The Value of Business Expertise in Eastern Europe
25-Nov-03
The Value of Business Expertise in Eastern Europe
A talk with Alexander Plotkin and Bogdan Siewierski
by Michael D. Kennedy, professor for Sociology and director of the Center for Russian ans East European Studies (CREES)
In this paper, the experts A. Plotkin and B. Saiewierski share their experiences about the situation in CEE countries. CREES initiated a series of workshops to incorporate the expertise an experience of business experts for the transformation of business practices in post-communist capitalism.
Our two experts identified several areas of need of improvement; especially in the general culture of management. It is difficult to convince managers that they need to change their style of leadership. The western approach to this problem would be a manager training in various "team-building" exercises, but this doesn't fit very well with post-communist experience.
Another issue is communication. There has been identified improvement in communication, but the problem lies in the style of communication.
Western experts and East European consultants also agree on the need to make business more customer-oriented. There is a kind of shame appearing too responsive to customer needs in CEE countries.
Though Eastern Europe becomes familiar with the market economy, Bogdan Sawierski identified some areas in which cultural difference has increased. The managers in transitional economies expect specialized knowledge and techniques which they can use to solve their particular problems. They expect that western trainers should have learnt from their experiences as well.
Read the whole paper here.
Details
- Author:
- Dr. Patricia Wolf
- Publisher:
- KnowledgeBoard
- Date:
- 25-Nov-03
- Categories:
- Central Eastern Europe
- Sections:
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communications challenged part 2
Instead Coca-Cola has yet to begin to be the networking knowledge centre of all liquid industries and experts on the fundamental humanitarian right to drink and uniting all youth movements in such a joyful accomplishment; and America's addiction to cheap oil guzzling makes everyone else on earth question what human right and transparent credibility has it to lead the world's peacemaking? even against the tyrants who should never have been financed to power by whomever did that humanitarian blunder??
PS Two weeks ago, I suffered one of those reality checks that seem to gravitate around beyond-branders. Ukraine's leading professional association network had asked me to give their keynote talk on branding. Blurry eyed I was met by a taxi driver at 1.00pm who told me the story of how post-perestroika Ukraine was the only way forward the people wanted to sing, BUT the population had been yrimmed by 3 million to date. What? He went on to explain that there were no longer any safety nets for the old, frail or poor.
I spent the rest of the night inadequately rewriting my presentation on branding - for what its worth here it is : Branding - Value for People?...http://www.beyond-branding.com/blog/ukr2.ppt
Editorial from the first journal published to connect brand and corporate responsibility is here http://www.beyond-branding.com/Editorial%20JBM%2010.4-5.pdf
communications challenged
I agree that it is vital that East economies make the best of both worlds of communications (how the West did branding and internal communications, and in light of all the change barriers around us: how differently the West needs to do branding and knowledge)
A fortnight ago I was giving a keynote talk in the Ukraine on brand leadership. Below is my story. Incidentally, I hear that December 1 is brand blog network day - if you want to rehearse your version of this story or others including one from cluetrainer Doc Searls http://www.knowledgeboard.com/download/3166/brand2003.doc, please contact me at wcbn007@easynet.co.uk
True or False; Coca-Cola, famous as world number 1 brand, was mainly built on tv advertising
If you said true, go read part 1 (earlier in this blog) where we chartered how for the half century when Robert Woodruff reigned as the world's most passionate brand manager, tv ads didnt even exist most of the time
The question that interests me if he could have started a second half century platforming off the pop and peacemaking song with a child from every nation on earth singing perfect harmony: how would he have continued that campaign? I believe as world number 1 brand he would have identified what knowledge Coca-Cola could have become the collaboration epicentre of to resolve a top 20 global divide. Having asked that question: the answer would be let's open source knowledge everywhere so that we dont have over a billion people with no access to clean water. Imagine that reality as a youth movement campaign theme; Coca-Cola's bonds with youth would now be 10 times stronger. And of course, America as a nation would have seen from Coca-Cola how a superpower can help humanity at every local crossroads.
continued in part 2
reminder from the practice of management
I am reminded that back in the 1950s Peter Drucker (later origin of the knowledge worker) famously said only marketing and innovation add value, all else adds cost
What is less well known is that Drucker certainly didnt mean what most people now think of marketing, and what he meant by innovation is something we could debate elsewhere ( I spent a year in 1997 doing that but now feel I missed the main point of developing open spaces aroud conflicts -refs 1)
My marketing, Peter Drucker meant almost the precise reverse of today's communications brioadcasting. He meant researching the knowledge of what outside the organsiation demands in the simplest way so that everyone inside the organisation learns how to activate that.
I have always dreamed that brand and knowledge could unite in such a change leadership endeavour and catalogue what facilitaion methods could humanly help make the most of organisations as relationship systems. At this link, you will find for example, how Alan Mitchell Europe's crusading marketing journalist exposes in the New Bottom Line, the 7 biggest ways that organisations haven't yet begun to develop customer value around.
Of course dreams can become reality if we open source them, and they make sense to enough people to network into being.