services, especially on the part of SME.
2. Persisting specialization of consulting
companies. For example, among the members of ASCONCO
there are companies which are specializing in
logistic consulting, consulting in restaurant
business, credit and investment consulting, brending
consulting, strategy and marketing consulting,
benchmarking and so on.
3. Although violent growth of the Russian business
is going on, in some sectors we can see features of
stagnation. In these sectors requirements to the
content of consulting services are changing. From
consulting oriented at business growth (i.e.
marketing, strategic consulting, management
consulting etc.) client companies start to inquire
consulting services concerning minimizing costs,
analyzing added value and so on.
4. Young Russian companies demonstrate а strong need
for full or partly sale of their actives, following
with massive IPO, searching for strategic partners
etc. This trend results in applying to mainly
European consulting companies, operating in this
sphere. Although during the last period there
appears tendency to engage also Russian
consultancies to escorting of merging-acquisition
processes for preliminary organizational
restructuring as well as for independent evaluation
of marketing perspectives of the business.
The main goal of ASCONCO is to strengthen activities
on raising professional competencies of its member
companies in the situation of quickly changing
markets, economy and political atmosphere. We also
are targeted at maximum contributing to integration
of efforts of Russian and European consulting
companies in facing a challenge of a new period of
Russian business development. |
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Bio Data |
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Evgeny Emelianov
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Evgeny Emelianov has graduated Moscow State
University, psychology faculty. Also he graduated
Institute of history of natural sciences and
techniques of the Russian Academy of Science in
1982, where he got PhD of social psychology. Evgeny
has worked on probation at Institute of
International Connection, USA in 1992, University of
Western Ontario in 1996, has certificate of General
and finincial management.
1983-2004 he was working at Institute of history of
natural sciences and techniques of the Russian
Academy of Science as senior research worker. He has
carried out sociological and psychological
researches, participated in their planning and the
organization; give consultation to state and public
organizations concerning management and works with
the personnel.
In 1993 he founded consulting organization named
STEP Consulting. STEP Consulting’s specialization
area is business and management consulting. During
15 years of its existence, consultants have
accomplished over 500 consulting projects for more
than 200 clients. Clients of STEP Consulting include
the leaders of Russian retail market, leaders of
telecommunication market; representatives of
financial services market, construction market and
many others. |
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MAMAGING CHANGE IN
EUROPE |
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Summary |
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Europe has the vision and
potential for sustained economic, growth but needs
to deploy its assets and resources and new tools to
fully realize this vision.
Europe’s economic performance can be improved by
boosting productivity. This is core to a “vibrant”
economy and is all about the “quality” of production
factors. Focusing on enhancing skills and making the
workforce more flexible and adaptable is key to
boosting productivity. Equally important is to
provide a flexible and innovate environment where
the “quality” workforce can operate, as well as
innovative tools.
To enhance Europe’s human capital and create the
condition in wich it can be most productive, and to
foster innovation and adaptable organizations, it is
crucial to align all different stakeholders –
business, policy-makers, public-sector leaders,
educationalist and individual employees – in the
common vision of change. Just as important, however,
is the means of executing that vision.
The presentation and report offer a number of
practical recommendations on how such change can be
implemented. It concentrates on three interdependent
drivers of effective and meaningful change: human
capital, organizational flexibility and innovation.
In each of these areas it identifies imperatives,
and strategies for their implementation. The
recommendations are designed to be impactful and
practical.
In order to redefine human capital, the report
argues the need to:
• Employ advanced technology solutions to enable
more people to join the active workforce;
• Create platforms for “just in time” rather than
“just in case” training;
• Utilize “skills tagging” to match demand and
supply in the labour market;
• Outsource key educational initiatives –
particularly Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) – to business partners.
To foster adaptive organizations the report suggests
it is essential to:
• Lower their “centre of gravity”
• Develop communication that inspires the “internal
electorate” to vote for change;
• Provide incentives that trigger a self motivated
and resilient workforce;
• Remove regulatory barriers to organizational
change.
As innovation is key to productivity, the report
emphasizes the need to:
• Foster and optimize innovation clusters
• Exploit e-government as a catalyst for economic
growth;
• Create organizations that “incubate” new thinking;
• Use public-service procurement to drive
innovation:
• Create a new discipline of “Service Science”. |
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Bio Data |
Gil Gidron, Spain |
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ICT MARKET IN SOUTH
EASTERN EUROPE AND CONSULTING OPPORTUNITIES |
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Summary |
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Thanks to many different
external (EU accession, FDIs and CEFTA+) and
internal (relaxed cross border trade, market
liberalization and privatization, most successful
players outgrow local markets) ICT market in SEE is
outperforming the rest of EU and CEE and is
dynamically shaping up as a regional market vs. many
small and divers national markets. It’s becoming
more and more attractive for international investors
and global companies looking for growth areas
whereas local players look for global strategic
partnerships and joint ventures. As such, SEE look
very attractive for consultancy businesses,
international and local, both in terms of developing
presence as well as catching the opportunity wave. |
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Bio Data |
Goran Radman,
Chairman, Business
Advisory Council
for SEE |
Goran Radman is the soul
founder and chief executive of Nautar business and
management consultancy.
His academic backgrounds are in the studies of
International Relations at the Faculty of Political
Sciences, University of Zagreb, where he’s currently
pursuing a Ph.D. in theories of international
integration. He has refined his management and
leadership skills at Wharton School MBA and through
many different executive programs, including the
ones at INSEAD and London School of Economics.
Goran has started his professional career in 1984 as
an International Relations Advisor to the President
of Croatia and continued as General Manager of
Croatian Television (1987). In 1992 he has moved on
to private sector to manage MicroLAB, a computer
engineering and consultancy company. He has joined
Microsoft in 1996 to start up Microsoft Croatia and
has expanded his responsibilities in 2000 as a
General Manager of the Adriatic and South Eastern
European region. He was appointed Microsoft Chairman
SEE in 2004 and Chairman ECEE in 2007. In these
roles he worked with governments, business and NGO
communities within EU, South Eastern and Central
Eastern Europe in building strategic partnerships
for ICT competitiveness, sustainable growth and
corporate social responsibility.
In his social role, he’s been proudly associated
with and actively contributed to the missions of
National Competitiveness Council (Member), Business
Advisory Council for Southeast Europe (Member),
Central and East European Management Development
Association (Board Member), The New Club of Paris
(Member), Mediterranean Institute of Life Sciences
(Management Board Member) and Academy for Political
Development (Advisory Board Member). |
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DEVELOPMENT OF
CONSULTING FIRMS IN LIGHT OF ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE
CYCLE FROM EASTERN EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE” |
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Summary |
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Life cycle (or stage)
models were developed to study organizational
growth. The primary objective of applying such
models is to determine - based on contributing
factors - the relevant outcomes (e.g. management,
HR, etc.) for the different stages of organizational
growth. Our contribution is to find out how
consulting firms (subsidiaries of multinational
companies, as well as indigenous, local large, small
and medium-sized enterprises) in Czech Republic,
Hungary, Romania and in Eastern European region had
adapted to the accelerating changes in the economy
in recent years, and what kind of changes might be
expected in the employment and personnel management
practices of these organizations in certain stages
of life cycle models. This paper presents the
theoretical and case study based empirical findings
of the research. |
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Bio Data |
Dr Jozsef Poor, CMC,
Professor of
Management, University
Pecs-Hungary,
George Plesoianu,
CMC,Managing Director,
Trend Consulting,
Bucharest-Romania,
Jan Zavril
Managing Director,
Seznam, Prague-
Czech Republic
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Dr. George
Plesoianu has been earlier 1990, promoter
and founder member of the Romanian Management
Consultants Association, former president of AMCOR
between 1991 -1993 and 1996 – 2005 and currently has
Honorary President of this national association. He
has Managing Partner in Romanian management
consulting firm Trend Consulting Group, founded by
him in 1992.and carried out representative
pilot-project in public and private sector in
Romania. He holds a PhD in management and Certified
Management Consultant (CMC) qualification.
Dr. Jozsef Poor is professor at
University of Pecs, Hungary. He has been visiting
professor at five American, a French, a Dutch and
three Romanian universities. He has been management
consultant and senior manager at three international
professional service firms (HayGroup, Mercer and
Diebold Group).He holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in
Management from University of Economics- Budapest.
He gained in industrial economics his doctorate from
the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and prior to that
he was on the faculty staff of the University of
Pecs. He holds a Certified Management Consultant
(CMC) designee, ISO lead-assessor certification, and
certified trainer and EU-project trainer
qualification. He was Executive Board member of
European Federation of European Associations of
Management Consultants (FEACO) in Brussels
2000-2002. He has recently been elected as President
of Hungarian Association of Human Resource
Professionals.
Dr, Ing. Jan Zavřel is now working
as interim manager in startup company for build and
operate the renewable energy sources. Before it he
was 11 years engaged in Czech consultancy company
belonged to the financial group of ERSTE Bank. The
latest position was member of board. The foreign
experiences he has from Germany, Switzerland and
Austria at university, consultancy, bank and
production sectors. He studied and later lectured on
Czech technical university the field economy and
management of energy systems. Later he studied the
business economy on St. Gallen University. The
latest four years he is the elected president of
Czech Association for Consultancy. |
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MANAGEMENT
CONSULTING IN CEE FROM THE GLOBAL AND LOCAL
PERSPECTIVE |
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Summary |
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Bio Data |
Janko Arah, Arah
Consulting, Slovenia |
Bachelor of Laws (LLB),
M.Sc. in Laws (LL.M.)
Mr. Arah graduated from the Faculty of Law in
Ljubljana (LLB), passed Barrister’s Exam in
Ljubljana and received master degree in law from the
Faculty of Law in Ljubljana (LL.M.). Advanced
in-service training in Leiden, Haag, Salzburg,
Amsterdam, Strasbourg, Cleveland and Boston.
He is Co-founder and Director of Arah Consulting,
d.o.o., the first limited liability company in
Slovenia (ex-Yugoslavia), established in 1989 Vice
President of the Supervisory Board of the Chamber of
Economy of Slovernia Vice President of the Executive
Committee of FEACO, Brussels was President of the
Management Consulting Association of Slovenia -
AMCOS
President of the Carinthia’s Club of Ljubljana Past
Governor of the Lions Clubs International, District
129 - Slovenia was President of the Committee for
Terminology of the Golf Association of Slovenia
President/member of some supervisory boards was
President of the Lawyer's Association in Ljubljana
was President of the Supervisory Board of the Union
of Lawyer's Association in Slovenia.
Professionally he has worked as a lawyer in
Slovenian companies, was Secretary at the Chamber of
Economy of the Republic of Slovenia, responsible for
legal matters, was member of various committees of
the Chamber of Economy of Slovenia and of
ex-Yugoslavia.
19 years of experience in management consulting in
the own private company Arah Consulting, d.o.o.
(mergers, acquisitions, privatisation,
denationalisation, legal consultancy).
Mr. Arah has published numerous articles and papers
on legal matters in Slovenian, Serbo-Croatian,
English and German languages. He is author of more
than 20 books on corporation law, labour law and
golf and more than 100 Articles on different legal
issues |
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HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT IN THE CROATIAN MARKET |
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Summary |
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The theme of this work is
the analysis of human resource management (HRM)
systems in the Croatian market as part of the
Employer Partner Certificate project.
This presentation is aimed at checking the quality
of HRM systems and examining their specifics in
organizations in the Croatian market, as well as
verification of their importance in achieving
business results. The aim of the research was to
determine the basic processes of HRM that are
universal in all organizations regardless of their
business sector, size, type of ownership and other
characteristics. We were interested in prerequisites
for process excellence. Also, we wanted to examine
how the existence and quality of individual
processes affect the operations of the company,
employee satisfaction and business results
achievement.
Analysis of the HRM systems was conducted on the
total sample of 40 organizations in the Croatian
market. In the sample, mostly medium and large
companies are represented, both domestic and
foreign-owned, but the state-owned companies, public
enterprises and non-governmental organizations were
also included in order to achieve a comprehensive
insight into the systems of human resources
management and examine their common features.
The methodology was developed under the Employer
Partner Certificate project. Data on human resource
processes have been collected during structured
interviews with representatives of each company. A
structured questionnaire was designed for this
purpose, based on research, professional literature
and experience of experts from practice. The
questionnaire reviews 40 processes in 5 areas of
HRM: strategy, recruitment and selection,
performance management and motivation, employees
training, and the relationship with employees.
Scoring system was also developed and each process
description was scored from 0-3 points (with the
possibility of granting half points). To ensure
objectivity in the evaluation process, each
organization was evaluated by 3 trained independent
evaluators - experts in the field of HRM.
Methodology developed through the Employer Partner
Certificate project and used to collect data and
measure the quality of HRM was successfully applied
in various organizations, irrespective of their
size, business, etc. In this way, the thoroughness
and universality of examined processes was
confirmed.
Analysis of data collected indicates that in
Croatian market, practices of employee recruitment
and selection are best developed and most
organizations carry them out in a quality and
professional manner. Organizations have most trouble
in establishing quality performance management and
motivating employees. A long term systematic work
and investments are needed for these processes to
become more effective. |
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Bio Data |
Jasmina Sockovic, Selectio, Croatia
Jean Luc Placet,
France,
FEACO President |
Holds the
position of Consulting Services Director in Selectio
d.o.o., part of larger business group, representing
the largest HRM services provider in Croatia. She
worked on various management positions in private
and public sector, and also as consultant,
researcher and educational program director. Often
participates as lecturer at conferences and
seminars, with topics from management area in
general, than human resources management and social
psychology |
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EUROPEAN CONSULTING MARKET 2007-2008 |
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Summary |
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- The
presentation will lay out the recent trends in
Management Consulting in Europe and its current
context:
Europe is faced with many challenges: the conversion
from a mass production based economy to a knowledge
based economy, the emergence of large, competing,
economic centres, institutional and cultural
difficulties in the construction of the EU, etc. At
the same time Europe is rapidly developing: economic
integration and further expansion to Central and
Eastern European counties, the Europeanisation, even
globalization, of local companies, development of
the e-internal market, innovation clusters, etc.
Within this context Management Consultancy plays an
essential role in the transformation of companies
and economies. Management Consulting contributes
actively on a daily basis to the construction of
Europe with the assistance and advice it provides
client companies engaged in transnational
activities: development of international strategies,
cross-border mergers and acquisitions, transfer of
decision centres, international projects, cost
reductions, systems integrations, outsourcing,
offshoring and global sourcing, etc.
At the same time the profession needs to transform
itself and adapt its service provision to these
developments. Many Management Consulting companies
are still too local to provide the services
required. Consultancy companies need to ‘think big’,
for their clients and for themselves. Smaller
companies need to seek partners to survive. Our
sector is in the prime of youth, but at the same
time, recent history has shown, it is very fragile
as it is easily affected by economic changes.
- The development of the market in statistics will
be demonstrated on the basis of the FEACO annual
report on the European management Consulting Market
2007:
Basically 2007 and 2008 were good years for the MC
sector. By the end of 2007 the European Management
Consulting Market was worth an estimated 81 billion
Euro. This figure represented an impressive average
weighted increase of 9.7 % on 2006.
Management Consulting now contributes 0.64% to
European GDP. Most countries reported a steady
growth of the MC market; Expectations for 2008
remain high, in spite of the rather negative
economic provisions. The ongoing growth of the
market caused the 'war for talent' which started in
2006 to continue.
- The speaker will stress the need for an own
identity and organization for the MC sector in
Europe:
In spite of its success, our sector continues to
have low recognition in certain client sectors and
with policy makers. We need a common label, a common
image, transparency in our services, promotion of
our services, of our experiences, best practices and
success stories and the value added that Management
Consultancies bring. Without national associations
and a European Federation, the European MC sector
has no face and no voice and no input into European
policy making. |
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Bio
Data |
Nigel Woodland -
Industry Director
Professional Services
EMEA, UK |
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CHANGE
AND CONSULTING FIRMS |
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Summary |
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Since the last
conference in Warsaw there has been both rapid
change and underlying change affecting Consulting..
The rapid shock in economic activity with most of
Europe in or close to recession and there is also
the continued but longer term change in the nature
of work and how we perform work.
ICT has a key role to play in both:
Is your information up to date? Do you have the
capability to react or even predict the impact of
rapid change on your business? Explore some
opportunities for ICT to help.
The change in the nature of work, the growth of
‘Tacit’ work. The convergence of, the evolution of
the enterprise and the evolution of software.
Consultancy is in the forefront of this change, how
can you use ICT in your firm to take advantage of
Web 2.0 and improved user interfaces to attract the
best (gen Y) talent and improve the efficiency of
your consultants. |
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Bio
Data |
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Nigel Woodland -
Industry Director
Professional Services
EMEA,UK
|
Nigel has
worked for Oracle for over seven years for the last
four
in the Industry group focusing on how Oracle
technology can improve the competitiveness of our
customers in Professional Services. Prior to that I
worked on adoption of new technologies such as RFID
and as a business consultant.
Prior to Oracle I was involved in two dot .com start
ups after a career in general management of
manufacturing and service groups.
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MANAGEMENT COMMISSIONING
STANDARDISATION |
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Summary |
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In the
twentieth century, technical-technological
development was experiencing rapid growth through
new human knowledge, management methods,
innovations, patents, new inventions, as never
before. Technical-technological curve is turning to
the exponential one. Unfortunately, it has not been
followed by adequate development of the managerial
standardized methods and procedures. Human
organizations are becoming more complex; level of
production technology is rising, which causes great
problems consequently requesting better
co-ordination, control, and specified and long-term
plans. This paper covers especially the
standardization of the management commissioning with
the aim to lay down a reference point essential for
the reengineering of the system and protection of
the management intellectual property. |
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Bio
Data |
Petar ČOVO,
University of Zadar
Irena ČOVO, T-Mobile
Croatia, Split
Ana BELAK, University
of Zagreb ,
Ph.D.student
|
PETAR
ČOVO CV
He is a lecturer on Traffic and maritime Department
and Economics Department, University of Zadar,
Associate-degree college of ©ibenik; collaborated in
Academy of Tourism in ©ibenik, Academy of Maritime
of Split, Department of Sea and Maritime, Department
of Maritime Systems and processes, Maritime faculty
Split, Universitiy of Split.
Ph. D. student, University of Rijeka, master in
science, course, management of manufacturing
processes, senior lecturer, scientific-education
profession, teacher/trainer business undertaking.
Prior-Administration level; Rectors associate for
capital investments University of Zadar, Consultant,
Zagreb Digtal City, Zagreb holding, Temporary dean,
Dean associate for business activity, Board
Chairman, Maintanence manager, Quality system audit,
ISO 9000, Business, experience 23 years. Secondary-
Organization level; Development of modern education
programs, Management of centres for lifetime
education,Techniques of presenting and modeling,
Organization of Professional Development Cetrificate
Project, Cycle Management.
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EU
SPONSORED CONSULTING AND R&D PROJECTS – OBSERVATIONS
DONE AFTER 12 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE |
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Summary |
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ITTI Ltd is a
consulting company in Poznan, Poland, established in
1996 and with some 50 employees. It specializes in
IT and telecom consulting, but due to its academic
links it also carries out R&D projects both for EU
and Polish institutions.
In the period 1996-2008 ITTI has carried out some 40
projects for EU institutions. It was largely within
5th, 6th and 7th European Framework Programmes. They
were both od consulting and of R&D, and they were
all carried out within a international consortia. We
feel that such projects have a specific profile and
this presentation shows our experience coming from
these multiple projects. The characteristics of such
projects include: multiculture environment, specific
time organisation, need to work mostly in a remote
manner, particular management structure, financial
matters etc. Such characteristic features will be
characterized in the presentation and most
frequently encountered problems will be listed and
discussed.
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Bio
Data |
Prof. Witold
Hołubowicz -
President of Board
of ITTI, Poland |
Prof. Witold
Hołubowicz graduated from Poznan Technical
University in 1981, where he also received his Ph.D.
at the Electrical Engineering Faculty. As concerns
the former, he has been a professor in the area of
telecommunications at several universities: Poznan
Technical University, Polytechnic University in New
York, USA, Franco-Polish School of New Information
and Communication Technologies (EFP) in Poznan and
most recently, since 2003, at the Adam Mickiewicz
University in Poznan, where he is currently the Head
of the Division of Applied Informatics. He is an
author or co-author of over a hundred publications,
including 4 books on wireless communications. In
1996-2000 he was the Program Committee Chairman of
the National Conference on Radio Communication. He
participated in or coordinated more than sixty
consulting, implementation and research projects on
radio communications, teleinformatics and
telecommunication systems, including numerous
international projects. In 1996 he co-founded a
consulting company ITTI Ltd. in Poznan where he has
been the President since 1997. |
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BUSINESS AND IT ALIGNMENT – FROM PLANNING TO
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION |
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Summary |
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Aligning
business and IT is a major and continuing challenge
for all organizations and their management. The
alignment, in order to deliver higher business
performance, presupposes a strategic business
opportunity to which IT is integral. In other words,
Strategic Alignment between business and IT can have
a positive business impact only if we see an
organization’s IT components as parts of a
well-integrated organizational system. If business
strategy is viewed separately from IT strategy or IT
strategy is viewed only as a “support” tool, then
there is little likelihood that the above positive
impact of strategic alignment can take place
This paper shows some co-alignment models that can
be used from the planning process to the overall
performance evaluation of organizations. We will
present the results of applying one of these models
to a big Croatian company. Also, it could be used as
a consulting tool in assessment phase and
recommending improvements and concrete projects for
getting closer business and IT. The main result of
co-alignment between business and IT should be
visible in improvement of overall company
performance. Finally it is a good way for
transforming to IT Governance.
Also, it will be presented the role of internal
audit in performance evaluation at business and IT
levels, based on risk assessment through testing
implemented controls. It shows the relationships
between business and IT objectives and metrics, and
it could be used for detecting broken connections
between them. It is a great opportunity for
recognition of improvement areas for aligning
business and IT. Because of that, the final result
of IT internal audit is not a report by an internal
auditor but monitoring the realization and
implementation of agreed improvements. It should
lead continuously to better aligned business and
IT. |
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Bio
Data |
Silvana Tomić Rotim
ZIH – Zavod za
informatičku djelatnost Hrvatske
d.o.o.
Zagreb, Croatia
Viąnja Komnenić
HEP d.d., Zagreb,
Croatia
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Silvana Tomić
Rotim is a director of ZIH – Center for business
excellence. She has B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in
Computer Engineering, University of Zagreb. Also,
she has DSM postgraduate degree in Business
Management, University of Zagreb.
She is Certified Management Consultant, ISO 27001,
ISO 9001 and TickIT Lead Auditor. She has worked on
projects in many areas: Strategic Management,
Balanced Scorecard, Performance Management,
Information Security Management Systems, Quality
Management
Systems, Business Processes Reengineering etc.
She is an author of many scientific and professional
articles, and she has done a lot of trainings for
above mentioned topics. She is in Presidency of
Croatian Association of Management Consultants.
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SME
FINANCE AND
MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
Introduction to the Theory and Practice of SME
Finance in Europe |
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Summary |
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This
presentation will explore the theory of SME finance
and how this is linked to practice in Europe. The
paper will explore theoretical concepts from both
neo-classical and the newer behavioural economics
approaches to SMEs and how the insights generated
from theory can explain observed behaviour by SME
finance providers. The paper will focus in
particular on the process of financing a small
business and, in particular, the nature of
information exchanges between SME owner-managers and
finance providers; the way in which information is
processed and the impact this has on decision making
for both sides of the financing relationship.
Evidence will be drawn from European countries on
financial sources and the challenges faced by SMEs.
Recommendations will be made on how management
consultants might assist the process of information
exchange and assist finance providers to make better
financing decisions benefitting the wider economy |
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Bio
Data |
Toby Philpott
Senior Business Support Service Development Expert,
SMEPED Project, Zagreb and Principal, West End
Training, Folkestone, U.K.
|
Toby Philpott
is currently a Senior Business Support Service
Development Expert on the SMEPED project in Croatia.
His work has taken him the length and breadth of
Croatia assisting business support organisations to
develop new business support services. Toby runs his
own Business and Management Training and Consulting
company, West End Training, in Folkestone, UK. He is
delighted to be in Dubrovnik as this is his
favourite city in Croatia.
Toby has over 10 years experience working in
Western, Central and Eastern Europe and China where
he has worked on a number of DFID and EU-funded
projects developing SMEs and mainly creating and
developing SME support organisations and developing
the skills and abilities of the staff that work
within them.
Toby Philpott has held a number of academic
positions at Universities in the UK and worked
between 1996 and 2005 at the Foundation for SME
Development at the University of Durham. He has an
M.Phil in SME Financing, a BA in Economics and a
Postgraduate Diploma in Chinese Language, Business
and International Relations. |
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PROJECTS, IT, RISKS IN COMPANY AND ROLE OF
CONSULTANT |
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Summary |
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Today in many
successful companies, IT is definitely a strategic
resource and key to leverage competitive advantage.
Majority of changes in IT and Business Processes of
Companies are carried and facilitated through
projects.
All significant changes in company carry
certain risks.
How to successfully manage projects and IT, have
good awareness of risks and how to manage them?
Optimal solution wil be to have in-depth competent
knowledge about all these issues available while
having business „Big picture“ in mind.
challenges be addressed? What is role of consultant
and where it fits in above challenges? |
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Bio
Data |
Tomislav Z Dujmovic
Quantum
Zagreb, Croatia
|
Tomislav Z.
Dujmovic is IT/Management Consultant in his own
company QUANTUM. Among other certifications, he is
proud to be Certified Management Consultant - CMC
(www.icmci.com) and European Excellence Assessor
He has more than 10 years of management consulting
experience, and more than 25 years real-life
experience with computers, in later years mainly
Microsoft technologies with focus on IT
infrastructure and information worker technologies
that enable people to collaborate and work smarter.
(QUANTUM is also ISO9001:2000 and Microsoft GOLD
Partner certified)
After Bachelors degree in Computing (dipl.ing.),
work and projects in Privredna banka Zagreb; from
programming, reingeenireeng of business processess,
systems analaysis to implementation of new IS, works
as IT/Business consultant for Zagrebacka banka and
finally decides to start own crew of agile and
capable people with fresh ideas.. |
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CONSULTING SERVICES IN SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZE
ENTERPRISES IN THE WESTERN BALKANS |
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Summary |
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This paper is
based on the results of the BAS Program which, since
2001 to date, has been operating in the Western
Balkans under the European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD). The, BAS projects are
implemented through a well defined field management
structure made up by teams of local nationals with
the help from several donor countries and
organizations. In the Western Balkans BAS Programme
runs projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia,
Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and Albania. Since the
beginning of the Programme through July 2008, the
BAS Program implemented 1,236 projects in the
region.
The paper describes in which way the Programme
promotes economic transition through advising and
mentoring enterprises, and develops a sustainable
infrastructure of business advisory services. The
program relies mostly on local experts and
consultants. Advisory services are myriad, but a
majority of projects have been aimed at developing
and introducing computerised financial management
information systems, followed by projects linked to
market analysis and planning, and introduction of
quality management systems. Cross-cutting issues of
energy efficiency and environmental protection,
gender equality, and development of rural regions
have also been included. Additionally, the paper
includes information on completed market development
activities such as MSME and consultancy trainings.
Results pertain to a mass survey questionnaire
distributed by email to all participating
enterprises and consultants concerning projects
completed in this period. Data obtained shows that
92% of BAS projects resulted in the implementation
of recommendations; 96% of enterprises reported that
BAS made a positive difference to the success of
their business. In terms of building local
consultancy capacities, 78% of consultants reported
that BAS helped strengthen their ability to manage
projects and/or their businesses. Additionally, 75%
of interviewed consultants reported that BAS
strengthened their skills and understanding of
current best practices in their area of
specialization through mentoring that is part of
standard BAS projects, and also through training
seminars and workshops. All of this proves that BAS
has developed a highly successful and replicable
method, and built a reputation in local markets of
being able to provide a reliable and high quality
service to its clients. |
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Bio
Data |
Zihnija Hasović
(Bosnian) – TAM BAS
BiH National
Programmme
Director
|
Zihnija joined
EBRD as National Programme Director in 2001 and is
responsible for all the Programme’s activities
including the operations, budgets, and the selection
of clients and consultants in Bosnia and Herzegovina
where BAS has approved and generated more than 350
consulting projects. Zihnija holds an MSc in
Mechanical Engineering from the University of
Sarajevo where he was employed as an Assistant to
Professor. He also worked as a Mechanical Design
Engineer in an organization for the manufacture of
diesel engines under a Mercedes Benz license, then
as a Chief Technical Advisor for Procurement and
Project Controls in an engineering organization in
Oil, Gas and Chemical called Petrolinvest. Also,
Zihnija has a broad practical experience in project
management and monitoring, management consulting,
strategic planning, marketing and sales, financial
management and analysis, and turnaround achieved
through work with more than 100 Bosnian companies in
a broad range of industries of different sizes
working as Marketing Practice Leader and Team leader
for an USAID programme operated by Deloitte Touche.
Zihnija is married with two young boys. |
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| news |
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| September 25, 2008 |
| Japanese delegation attending the FEACO conference A delegation of 12 members representing the Japanese economic industry are coming to the FEACO conference in Dubrovnik. Their goal is to network with local entrepreneurs, consultants and representatives of Croatian institutions in order to strengthen economic cooperation between Croatia and Japan. |
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| 19.September 2008 |
| Registration deadline extended until 10.10.2008 for attending FEACO 2008, due to a high volume of interested international participants. |
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| September 12, 2008 |
| CHRONOS Info (www.chronos.hr), consulting company and member of the Association of Management Consultants, become a sponsor for the FEACO Conference. Sponsorship package amount is 15.000 Kn, which will be used to cover costs for development and maintenance of the conference web page (www.feaco2008.com.hr). Thanks to CHRONOS Info for its support with the Conference organization. |
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| 07th August 2008 |
| Government of the Republic of Croatia co-sponsor of European Annual Conference FEACO 2008 |
| Government of the Republic of Croatia on their official meeting held on 31 July 2008 decided to be co-sponsor for FEACO - European Annual Conference entitled "Competitiveness, innovation, business excellence and consulting in CSE Europe" and to support development of business counseling in Croatia and in Region. |
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July 11, 2008 Ministry of Economy co-sponsor of FEACO conference |
Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship (MELE) represented by Minister Damir Polancec accepted the co-sponsorship for FEACO - European Annual Conference entitled "Competitiveness, innovation, business excellence and consulting in CSE Europe" which is hosted and organized by AMC (Association of Management Consultants), and will take place 23-24 October 2008 in Dubrovnik. |
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Web portal suvremena.hr media sponsor for FEACO 2008 |
| The web portal for trade www.suvremena.hr has recognized the importance of the international conference on business consulting FEACO 2008, and offered media follow up along with conference promotion, with the host country being Croatia and the organizing partner AMC. |
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