Czech Leaders 02/2015

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“It Is Necessaryto Strengthenthe Police Force”Praha I Brno I Ostrava I Plzeň I Liberec I Olomouc I Ústí nad Labem I Hradec Králové I České Budějovice I Pardubice I Zlín I Jihlava I Karlovy Vary I Mladá Boleslav

May - July / 2015

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tomáš tuhý PresIdeNt of the czech NatIoNal PolIce

„Operation Dragoon Ride“ in the Czech Republic

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„Operation Dragoon Ride“ in the Czech Republic

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Czec

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2015

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“IT IS NECESSARYTO STRENGTHENTHE POLICE FORCE”Praha I Brno I Ostrava I Plzeň I Liberec I Olomouc I Ústí nad Labem I Hradec Králové I České Budějovice I Pardubice I Zlín I Jihlava I Karlovy Vary I Mladá Boleslav

MAY - JULY / 2015

available worldwide

online

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TOMÁŠ TUHÝ PRESIDENT OF THE CZECH NATIONAL POLICE

001-CoverPage-May2.indd 1 17. 6. 2015 15:25:49

SAP Forum 2015

From left: Roman Knap, General Director, SAP CR and Franck Cohen, President, SAP EMEA in an analyzing discussion

page 32

publisher’s note & contents

Dear reaDers, eventsSummer, summer. As I write this,

Prague is basking in a heat wave of 30 degrees. It is not easy for your publisher to focus on this article. We are just in the beginning of summer - the best time of year – when the blooming lilacs and cherry trees are gone, only to be replaced by other wonderful flowers from magnificent nature. Many of us are going to the countryside to enjoy nature, relax, read, sunbathe, hike, or spend time with family. But for a publisher – no such luxuries exist. The magazine you are holding in your hand or reading online doesn’t take holidays. The magazine has now been renamed CZECH LEADERS, and we hope that this name reaches all parts of the Czech Republic. It is very rewarding and stimulating to see the progress, development, and improvements we are making to keep our quality high. Another encouraging sign is that more and more people from abroad are using our web page – which has now been developed with more features and a great layout. We have readers from 82 countries, resulting in 500,000 page views monthly. I would say we are making good PR for the Czech Republic.

In this issue of CZECH LEADERS you will find interesting articles (as always) featuring Mr. Tomáš Tuhý, President of the Police (featured on our front page as well); Frank Cohen, President of SAP; Mr Antonín Machala, CEO and owner of Altech; Mrs. Ivanka Aljec, General Manager of the Great Falkensteiner Hotel in Marienbad (Marianské Lázně); Mrs Monika Hilm, the extraordinary Swedish General Manager of the renovated Parkhotel in Prague 7; Mrs. Jaroslava Pichrtová, Therapist; and Mrs. Lenka Mynářová, Scientist, to mention a few.

You can also enjoy our photo coverage of top events such as the Round Table by Comenius, with speakers such as Mr. Andrej Babiš, Minister of Finance; Mr. Jan Mládek, Minister of Industry and Trade; The SAP Conference, with over 500 participants; Anglo American University’s opening of their new campus; Irish St. Patrick’s Day; Afghan New Year; The Gas Association’s Conference; The CFO Club’s nomination of best Finance Director; Parkhotel’s opening with 800 guests; EU Matters events; and Manager of the year 2014, to mention a few.

Have a nice summer wherever you are. Be nice to each other, and be generous in matters small and big. It always pays off.

Benke Aikell ■ [email protected]

www.czechleaders.com

4 Czech Leaders II/2015

10 State Visit of His Serene Highness Albert II. Prince of Monaco

in the Czech Republic

11 Miloš Zeman, President of the Czech Republic visited Vatican

12 Biennial of Latin American Art at the Senate

13 Celebration of the End of WWII at the Senate

18 Round Table of Comenius Discussion Dinner with Mr. Andrej Babiš, First Deputy

Prime Minister & Minister of Finance

22 Round Table of Comenius Discussion Dinner with Jan Mládek,

Minister of Industry and Trade

24 St Patrick’s Day 2015

26 Lions Club Prague Bohemia Ambassador

27 Lions Club Prague Bohemia Ambassador

28 Zlatá Koruna Forum - Vision Banking

30 Anglo-American University’s 25th Anniversary Celebration

32 SAP Forum 2015

35 DIPLOMATIC SPOUSES ASSOCIATION Charity Awarding Ceremony

48 8th International Conference NGV 2015

50 Manager of the Year

60 Impressions from FRYDAY events

61 Reception of the Argentinian Embassy - Día de la Revolución de Mayo

62 CFO of the Year 2014

71 YOURCHANCE Charity Ball

74 9th professional meeting of Best of magazine at Hotel Savoy

76 PARTY OF THE YEAR - the Re-birth of the 1967 icon PARKHOTEL Praha

“It Is Necessary to Strengthen the Police Force.”

Natali Ruden´s Fashion Show

Celebration of Nouwrus - Afghan New Year

An interview with Tomáš Tuhý, Police President

From left: Lucie Borhyová, TV Moderator and Natali Ruden, Fashion Designer at the final defilé

From left: Jiří Žák, Consultant, Becker and Poliakoff and former Deputy Minister of Transport, PhDr. Dita Schautová, Envoyé spécial, Democratic Republic of Congo Embassy, Jan Machálek, PhD., Conseiller chargé de la section Économique et Commerciale, Democratic Republic of Congo Embassy, and Mr. Macháček

page 7

page 57

page 14

contents

interviews sport events

culture events

diplomatic events

5

7 “It Is Necessary to Strengthen the Police Force.”

An interview with Tomáš Tuhý, Police President

36 “ Enter the Digital World.”

An interview with Franck Cohen, President of SAP Europe,

Middle East & Africa

42 “I Founded a Company to Help Disabled People Integrate into Society.”

An interview with Antonín Machala, Managing Director of ALTECH

46 “The basic recipe for a satisfied guest has not changed since the times

of ancient travelers like Herodotus. “

An interview with Ivanka Aljec, General Manager of Falkensteiner

Hotel Grand MedSpa Marienbad

58 “The Potential Application for Nanofibers Are Inexhaustible,

From Saving Children in Kenya to Acne Treatment.”

An interview with Lenka Mynářová, Marketing Director of The

Nafigate Corporation

72 ““The Civil Service Should Serve the Citizens.”

An interview with Josef Postránecký, Deputy Minister for The Civil Service

80 “I want Parkhotel to be a part of Prague 7 community”

An interview with Monika Hilm, General Manager, Parkhotel Praha

84 Ambassadors Without Diplomatic Passport - Rostya Gordon-Smith

86 Ambassadors Without Diplomatic Passport - Patrik Procházka

45 7th Charity Golf Tournament for the Paraple Centrum

57 Natali Ruden´s Fashion Show

14 Celebration of Nouwrus - Afghan New Year

21 The 92nd birthday of the founder of the modern state

of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliev

Czech Leaders II/2015

Balance: The business-life connection Part VIII: The Joy of Abundance Without Attachment?! / Jim Cusumano

FIGURE 1: Unattachment is absolutely necessary to be effective in practicing the Law of Manifestation.

page 92

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contents

39 Czech public-private partnerships again?/ Emanuel Šíp

56 The Cost of Attrition and Why You Can’t Ignore the Female Presence in Your Organization /

Elisabet Dennehy

64 A New Chapter in Unlocking Human Potential/ Jan Mühlfeit

68 Suffering from ‘FOMO’?/ Tereza Urbánková

69 Women Leaders: Finally Coming Home/ Cristina Muntean

70 The Digital Diet / Ivan Pilný

83 Climate Change - ČEZ Demonstrates True Leadership / Jonathan Wootliff

90 The Louis Vuitton Foundation / Iva and Joseph Drebitko

92 Balance: The business-life connection Part VIII: The Joy of Abundance Without Attachment?! /

Jim Cusumano

94 An interview with MEP Pavel Svoboda, Chair of Legal Committee in the European Parliament

96 EU events - Book launch of the second edition of Pergameny, a novel by Jaromír Štětina,

Member of the European Parliament.

97 EU events - VIP preview of the Exhibition Laurin & Klement / Škoda - 120 Years

at D’Ieteren Gallery Brussels

97 EU events - Czech business mission to Antwerp and Brussels

98 Bussiness News

contributors

EU matters

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Benke Aikell

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Los Typos s.r.o.

EU Matters:

CEBRE Czech Business

Representation, CESES, Europlatform

Contributors:

James A. Cusumano, Iva Drebitko,

Joseph Drebitko, Elisabeth Rodrigues Dennehy,

ELAI, Martina Hošková,

Lenka Helena Koenigsmark,

Jaroslav Kramer, Jan Mühlfeit,

Cristina Muntean, Ivan Pilný,

Emanuel Šíp, Linda Štucbartová,

Tereza Urbánková,

Jonathan Wootliff

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Alexandra Alvarová,

Roland Hilmar, Martin Janas,

Antonín Lavrenčík,

Paul Pacey, Petra Sera,

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7Czech Leaders II/2015

interview

“It Is Necessary to Strengthenthe Police Force.”

President of the Police Tomáš Tuhý has a simple motto: In life, don´t believe those who deceive you, and don´t betray those who believe you. What is his assessment of his first year in this position? And what about his opinion of the political attempts to influence the work of the police in the Czech Republic?

An interview with Tomáš Tuhý, President of the Police

Photo: Bryan Ham


interview

Dear President of the Police, your first year in the position is over. What do you consider “your” biggest success of the year?

Regarding my work, of course my biggest success is the appointment as President of the Police. It is a great responsibility, and from this position one can see the problems of the Czech police from a new angle. Over the last years, due to many external issues, the police force has been quite unstable. Now, the situation is visibly calmer, as I was able to create a close team of deputies and workmates whom I consider quality managers. This has definitely brought stability to the force. We were able to return at least part of the debt which previous governments owed to our police officers. In 2010, police officers´ income decreased by 10%, which threw many of them into financial crisis. By the end of last year, thanks to long and intensive negotiations, and the understanding of the current Minister of Interior and the government, we were able to return at least a part of this money. I consider this a great success, especially during a time of cost-saving measures. I am glad that we managed to do this, however we will keep negotiating until the entire 10% is returned to police officers.

What success would you highlight regarding the Police in general?

We were able to solve crimes with a better rate of success, which is thanks to the work of police officers

at district departments, regional criminal departments, and national departments. Through criminal proceedings we secured assets worth almost 7.5 billion CZK. We were able to partly equip the police with new techniques, cars, arms, and we are currently working on the necessary replacement of uniforms. I want the police officers to have good working conditions. And I should not forget Kobra – the cooperation agreement signed between Customs, the Financial Directorate, and the Czech Police regarding the prosecution of tax crimes. Kobra has already “bitten” several times, and recently with a great success – criminal officers from the Department for Corruption and Financial Crime Detection pressed charges against five persons guilty of tax evasion, in the amount of more than 1 billion CZK. These are all national issues, however our citizens´ greatest concern is common everyday crime. Therefore the most important fact is that the number of petty thefts decreased, and we have been successful in the detection of violent offences.

What tasks lie ahead for you this year? In terms of short-term tasks.

This year we are planning to modernize part of our vehicle fleet. Recently we acquired a new, special off-road vehicle and special barges that should help at times of natural disasters. I must mention that the police force was underfunded for a long time, which now must be made up for. Regarding safety

measures, we are currently working on the May Hockey Championship to keep everyone safe. Later this year, a big change should come to our rank insignias. If everything passes the approval process, the police will have a new design on their uniforms and shoulder insignias. These will correspond with our historical patterns, and for better clarity will be designated in gold and silver. The uniforms should be of a more practical design and quality material. And so I cannot complain that I don´t have enough work, as I have only mentioned just fragments of what lays ahead.

And what about long-term challenges for the police?

It is necessary to strengthen the police force. I think it is more than obvious where the world is heading. Every day we hear of corruption, drugs, terrorism, organized crime, cyber crimes, etc.. We cannot avoid these threats, we must adjust, and multiply our efforts for the prevention of crime. Our battle with tax crime remains our priority. The police must be prepared for these modern crimes, both personally as well as technically.

How do you cooperate with other law enforcement agencies? After all, communication within the civil service sector is often complicated.

The cooperation functions between executive bodies, regional directorates, and territorial

IN COOPERATION WITH CZECH LEADERS

Czech Leaders II/2015 9

interview

departments. We share common drills, so nothing would be possible without the other bodies of the Integrated Rescue System.

Have you seen any political attempts to influence the work of the police?

No, I don´t feel any political pressure on the police force, nor any influence from the political structure. Generally, as the top representative of the police force, I can say that it would not be a step in the right direction for politics to influence the work of law enforcement. I took my office with the intention of managing the police force as an apolitical organization, and so far I believe we are doing well in this respect, with the team currently serving at the police presidium.

What do you think about those who say that the police force is weak in the prosecution of petty crime, and inefficient monitoring big political affairs?

Regarding petty crime, the police force must do better. However, there are more factors involved. Among them is the insufficient amount of personnel within the police force. Currently, we do not have the personnel to increase our focus on prevention of petty crimes. We are striving to increase our numbers, which would radically increase the number of police in the streets, which of course would enable us to better fight petty crime.

And the idea that we are inefficient with big cases? Consider the fact that last year the amount of secured assets was nearly 8 billion CZK.

Compared to the independence of public prosecutors, is the police force independent enough?

This is a very hot topic. Currently, we are preparing the amendment of the Law on the Prosecutor´s Office. We have plenty of comments on that, and discuss them with the proposers of this law as well as public prosecutors. Of course, there is information that a so-called territorial law exists, and that some decisions in criminal proceedings vary within the Czech Republic. However, that does not mean the Czech police force cannot execute its powers according to the law.

What specifically makes the police of today different from the police when you first started working there?

I started working with the police during the revolution. The police force then was very much influenced by the general public attitude to this institution. The force was uncompromisingly connected to the past regime, even though in many cases it was already showing and proving its modern way of thinking. Over the last 25 years, it has tried to win its positive place in society, and has gone through really hard times. The force was scandalized, often wrongfully. Today´s police force works with far less power than before, and it must handle the new, modern forms of crime. Modernization has really changed the game, especially in the way of investigation techniques, technical means, the method of police training, and so on.

Originally you come from Albrechtice near Bruntál, where you began as a police officer.

What is the crime rate in Albrechtice, and do you personally know the local police officers there today?

The police force has gone through many changes, however in this town most police officers are those I still personally know. The crime rate is similar to other regions in the Czech Republic. When I worked as a head of the department, there were almost one hundred frontier officers working in the same territory. Today, the whole agenda must be handled by only the police officers at the department, which has reduced the rate of primary prevention, the impacts of which are visible in the high rate of petty crime.

You graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy in Ostrava, and the Faculty of Law in Brno. Would you choose different schools for your education now?

When I was studying it was really difficult to enroll at the resort police school, i.e. police academy. In the 90´s, when I studied at university, today�s study programs were not even available. I must say that the combination of law and philosophy, in a psychological sense, is optimal for a managerial position in the police force.

Do you have a role model?Regarding police work, I greatly value the work that

was done for the Czech police by General Jiří Kolář.

Prepared by CL ■

české znění naleznete v elektronické verzimagazínu na www.czechleaders.com

IN COOPERATION WITHCZECH LEADERS

10

state visit

State ViSit of HiS Serene HigHneSS albert ii. Prince of Monaco in tHe czecH rePublic

From left: Miloš Zeman, President of the CR and His Serene Highness Al-bert II. Prince of Monaco

From left: His Serene Highness Albert II. Prince of Monaco and Miloš Zeman, Presi-dent of the CR during a friendly discussion

Official ceremony at the Prague Castle

Official ceremony at the Prague Castle

From left: His Serene Highness Albert II. Prince of Monaco and Miloš Zeman, President of the CR at a press conference

President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman received His Serene Highness Albert II. Prince of Monaco in the Czech Republic. Miloš Zeman welcomed His Higness with military tribute at the Prague Castle and both gentlemen together visited Saint Vitus cathedral as part of the state visit program.

Photo: Archive, KPR

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state visit

Miloš ZeMan, President of the CZeCh rePubliC visited vatiCan together with his wife ivana

Miloš Zeman, President of the Czech Republic

Gift for His Holiness Pope Francis brought by Czech delegation

Official photography of the Czech delegation at Vatican

From left: Miloš Zeman, President of the Czech Republic and His Holiness Pope Francis

Blessing the cornerstones of the hospice in Hradec Králové and social hospice in Újezd by Holy Father Francis


President of the Czech Republic visited Vatican and met with His Holiness, Pope Francis. The president met with Pope Francis together with his wife during a private audience.

Photo: Archive KPR

12

senate

Biennial of latin american art at the Senate

From left: H.E. Felix Leon Carballo, Ambassador of the Cuban Republic in the CR, H.E. Pablo Macedo Riba, Ambassador of the Mexican Republic in the CR, H.E. George Monteiro Prata, Ambassador of Brasil in the CR, Miluše Horská, Vice Chairwoman, Senate of the Czech Republic, H.E. María Landaveri Porturas, Ambassador of Peru in the CR, H.E. Pablo Gaete Vidal, Ambassador of Chile in the CR, H.E. Guillermo Federico Kreckler, Ambassador of Argentina in the CR, and H.E. Gustavo Sierra Gutierrez, Ambassador of Venezuela in the CR

Grand opening

Miloslav Stingl, Ethnographer and Writer and Miluše Horská, Vice Chairwoman, Senate of the Czech Republic

H.E. María Landaveri Porturas, Ambassador of Peru to the Czech Republic

Miloslav Stingl, Ethnographer and Writer

From left: H.E. María Landaveri Porturas, Ambassador of Peru, Miluše Horská, Vice Chairwoman, Senate of the Czech Republic and H.E. Pablo Gaete Vidal, Ambassador of Chile to the Czech Republic

H.E. George Monteiro Prata, Ambassador of Brasil to the Czech Republic and Miluše Horská, Vice Chairwoman, Senate of the Czech Republic

At Wallenstein Palace, seat of the Senate of the Czech Republic, IV. Latin American Art Biennial was held. From a cultural and foreign policy perspective, this is an exceptional event, organized by the Senate in cooperation with the embassies of seven Latin American countries. The exhibits originating in those countries represent national traditions through art and craft work. The exhibition is open to the public every weekend until June 28.

Photo: Archive Senate


@ MORE PHOTOS AND ELECTRONIC VERSIONAVAILABLE ON WWW.CZECHLEADERS.COM

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senate

celeBration of the end of WWiiat the Senate

Milan Štěch, President of the Senate of the CR with awarded resistance fighters and their families.

From left: Bořivoj Sedláček and Ladislav Havrišák, resistance fighters

Emil Voráček from Historical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences focused in his lecture at the economic consequences of the occupation.

Jiří Dienstbier, Minister for Human Rights

Thomas Oellermann, Scientist, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has presented a German look at the end of WWII.

From right: Milan Štěch, President of the Senate of the CR and Jan Hamáček, President of the Chamber of Deputies

Milan Štěch, President of the Senate of the CR and Kristina Váňová, Director, Karel Čapek Memorial

An international conference On the threshold of freedom - Victory 1945 took place at the Senate during the month of May, 2015. At the opening of the conference, Milan Štěch, President of the Senate of the Czech Republic, reminded the courage of resistance fighters, six of them were awarded the silver commemorative medal of the Senate.

Photo: Archive Senate

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diplomatic event

From left: Jiří Žák, Consultant, Becker and Poliakoff and former Deputy Minister of Transport, PhDr. Dita Schautová, Envoyé spécial, Democratic Republic of Congo Embassy, Jan Machálek, PhD., Conseiller chargé de la section Économique et Commerciale, Democratic Republic of Congo Embassy, and Mr. Macháček

From left: Mrs. Bollová and Mrs. Kašparová

From left: Dr. med. Basir Ahmed Osman, Fawad Nadri, President, Czech-Afghan Chamber of Commerce, and Farad Naderi, Afghan, German and Czech Trade Agency

From left: Benke Aikell, your Publisher and Jan Jedlička, Partner, Monza Consulting with his wife

Celebration of Nouwrus – New Day, organized by Czech - Afghan Mixed Chamber of CommerceNouwrus means “New Day”. It is the new day that starts the year, traditionally the exact astronomical beginning of the Spring.


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diplomatic event

Mgr. Petr Lepša, NoGup and Dr. VondráčkováFrom left: H.E. Ziauddin Mojadedi, Ambassador of Afghanistan with his wife on the left, Mgr. Romana Kokoška Pulchartová, Director, Ambassadors Concert Series, and Fawad Nadri, President, Czech-Afghan Chamber of Commerce

From left: Mrs. Kateřina Průšová and Alena Tatarová, Manager, Venere s.r.o. with her partner

Mr. Nguyen and Mr. Petr Červenka

Martin Crepo, Documentarist

From left: Daniel Landa, Musician, Mrs. Schams, and Fawad Nadri, President, Czech-Afghan Chamber of Commerce

From left: Khalil Abdul Qudus, Counselllor, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Afghanistan and Mgr. Jan Kohout, Director, VŠO with his wife

From left: Khalil Abdul Qudus, Counsellor, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Afghanistan, members of the family of H.E. Ziauddin Mojadedi, and H.E. Ziauddin Mojadedi, Ambassador of Afghanistan on the left Mr. Urban with his wife

16

diplomatic event

From left: Zdeněk Fojtík, Chairman DUO and Ing. Daniel Kurucz, MBA, Kurucz and Partners s.r.o.

From left: Mrs. Lucie Petráková, Jakub Vajner, Section Économique et Commerciale Assistent, Democratic Republic of Congo Embassy, Jan Machálek, PhD., Conseiller chargé de la section Économique et Commerciale, Democratic Republic of Congo Embassy, and Mr. Macháček

Milan Chmelař, Chairman of the Board, N.B.R and Janis Sidovský, Music Producer

From left: H.E. Ziauddin Mojadedi, Ambassador of Afghanistan and Fawad Nadri, President, Czech-Afghan Chamber of Commerce

Ing. Radomír Šimek, Managing Director, Rascom and Mgr. Romana Kokoška Pulchartová, Director, Ambassadors Concert Series

Mrs. Marta Gellová, and Benke Aikell, your Publisher

From left: Ing. Karel Dobeš, Ing. Michael Hrbata, MPA, Advisor for Defense Politics, PSP ČR with his wife, Mrs. Eleonora Tichá, and Mr.Luděk Tichý

17

diplomatic event

Vernes Čošabić, General Manager, Vexim with his partner

From left: Martin Dejdar, Actor, and Petr Brych, Director for Trade and Marketing, Ticket Art Praha

From left: Mrs. Vindušková, Mrs. Reková, and Mrs. Poseltová

From left: Dr. med. Basir Ahmed Osman and Farad Naderi, Afghan, German and Czech Trade Agency

From left: František Pazderka, SBS - Strategic Business Support, CETA with wife and son

Karolína Peake, Politician and Ing. Jaroslav Štefec, CSc., Specialist Adviser, Safety and Defence

JUDr. Lubomír Kvíčala, ret. Director of the Department of Protection of Constitutional Official Police of the CR with his wife

Photo: Archive


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networking/discussion event

Round Table of ComeniusdisCussion dinneR wiTh mR. andRej babiš, fiRsT depuTy pRime minisTeR & minisTeR of finanCe

From left: Pavel Sehnal, Chairman of the Board, SPGroup, Andrej Babiš, Minister of Finance, Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, Josef Švenda, General Director, Oracle Czech, and Josef Kotrba, Managing Partner, Deloitte

Jan Průcha, Chairman of the Board, Insight Home From left: Stanislav Stejskal, Deputy Chairman of the Board, Eltodo, Mona Sandescu, Chairman of the Board, Eltodo, and Jiří Chroustovský, Member of the Board, Klement

Soňa van Deelen, General Director, Union of Czech-Moravian Production Cooperatives and Dan Jiránek, Union of Towns and Municipalities

From left: Petr Hostek, Director, Hospital of Rudolf & Stefanie, Benešov and Jaroslav Ďuriš, General Director & Chairman of the Board, Dopravní podnik hl.m. Prahy

Barbora Havlíková & Patrik Jakeš, Pretol HB

Adriana Krnáčová, Mayor of the Capital City of Prague and H.E. Peter Weiss, Ambassador, Embassy of the Slovak Republic

From left: Jaroslav Ďuriš, General Director & Chairman of the Board, Dopravní podnik hl.m. Prahy, Pavel Surý, General Director, SŽDC, and Josef Bárta, Chairman of the Board, CZ Loko

The Round Table of Comenius with the Minister of Finance, Mr. Andrej Babiš, has attracted more than 100 high level business people. Welcome speech of the Minister has covered all the actual topics that were afterwards discussed by the participants.

ClaRion CongRess hoTel pRague, may 27, 2015


19


From left: Ivo Pěgřímek, General Director & Chairman of the Board, Severočeské doly and Jaromír Gajdáček, General Director & Chairman of the Board, Zdravotní pojišťovna Ministerstva vnitra ČR

From left: H.E. Otto Jelinek, Ambassador, Embassy of Canada, Andrej Babiš, First Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Finance, and Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius

From left: Ivo Pěgřímek, General Director & Chairman of the Board, Severočeské doly, Jaromír Gajdáček, General Director & Chairman of the Board, Zdravotní pojišťovna Ministerstva vnitra ČR, Josef Bárta, Chairman of the Board, CZ Loko, Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, and Pavel Švagr, Chairman, Administration of State Material Reserves

From left: Jan Oberman, Managing Director, Korado Consulting, Pavel Sehnal, Chairman of the Board, SPGroup, Dominika Haltmarová, Legal Counsel, SPGroup, and František Vaculík, Chairman of the Board, PSJ

From left: Martin Podzimek, Owner, Podzimek & Sons and Pavel Švagr, Chairman, Administration of State Material Reserves

From left: Jakub Strnad, Chairman of the Board, Allianz pojišťovna, Pavel Dvořáček, Chairman of the Board, Rudolf Jelínek, and Karel Pilčík, Chairman of the Board, MP Krásno

From left: Roman Bartuška, General Director, M.B.A. Finance, Ivan Hlaváček, Managing Director, InterCora, and Pavel Baštář, Executive Director, invelt - BMW

Rostislav Jirkal, President, Servodata

From left: Benke Aikell, your Publisher and Alessandro Pasquale, General Director, Karlovarské minerální vody

From left: Rut Bízková, Chairman, Technology Agency of the CR, Jiří Maceška, Vice President, Czech – Israeli Chamber of Commerce, Mona Sandescu, Chairman of the Board, Eltodo, Pavel Sehnal, Chairman of the Board, SPGroup, Andrej Babiš, Minister of Finance, and Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius

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Oveall look of the Round Table of Comenius

From left: Ondřej Horák, General Director & Chairman of the Board, Amista Investment Company, Martin Novák, Head of Financial Division & Deputy Chairman of the Board, ČEZ, Pavel Dvořáček, Chairman of the Board, Rudolf Jelínek, Gabriela ben Ahmed, Coowner, COT Media, Jaroslav Ďuriš, General Director & Chairman of the Board, Dopravní podnik hl.m. Prahy, and Pavel Surý, General Director, SŽDC

From left: Petr Formánek, Director of Sales, Megallan, Miroslav Bukva, Director, Clarion Congress Hotel Prague, and Daniel Vavřina, President, Health Care Institute

From left: Michal Sičák, General Director & Chairman of the Board, Derma Medical Clinic, and Milan Kubek, President, Czech Medical Chamber

From left: Karel Muzikář Jr., Managing Partner, Weil, Gothal & Manges, H.E. Otto Jelinek, Ambassador, Embassy of Canada, and Adriana Krnáčová, Mayor of the Capital City of Prague

From left: Jan Vančura, Coowner, Delor and Jakub Joska, Partner, Kořán & Fiřt Law Office

From left: Pavel Baštář, Executive Director, invelt – BMW, Antonín Machala, Director, Altech, Martin Lukš, Director, Xevos, Stanislav Beneš, General Director EMAE, Infram, Klára Sovová, Chairman of the Board, AEZZ, and Petr Hostek, Director, Hospital of Rudolf & Stefanie, Benešov

From left: Ivan Hlaváček, Managing Director, InterCora and Jan Oberman, Managing Director, Korado Consulting

Alessandro Pasquale, General Director, Karlovarské minerální vody

From left: Igor Vida, Chairman of the Board & General Director, Raiffeisenbank and Michal Štěrba, CEO, GZ Digital Media

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diplomatic event

The 92nd birThday of The founder of the modern state of azerbaijan heydar aliev

From left: Mr. Rashad Gafarov, Alexej Kolva, Mgr. Alena Machová, Director, Basic School Straškov-Vodochody and children from Basic School of Mšené and Straškov - Vodochody

From left: Rashad Gafarov, organizer of the event and Owner, Tern Transport & Trading CZ s.r.o. and H.E. Ahmet Necati Bigali, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to the Czech Republic

From left: Necmi Ugurlu, Chief Commercial Counsellor at Turkish Embassy in Prague, Suleyman Abay, Chairman of Turkish Czech Business Association, Rashad Gafarov, organizer of the event and Owner, Tern Transport & Trading CZ s.r.o., H.E. Ahmet Necati Bigali, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to the Czech Republic, and Zdeněk Beránek, Office of the President of the Czech Republic, foreign affairs department

Ing. Jan Mládek, CSc. Minister of Industry and Trade with his family

Atmosphere of the evening

Miss Anna Latsinnikova and Mr. Sergej Gerciju

From left: H.E. Farid Shafiyev, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Czech Republic, H.E. Souriya Otmani, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to the Czech Republic, and Rashad Gafarov, organizer of the event and Owner, Tern Transport & Trading CZ s.r.o.

From left: Rashad Gafarov, organizer of the event and Owner, Tern Transport & Trading CZ s.r.o., Vojtěch Filip, Vice-Chairman of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, and H.E. Farid Shafiyev, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Czech Republic

Welcome speech by H.E. Farid Shafiyev, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Czech Republic

First time ever, the Czech/ Azerbaijan companies were hosting on May 7th,2015 in Prague‘s National House of Vinohrady an opening night reception celebrating the 92nd birthday of the founder of the modern state of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliev, more than 200 guests attended an invitation-only event. 90 chil-dren from three different Czech schools were asked to prepare an art collage about culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan for that occasion. The celebratory evening featured the awards ceremony for the best kids art and a special exhibition of their work. Further into the evening, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra was joined by young dancers and by well- known stars of Azerbaijan music singers, both opera and folk genres. Tables of exotic different food, sweets and juice tastings were specially delivered directly from Azerbaijan for the reception.


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Round Table of Comenius disCussion dinneR wiTh Jan mládek, minisTeR of indusTRy and TRade

From left: Martin Chalupský, Head of PR & Press Services, RWE Czech, Milan Macholán, General Director & Chairman of the Board, PBSVB, Jan Mládek, Minister of Industry and Trade, and Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius

From left: Benke Aikell, your Publisher, Stanislav Novák, Vice President, Comenius, Petr Pečený, Partner, AK Pečený, Fučík, Langer, and Albín Sybera Jr., Director of Strategy, IMOS Group

From left: Milan Macholán, General Director & Chairman of the Board, PBSVB and Karel Jelínek, General Director, PBS Energo

Iveta Hrabánková, Director of Special Projects, Vodafone and Bohuslav Cempírek, General Director & Chairman of the Board, ICZ

From left: Zbyněk Osner, Chairman, Employers‘ Association of Mining and Oil Industry, Ivo Pěgřímek, General Director, North Bohemian Mines, Vladimír Budinský, CFO, North Bohemian Mines, Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, and Rostislav Dvořák, President, Czech-Moravian Confederation of Production Cooperatives

Bohdan Wojnar, Member of the Board, Škoda Auto

The Round Table of Comenius with the Minister of Industry and Trade, Mr. Jan Mládek, was the first discussion dinner of the year 2015. With over 60 high level business people it was very lively and fruitful atmosphere.

networking/discussion eventPhoto: Archive

ToP hoTel PRaha, ToP CongRess hall maRCh 25, 2015


22

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From left: Radek Šenk, Advisor to the Board, Purum Kraft and Daniel Kraft, Chairman of the Board, Purum Kraft

From left: Jan Wiesner, Chairman, Confederation of Employers and Business Associations, Zbyněk Osner, Chairman, Employers‘ Association of Mining and Oil Industry, and Ivo Pěgřímek, General Director, North Bohemian Mines

From left: Karel Muzikář Jr., Managing Partner, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Ivo Hlaváč, Member of the Board & Director of Division, ČEZ, Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, and Ivo Pěgřímek, General Director, North Bohemian Mines

From left: Milan Macholán, General Director & Chairman of the Board, PBSVB, Jan Mládek, Minister of Industry and Trade, Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, and Ivo Hlaváč, Member of the Board & Director of Division, ČEZ

From left: Petr Pečený, Partner, AK Pečený, Fučík, Langer and Michal Donath, General Director, Donath Business & Media Miroslav Bartoš, Director, API CZ asking a question

Eduard Kučera, Chairman of the Board, AVAST Software

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24

diplomatic event

H. E. Alison Kelly, Ambassador of Ireland to theCzech Republic and Tomáš Prouza, State Secretary for European Affairs

From left: H. E. Alison Kelly, Ambassador of Ireland to the Czech Republic and H.E. Jan Thompson, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the Czech Republic

From left: H.E. Alison Kelly, Ambassador of Ireland to the Czech Republic and Marek Eben, Actor

H. E. Alison Kelly, Ambassador of Ireland to the Czech Republic and Karel Schwarzenberg, Chairman, TOP 09

From left: H.E. Christian Hoppe, Ambassador of Denmark to the Czech Republic, Tamar Newberger, H. E. Alison Kelly, Ambassador of Ireland to the Czech Republic, and H.E. Andrew H. Schapiro, Ambassador of the United States to the Czech Republic

Photo: Archive

St Patrick’s Day 2015On St Patrick’s Day, 17 March 2015, H.E. Alison Kelly hosted a reception in the Mayor’s Residence, Mariánské nám., Prague 1 with the kind support of Mayor Adriana Krnáčová, who had also facilitated the greening of the Petřín Tower for the occasion of the Irish National Day. The event was attended by members of the Government and Czech administration and the diplomatic community as well as many prominent members of the Czech-Irish business and cultural community.


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diplomatic event

From left: H. E. Alison Kelly, Ambassador of Ireland to the Czech Republic and H.E. Ed W.V.M. Hoeks, Ambassador of the Netherlands to the Czech Republic with his wife Odilia E.M. de Ranitz, President, DSA

From left: H. E. Alison Kelly, Ambassador of Ireland to the Czech Republic, Mrs. Jessica Boone, Guy Roberts, Prague Shakespeare Company, and H.E. Jan Thompson, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the Czech Republic

From left: H. E. Alison Kelly, Ambassador of Ireland to the Czech Republic and Adriana Krnáčová, Mayor of Prague

From left: H. E. Alison Kelly, Ambassador of Ireland to the Czech Republic and Adriana Krnáčová, Mayor of Prague

From left: Ladislav Müller, Director, Enterprise Ireland, H.E. Alison Kelly, Ambassador of Ireland to the Czech Republic, and Michaela Marksová – Tominová, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs

From left: Gabriela Balabánová, H. E. Alison Kelly, Ambassador of Ireland to the Czech Republic and Miloš Balabán, Head of the Center for Security Policy

From left: H.E. Alison Kelly, Ambassador of Ireland to the Czech Republic, Marek Eben, Actor, Ladislav Müller, Director, Enterprise Ireland, and Michaela Mairichová, Irish Embassy

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networking/charity

Lions CLub Prague bohemia ambassador

From left: Ing. Antonín Míka, Director, Foreign Trade Company «LAMMEX ltd.» and President, LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador, Ing. Tomáš Spurný, Economist, Manager, the State Office for Nuclear Safety, P. Mgr. Milan Norbert Badal OP, Prague Archbishopric, Director of External Relations Department, Mgr. Josef Nerušil, Prague Archbishopric, External Relations Department, and Ing. František Novotný, President, Associations SDSS and APST and Secretary, LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador

From left: Petr Laštovka, Entrepreneur, Ing. Jiří Málek, Entrepreneur and former President, LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador, Ing. Vladimír Staňura MBA, Chairman of the Board, Českomoravská stavební spořitelna, Ing.František Novotný, President, Associations SDSS and APST and Secretary, LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador, and Ing. Antonín Míka, Director, Foreign Trade Company «LAMMEX Ltd.» and President, LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador

From left: JUDr. Vojtěch Trapl, Lawyer and former Governor, LCI D122 Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra, Lawyer, Charter President, LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador and former Governor, LCI D122 Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, and Oldřich Hořák, Owner, Hotel Bílá Růže in Poděbrady, Entrepreneur

From left: Ing. Vladimír Staňura MBA, Chairman of the Board, Českomoravská stavební spořitelna and guest speaker and Petr Laštovka, Entrepreneur

Ing. Vladimír Staňura MBA, Chairman of the Board, Českomoravská stavební spořitelna

From left: JUDr. Vojtěch Trapl, Lawyer and former Governor, LCI D122 Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, Mgr. Josef Nerušil, Prague Archbishopric, External Relations Department, and P. Mgr. Milan Norbert Badal OP, Prague Archbishopric, Director of External Relations Department

Guest of Honor: Ing. Vladimír Staňura, MBA, Chairman of the Board, Českomoravská stavební spořitelnaTopic: Development of the banking sector in the Czech Republic after 1990


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networking/charity

Lions CLub Prague bohemia ambassador

From left: Ing. František Novotný, President, Associations SDSS and APST and Secretary, LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador, Antonín Felix Slováček, Conductor and Composer, Ing. Antonín Míka, Director, Foreign Trade Company „LAMMEX Ltd.“ and President, LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador, and Ing. Jaromír Kalfus, Entrepreneur

From left: Ing. František Novotný, President, Associations SDSS and APST, Secretary LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador and Ing. Antonín Míka, Director, Foreign Trade Company „LAMMEX LTD.“, President LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador starting the session

Ing. Dana Drábová Ph.D., Chairwoman, The State Office for Nuclear Safety and guest speaker

PhDr. Martin Komárek, Member of Parliament of the Czech Republic, ANO party, Journalist

From left: Mgr. Jan Haur, IS Administrator and JUDr. Jaroslav Novotný, Lawyer, Membership Chairperson, LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador, Chief Editor of Magazine "Český a Slovenský Lion“

From right: JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra, Lawyer, Charterpresident, LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador and former Governor, LCI D122 Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, and P. Mgr. Milan Norbert Badal OP, Prague Archbishopric, Director of External Relations Department

Guest of Honor: Ing. Dana Drábová, PhD., Chairwoman, The State Office for Nuclear SafetyTopic: Energy policy of the Czech Republic and related safety issues


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conference

Zlatá Koruna Forum Vision BanKing

Pavel Doležal, Director, Zlatá koruna

From left: Karel Bureš, Chairman of the Board, General Director, Czech Export Bank, Petr Teplý, Researcher, VŠE, and Natália Rektorysová, Sudent, VŠE

Aleš Michl, Portfolio Strategist, Raiffeisenbank

Jan Lamser, Partner, Redeggs

Jiří Kunert, Chairman of the Board and General Director, Unicredit Bank

With the participation of Miroslav Singer, Governor of the Czech National Bank and Martin Pros, Deputy Minister of Finance, Zlatá Koruna Forum took place at the TOP Hotel Praha with a special topic of Vision Banking. The Forum was opened by Pavel Doležal, director of Zlatá Koruna, who pointed out that in the next five or ten years we will see major changes in the banking sector. „Everything we do will be the starting line for the younger generation, generation Y,“ he said. In collaboration with the University of Economics in Prague Zlatá koruna prepared a contest „Bank 2025 – what should it look like?“. The winning team of the competition presented the bank of the future from the perspective of the young generation during the Forum.


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conference

Martin Pros, Deputy Minister of Finance

Paweł Kucharski, General Director, mBank

Eva Zamrazilová, Chief Economist, Czech Banking Association

Jan Mühlfeit, Vice President, Czech Management Association

Miroslav Singer, Governor of the Czech National Bank

Karel Mourek, Member of the Board, Česká spořitelna

Jana Bobošíková, General Director, BCM, a.s. and Pavel Doležal, Director, Zlatá koruna

Michal Mejstřík, Professor of Economy, IES FSV UK

Jan Mühlfeit, Vice President, Czech Management Association during an interview

Audience

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gala party

Anglo-AmericAn University‘s 25th AnniversAry celebrAtion

From left: H.E. Andrew H. Schapiro, Ambassador of the United States to the Czech Republic, shaking hands with Assoc. Prof. Alan Krautstengl, Ph.D., AAU President

From right: Assoc. Prof. Alan Krautstengl, Ph.D., AAU President, H.E. Andrew H. Schapiro, Ambassador of the United States to the Czech Republic, and Robert Carey, esteemed guest and supporter of the John H. Carey II. School of Law

Jansen Raichl, AAU Founder

Main press conference speakers: Assoc. Prof. Alan Krautstengl, Ph.D., AAU President, one of the AAU Founders, JUDr. Lenka Deverová, and Petr Jan Pajas, Chairman of the AAU Board of Trustees

Jan Krejčí, MBA, Deputy Mayor of Prague 1, talking to the press

Prominent guests at AAU’s 25th Anniversary Celebration, from the left in front: H.E. Andrew H. Schapiro, Ambassador of the United States to the Czech Republic, Assoc. Prof. Alan Krautstengl, Ph.D., AAU President, and Ludie Henley, who arrived with her husband, General David C. Henley, as representatives of Chapman University

The year 2015 marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of Anglo-American University (AAU). On Wednesday, April 29th, AAU celebrated a number of significant events at its new campus: the official opening of the premises which is located in the magnificently restored Thurn-Taxis Palace, its 25 year com-memoration, and, most importantly, the institution’s recognition as a Candidate for Accreditation by the WASC Senior College and University Commis-sion that provides institutional accreditation to universities like Stanford, Caltech, Berkeley, Chapman and others. Anglo-American University is the first and only non-U.S. foreign academic institution to be formally affiliated with WASC, a position that holds great significance. Before the start of the party, a press conference regarding the significant developments at AAU was held in one of the most beautiful classrooms on the new campus. Guests later congre-gated in the courtyard of the Thurn-Taxis Palace to enjoy the afternoon’s ambience contributed to by the Sedláček Quartet and a barbecue buffet courtesy of Zátiší Catering. The guest of honor, U.S. Ambassador Andrew Schapiro, was a main speaker as was one of the institution’s founders, Jansen Raichl. Distinguished guest from Chapman University, General David C. Henley and Deputy Mayor of Prague 1, Jan Krejčí, also spoke at the event. AAU invited many friends and prominent guests to the event. In total, approximately 250 invitees came to offer their words of optimism for the future.

Photo by Anna Němcová, Tomáš Vitásek, Lancelot Purdue


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gala party

Anglo-AmericAn University‘s 25th AnniversAry celebrAtion

Roger Kachlík, Chairman of the AAU Supervisory Board and David C. Henley, Member of the Board of Trustees of Chapman University

Hearty buffet at the AAU 25th Anniversary Celebration

The Sedláček Quartet playing in AAU’s courtyard

Press Conference with AAU President, Assoc. Prof. Alan Krautstengl, Ph.D., one of the AAU Founders, JUDr. Lenka Deverová, and the Chairman of the AAU Board of Trustees, Ing. Petr Jan Pajas

Guests mingling in the courtyard at AAU’s 25th Anniversary Celebration

School of International Relations and Diplomacy students, faculty, and staff

Guests at AAU’s 25th Anniversary Celebration

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conference From left: Roman Knap, General Director, SAP CR and Franck Cohen, President, SAP EMEA in an analyzing discussion

From left: Tomislav Sokolić, Sales Director, SAP and Ondřej Dvořák, ČEZ ICT Services, a.s.

From left: Karel Hodík, Services Account Manager, SAP and Michael Pavlík, SAP

From left: Ing. Miroslav Svoboda, Public Sector and Healthcare Sales Manager, ATOS and MUDr. Pavel Zubina, Senior Consultant for EHealth

Eva Dudová, Senior Communication Specialist, SAP and Ing. Martin Havlíček, Division Director, Information Technology Development, Ministry of Agriculture

From left: Erik Elmer, Business Director, amden s.r.o., Petr Bříza, Managing Director, Versino CZ, s.r.o., Florian Decker, COO Central and Eastern Europe, SAP, and Michal Košťál, Account Manager, SAP CR, s.r.o.

SAP FORUM 2015

Photo: Archive


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conference

From left: Daniel Frémund, Head of Sales, Sabris, s.r.o., Petra Kratochvílová, Head of Delivery, Sabris, s.r.o., Vladimír Sýkora, CEO, Sabris, s.r.o., and Aleš Ogoun, SAP

Roman Mandelik, CR Inside Sales, SAP and Klára Čamrová, SAP

Jiří Přibyslavský, Business Consultant, SAP in his speech SAP in Sports

Mrs. Lenka Seibertová, and Pascal Strnad, MBA, Head of LoB-Cloud CEE, SAP ČR, s.r.o.

Lucie Kalinová, SAP, and Aleš Ogoun, SAPFrom left: Peter Demuth, Atos company employees and Vlad Stanescu, SAP

Prof. MUDr. Jan Pirk, Head of Clinic, IKEM in his speech How New Technologies Change Life Around Us

From left: Stano Šimůnek, CEE Ecosystem and Channels Head, SAP and Daniel Frémund, Head of Sales, Sabris, s.r.o.

From left: Ondřej Lukáš, SAP, Tina Vidergar, Integrated Communication Central Eastern Europe, SAP, and Vlad Stanescu, Business Development Manager, SAP Mobile Solutions

Franck Cohen, President, SAP EMEA during his opening speech

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conference

From left: Pedro Gomez, Managing Director, KCT Data, s.r.o. and Mgr. Stanislav Schmied, Information Technology Director, Pražská Teplárenská

Mrs. Bronislava Fridrichová, and Michal Froněk, Senior Account Manager, SAP

Zuzana Plzenská, Marketing Manager, Sabris, s.r.o. and Daniel Frémund, Head of Sales, Sabris, s.r.o.

Vladimír Dlouhý, P r e s i d e n t , Czech Chamber of Commerce in his speech The Future of the Czech Economy

From left: Andrej Milec, Penam a.s., Ing. Ján Kurta, Division Manager, SAP, and Vladimír Moravec, Novasoft a.s.

From left: Jiří Novák, Škoda Auto, a.s. and Peter Demuth, Atos

From left: Juraj Polerecký, CEE Headof Marketing, SAP and Ondřej Vintr,Sales, Invelt s.r.o., BMW

Jan Procházka, Senior Video Trainer, Czech Association of the Ice Hockey in his speech Increasing the Efficiency of the Teams

From left: Simon Kaluža, Managing Director, SAP CEE and Martin Helikar, Director, SAP Field Services

Martin Zikmund, Business Consultant, SAP in the Health Care system

Hana Součková, Head of Business Consultants, SAP in her speech SAP in the Economy

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charity event

DIPLOMATIC SPOUSES ASSOCIATION ChArITy AwArding Ceremony

Opening concert

From left: Leata Jelinek, Aleksandra Stojceska, and Ulker Shafiyeva, DSA

Paul Hermans, Treasurer, DSA with flowers for Tamar Newberger, wife of H.E. Andrew Schapiro, Ambassador of the United States

H.E. Andrew Schapiro, Ambassador of the United States welcomes representatives of the Czech nonprofit organisations at his residence

Hynek Kmoníček, Advisor to the President of the Czech Republic has expressed his gratitude to the members of DSA for their tireless effort to help

From left: Markéta Stránská, Founder, The Foundation for Premature Children and Their Families, Odilia de Ranitz, President, DSA, Lenka Hrabovská, Executive Director, The foundation for premature children, Tamar Newberger, wife of H.E. Andrew Schapiro, Ambassador of the United States, and Hana Píšová, Founder, The foundation for premature children

American Ambassador H.E. Andrew Shapiro and his wife Mrs. Tamar Newberger opened their residence to guests from 28 Czech charities, diplomats from 50 countries and sponsors. Charities received proceeds of the annual International Christmas festival, almost 2.5mil CZK.



interview

Enter the Digital World

SAP is a multinational software corporation covering 25 industries, from very small companies to the largest companies in the world. SAP also cooperates with governments. “The public sector has a lot of responsibility to develop the right digital platform for the country,” says Franck Cohen. An interview with

Franck Cohen, President of SAP Europe, Middle

East & Africa

Photo: Archive


interview

Dear Mr. President, the last SAP Forum in Prague was such a huge event. Does this event take place periodically?

Yes, we hold this event every year, in every capital of Europe. The idea is that our customers don‘t have to travel. We bring news to them. We present the innovations from the last 12 months to them.

You are SAP’s President of Europe, Middle East & Africa. We are in Czech Republic, a rather small country.

Every country counts.

What are your ambitions for the Czech market?Generally speaking, the idea is to develop our

presence in each and every country. There is no point for us to neglect a country, or say that we will only focus on Germany or France. By definition, our business is truly global. Even the customers in Germany, France and Great Britain have subsidiaries in Central Europe, in the Czech Republic. They expect us to support them wherever they are. The proximity is still important. You cannot just say I‘ll manage everything from one call center. You have to be closer to customers. You have to go and visit them, listen and see what is happening in the company.

So IT is the same as any other business.Yes, of course.

Which key trends in IT can you see? When we speak with executives in Europe, they all

understand that the digital transformation is a major business priority for them. They don’t talk about IT or technology. They just say: We understand that we have to move to the digital world and digitize our processes.

Why?The reason is they realize that they should take

advantages of available technologies. Otherwise they don’t know what the people on social media are saying about their brand. They have no idea. And if you have no idea, how can you adjust, react or correct things? In the past it was very easy. All the information was plugged into the company’s system. So you were able to manage and control everything.

Today all the information is everywhere…Yes. The information is on social networks,

IN COOPERATION WITH CzECH LEADERS

Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. The information is also in sensors - connected cars, health equipment. The question is: Will we ignore all of that, and continue to do business as we did 20 years ago, or will we try to take advantage of modern trends?

And what is the advantage you see?

It is the collection and analysis of data and information, which can teach us more about our customers. We can know more about what they want and like. At this moment we see that we can adjust our products or

services according to data. We can also personalize the services we offer to users. Today nobody wants to be treated like one out of a thousand. If I go to the store and buy something from you and the day after I go to your online e-commerce platform, I expect you to know what I purchased yesterday. If there is a promotion that goes with it, I may make another purchase. On the other hand, if I have to call you to explain what I bought yesterday, I will not be very impressed.

Are the IT and online segments still growing dynamically?

They are. People are moving from selling products to selling services online. It’s a fundamental transformation. They’ve even invented a saying for it: service the product. So the product is becoming the service. And the moment you do that, you change the game. For example, Rolls Royce is not selling engines anymore to any airline companies. They are selling uptime fizz for their engines. They give you an engine, completely free, and you pay them based on the number of hours that the engine is used in flight. The service agreement will cover the engine, leasing, and maintenance of the engine. Everything is covered for one price.

What is the advantage for the company?The companies only pay the necessary costs. They

don’t have to spend millions of dollars to buy new engines. They are not buying a product anymore. They buy a service.

What exactly is your product HANA?HANA is nothing other than a new platform to

allow you to move to a digital transformation. Today, companies need to explore more data more rapidly. The idea is to collect data from all types of sources – social networks, sensors, local geographic areas – and based on all of that, companies can make decisions. A quick analysis of data may predict the next trend, and a company can subsequently make a decision. The current platform cannot do this.

Why?They don’t know how to manage different types of

data. They don’t understand social networks, or the sensors in your machine. Our HANA platform is the new platform that will allow you to enter the digital world.

Is HANA also available for smaller industries?The way we charge is by a percentage of your

maintenance fee. If you have a small installation or footprint, you only pay a small fee for HANA. This way we make it available and accessible for small companies. We are selling SAP digital access to HANA for 500 US Dollars. We don’t sell HANA as a product anymore; we sell HANA as a service. You don’t have to buy anything. You just pay for the service and subscription every month based on utilization of the HANA platform.

What are the concrete advantages of S/4 HANA? It’s very simple. If you ask SAP to operate the HANA

system for you, you have a station like an iPad or laptop connected to our data center. You enter with a password and you run a complete application. The speed that you get when you ask for your query, or when you launch a report, is the speed of our HANA platform on our data servers. You have zero equipment to buy, zero infrastructures and zero IT costs in terms of administrating people. And you still have access to the latest technology of SAP.

“The cloud” is one of the today’s biggest buzz-words…

This is going to happen in the Czech Republic as it is happening in the rest of the world.

Why is that so unavoidable? The promises of the cloud are too important to be

neglected by any particular country. It is not only about the cost, or moving from capital expenses to operating expenses. You don’t have to buy software anymore. The cloud by definition is a service. We’ve come back to what I was saying before - you don’t buy software anymore, you buy services. Cloud services include everything. The maintenance, support, helpdesk…

Why is it working so well?The cloud is simple. You don’t apply cloud solutions

over years. You do that in weeks. You don’t need a long educational process to learn about the cloud, because it is intuitive, like an iPad. It’s easy to use, apply, and maintain. There is no doubt it is going to happen in the Czech Republic. This is why SAP decided to promote concept cloud computing. I think it’s good for companies.

What about security?Very recently SAP participated in multiple activities

at the European Committee level to define the rules for safe cloud computing in the EU. A few weeks ago Brussels published the new white page “Digital Europe”, where they try to describe some rules of the game. Data privacy in Europe has a different meaning than in the US. It is good for Europe to have their own rules of the game for cloud computing. We are a European company, so we understand what data privacy means. I’d like to mention privacy and security. Cloud computing is great, but it is more risky when you have everything in one place. So you have to have a great level of security. For 42 years SAP has protected a Mission Critical application. We try to use our best practices and protect the data of our customers. We implement this for cloud computing as well. Our customers can be sure that we are using the


interviewsame techniques and principles, and actually even more so, because of the cloud’s nature as a database. In addition to that we respect the concept of data privacy. We have many customers in Europe who are telling us: We are ok with your cloud solution, but we don’t want the data center to be in the US. We want the data center to be in Europe. We don’t want people outside Europe to operate your system, we want it to be under European jurisdiction and laws.

European laws are very protective. Do you like this about them?

The nature of the Internet is that it is free and open. We should not stop that. It would be ridiculous to try to regulate what is happening on the Internet. The word Internet by definition means freedom of speech and communication. At the same time we need to protect the private lives of the people. We cannot accept that data would be used for merchandising purposes, or other purposes, by any government without allowing the citizens to control what is done with their data. We try to do both. We try to protect the freedom of the Internet as a global platform, and we should not regulate it too much. With wide protections of the data privacy of individuals, SAP cloud and data centers in Europe are operated by European citizens.

Why should governments cooperate with IT companies? Is it different in Europe?

Most countries continue to develop their own bespoke applications. They spend a lot of money, with a very high failure rate. 50 percent of IT projects never go live in Europe. They waste money.

Why is that?It’s very risky. When you start from the white page

and want to build a new application, it’s much more complicated than using the best practices that SAP suggests. We have many examples of people spending hundreds of millions to develop their own payroll or their own budgeting system. Using SAP’s system would save time and costs and still do it better. Citizens do not want to spend their income taxes on developing systems from scratch. They prefer standard packages that can do the job at much lower costs.

What about IT spending from the government?

If you look at a typical 100 Euro budget, 20 Euros are spent on hardware and infrastructure, 70 Euros on services (consultants & developers), and only 10 Euros are spent on standard solutions. It is in the interest of the country and the citizens to reduce the costs of hardware by using the cloud, and by combining resources for multiple customers. I also believe that we can reduce the amount of services needed by using more standard packages. This would lead to a typical budget of 10 or 15 Euros for hardware, maybe 30 or 40 Euros for services, and 30 or 40 Euros on start-up packages.

How many states in the EU run their agendas on SAP? Can you give us some examples?

We work with every single government in Europe. In Czech Republic you have multiple ministries that are using SAP solutions. We have healthcare companies and universities, and yet we are still only scratching

the surface. There are many more customized applications that everyone could benefit from.

Why is that so unique?When you pay the maintenance fee every year

for an SAP platform, you are one out of hundreds of customers paying this fee. We combine these financial resources and we develop for everyone at once. Everybody can benefit from that. When you have your own application for the ministry of justice, and you have to maintain this application every year, you are the only one paying the fee. The whole cost of maintaining the same scope is paid by one company. That’s makes the costs much higher. The public sector has a lot of responsibility to develop the right digital platform for the country. To be able to move to the digital world, you have to have a Wi-Fi Internet connection for the whole country. You need to promote IT spending in I-TEC. I believe that if companies would subsidize access to the best possible IT system, companies would grow faster. It would give them access to the global economy.

Back to SAP’s HANA platform. SAP announced cooperation with the Czech Ice-Hockey Association before this year´s IIHF World Championship. The Czech national team is using a solution based on this platform. Why sports?

The whole idea started in the US. People in the US are crazy about statistics in sports. We started by providing big data capabilities using HANA. We now have more data available for the fans and also for the teams. We are working with the NHL, NFL and NBA. If you go to any of those websites and you check statistics, and you can compare players with the players who played 20 years ago. You can do whatever you want. You can create your own metrics that you want to follow on the Internet as a fan. The players are also very interested. Take the German football team at the World Cup. Every single player had a 45 minute

briefing on the characteristics and the statistics of his direct opponent before every single match. We do that now with golf and tennis.

So the IIHF World Championship is not the first time SAP’s HANA will be used in sports…

No. We have created a whole new industry group called Sports, Entertainment and Media. We have several companies as clients. One of them is doing ticketing for Bayern Munich. Another big team from Great Britain is taking the whole package.

Is there any industry you’re not involved with?We cover 25 industries, everything from very

small companies to the largest companies in the world. If you take the car industry, every factory in the world is using SAP. If you take life science, the top 20 companies are using SAP. Of course, there are industries in which our footprint is lower. Take for instance financial services. Lots of banks are using our back office system. Not many banks are using our core banking applications. Another big industry is TELCO. I should also mention retail.

What is SAP HANA?SAP HANA is an in-memory data and application

platform that makes real-time business a reality. With it, you can simplify Big Data analytics and applications on a single platform with one data copy. The new SAP Business Suite for HANA (S/4 HANA) is a business suite of applications designed to run simple in a digital and connected world. Built on the advanced in-memory platform, SAP HANA® is designed for the most modern user experience, SAP Fiori®.

By Jaroslav Kramer ■



39

analysis

After many idle years, making Czechia one of the least engaged countries in Europe and beyond, public-private partnerships (PPP) seem to appear again on the Czech scene. The first news came when Minister of Transport Dan Ťok returned from the visit to South Korea in February 2014 with an idea to invite Korean investors to building high-speed railway lines that could begin being constructed not later than five years from now as well as to the construction of the rail link from the centre of Prague to the Václav Havel International Airport. Recently, the Minister announced that PPP method is to be used for the completion of R4 and R7 expressways.

PPP projects in the Czech Republic are no way a success story. The ideas that initiated the projects in the past were much more outcries trying to boost political PR than thoroughly reasoned intentions or even parts of a general strategy. So it happened that this or that PPP project was officially declared, but ill-conceived and in view of rising troubles usually cancelled in the end. Such projects failed just underway, like those of D47 motorway in the Moravian-Silesian Region, D3/R3 motorway from Tábor Town to the south of Bohemia, D1 motorway reconstruction or the Prague Military Hospital Concession. Only some municipal projects were established, mostly in waterworks and sewage management.

The Czech political elites were not too eager to pursue the PPP model. The opinion was often heard why to adopt such an overcomplicated system when a classical public procurement could work much more swiftly while all involved parties were satisfied. Not always the taxpayer, as efficiency did not matter too much in this paradigm and final prices of projects used typically to hover well above the originally intended level.

The growing political disfavour could not leave intact the structures oriented at consulting and assisting PPP projects. PPP expert teams were gradually being dissolved. In January 2012, the Ministry of Finance stopped activities of its PPP Centre subsidiary engaged in methodology and assistance to public bodies, and subsequently, in November 2012, the former Czech PPP Association extended its activities to general support of infrastructure construction, changing its name to the Association for the Development of Infrastructure (Asociace pro rozvoj infrastruktury). This outcome was very similar to that in Austria – but the Austrian state


reached to such measures after accomplishing more working PPP projects.

But even if the intention to bring back PPP projects endures, there can be no return to the original systems and structures. The world of PPP projects changed during the past financial crisis, refined its procedures and gained new experience. So it is not only about how to put the old teams together – this might not be too complicated itself, especially with internationally based banks and large consultancies. What would be much more difficult is to prepare public administrators (state ones in particular) for new tasks and let them gain abilities connected with the assignment and management of PPP projects that were not required for years. It can be attained only by organizing numerous in-depth courses and seminars and reconstituting forgotten relations to foreign partners for an experience exchange. This needs re-establishing once rejected structures in a new shape. And what is more, it will be necessary to overcome deeply-rooted disbelief and scepticism towards PPP projects that has infected a considerable part of Government’s officials.

The main recent impetus to use PPP projects is certainly not to bridge a lack of funds, as the country has troubles even with disbursal of EU funds allotted during the last EU programming period. After all, it is generally known that private funds are more expensive than public ones. The main contribution of the PPP method consists in the possibility to ensure construction within a preset term or even shorter, strict keeping of the budget and a remarkable degree of higher quality and reliability, and the use of progressive technologies, which have not been too favoured by domestic project and construction companies. Such knowledge should lead to a preference of Design-Build (DB) and Design-Build-Operate (DBO) models.

A stumbling block exists also in the way how the future PPP projects should be selected. A clear-cut strategy is needed before entering this new field. Not any investment project is

suitable for a PPP method. Selection criteria are to be elaborated. One of main factors, but not unique, may be if EU funds cannot be used. High quality and state-of-the-art technology are much more important. This concerns in particular the presumed new road toll system, or, e.g., the Václav Havel International Airport rail link, where an insufficient track capacity and a substandard customer strategy have still been pushed through. At this initial moment, much is to be considered by state administration to write a success story on PPP at last.

Emanuel Šíp ■ Partner, Allied Progress Consultants

Association

CzeCh publiC -private partnerships again?


40

reflectionsPhoto: Archive

The CzeCh RepubliC:Cross roads for Growth

Mr. Chang has lived in Czech Republic since 2000 when he established the European Operations of Foxconn. He retired in 2012 from his position as EVP of Hon Hai and MD of FoxconnCzech. Over the course of his long and successful career he has been responsible for the international operations of many multinational companies. He has lived and worked in Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Czech Republic, and the United States building up operations in these regions.

Although he enjoyed his time in all the countries he has lived and worked in, Mr. Chang considers his time in the Czech Republic and Europe the highlight of his professional life.

41

reflections


On multiple levels I believe the Czech Republic is once again poised to be a magnet for corporations who wish to conduct business in this region. Geographically the Czech Republic holds an almost unique position in the center of Europe. Economically the Czech Republic is one of the more prosperous and stable post-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Politically it benefits from a relatively more mature and stable system of democracy and is rather commercially friendly.

For hundreds of years the Czech Republic has been at the center of some of the world’s most significant trade routes including the famous Amber Road and the Silk Road. Today a strong transportation infrastructure including road, rail and air travel continues to facilitate global trade. The Czech Republic can be a hub to service various markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia. It can also be a gateway for business in flows to and from the East and West.

Back in the late 1990s when I was looking for a location to open the European Head Quarters for Foxconn, I chose the Czech


Republic. After diligent research the business was launched in 2000. Reasons included the strategic geographic location, being the leading industrial and commercial country in Central Europe, and a well-educated and competitive workforce. My confidence was confirmed, as Foxconn became one of the largest high tech manufacturing companies in Europe, increasing the visibility and attraction of the Czech Republic to all global high tech companies. The city of Pardubice became a very recognized name in Silicon Valley.

So, what about the Czech Republic now? While low labor and manufacturing costs is no longer the driver of inward investments, its strategic location combined with economic and political stability will continue to make the country an attractive place for foreign investments. It is also worth noting that the Czech Republic provides proximity to the markets of other troubled regions and countries without the risks associated with a direct investment. This is particularly true as you look north and east from the Czech Republic. Many countries are facing very difficult times both economically and politically.

However these countries will, at some point, recover and the Czech Republic must be vigilant and react quickly when this recovery begins.

I also believe that the Czech Republic can play an important role in the various land bridges that are being developed between Asia and Europe. I first discussed this strategic railroad plan with my key customers in 2007 right outside of Saint Petersburg. A land bridge has already been established several years ago that has shortened the distance between Asia and Europe to a little over 2 weeks. There are two additional routes planned which could further shorten the distance to less than two weeks. It provides the corporations an affordable alternative to long sea shipping routes (about 40 to 45 days from Asia to Central Europe).

There is basic infrastructure in existence, so the Czech Republic can be a distribution hub for goods coming through Central Europe by rails, just like Rotterdam for the sea routes. Its quite developed communication structure further enhances. Its strategic importance in connecting with different parts in the region as a hub for service flows.

Certainly the Czech Republic has the natural beauty that can easily be very attractive to professionals from all over the world to making it a talent hub to cultivate management teams for various regional market needs.

If I had my time again I would still chose the Czech Republic as my ideal location to develop business activities in the surrounding markets. My hope is that the Czech Republic continues to make the investments and improve policies that will encourage other businesses to see the Czech Republic as central to their plans for growth in the next 5 to 10 years.

There is no question that the Czech Republic is in the right place and in the right time, and should be the choice for any global corporation that is planning to grow their business in the regions and countries highlighted in this article.

By Jim Chang

From left: Maureen Chang, Prague Freedom Foundation, Jim Chang, Member of the Board of Directors, Prague Freedom Foundation, Jasim Husain, former Member of Parliament, Bahrain, Nada Dhaif, Chairman, Bahrain Rehabilitation and Anti-Violence Organization, Bahrain, and Jakub Klepal, Forum 2000

From left: Jim Chang, Member of the Board of Directors, Prague Freedom Foundation, Maureen Chang, Prague Freedom Foundation, and Aung San Suu Kyi, Political Leader, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Member of the Forum 2000 International Advisory Board


42

interview

“I Founded a Company to Help Disabled People Integrate into Society.”

In April 1992, a small company was founded in a garage, specializing in barrier-free solutions. This relates to the design, production, and sale of compensation and rehabilitative tools for immobile persons. Today, ALTECH Company is among the best in Europe in this field. They cooperated with the Olympics and Paralympics in Sochi, and they plan to develop their business even further.

An interview with Antonín

Machala, Managing Director of ALTECH

Photo: Archive



interviewDear Mr. Machala, is it true that the story of

ALTECH began in the aviation industry? Yes, for almost 10 years I worked for a company called

LET Kunovice, in the field of development construction. After 1989, with changes in the market, aviation experienced a crisis which caused a substantial decrease of employment in the region. At the time I was already helping wheelchair users to repair their Alu-wheelchairs. Suddenly I discovered something that society had not given much attention - the integration of disabled people into society.

Not only were disabled people neglected in society, but in the consumer markets…

In the consumer market, assistance was almost non-existent. Therefore I founded a company in my garage which focused on the production of parts for stairmates. Later, we made products like ramps, platforms for stairs, and later, parts for aviation followed.

But you did not stay in a garage.As the volume of our production increased, it of course

became necessary to move production to bigger spaces, as well as closer to our growing workforce in Uherské Hradiště. Gradually the aviation business decreased, and after introducing our own products to the market, production for disabled persons began to rapidly increase.

Today, you are the biggest Czech producer of stair platforms. What is your greatest milestone?

The most important milestone in the evolution of the company was the cooperation with our Austrian partner. It was Austria which represented our first foreign market and enabled further growth of the company, introducing newer markets for our products.

What was so revolutionary about that cooperation?I guess it was the honoring of oral agreements.

Many people associate platforms with wheelchair users. However, there are other important users. Who are they?

Our products are useful for all types of people who suffer a lack of mobility, including seniors. However, physical disability is diverse and very specific to the


individual. Therefore, it is always necessary to discuss an individually tailored product with each client. Since we are the producer, we are able to be flexible, and can adjust the product to the needs of the client.

You company is really active regarding communication with clients. How is this useful?

Basically, communication with clients gives us ideas about the needs and requirements of the market. For us, this represents really valuable information necessary for modernization and the development of new products.

How many employees does ALTECH have today?In our production facilities in Uherské Hradiště we now

employ 180 people.

That is quite a lot.The production of stair platforms is very specific to

the individual, which means that for each order we have to prepare an individual production design. This makes technical work necessary for each individual order, which is quite demanding. So, in our company we have 20 design engineers.

I was reading that you also focus on the modernization and development of products.

That is necessary if you want to maintain demand and the sale of your products. This is the task for our development department and its prototype workshop.

Your goal is to become the most recognized European producer of stair platforms for immobile citizens. How realistic is this goal, and how big is your foreign competition?

Competition in our field is similar to other fields. There are many importers of foreign products. On the other hand, on average ALTECH exports 80% of its products, and as far as our main product is concerned we are exporting up to 92% of total production. That qualifies us among the major European companies in the field.

Regarding foreign countries, your installations map covers almost the whole world. Where are you heading right now?

Exports outside the EU must be certified in foreign countries. Currently, the certification process is under way in Israel, the USA, and Japan. A very interesting challenge was presented by the Olympic and the Paralympic games. We were able to deliver several devices to the Olympics in Sochi. Deliveries for the Olympics in Brazil are following, and Japanese certification should enable deliveries to the Olympics in Japan in 2020.

What market do you feel needs your barrier-free products most?

Countries with growing cultural and life standards are potential long-term clients. We see a big market in Asian countries, as well as the countries of South and Central America.

You were just nominated for the Mosty 2014 Award for Exceptional Activity or Act Beneficial to Disabled Citizens. Can you give us more details about this award?

We received the award for the development and introduction of a railway mobile stair platform, which enables wheelchair users to enter and exit trains.

On top of that, last year you took 88th place in the 100 Best 2014 award.

Yes, it was a great honor. I highly value the placement ALTECH received in the 100 Best 2014.

Do you also cooperate with the state sector? After all, state organizations should be fully barrier-free.

The Czech market is divided into so-called public buildings and private entities. Public buildings are gradually being made accessible via reconstruction or new planned buildings, such as schools, post offices etc.

What about private entities? Do they perceive barrier-free access as an important attribute to their buildings?

Nowadays it is quite common that when developing new apartments or even private houses, the project architects focus on a barrier-free environment as well. It often happens that the architects of the buildings come to consult with us when preparing their project. Solutions in already existing houses are based on agreements with clients, and the acceptance of a technical draft.

Not long ago, even our Prime Minister tried “to be in a wheelchair”. What is your opinion of such activities? Is the awareness of the needs of wheelchair users growing?

Definitely, this kind of activity is very useful to both parties and helps with the integration of our products.

What plans lie ahead for ALTECH for the year 2015? Any major projects?

Last year, we started production of a new product – stair seats. In 2015, mass production is taking place, and sales through most of our dealers in the Czech Republic and abroad. Regarding investment projects, I can mention the construction of a production hall, the delivery of automatic metal sandblasting technology, as well as enhancing the space for the production of seats.

Prepared by CL ■


Photos: ELAI archive


debate

WORLD POETRY DAYWorld Poetry Day, March 21 2015, witnessed the much-anticipated launch of a

new mobile application, Poetizer, developed in the Czech Republic. The first of its kind to interconnect and support poets and poetry-lovers around the globe, Poetizer’s inclusive platform for novices and the established, aims to encourage, spread and bring the practice of poetry into the mainsteam. Amid extensive media coverage from news stations and publications, over a thousand users have since downloaded the application, eager for the chance to publish and shine in an area traditionally alloted to the poetical elite. Attending the inaugurating ceremony at the Museum of Czech Literature (PNP), which included readings and performances, were representatives from the Ministry of Culture and the City Council, poetry enthusiasts, noted poets and winners of the Magnesia Litera Award, and spoken word performers.


Petra Kotvová, Pianist

Lukáš Sedláček, Director, ELAI with his parents and girlfriend Johana Vamberská

Olga Stehlíková, fresh winner of Magnesia Litera for Poetry 2014

Metoděj Constantine, Champion CR 2013 slam poetry

Lukáš Sedláček, Director, ELAI

45

charity golf

7th Charity golf tournament for the ParaPle Centrum

Pavel Bambousek, handicapped golf player uses a special device called paragolfer

The golfers were welcomed by Marek Eben, popular actor and moderator, patron of the charity golf tournament for Paraple Centrum.

Winning flight Nr. 4: From left: Mr. Petr Průcha, Mr. Rostislav Horáček, Mr. David Hronek, prizes were handed over by Margita Pištorová, Director, Paraple Centrum

In this years´ tournament handicapped golf players took their part, headed by Miroslav Lidinský, President of the Czech Golf Association of Handicapped Players.

From left: Ivana Chvátalová, Sport Moderator, Czech TV, Jana Doležalová, Miss 2014 and Owner of a pharmacy chain, Zbigniew Czendlik, Priest and Moderator, and Marek Eben, popular actor and moderator

Winning ceremony was moderated by Ivana Chvátalová, Sport Moderator, Czech TV and the prizes were handed over by Margita Pištorová, Director, Paraple Centrum.

Golf Resort Kunětická Hora hosted Era golf tournament for Paraple Centrum, Wednesday May 6th. The 7th annual charity tournament was traditionally played under the auspices of Marek Eben, popular actor and moderator. Thanks to various companies and partners tournament earned almost 400 000 CZK.


46

interview

The basic recipe for a satisfied guesthas not changedsince the times of ancient travelers like Herodotus.

Marienbad is a place where guests from around

the world recharge their batteries. Located in the heart of the city,

Falkensteiner Hotel Grand MedSpa offers modern spa

and wellness amenities. Along with the Alexandra

Spring it forms a true fountain of youth for the

body and soul.

An interview with Ivanka Aljec, General Manager of Falkensteiner Hotel Grand MedSpa Marienbad

Photo: Archive



interviewDear Mrs. Aljec, Czech Republic is well known for

treatment processes. There are many places where one can relax and find the perfect treatment. What is special about Mariánské Lázně?

Marianske Lazne offers guests a perfect mixture of traditional old-time charm and modern spa expertise. The surroundings of Marianske Lazne enable our guests to spend quality time outside the hotel in both winter and in summer. There are many possibilities for cross-country skiing and alpine skiing in winter, for cycling in summer, as well as for relaxing and hitchhiking throughout the year. And last but not least, in Marianske Lazne we have the oldest golf course in Czech Republic, a real “place to be” for any passionate golfer that cares about his image.

Falkensteiner Hotel in Mariánské Lázně combines Art Nouveau and modern spa amenities. What does that mean, exactly?

We care a lot about details. Our main “Pelnar” building was built in the 19th century by the Petzold family. When the hotel was reopened 10 years ago, three additional buildings were built. The architect took great care to be faithful to the style of the original art nouveau architecture, not just with the construction features, but also in the interior design. Our rooms, as well as our common areas such as the bar and restaurant, are stylish and cozy with a hint of nostalgia. On the other hand we try to follow the most modern trends in health tourism and the spa industry. We went far beyond classical health and bath treatments. We provide modern programs like metabolic balance, weight control, and gas injections.

That sounds very sophisticated. What kind of medical wellness and health treatments can we find in Falkensteiner Hotel Grand MedSpa Marienbad?

At the moment we have 5 different packages. Two of them are classical spa packages: The Classical Package and The Alexandra Bath Cure. As mentioned, we now also have our metabolic balance program as well as two new prophylactic packages. Every package is partially tailor-made to best suit the guest’s health and needs. There are many different treatments including massages, mineral baths and body wrapping, inhalations, gas baths, paraffin packages, magnet and ultrasound therapies, as well as several physiotherapeutic procedures. For every guest our doctors usually prescribe spring water for drinking.

Every mineral spring is unique and tastes different. What is the “secret“ of Alexandra?

Our own Alexandra Spring forms the core of our comprehensive healthcare in the form of drinking cures and bathing treatments. Due to the very high proportion of free carbon dioxide, the spring water is particularly suitable for therapeutic baths. It also has high iron content for what makes quite a unique taste.

And what about beauty and wellness packages?Here we also do our best to stay in touch with

modern trends. Our guests enjoy the unlimited use of one of the biggest pool complexes in Marianske Lazne, as well as the only outdoor pool. We offer beauty treatments such as pedicures, peelings, body wraps and relaxing massages. In 2016 we will have


two new beauty packages for our guests. We also work constantly on improving our wellness facilities in order to provide a real feeling of “well-being” for our guests.

What can we do after a treatment? Are there any leisure activities in Falkensteiner?

There are many leisure activities in Marianske Lazne. Special events like the Chopin Festival and Jazz Festival attract many visitors. In the hotel the guests can use our cardio fitness room, or take part in organized Nordic walking tours. In the evenings we offer musical and dance programs. Of course, on special occasions like Easter, Christmas or New Years Eve we prepare a rich program with additional activities for our guests, such as dance courses, or even a fortuneteller. We try to give our guests a new surprise every year.

Customers always search for special offers and packages. What would you recommend?

It depends on what they are looking for. This summer we have a new program for guests that want to spend an active vacation in Marianske Lazne, which includes cycling tours. We have a very interesting package “Relax A La Carte”, where the guests can create their own wellness program. Another new package this year is golf inclusive, with an unlimited number of green fees on the three nicest golf courses around Marianske Lazne. Our reservation department always does their best to find a suitable package for our clients. We also recommend checking our website Marienbad.falkensteiner.com in order to find information about our most recent offers.

Have clients’ requests changed over the years?Yes, they have. Our main market is Germany,

where nowadays the older generation is much more confident, and much more active. They are more in search of wellness and less interested in classical medical procedures. They are also much more diverse in their needs.

How difficult is it in the 21st century to make guests “feel at home“?

I do not think that this has become more or less difficult than it used to be. I strongly believe that travel was, is, and will always be an experience. A friendly smile, good cuisine, a comfortable environment, attention to needs - this is what makes the guest “feel at home”. Of course, today with faster communications, potential guests can easily find out about others’ good or bad experiences, but the basic recipe for a satisfied guest has not changed since the times of ancient travelers like Herodotus.

Your main market is Germany. What about Czech guests?

Czechs are statistically in 3rd or 4th place with Austrians. We are trying to get more Czech guests into our hotel, because we strongly believe that there is potential for them to relax and enjoy our amenities.

Would you recommend the hotel for younger people?

Of course. It depends very much on what the guest is looking for. Marianske Lazne generally is not a party place, and we are not a party hotel. But we are the perfect choice for someone who is looking for peace, relaxation and sport. For those who just need to switch off for a while – regardless of age.

What do you like about Mariánské Lázně most?

The charm and tranquility. Marianske Lazne is a unique example of a classical spa town from the late 19th or early 20th century. You just feel like you’ve stepped into a time machine. You are in the middle of a town, and surrounded by green nature at the same time. It is a great place to be…

Prepared by CL ■


48

international conference

8th International Conference NGV 2015

From right: Jan Ruml, CEO, Czech Gas Association, Jan Landa, 1st Deputy Minister of Environment of the CR, Lennart Pilskog, CEO, NGVA Europe, Martin Jahn, President, Automotive Industry Association, and Ľubomír Blaško, Director, SPP CNG Slovakia

Lennart Pilskog, CEO, NGVA Europe at his speech

Audience at the International Conference NGV 2014

Martin Jahn, President, Automotive Industry Association at his speech

Jan Kubásek, Director, Department of Transportation, Czech Post


49

international conference

8th International Conference NGV 2014 at congress centre CITY in Prague

Participants

Jan Landa, 1st Deputy Minister of Environment of the Czech Republic Jan Ruml, CEO, Czech Gas Association at his speech

50

manager of the year 2014

Manager of the Year 2014

Traditional photo of all the finalists in front of the Žofín Palace

Michel Fleishman, Director, Media group Lagardere

Managers of the branches One of the Gender Gap conference speakers Helena Kohoutová, Director, Agency Helas

From left: Monika Augustová, Moderator, Pavel Kafka, President, Czech Management Association, Jaroslav Hanák, President, Confederation of Industry and Transport of the CR, Prof. Zdeněk Souček, and Jan Wiesner, Chairman, Confederation of Employers and Entrepreneurs‘ Associations of the Czech Republic

On 23rd April 2015, the results of this, already 22nd year of the Manager of the Year Awards were announced in Prague Žofín Palace.The titul of the most successful managers in the Czech Republic for the year 2014 was awarded to Ing. Daniel Beneš, MBA, General Manager of ČEZ, a.s. and Mgr. Zuzana Ceralová Petrofová, Director and Legal Representative of Petrof company.Besides the representatives of the Manager of the Year organizers who participated in the selection of the winners within the Committee- Jaroslav Hanák, President of the Confederation of Industry and Transport of the Czech Republic, Jan Weisner, Chairman of the Confederation of Employers´ and Entre-preneurs´ Associations of the Czech Republic, and Pavel Kafka, President of the Czech Association of Managers - the awards to the TOP 10 best managers were handed over also by Andrej Babiš, The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Pavel Bělobrádek, Deputy Prime Minister for the Sci-ence, Research and Innovation, and Přemysl Sobotka, Vice Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of the CR. An imaginary baton was passed to their successors by Karel Žďárský and Jaroslava Valová, Managers of the Year 2013. The Awards were held under the auspices of Miloš Zeman, President of the Czech Republic, who also congratulated the absolute winners in the course of the gala evening.

Photo: Archive


WINNERS OF THE MANAGER OF THE YEAR 2014 - Mgr. Zuzana Ceralová Petrofová, Director and Legal Representative of Petrof company and Ing. Daniel Beneš, MBA, General Manager of ČEZ, a.s.

51


Spring Conference of the Czech Management Association Gender Gap hosted by the charismatic Jan Mühlfeit, former Chairman, Microsoft Europe

From left: Lubomir Stoklásek, Manager of the Year 2011, Zbyněk Frolík, Manager of the Year 2009, and Jan Pirk, Manager of the Health Sector 2007 K08 Performance

Minister of Foreign Affairs Lubomír Zaorálek congratulating Jan Czudek, Třinecké železárny on placement in the TOP10. In the right: Leo Doseděl, Moděva Clothing Cooperative

From left: Jan Wiesner, Chairman, Confederation of Employers´ and Entrepreneurs‘ Associations of the Czech Republic, Jaroslav Hanák, President, Confederation of Industry and Transport of the CR, Miloš Zeman, President of the Czech Republic, Daniel Beneš, CEO, ČEZ, Zuzana Ceralová Petrofová, CEO, Petrof, Karel Žďárský, General Director, FARMET, two representatives of the partners of the competition, Přemysl Sobotka, Vice Chairman, Senate of the Czech Republic, Andrej Babiš, Minister of Finance, Pavel Bělobrádek, Deputy Prime Minister for Science, Research and Innovation, Rostislav Dvořák, , President, Union of Czech and Moravian Production Co-operatives, and in the background Pavel Kafka, President, Czech Management Association

From left: Miloš Zeman, President of the CR and Ing. Daniel Beneš, MBA, General Manager, ČEZ - Manager of the Year 2014

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From left: Jaroslav Hanák, President, Confederation of Industry and Transport of the CR, Miloš Zeman, President of the Czech Republic, Daniel Beneš, CEO, ČEZ and Manager of the Year 2014

Awarded best managers of the 23 branches

Student´s Award and its winners – from left: Kristýna Langerová, AISEC, Patrik Borýsek, Winner of the Student´s Award, Lucie Vozáková, Winner of the Student´s Award and Jan Klusoň, Student Media

Zbyněk Frolík, CEO, Linet, Manager of the Year 2009 in a lively discussion

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The award ceremony began with a speech of Jaroslav Hanák, President, Confederation of Industry and Transport of the CR

Prof. Zdeněk Souček was inaugurated to the Hall of Fame

Miloš Zeman, President of the Czech Republic in a discussion with the winners on the Palace Žofín´s outdoor terrace

From left: Zuzana Ceralová Petrofová, CEO, Petrof, Manager of the Year 2014, Monika Augustová, Moderator, and Helena Štáchová, Theatre Spejbl and Hurvínek, Excellent Small Business Manager

Andrej Babiš, Minister of Finance congratulating Vlastislav Bříza, CEO, KOH-I-NOOR one of the TOP10 managers of the 2014


interview

“To Be Beautiful Means To Have Purity On The Inside, As Well As The Outside.”

The beauty of a woman – that is the central topic of our interview with entrepreneur Jaroslava Pichrtová. The owner of a successful beauty salon in Opava, she revealed her secret “beauty formula” to Leaders Magazine. That she has one is obvious, as she herself looks fantastic. Her slim body, alabaster skin, and gorgeous shiny hair have the power to raise eyebrows among women of all ages.

An interview with Jaroslava Pichrtová, Entrepreneur, Physiotherapist, and Owner of a Successful Beauty Salon

Photo: Archive


interviewDear Mrs Pichrtová, you are an entrepreneur,

physiotherapist, and beauty expert. Is that correct?

Yes, I think that describes me. However, I am foremost a woman who tries to lead other women to find beauty, and not only outer beauty. For more than 13 years I have been working with special techniques in lymphatic drainage, which helps drain unwanted liquids from our bodies. You would not believe how many women have this problem, and how relieved they are when I help them. I use a Vacupress device and it works wonders.

Can you describe this special tool?Vacupress is a unique device with its own

method of lymphatic cleansing. The machine both massages the patient to induce lymphatic drainage, and vacuums up the liquid. It clears the lymphatic system and removes toxic substances from our bodies. At the same time it loosens fat cells and reinforces tissue. It is an effective and healthy method of activating our lymphatic system, and draining toxins from our bodies, including unwanted fat and cellulite. It encourages the production of elastin and tightens the skin.

How exactly does it work?A massage head on your skin stretches the skin

and fat cells, 1 to 3 cm. At the same time, the machine draws toxins from cells with a vacuum technique. By doing so, the massage head mobilizes fat reserves in the skin that would otherwise stand still. This allows the fat particles and other waste to be transported to a lymphatic system and eliminated. After this vacuum massage, the skin may breathe again. A slight reddening of the skin indicates that its metabolism is working.

You have mentioned inner beauty…Ten years ago, internal cosmetics arrived to the

market, which include various vitamin, mineral, and herbal agents. I was quite familiar with these products so I began focusing on them, consulting with specialists about the newest findings, and above all, using the products myself. I was very much intrigued by things such as internal Zink, for example. Organic Zink is actually a key component of many hormones, enzymes, and so called functional chelates in the female body. If there is not enough Zink in the female body, there will be a deficiency in the production of many compounds, such as collagens – which may cause bad skin, ageing, or poor growth of the nails and hair. Such knowledge is priceless, but unfortunately it is sometimes difficult to learn.

Generally I can say that beauty for me means being pure inside as well as outside. Beauty has many shapes, however for every woman it should mean taking care of your own body, keeping it in harmony, and staying calm. It sounds difficult, yet it is possible. The first step is to make a firm decision and stick to it. This really is the key to your success. As with running, the most difficult part is to put on a pair of trainers and get started. Once you are moving, you will feel better and better, and the training will become your everyday routine. Many women say that they have tried many times and


failed, that they are skeptical and maybe a little lazy too. Although it is sometimes very hard, it is important to keep going.

What do you do to take care of your skin and body?

I am my own walking promotion. My personality, how I look, how well I feel - these things are what I have to show my clients. I first try products on myself, and only then do I recommend them to others. My clients know that they can absolutely rely on me and my judgment. I can show my clients what works for me. I believe that this is the reason they come back. Of course, there is high competition in the “beauty” market, and it is difficult to recognize good quality. I only promote products that show results. And I see results in my clients. I offer my clients complex, proven service and consultancy.

What about the products? Are there plenty of them on the market?

I personally select only the best and most effective products, those which fully correspond with my motto: “where only the best is good enough”. The same goes for my clients. I really use only good quality cosmetics, usually French brands, Italian brands, and Canadian Xocai from pure bio cocoa. Most importantly, I first test all products on myself. I also eat healthy chocolate from Xocai as a functional food that provides antioxidants. Only after I try a product will I recommend and offer it to my clients.

Yes, food is a very popular topic these days…We definitely are what we eat. Our diet must

be very pure and especially varied. For me, the crucial thing is the origin of food. The basis of a healthy diet is vegetables, salads, fruits, and meat (which ideally should make up about 5% of our daily diet). I am not a vegetarian at all, as it is proven that a healthy diet requires meat. However, I always choose good quality, organic foods. Food is scientific, and people should approach it accordingly. Dietary supplements are important as well. As I mentioned, a deficiency in Zink or Selene may cause big problems for women, and these minerals must be replenished. It is very important to use products that are completely organic and non-toxic.

Mrs Pichrtová, we may only admire your vigor, beauty, and invincible optimism. What do you recommend to our readers so that they may feel great like you?

Every day do some exercise, take care of yourself, and rather than spending your time in a café, or drinking alcohol, invest in your health and inner beauty. Your effort to do so will manifest itself on the outside, and you, as well as your surroundings, will feel harmonized and balanced.

Thank you.Prepared by CL ■



analysis


The CosT of ATTriTion And Why you CAn’T

Ignore the Female PresenCe in your orgAnizATionI’m sure you continue to read, just as I do, the amount of incidents and corporate shake ups re-lated to issues around female dismissals and the cost of gender related law suits. There is a con-stant stream of settlements, fines and penalties, all impacting the image, brand and appeal of companies as well as eroding employees moral who read about and experience these situations personally.

I decided to take a look at the cost of attrition; what is the real cost to companies when someone walks away or is pushed away due to poor behavior

or lack of good management practice? The numbers are significant enough to make you want to pause and perhaps start to consider if part of executive pay and compensation should be tied to those numbers. I wonder what would be the approach of top manage-ment in your company if you were to say we need to start to deduct from your bonus or compensation the cost of attrition to our organization.

Let’s take a look at some data from the US. In a Harvard Business Review article from 2010 the au-thor Sharon Daniels quotes the cost of replacing an employee at up to 250 percent of the annual salary.

Putting a real number behind this fact is the exam-ple from a California Silicon Valley IT company who estimates the costs of attrition to average $125,000, when just ONE employee leaves. Other companies calculate that attrition cost them annual productivity losses of 65-75% in the position the employee leaves from. In another example research conducted by the consulting group , Integral Talent Systems, a client with a national sales force of hundreds of employees es-timates that they have to scramble to make up for over a million dollars of potential sales when just ONE salesperson leaves.

Have you taken a look at your numbers? Have you given yourself a chance to analyze the costs to you? How is your count as it pertains to gender? Are you satisfied with the amount of women in your succes-sion plan? Are you loosing top talented female work-ers? What is the cost of on-boarding, loss of engage-ment , training new hires, hiring process?

As I have mentioned in previous articles, women will continue to grow in number of graduates at both undergraduate and graduate levels, and will continue to want and need to be part of the work-force; financial circumstances demand for a two spouse family unit. Are you willing to take a look to see how you start to contain the exodus and retain your female employees?

It is not only a good thing for business performance, there is plenty of data that substantiates this claim, it’s also a very good thing for your bottom line, for your overall financial health and long term growth and just as importantly your brand and corporate reputation!

Let me finish with the top three reasons why people - specially women leave work so you can start to take corrective measures. The fundamental reason is absence of professional development op-portunities; they do not see a future for themselves in the organization. In addition, lack of feeling val-ued and appreciated, as well as lack of mentors and sponsors that can support and “guide” em-ployees, especially women, through political and cultural realities at work.

Attrition or turnover is a costly realty, its financially painful, but for me it’s mostly an indication that top management is not really looking at their employees for what they are - the fundamental factor for long term growth and competitive advantage, the most important capital in the organization! Can you afford to ignore this issue?

By Elisabet Rodriguez Dennehy,President Rodriguez

and Associates LLC ■Photo: Archive


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fashion show

NATALI RUDEN´S FASHION SHOW YIN & YANG

Gabriela Kratochvílová, Model and Miss of the Czech Republic 2013

Gabriela Kratochvílová, Model and Miss of the Czech Republic 2013

Eliška Bučková, Model and Miss of the Czech Republic 2008 - as Natali Ruden says: life is not only black or white…

From left: Lucie Borhyová, TV Moderator and Natali Ruden, Fashion Designer at the final defilé

From left: Monika Leová, Model, TV Moderator and Vice Miss of the Czech Republic 2013 and Andrea Verešová, Model and Miss of Slovakia 2009 in the colors of YIN & YANG

Andrea Verešová, Model and Miss of Slovakia 2009

Natali Ruden´s fashion show YIN & YANG in Mánes exhibition hall has attracted an extraordinary attention. This is definitely caused by the fact that Natali Ruden´s renomé is widespread across the world, lately she has been very successful in presenting her latest fashion designs in China as well as in the salons of the Principality of Monaco. It is no secret that the haute couture models are sewn from the finest materials, which are personally chosen by Natali in Paris at the annual fair. The response to the collection YIN & YANG clearly confirms that the name of Natali Ruden is a synonym for a top fashion designer in the world.

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interview

“The Potential Applications for Nanofibers Are Inexhaustible, From Saving Children in Kenya to Acne Treatment.”

Dear Mrs Mynářová, you have always devoted yourself to technology, science, and the natural environment. Does this mean you have a soft spot for these fields?

I definitely have a soft spot for science and research that can give us a better life on our planet. It is part of our reason for doing what we do. I know that many companies say this; however, for us it is a real part of our lives. When we started developing a nanofibrous filter for the third world, we did it with Kenyan children in mind, who often die from polluted water. If they boil it using wood, they will deforest their environment. We are really glad that we can offer a cheap option for the filtration of drinking water without electricity.

Since 2011 you have worked at The Nafigate Company. What was your path to nanotechnologies?

10 years ago, Ladislav Mareš offered me the opportunity to market Nanospider technology around the globe, which did not exist at that time. First, it seemed crazy and unbelievable to me, to conquer the world from the Czech Republic. But we managed. Even today, Nanospider is the world’s best and only technology for industrial production of nanofibers.

Is it possible to explain the principle of nanotechnology to a non-professional?

Nanotechnologies work in a dimension that is invisible to the naked eye. One nanometer is a billionth of a meter. Thanks to their size, nanofibers have a huge mensural surface which plays a key role in processes such as water filtration.

Ok, but what are the applied possibilities for nanofibers?

The possibilities are inexhaustible. However, the primary possibility is for water and air filtration. In these two areas, nanofibers have great added value. For example, in air filtration they are able to filter the tiniest dust particles, pollutants, bacteria, and viruses. At the same time, oxygen molecules pass through nanofibers with no limitations. Currently, we are preparing a project for China, where the air is extremely polluted. And nanofibers can solve a lot of health problems here.

Is air filtration similar to water filtration? Yes, the fourth generation of our nanofiltration

membrane can clean a bigger amount of water more quickly, and does not need electricity to do that. This is extremely important for the third world, because big facilities for water filtration cannot function without electricity.

What are the least typical areas of application? You might be surprised by the fact that a nanofiber

membrane can help people with acne. However, the most unbelievable discovery by a young colleague was the ability to create a nanofiber from radioactive material.

The Nafigate Company also connects experts in science. Can you give us an example of this?

In today´s world, science moves ahead really fast.

Lenka Mynářová is a woman of many

abilities. She is a sociologist, a marketing

specialist, and a promoter of science. She specializes

in bringing new technologies to world markets in the field of Nanofibers. “Our colleague was even able to make a nanofiber from radioactive material,” she tells us, as she describes the almost unbelievable possibilities for

nanofibers.

An interview with Lenka Mynářová, Marketing Director of

The Nafigate Corporation

Photo: Vladimír Weiss



interview


The Nafigate Corporation is one of the partners of the Czech Republic at EXPO Milan. Visitors will see us right next to the entrance to the EXPO, as well as in the pavilion. Outside, in the swimming pool, there is an amazing monument which people call “bird-car”. It is a monument by Lukáš Rittstein which is called Hydal – Free FormGate. Its heart beats on bioplastic from Hydal technology. It is unique for the fact that it runs on used deep-frying oil. The oil is 100% waste material, and therefore the technology does not take plants from the food chain for energy. The monument is also a fountain, because in the Life Laboratory you will have an opportunity to see our demonstration device for water filtration. You will see dead water become living water.

Have you seen the Czech pavilion yet? Where else will you be present?

Yes, I have seen the pavilion and I like it very much. Of course, I am most proud of our monument. It is an expression of the world of nature and the world of science, and the techniques we use to connect the two. And that is the very thing our technology is doing – it gives nature, our planet and its people what they need.

They eyes of the whole world will focus on Milan. What is the position of Czech scientists in comparison to the rest of the world? What about in your area?

In nanofibers and Hydal Biotechnology we are the best in the world. This is illustrated by the Frost and Sullivan Award, where we received an independent evaluation from tens of experts from all over the world, and their evaluation was excellent. All of our conclusions are reached in connection with Czech or international scientists. So, we may serve as an example that cooperation is possible, and that you

can reach the top of the world right here from the Czech Republic.

What are your plans for after the EXPO? Are you planning a conference in Prague or something similar?

The EXPO, projects in China and Singapore, and projects in the Czech Republic and other countries have been really exhausting and demanding. I have also participated in an international conference on bioplastic, where I was a key speaker, and another one is awaiting me at the end of May. We want to handle all activities in the best possible manner. So, I will leave any future planning for when it is all over.

Did you somehow use your managerial skills while bringing up your four children?

Well I don´t really know, you will have to ask them. However, I certainly used my knowledge of where the world is heading. So in our family the following specializations are “allowed”: nanotechnology, mechatronics, biotechnology, and IT. These specializations really guarantee that you will get a job anywhere in the world. One of my sons follows in my footsteps and focuses on marketing.

What makes a leader, in your opinion? For me, a leader is a person who has a vision of the

future. And the inner strength to realize this vision, and get other people to believe in it. A leader also bears the responsibility of realizing their goals, and overcomes hard times. Last but not least, a leader has morals and character. Today there is a critical shortage of leaders. And the same goes for talent.

Prepared by CL ■

From left: Gary Jeffery, Partner, Director - UK Operations Frost & Sullivan, Daniel Pohludka, Project Manager, Hydal Biotech, Lenka Mynářová, Member of the Board, Nafigate Corporation a.s., and Kamil Švéda, Strategic Consultant, Nafigate Corporation

If you want to quickly solve essential issues with the help of science, you have to cooperate with the best people and have the necessary know-how. The story of Ladislav Mareš and Nanospider technology is absolutely unique. He is probably the only person in the world who was able to connect all the top nanofiber professionals and promote cooperation. And now new nanofiber materials for water filtration are being created with Professor Seeram Ramakrishna from Singapore, who is the world´s top scientist in nanofiber technologies.

Is your work more managerial than purely scientific?

It is both, it cannot be separated.

Amongst other things that Nafigate brought to the global market, there is the development of new energetically efficient technologies for the generation of nanofiber membranes for water and air filtration, the textile industry, and batteries. This sounds quite complicated for a non-professional. Yet, it is basically marketing.

Sure, marketing definitely plays a key role in introducing and explaining new projects. We must clearly explain what is new about the technology or an application, especially what benefits it brings. It is neither easy nor cheap to do so.

Is science marketing very specific? Yes, it must present complicated ideas to non-

professionals, ideas from another world, from an academic environment. On top of this, academic people often perceive marketing negatively, as a degradation of their work. This year we had great success in our marketing. For the Czech-Chinese project Hydal Biotechnology, we received an award equivalent to a technological Oscar - The Frost and Sullivan Innovation Award.

Is it hard to persuade technological companies of the need to present their ideas?

Regarding technological companies, it is easier than with the academic community. Companies are commercial enterprises and they understand that they have to sell, and in today´s world it is not easy to persuade someone to buy what they don´t want. It is much more difficult with scientific discoveries and ideas coming from the academic sphere. The problem is not only a minimal understanding of science and research marketing, but a total underestimation of the financial side. Marketing must be professional and it costs a lot of money.

Why have you started the first global portal on the subject of nanofibers? Was there a lack of information from the field?

Nanotechnologies are a very young field, and there is not enough awareness about them, especially among the public. Therefore we decided to create a portal as a tool for building a nanofiber community.

What is the connection between Nafigate and the world exposition EXPO 2015 in Milan? Where can visitors find you? české znění naleznete v elektronické verzi

magazínu na www.czechleaders.com

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events

ImpressIons from frYDAY events februArY-AprIl

From left: Mrs. Marie Novosadová, Mrs. Klára Novotná, Mrs. Tanja Perahannu, Mrs. Kamila Mlacková, and Hans Weber, FRYDAY Prague

From left: Hans Weber, FRYDAY Prague, Mrs. Sára Šťastná, and Mr. Nigel Young

Hans Weber, FRYDAY Prague and Mrs. Alexandra Bach

From left: Mrs. Lucie Černá and Mrs. Dagmar Dvořáková

From left: Mrs. Petra Öhlschlegelova and Mrs. Markéta Vitková

From left: Hans Weber, FRYDAY Prague and Alejandro Ziegler, Consul of Venezuela

From left: Mrs. Evgenia Liubashevska, Mrs. Kateřina Němcová, and Mrs. Klára Duchová


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events

receptIon of the ArgentInIAn embAssY - DíA De lA revolucIón De mAYo

From left: Mr. Greg Gibb, H.E. Guillermo Federico Kreckler, Ambassador of Argentina, and M. Achim Jähnke

H.E. Guillermo Federico Kreckler, Ambassador of Argentina at his speech

From left: Hans Weber, FRYDAY Prague and H.E. Guillermo Federico Kreckler, Ambassador of Argentina in the CR

From left: Alejandro Ziegler, Consul of Venezuela and H.E. Guillermo Federico Kreckler, Ambassador of Argentina

From left: Mrs. Petra Öhlschlegelová, Mr. Petr Šedivý, Mrs. Markéta Vítková, and Mrs. Alexandra Bach

H.E. Andrew H. Schapiro, Ambassador of the United States in the CR and H.E. Ahlam Al-Gailani, Ambassador of Iraq in the CR

From left: H.E. Guillermo Federico Kreckler, Ambassador of Argentina welcoming H.E. Dominik Duka, Cardinal

H.E. Guillermo Federico Kreckler, Ambassador of Argentina with guests

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CFO club From left: Václav Hrach, CFO, NET4GAS, Radek Strouhal, CFO, Tatra Trucks, Marian Rašík, CFO, PEGAS NONWOVENS, Daniel Buryš, CFO, Kofola, and Dean Brabec, Director, CFO Club and Managing Partner, Arthur D. Little

Daniel Buryš, CFO, Kofola and CFO of the Year 2014

Dean Brabec, Director, CFO Club and Managing Partner, Arthur D. Little addressing the audience

Lively discussion led by Dean Brabec,Director, CFO Club and Managing Partner, Arthur D. Little

Radek Strouhal, CFO, Tatra Trucks a.s. in the middle was awarded the third place at the CFO of the Year 2014

CFO OF the Year 2014The Club of Financial Directors “CFO Club” annual meeting with gala evening dedicated to the CFO of the Year 2014 ceremony was held in Prague’s Congress Centre, Prague, Czech Republic on Wednesday, April 1st, 2015. Daniel Buryš, CFO from Kofola was awarded CFO of the Year 2014, followed by Václav Hrach, CFO, NET4GAS awarded as Talent of the Year 2014.


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CFO club

From left: Dean Brabec, Director, CFO Club and Managing Partner, Arthur D. Little, Jan Bureš, CEO, UBER Czech Republic, Jaroslav Burčík, Founder and CEO, Czech Technical University in Prague, and Michal Zwinger, CEO and Founder, Levebee company

From left: Marian Rašík, CFO, PEGAS NONWOVENS, placed second at the CFO of the Year 2014, Barbora Vida Kolářová, Model, and Aleš Barabáš, CFO, Unicredit Bank

Václav Hrach, CFO, NET4GAS was awarded the title Talent of the Year 2014

Daniel Buryš, CFO, Kofola (right) was awarded the title CFO of the Year 2014

ZOOM Restaurant at Prague’s Congress Centre

Václav Hrach, CFO, NET4GASwas awarded the title Talent of the Year 2014

From left: Dean Brabec, Director, CFO Club and Managing Partner, Arthur D. Little and Daniel Buryš, CFO, Kofola, awarded the title CFO of the Year 2014

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global perspectivesPhoto: Paul Pacey

Jan Mühlfeit, Global Strategist, Coach, Mentor, Ret. Chairman Europe Microsoft Corporation

A New Chapter in Unlocking

Human PotentialCzech Leaders II/2015


global perspectivesNations, organizations, teams, and people all have at least one thing in common. They want to, but cannot fully unlock their human potential. In my career I have traveled the world and met many successful leaders, teams or organizations but I have not met too many people that do not intend to have a fulfilling career and life. However, too many people, companies, and countries end up focusing their time and energy on the wrong things, which seriously undermines their intended objective. This stems from the problem that we are wired with a high need to follow monetary rewards and achievements. In the long run, these will not bring fulfillment.

Unlocking human potential has been at the core of my work for many years. Starting 2015, I have decided to focus on my vision by taking a new role that of Global strategist, coach and mentor. As announced late 2014 in Prague and in Brussels, I decided after more than 21 years to leave Microsoft. As somebody who believes that technology can help unlock human potential around the world, I consider myself very fortunate that since 1993 I have been working with great people at Microsoft, as well as fantastic customers and loyal partners. I am very grateful for all opportunities I was given in our company both internally and externally. When I was hired, I was an ambitious software engineer with basic knowledge of sales and marketing, but with a lot of energy and vision to impart. Microsoft gave me great opportunities through the Bench program in 1995 to work with great teachers like Philip Kottler in marketing, Edward de Bono in creativity, Mike Kami in strategy, and Tony Buzan in smart use of our brain. I was able to study top executive programs at Harvard, Wharton, London School of Economics, and Management Center Europe. I believe the company has always leveraged my strengths in terms of strategy, vision, and communication. While I was running the operations in Czech Republic and Slovakia, Central and Eastern Europe, the Public Sector in EMEA region and last but not least while being Chairman Europe for Microsoft Corporation, our relationship was at all times a win-win.

I met Microsoft founder Bill Gates for the first time in 1994 and I had the opportunity to travel with him later on in my different roles. I think Bill Gates is not only a great role model but also someone for whom every ‘No’ is just the beginning of a ‘Yes’. I believe the company he created almost 40 years ago helped people around the world live better lives and I would like to thank Microsoft and wish the company all the best in the future.

After many years as a global player in the fascinating IT industry, I am looking forward to unlocking human potential across industries. I was very inspired by a book by Clay Christensen who spoke at the last Microsoft leadership meeting. The book in question is “How Will You Measure Your Life”. The basic idea of the book is that you should not look only into your own success, but also into how you are helping others to be successful and happy. Indeed, success should be measured based on positive and prosperous impact on others. While I think I made a lot of mistakes in my career as all professionals make, the majority of my career has been very successful. I learned a lot of things and I would like to share what I learned with


others and empower them to reach a higher level of success and happiness. This is why I look forward to the start of my own coaching and mentoring practice to help individuals, organizations, and countries to unlock human potential around the world. I believe in building on strengths, passion and personal values based schools, institutions, and working places. I think each and every person has different talents and strengths. We just need to unlock them and leverage them.

Individuals, organizations and government institutions have great potential but they are stuck in the day-to-day tasks or outdated methodologies and they cannot fully unlock human potential. Usually, they make 4 big mistakes. The first is that they focus on weaknesses and not on strengths. Unfortunately, this is something that is planted in our minds from a young age. For example, even at an early stage, if a student excels in analytical subjects but is weak in humanities, that student is advised to focus time and energy on becoming better in humanities. However, if that student then looses touch with analytical subjects, then the result is someone average and unfulfilled – all because focus of resources has been placed on weaknesses and not on strengths. I think we should become better at dealing with our weaknesses but not to such an extent that we lose sight of what makes us unique, great and above all, fulfilled.

The second mistake is another misallocation – a focus on planning first before asking what their mission, personal uniqueness is. Thinking on personal uniqueness is very powerful and important because it is tied to emotional connections, inspiration and the answer must come from the heart. Too many teams and individuals have forgotten to ask what is their personal uniqueness to such an extent that they cannot even answer with ease. It is not easy for everyone to reach inside and re-think why we decide one thing and not another. However hard it may be, question on personal uniqueness is a crucial question and must be asked because the answer has to do with what makes us happy and fulfilled.

The third mistake that individuals, organizations and countries make is concentrating on success instead of following their heart. Tangible and short-

term achievements that are returned in the form of monetary rewards are not what will be fulfilling in the long-term. Of course we all need a salary, but we should not focus on getting it. If we follow our heart, hopes and dreams, the monetary rewards will also follow. One of my favorite quotes is “Not all dreamers are achievers, but all achievers are dreamers.”

The fourth mistake is about concentrating on time management instead of energy management. Most professionals respond to rising work place demands by putting in longer hours, which inevitably take a toll on us physically, mentally, and emotionally. This leads to low engagement and low dissatisfaction. Unlike time, which is a finite resource, energy is renewable. In human beings, energy comes from four main sources: the body, mind, spirit and emotions. In each, energy can be systematically expanded and regularly renewed. For each source, professionals need to take the responsibility and find what it takes to renew their energy intentionally and periodically. The cost of organizations not focusing on energy management is a workforce headed for a burnout. If we want to unlock our human to focus on strengths and not weaknesses, ask and answer personal uniqueness question before we start to plan, concentrate on energy management and not on time management, and follow the heart not tangible rewards only. I believe this is the way how people can do what they like and be not only more productive, but also happier. If people are happier their immune system is better and they are healthier. This why my personal mission is: “Help individuals, organizations and countries to unlock their human potential”. I am strong believer that if we unlock human potential on our planet we will build better society. If you want to learn more about what I do, please visit my web www.janmuhlfeit.com (available both in Czech and English).

By Jan MuehlfeitGloBal STraTeGIST / CoaCH / MeNTor

eXeCUTIVe IN reSIDeNCe – reT. CHaIrMaN eUrope – ■

Bill Gates at the discussion with Jan Muehlfeit

Photo: Archive


J. Šlápota’s birthday party

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ČSÚZ

important personalities and events in the CzeChoslovak Foreign institute in the First quarter 2015. short review.

The chairman of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute Jaromír Šlápota celebrated his 75th birthday in the historical refectory of the Strahov Monastery together with about two hundred guests – members and friends of the Institute.

The guests listening to the congratulation speech to the chairman Jaromír Šlápota pronounced by the abbot Michael Josef Pojezdný, O. Praem.

Photo: Archive


graduation ball in vienna

meeting with mr. stredula

67

ČSÚZ

Ball in Vienna from left: Jaroslav Hlaváček, Hana Hlaváčková, Member of the Managing Board, Czechoslovak Foreign Institute, Ing. Karel Hanzl, Chairman of the Comenius School association in Vienna, and Peter Hanzl.

From the meeting with the chairman of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Labour Unions Josef Středula

The Chinese Ambassador H. E. Ma Keqing with company at the birthday party of the chairman of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute.

The chairman of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Labour Unions Josef Středula in discussion with participated entrepreneurs as well as with the vice-chairman of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute and senator Ivo Valenta (the second standing from the right), vice-chairman Ing. Vladimír Bezděk (first standing from the right), member of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute Ing. Jan Fischer, CSc. (second sitting from the left) and chairman Jaromír Šlápota.

important personalities and events in the CzeChoslovak Foreign institute in the First quarter 2015. short review.

At the end of January, the chairman of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute Jaromír Šlápota celebrated his 75th birthday in the historical refectory of the Strahov Monastery together with about two hundreds guests. They represented various spheres of social life, among the first were members of the diplomatic course: the Ambassadors from China H. E. Ma Keqing, Venesuela H. E. Victor Julián Hernández León, Slovakia H. E. Peter Weiss. Congratulation address from the Russian Ambassador was handed by his deputy. The abbot of the Monastery and a member of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute Michael Josef Pojezdný had an opening speech traditionally. He expressed his gratefulness to the life conditions to meet such an extraordinary personality with a strong sense of justice and ability to bring together people of different political orientation to the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute, to create an atmosphere of concrete,

generally enriching discussion and to unify them to realize generally beneficial projects.

The Czechoslovak Foreign Institute annually contributes to the Comenius association for organization of the graduation ball of the Czech and Slovak section in Austria. The ball took place on 7 March 2015 in Parkhotel Schönbrunn and was visited by the city Vienna administration, diplomats and other guests of honour. The Czechoslovak Foreign Institute contributed significantly to cover costs of the ball. Two Czech music bands were also performing during the evening. The chairman of the Comenius School association Ing. Karel Hanzl and the chairman of the Minority council of the Czech and Slovak section in Austria Mag. Pavel Rodt opened the ball welcoming participants and guests of honour. They also introduced and decorated students graduating this year who performed their own dancing programme.

The interesting discussion took place in the seat of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute in Prague on March 23

with the chairman of the Czech-Moravian confederation of labour unions Josefe Středula. Possibilities of labour unions to influence life in the Czech society were discussed. Josef Středula emphasized at the beginning that the atmosphere of cultural coexistence, culture of searching for arguments has evaporated from our life within last twenty years. Misunderstandings often start from the lack of communication between management and employers. Recently partners would use the very inappropriate mutual attacks. The method of discussion is never more based on strength of arguments but on the strength of voice, position of power of participants and tough expressions, Josef Středula said. The participants including entrepreneurs, politicians agreed with him and they tried to find way how to renew culture of discussion. They all agreed upon the fact that those who are preparing for jobs in management should get intensive training in communication and ability to understand others.


lifestyle

Are you continuously worried that everyone else is doing something cool without you? You may be suffering from FOMO - Fear of Missing Out. Even worse, a new study reveals, you may be less satisfied with your life than the average person.

“FOMO is a type of anxiety, a sort of anticipatory regret,” explains psychologist Dr. Rebecca McGuire-Snieckus. “It’s brought on by being aware of so many alternatives, by seeing other things that you could be doing, having, or being.”

It doesn’t take long in a conversation among busy adults to detect the underlying concern: “Am I making the right choices for my career, my children, my life?” Some of us are so often consumed with what we or our loved ones might be missing or not achieving.

It’s therefore no surprise that FOMO was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2013.

Is it really serious?Possibly, as apparently people high in FOMO

feel less competent, less independent and less connected with others than people who do not worry about being left out, according to the study published in one of the issues of the journal Computers in Human Behavior.

With FOMO, people want to be everywhere doing everything. The issue is that they are actually everywhere and nowhere at the same time. They become so involved in seeing what their friends are doing and they are not that they often ignore what they are actually enjoying themselves. It’s a larger problem than


just missing out on a night out and feeling sorry about it.

“Fear of Missing Out acts as an important kind of waystation,” Andrew Przybylski, a psychologist and researcher at the University of Essex in the UK, says. “It’s the thing that connects a lot of what we think of as individual differences to social media.” Przybylski was inspired to study FOMO by a 2011 New York Times article on the phenomenon, in which a writer bemoaned her inability to enjoy a nice evening at home as her friends tweeted, Instagrammed and otherwise broadcasted their amazing evenings out right to her smartphone.

After identifying a way to measure FOMO,

Przybylski’s research targeted a national sample of over 2,000 22- to 65-year-old UK residents. The participants were also asked about their social media engagement, their life satisfaction and how competent and connected to others they felt in their daily lives. The results revealed correlation between these perceptions and FOMO: less autonomy, competence and connectedness equaled more FOMO.

This research also revealed that social factors were important - if people’s ‘psychological needs were deprived’ they were more likely to seek out social media. In this case, the FOMO concept explains how individuals feel more connected and why some people use social media more than others.

Other recent studies show that FOMO is often linked to feelings of disconnection and dissatisfaction, and that social media fuels it. Think how many people constantly scan email or Facebook to keep up with friends’ updates. And for some people just keeping up is not enough – they start to compare and evaluate their lives based on how they see others portraying their own.

It’s clear that FOMO can affect your personal life. But what about your work? How can you tell if FOMO is influencing decisions about your career? Here are a few signs that you may be suffering from excessive FOMO, which subsequently might be having an impact on your job.

For example, if you constantly check social media - this is not about logging into Facebook a few times a day; this is about feeling antsy if you cannot be connected all the time.

If you want to participate in every meeting or decision at work although they do not really concern you. There are many leaders who can’t let go and delegate because of a concern with not being in the know.

If you continuously question your work-life choices – it is natural to wonder from time to time if we have the right work-life balance; however, one sure way to get it wrong is never to be satisfied with what you’re doing when you’re doing it.

And, last but not least, if you incessantly feel unsettled about your career choices. We all make career choices that are occasionally wrong, yet we can try to learn from them and move on. This is different than a chronic feeling of never being in the right place with our careers.

Is there any good news?Yes. FOMO, like most things, is a choice. When

you know what’s going on, you can name it and claim it. Then decide if that’s really how you want to spend your precious time as there is nothing like an authentic, value-driven choice made by confident you to miss out. And then – then you may experience a bit of JOMO – Joy of Missing Out.

By Tereza Urbánková ■

Suffering from ‘fomo’?

Tereza Urbánková is a PR, communications and marketing professional with over 15 years’ experience and proven success in industries such as hospitality, retail, IT, defence, broadcast, logistics and engineering. For the past eight years she has been working and living in London, UK; currently, she is Head of Global Communications for Amec Foster Wheeler plc, a large international engineering consultancy. Tereza also works as a freelance consultant in the area of communications and PR. In 2015, she became a member of the Executive Committee of the Czech British Chamber of Commerce in the UK. She speaks Czech, English, Spanish and Russian and can be reached on [email protected] or through her LinkedIn profile.

“FOMO Is brOught On by beIng aware OF sO Many aLternatIves, by seeIng Other thIngs that yOu cOuLd be dOIng, havIng, Or beIng.”

Photo: Archive




media power

For the last two years I have been blessed to do a lot more work for women leaders. As the focus on gender equality and women’s impact on business economics have been growing in the Czech Republic, more and more companies addressed me to prepare tailor-made strategic communication academies for their talented female leaders. I find deep meaning in sharing my journalistic experience and entrepreneurial know-how with women and in helping them to be seen, heard and taken seriously. However, I cannot stop from noticing we still have a long way to go in order to bring the best of our women gifts into today’s leadership.

When it comes to genuine leadership and strategic communications, here are a few detrimental tendencies that I observe with most of my female clients: We set ALL the stakes sky high. We expect

to be perfect and even more in everything that we do. That goes from family, work, friends, social life, looks, body work and so on. When we are just a little less than perfect we feel guilty. Thus we put an incredible burden on our mental, physical and emotional life. Sometimes if we feel we cannot do something perfectly, we would rather not do it at all. That also includes communicating strategically. We tie our sense of self-worth with the

outcome of our work. This is a disease that is plaguing both women and men: we tend to think that we are only as good as our last appraisal. What’s worse, we give the power over ourselves to pretty much anyone who happens to be around. We have low resilience to criticism and, when faced with the risk of being bashed, we go idle, choosing lack of action as opposed to conscious action. We are afraid to be seen. I have female


clients who refuse to be seen or taken pictures of because they are pregnant. I have clients who would do anything rather than stepping on the stage in front of their colleagues and present the outcome of their work. I have clients who lose their nightly sleep weeks before going for a television interview. All this because when we are seen, we might be pointed at or criticized, which means we haven’t met our standards of perfection, which means no self-worth. The circle is closed.

In terms of strategic communications I recommend my female clients to start one step at a time. Once you are clear about your vision and goals, here are a few aspects of strategic communications that you can addressed:

1. The way you dress is a source of energy and personal power. When we are dressed in clothes that suit us well, our energy shifts and our level of self-confidence increases. Make sure you dress consciously so you can use this energy and healthy self-confidence in line with your goals.

2. Network. I can already see a few women raising their eyebrows. Many companies have been investing a lot into offering their women courses of image management and networking opportunities. Yet the change is slow. Why? “I already have more than enough on my plate; I cannot spend my evening downtown with foreign people. More contacts also mean more people to manage and I simply don’t have the energy for it.” While I hear the argument, the key is not just networking – it is conscious networking, within and outside your company. Only by building a healthy network of contacts that you can rely upon in times of need you can ensure that you truly influence the directions of your life in the future.

3. Manage your social media consciously. When is the last time you did a Google search for your name? Are you happy with what’s popping up when you review your profile? If you look at your search results with the eyes of a recruiter, are your results giving an accurate image of your competencies? A lady told me recently: “Yeah, I am on LinkedIn, but only with my name. I didn’t add more info – my job history and schools I studied at are no one’s business.” Well, when you don’t put relevant information about yourself out there, sooner or later someone else will. When you let the Internet to create your image you empower somebody else to speak for yourself, with unexpected consequences for your leadership and life.

4. Be visible in the media. Ask your PR department if there are any media opportunities for sharing your know-how. Traditional media still

add a lot of weight to your reputation. You can always add the column or the expert article that you published to your next application for a new position or a salary increase.

Last but not least, I encourage my female clients to join women communities. This is an essential aspect in my view. By listening to other women you are coming home: you realize you’re not the only one feeling the way that you do and dealing with the concerns that you are. You can also get valuable tips from women on how to handle your life and work. Above all, you will feel better: you are not alone on your journey.

Ever since women started discovering their place in business and the economy in the 20th century, the recipe for success was: Do it like a man and you will be successful. That strategy goes unfortunately only that far. We are biologically and emotionally wired differently and when our bodies collapse under the burdens we assume we need to learn the sources of our genuine, feminine strength. Conscious, strategic communications in line with our life vision and goals are an engine for such personal power. It may be scary at first. But it’s a road worth taking: it brings us closer to who we are and who we can be. We are finally coming home.

By Cristina Muntean ■

Cristina Muntean is a professional communications advisor, media trainer and coach. She has more than 12 years’ experience in the Czech, Romanian and international media. In August 2010 Cristina founded Media Education CEE, a Prague-based premium PR advisory and training agency. Hera clients are top managers with Top100 companies in the Czech Republic and CEE, diplomats and public officials who aim to make their voice heard in their communities. In June 2011 Cristina was elected to lead the Czech PR Klub for a one-year term. In December 2014 she was elected chairwoman of the Marketing Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Prague for a two-year term. Cristina speaks Romanian, French, English and Czech and can be reached at [email protected].

Photo: Archive

Women Leaders: Finally Coming Home

70

personal enlightenment


The human brain, or at least its cognitive part, is constantly processing information. Today, computers and mobile devices enable us to process even more, as we are all connected to a digital brain – the Internet. The Internet has become a dominant force in our modern lives, but please, be careful not to stop using your human brain altogether. It may atrophy like unused muscles, and you will sadly forget how to use it.


Unfortunately, our technological tools don’t have nutritional labels, so that we know when we have surpassed our daily recommended usage. What are the signs of an overdose?

The DigiTal DieTNot long ago, when we wanted to call somebody, we had to find a phone number in a phone book. We then had to dial that number. In this process our brain received information, determined the proper action, and instructed our bodies to perform; it was not just done with a mindless click of the finger. Today that process, like so many others, has become mindless.

When you are talking to someone, you feel the temptation to look at your mobile, read something or write You write SMS messages while your friend or child is talking to you You feel that whatever happens must be shared on Facebook or Twitter immediately You are unable to concentrate on 1 thing at a time Your pulse quickens when your device rings You feel disconcerted if you are off-line for some time You text while driving, knowing that by doing so, you put not only your life, but also the lives of others, in serious danger When with your friends, everyone plays with their electronic devices

The Internet has had a dramatic effect on books as well. Thick books of logarithmic and goniometric tables have disappeared. In fact, we don´t have to worry about creative writing any more either, we have SMS messages and tweets, right?

During my post graduate studies in Mathematics and Physics, I remember how professor Vopěnka, one of our best mathematicians, worried that basic school pupils were losing concentration. His fear was brought on by the gradual process of manual division and multiplication disappearing. Just try to divide two multi-digit numbers while checking your email at the same time!

We are obsessed with our technological toys, and we take them with us wherever we go. And when they get stuck, or lose a signal, immediately our brains panic. We feel lost and disconnected without our beloved Internet brains. And so ninety percent of our energy is consumed on getting reconnected. Thank god we must remember at least our more and more difficult PINs and passwords!

When checking your inventory, don´t forget your TV, DVD player, stereo, cameras, GPS, electronic readers, intricate coffee maker, and digital alarm clocks. So, it is not only pcs, mobiles, and tablets. You will be surprised how many of them there are in your life. In Anglo-Saxon households, the average is 25 such devices. Some require your constant attention, others like the above mentioned coffee make occasional, when you make yourself a coffee, ane above all they are not on all the time. Daniel Sieberg recommends to match your devices with their weight and count a VWI index, an equivalent to BMI (Body Mass Index). Mobile phones have 3 points, social networks 4 point and so on. Every day, add 2 points for every 20 emails sent, 3 points for each activity on social networks, etc. Resist the temptation of promoting your ego on social networks. This can make a solid base for further decreasing of your VWI.

If you do most of these things, it is time to think about a “digital diet”. Think about how you functioned years ago, when digital devices didn’t exist. Was life better then, in many respects? Was it more simple and free? Did you spend more time outdoors, and with your family and friends? If you want to enjoy those things again, then a healthy Digital Diet may be just the thing you need.

By Ivan Pilný ■ Member of the Parliament, ANO party

President of Tuesday Business Network

From a book Máte na víc issued by Albatros Media

Photo: Archive


71

charity ball

YOURCHANCE CHARITY BALL

Mr. Jiří Svoboda and Mrs. Petra Kopecká, Dancers

Boccaccio Grand Hotel Bohemia

From left: Ing. Gabriela Křivánková, Founder, yourchance, Klára Kulíšková, Mercedes Benz, and Jana Merunková, Founder, yourchance

Participants of project Začni správně

Veronika Kašáková, Moderator and Karel Diviš, Moderator

Jana Merunková, Founder, yourchance and Luboš Drobek, President, Prague Business Club

The first ever yourchance charity ball took place on March 10th 2015 in the Boccaccio Hall of Grand hotel Bohemia. Hostesses of the event were the founders of yourchance Ing. Gabriela Křivánková and Jana Merunková. The program was moderated by Veronika Kašáková and Karel Diviš.


72

interview

“The Civil Service Should Serve the Citizens.”

He is called a “Superservant”. Since January 1, 2015 Josef Postránecký has been in charge of more than 65 thousand state administrative workers. This was the result of a new Civil Service law, which was a major step toward a stable and professional civil service. We asked Josef Postránecký about the changes awaiting ordinary civil servants. And what about their managers?

An interview with Josef

Postránecký, Deputy

Minister for The Civil

Service

Photo: Archive



interviewDear Deputy Minister, what authority do you now

have? Some readers may believe that you are going to oversee all servants around the country…

That´s not quite true. The Civil Service law falls within my authority. Part of the law determines the tasks for the State Service Section, which as you probably may know was created instead of the originally planned General Directorate of the State Service at the Ministry of Interior. However, the responsibilities now are similar to those originally planned.

And these responsibilities are?The preparation of corresponding implementable

regulations related to the execution of State Service law; service regulations such as the assurance of competitive tenders; evaluation of services; and other issues covered by the law. I must emphasize that the primary focus of civil service law lies in solving the organizational and personnel issues within the state administration. It does not focus on the actual work of the state administration.

When this task is finished, and all new regulations have been adopted, will your job become calmer?

There will be no calm. The process will of course be continuous, and the next step will be to coordinate activities between the ministries and agencies working in state administration and human resources. The process must be completely integrated, a responsibility which also rests on The State Service Department.

Recently you attended the appointments of the new state secretaries. Have these secretaries met your expectations?

The applicants certainly met my requirements. By law they are achieved servants of the state administration, and have served or are currently serving in high positions. They must hold positions of department directors or higher. Therefore the winners of the tenders are longtime, experienced servants.

What are the main changes awaiting ordinary servants from July1?

For common employees of the state administration, there are practically no changes in responsibilities carried out by offices. The outside environment, however, will change. The law defines many duties for common servants, primarily focused on the efficiency of the state administration, its production and speed. The servants will also have to continuously achieve new professional qualifications. They will be subject to evaluations every year. Not everyone is used to such an approach, but they will have to come to terms with it.

And so a common servant will suffer more stress…They should organize their work and manage it

efficiently. This law also guarantees that if the servant’s work is of good quality, they will have better opportunities. They are not endangered by the fact that some divisions and jobs have been dissolved for various reasons. The law states that there will be no change in the system which determines workloads or positions, unless the law or range of responsibilities are changed. This is an advantage the law brings to the servants. They will not be relocated every year, and so on.

How many people will the new executive state servants actually manage?


The numbers vary. It depends on the managerial level. There are also exceptions due to the position of various types of offices, for example the so called regulation offices.

So, departments or sections are going to come together?

That is happening now, in preparation for the new system. The government approved regulations for the organization of service offices. These regulations define the minimum sizes of departments, divisions, and sections. Many offices had already prepared for this in advance, and those changes already took place at the beginning of this year.

Does this mean a downward trend in the number of managers?

Yes, of those in charge of the units. However, the law allows for deputy managers, which was not common before. They now hold senior positions. Therefore, the number of managers may go up. It makes sense. We know that if a director of a department falls ill, or goes on holiday, and he does not have a regular deputy, the unit´s performance will suffer.

What is the main change awaiting managers?For the managers, there are more changes. Besides

more responsibilities, they will be much busier as well. For example, they will have to evaluate their subordinates every year. They will have to oversee professional training. And of course they will be more involved in creating and maintaining the working conditions of their subordinates. They will not be able to pass on their responsibilities assigned to them by law. This issue was not resolved until now, and so the scope of work for senior officers will be greater. On the other hand, they now have certainty. If they provide good quality work, it will be impossible to remove them without stating a good reason.

The Civil Service law was a result of a political consensus. There were many compromises accepted. Do you think they will become an issue again?

You are speaking of more than 200 articles. Sure it will be useful to amend some parts of the law. However, I cannot anticipate anything. Even the Prime Minister emphasized that the law is new, too new for any amendments. That would seem odd to the servants and the public. Nor is there any need for changes to the law.

When did you first want to be a Deputy for The Civil Service?

I first considered it during the selection for the position of Deputy, in November of last year. For many years, I was responsible for Public Service reform in the Czech Republic. I was close to the public and civil service. I believed I could use my experience from that reform, as well as my work in the civil service, to take on this challenge as well.

What did the Minister of Interior tell you?He was positive about my decision to apply for the

position. We did not discuss it further.

The Civil Service Law is nominated for the law of the year, as well as caricature of the year. Do you agree with these nominations?

This is not the first time that a brand new law, which has no equivalent in the past, brings various reactions. Some praise it, others criticize. I am not surprised at all. Time will tell whether the law is good or whether it needs an amendment.

There are people saying that it would be better if the servants do not just blindly follow the law.

I think servants should abide by the regulations, to the letter of the law, and should seek solutions that benefit the people who live under these administrative decisions. Keep in mind that not all servants see it this way. It is also possible that in individual cases the law may be too harsh, and the servants´ official decision will be softer. But this must be well justified. If this is done, one of the main tasks of The Civil Service will be accomplished: serving the citizens.

Will you go on holiday this year?Definitely not before July 1, but we will see about

the summer. The minister instructed all deputies to plan their holidays. He wants to have fresh servants to fulfill all of the necessary tasks. I hope to get away for a week or so.

Prepared by CL ■


74

best of event

9th professional meeting of Best of magazine at hotel savoy

From left: Martin Vodička, Sales Director, Peugeot Kopecký, Drahomír Viktorín, Sales Director, 5P Agency, Michaela Lejsková, Editor in Chief, Best of, Jaroslav Mejta, Owner, Mejta Zlín, and David Červinka, Director, Quentessentially Czech

From left: Pavel Heřmanský, Marketing Manager, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Magdalena Frishová, Lawyer, and Petr Frish, Owner, ProFactum

From left: Ivan Šabaltúra, Florist, Mrs. Kateřina Krausová, Mrs. Erika Vránová and Mr. Stanislav Vrána, Clinique

From left: Michaela Lejsková, Editor in Chief, Best of, Zdeněk Troška, Film Director, and Alicja Huziuk- Raith, General Director, Hotel Savoy

Robert Vano, Photographer and Iva Janžurová, Actress

Eliška Hašková Coolidge, Lecturer and Karel Havlíček, Chairman, Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises


75

best of event

From left: Jadran Šetlík, Photographer, Ján Lešták, Owner, Eye Clinic JL, Pavel Závitkovský, Partner, KPMG, Alexandr Hemala, Moderator, and Vlastimil Harapes, Ballet Master

Michal Švarc, Private Banker, ČSOB and Gabriela Šťastná, Private Banker, ČSOB Štěpánka Hilgertová, Slalom Canoer From left: Aneta Vignerová, Model and Moderator, Milena Černá, Director, Endownment Fund of Olga

Havlová, Michaela Lejsková, Editor in Chief, Best of, Lejla Abbasová, Founder, Endowment Fund Asante Kenya, Senator Eva Syková, Director, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Pavla Gomba, Director, Unicef ČR, and Ondřej Šebek, Member of the Executive Committee, Czech Ice Hockey AssociationPetr Malásek, Pianist and Andrea

Kalivodová, Opera Singer

From left: Rostya Gordon Smith, HR Manager and Coach and Senator Eva Syková, Director, Institute of Experimental Medicine

From left: Petr Patočka, Chef, Hotel Savoy, Iva Janžurová, Actress, and Zdeněk Troška, Film Director

From left: Jaroslav Svěcený, Violinist and Jiří Herman, Owner, Press Agency Herminapress

Kamila Vodochodská, Fashion Designer and Mr. Michal Hrubý

Barbora Plachá, Harpist

From left: Žofie Viokálková, Flutist and Pavlína Senić, Opera Singer

www.ibestof.cz

76

gala event

PARTY OF THE YEAR THE RE-biRTH OF THE 1967 icOn PARKHOTEL PRAHA

From left: Omri Sivor, Founder and Chairman, Daramis, Monika Hilm, General Manager, PARKHOTEL Praha, and Yariv Ronen, CEO & Partner, Daramis

No other party this season has stirred so much attention and anticipation as the rebirth of Parkhotel Praha. After two years of diligent and hard work (one year of research and one of actual reconstruction), the guests of honour, friends and clients of the hotel could appreciate the return to the 1960s style with new modern touches. The stars of the evening Karel Gott, Tonya Graves and Olympic have given the party a special glamour and style, complemented by a retro fashion show, creative video mapping, generous fireworks and great food. “The party was the kick off to a new era and a clear signal to Prague that the hotel is back on the map.” said Monika Hilm, General Manager of the Parkhotel Praha. Omri Sivor and Yariv Ronen, from parent company Daramis, and Monika Hilm, who have been inspired by the original design from 1967, have finally seen their dream come true.

From left: Benke Aikell, your Publisher, H.E. Gary Koren, Ambassador of Israel, and Miloš Janů, Partner, Eco-Chem Water Systems, a.s.

Monika Hilm, General Manager, PARKHOTEL Praha with her husband, Philip Hilm

From left: Pavel Janků, External Lecturer, VŠO, Hana Patzáková, Headhunting and Recruitment, Dreamjob, and Ing. Pavla Berková, Managing Director, Dreamjob

Monika Hilm, General Manager, PARKHOTEL Praha and Karel Gott, Singer


77

gala event

PARTY OF THE YEAR THE RE-biRTH OF THE 1967 icOn PARKHOTEL PRAHA

From left: PhDr. Jaroslav Holoubek, Marketing, VŠH, Tereza Agnew, PR Manager, PARKHOTEL, and Benjamin Szakal, Parliament Advisor

From left: David Řezníček, ROOM, Marta Pražáková, CFO, Daramis, Mrs. Řezníček, and Robert Franek, Head of Sales, Koncepti

From left: Lars von der Wettern, Managing Director, HI Solutions, Marta Pražáková, CFO, Daramis, David Sever, Česká Spořitelna and Alan Grund, Relationship Manager, UniCredit Bank

From left: Ing. Lucie Klimešová, Cigler Marani Architects, a.s., and Věra Rašková, Director, Disemo Consulting s.r.o.

From left: Karel Žebrakovský, Head of Department, ČVUT and Benke Aikell, your Publisher

Dan Lanta, Visage artist and his partner

From left: Mr. Jan Slušný, Dagmar Pecinová, Director of the Office, Czech Gulf, Helena Leisztner, Fashion Designer and Artist, Peter Závodský, Adviser to the Minister, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Lenka Dušková, Chairman, The Friends of NMWA, and Roland Leisztner, Entrepreneur

From left: Mr. Joseph Paiva , Alana Paiva, Owner, Global Concept International Montessori School, and Monika Hilm, General Manager, PARKHOTEL Praha

Helena Leisztner, Fashion Designer and Artist and Prof. Dr. H.C. Jan Kříž, Kříž a Partner

78

gala event

From left: Pavel Janků, External Lecturer, VŠO, Ing. Lenka Jarošová, Executive Director, Prague Convention Bureau, Amara Zemplinerová, Publisher, Travel Digest, PhDr. Jana Hudcová, Head of Tourism Unit, Prague City Hall, and JUDr. Čestmír Sajda, MBA, Aspira Invest

From left: Monika Špisserová, Leasing Manager, Daramis, M.Sc. Tero Loukonen, Business Analyst, Passerinvest Group, a.s., and Dagmar Zarubová, Director, Real Estate and Interior Design

From left: Martina Jůzová, Head of Department, Real Estate Finance, Erste CR, Ignacio Villa Casado, Investment Director, Discovery Group, Andrea Kwolek, Group Financial Manager, Discovery Group, and Richard Kohout, Senior Project Manager, Lordship

From left: Irina Kotorova, MSc, Internal Auditor, ISI, Ulf Bengtsson, Owner, World Class, Jimmy Lilja, Managing Director, Fitness Solution, and Natalia Folbrycht, COO, World Class Prague

From left: David Hercky, Eran S. Yuvan, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Israel, Ing. Hedvika Frťalová, MBA, Managing Director, ON Clinic, and H.E. Gary Koren, Ambassador of Israel

Omri Sivor, Founder and Chairman, Daramis, withhis family and Serge Borenstein, President, Karlín Group and legendary real estate developer on the left

Karel Gott, the One and Only in his fabulous performance

Monika Hilm, General Manager, PARKHOTEL Praha and Jaromír Šlápota, President, ČSÚZ

79

gala event


From left: Marie Kampfová, Philip Morris, and Michaela Lejsková, Editor in Chief, Best Of magazine

Robert Polo, Radio Color and Monika Hilm, General Manager, PARKHOTELPraha

From left: Tereza Agnew, PR Manager, PARKHOTEL Praha, and Helena Tyburcová, independent journalist and writer

Jana and Petr PospíšiloviFrom left: Gil Romem, CFO, Lighthouse Group, Mrs. Tali Romem, and Smadar Sivor with her son

From left: Milorad Miško Miškovič, Managing Partner, Karlin Port and Tommy Klein, KMP Management s.r.o.

From left: Ing. Tereza Valášková, Ph.D., Research and Consulting with her friend, Henri Proulx, Counsellor, Canadian Embassy, and Ing. István Koloszvári, Counsellor, Embassy of Hungary

From left: Guy Dvorin, CEO, Shikun and Binui RED and Yariv Ronen, CEO & Partner, Daramis

Dagmar Raupachová, Attorney at Law, Černý-Raupachová and Ing. Pavel Štefka, (ret.) 4 star General and former Chief of staff of the Czech Republic

From left: Aleš Poděbrad, Civil Engineeer ČKAIT, Partner, Casua, and METROSTAV team

80

interview

“I want Parkhotel to be

a part of Prague 7 community”

An interview with Monika

Hilm, General Manager, Parkhotel

Praha, on the new trends and traditions in the

hotel business


interview

Parkhotel was founded in the 1960s as the first prestigious modern hotel in Prague. Recently it has undergone a complete renovation, with plans to attract not only international tourists but also Prague’s citizens. “What is really unique about Parkhotel, apart from taking you back to the 1960s era, is that you can book the hotel exclusively for yourself. If you organize an event for a company or group of more than 200 people, you can reserve the entire Parkhotel for you and your guests,” says Mrs. Hilm.

Dear Mrs. Hilm, you did an amazing job renovating the hotel while simultaneously keeping it open and serving guests. How did it all happen?

In December 2012, when I first arrived, the hotel looked horrible. As I admitted on our website, I agreed with everyone who considered Parkhotel “ugly”, especially the interior. Before the renovations began, I contacted the Chamber of Architects, represented by Mr. Petr Hlaváček. He introduced me to two architects who designed the hotel, representing a unique architectural style according to the era of “socialism with a human face”. The two architects I contacted were Mrs. Alena Šrámková and Mr. Zdeněk Edel. Both helped me to understand the original concept of the hotel’s design, and appreciate its uniqueness. Mr. Edel spent one whole day with me, guiding me through the hotel and explaining the concepts of minimalism and symbolism. I learned that from the 1960s the hotel was linked to both the past and present. Also, the orientation of the building’s facade, contrary to the other buildings in the neighbourhood, was intentional. When I mentioned that I would like to reconstruct the hotel to fit with the exterior, Mr. Edel was very touched, as he was also disappointed by the failed attempts of previous renovations which destroyed his original plan. For example, the heavy and ugly furniture of the 1980s interior did not correspond to the minimalistic light concept of the 1960s.

Why did the Israeli real estate company Daramis decide to buy the hotel?

The original idea was to buy it because of the land and location. Daramis group is a Real Estate Company, interested in developing the land beside the hotel. As they are not experts in hotel management, they hired me. However, I sensed the


potential for the renovated Parkhotel, and came up with the idea of first renovating Parkhotel, and then concentrating on building new apartments.

What about the original idea to build apartment buildings next to Parkhotel?

We are still planning to build apartments behind the hotel. The idea is to benefit from the services of Parkhotel. When you buy an apartment there, you will be able to have housekeeping, you can order room service, get your laundry done, and make use of other hotel services, while living in your own flat. It’s a new way of thinking of apartments in Prague. It was up to me to explain this to the Israeli owners, that if they wanted to sell fancy apartments next to the hotel, the hotel as such also needed to look nice.

Let ‘s go back to the renovation. Given the Czech history of not finishing projects in time, it is incredible to believe that it started in July 2013, and now it is finished.

Due to Daramis being a professional construction company we had extensive support and therefore finished on time.

Many Czech people remember Parkhotel from old movies. Now, when you enter, you can really feel the 1960s period. I understand your love for the old Parkhotel, but still, were you not tempted to do some modernization or use current designs?

Not at all. I am proud to say that I convinced everybody that the right thing to do is to keep the style of a 1960s hotel. Not to go modern. My biggest challenge was to make sure everybody shared the idea of how great the concept really is. Once everybody was on board, it was easy.

What was Mr. Edel´s reaction to the renovation?He said that it looks fantastic. To me this was one of

the best rewards. Now, people can come back to see and feel the hotel as it was in the 1960s. This is not only good for tourists, I believe that the Parkhotel also has value for Czech people, for whom the 1960s was a very special period in Czechoslovak history. Therefore, I want the hotel to be part of the Prague 7 community. I don‘t want it to be a hotel only for foreigners.

You organise a lot of events for Prague citizens, not only for hotel guests. That is not very common for Prague hotels.

Parkhotel benefits from large spaces that can be used for public gatherings and events. Most hotels don’t have big public spaces. In fact, most people hide from big open spaces. Prague 7 is full of people and yet, people don’t really have a “central point”. Therefore, we want to use the space around the hotel and offer it to them. For example, during the winter there is an ice skating rink available. In summer, I hope to get permission for an open air cinema. The guests will like it. We are not on the Old Town Square; we have to attract the guests. And the guests at the same time are curious and presented with a unique opportunity to experience how local Czech people live.

So are you aiming to attract a different clientele than a usual four-star hotel chain would?

Yes, that corresponds with what I mentioned above, our aim is to provide a unique experience of the local environment. We want to cater to people who are interested in staying in our hotel as a symbol of the 1960s period, because it has been a part of Prague’s history. We are not an ordinary hotel. I can say this because I have extensive hotel chain experience. I have worked in nine different countries, and no matter which country you are in, all hotels in a chain look the same, and this attracts their clients. However, when I had the opportunity to create what I wanted to create, I wanted all of our guests to feel like they are in Prague. For example, we are having Czech designers make special uniforms based on 1960s attire, and we are starting to cooperate with Botas regarding popular shoes from that era. We want to have the 1960s iconic style brought out. We have Kofola on tap in the bar. Guests are invited to free tasting.

This sounds like you are referring to unique boutique hotels. But boutique hotels are mostly small. You have 237 rooms…

Yes, but groups are also interested in these boutique hotels. Groups currently make up half the occupancy of the hotel. We have a lot of American tourists. They love and appreciate the history. It‘s obvious that many foreigners, whether they travel in groups or not, are fascinated by the 1960s period. That is why we offer this experience, and at the same time treat our guests with special care.


interview

What about business clients?We have grown this market significantly since we

took over the hotel three years ago. There used to be very few business clients in the hotel. Parkhotel is doing very well in the congress segment, and we have grown from less than 1% to 15% now. And once more, do not forget that these numbers were achieved during the renovation period! Now, we are going to focus even more on business clientele. As I mentioned in the introduction, what is really unique about Parkhotel apart from going back to the 1960s, is that you can rent the hotel exclusively for you and your guests.

Really?Yes. One of our slogans is “Exclusively yours” . If

you are a company and you have more than 200 people, it may make financial sense to book the whole Parkhotel for you and your guests. There are many hotels in Prague, but we are the only one offering this opportunity.

Why would companies rent the whole Parkhotel?All of our meeting rooms are technically brand new.

Our open spaces are quite unique. It is really difficult to find a hotel that has such large connected open spaces. Considering how many people you can fit in here, and the number of rooms, this works really well. It’s geared more towards exhibitions, workshops, and fairs. You can have social interaction in five different rooms. Also, companies can expose their products very well. And they can use the exhibition areas for evening parties later. And last but not least we have parking. If you have people coming from different parts of Czech Republic or Prague, this is a great feature.

Why is exclusivity a unique feature?When a company comes and says they want

the whole hotel exclusively, the price tends to be enormous. We have done intense calculations on how to make this business work for the clients.

Do you have a special price policy?I believe we offer good value for our price. We

would rather have more volume than have high prices. We are realistic.

Many hotels in Prague have relied mostly on foreigners, and have had difficulties during the recent economic crises.

We are also different in this aspect. Ministries are one of our most reliable clients. We work very well with the government.

Another area where you started to innovate is interaction via social media.

When I came here, we did not use Facebook for marketing at all. Now it’s very important to communicate with guests. We have hired a dedicated Social Media employee, so we are getting better.

There is also an interactive communicator on your website.

We say “Talk To Us”. You don’t need to wait for an email or call. This is also our message to event organizers. We are not part of a chain, which means we can be as flexible as you like us to be. When it comes to terms and conditions, we can also be very flexible. For example, when advertising your company around a hotel, larger chains are limited by the rules of the brand. This is where we can be original. Not because of our price, but because of our flexibility.

Well, you know very well how a hotel chain functions. You worked for several of them…

I know what to do, as well as what not to do. Let‘s be honest, chains have the best standardisation.

Do you have any special services for more sophisticated clients?

We just started to cooperate with a physiotherapist, who is running our massage rooms. To me, it’s something different. If your neck aches because you were sitting on a plane too long, we will actually do something better than just give you a nice massage. This is something we do differently.

One of the keys for travellers these days is to make sure that you have stable and free high-speed Wi-Fi.

I‘m Scandinavian, and in my book it‘s not even a discussion point. It’s my right as a human being to have Wi-Fi. Just as it is a right for everyone to have a bed to sleep in.

Do you have some special requirement for your employees?

The most important thing to make clear for people who work here – if you don’t like your job, then let me help you find the job that you like. Whether that is inside or outside the hotel.

People who work here need to be treated fairly and in the best possible way. It is difficult to find good people because you cannot motivate them with a salary. Once you get a pay rise, it is not a motivator anymore.

We have talked about your enormous efforts and achievements during the last two years. But I cannot not help asking about the rooms and further renovation?

We have not touched the rooms or the outside look yet. I‘m also trying to put a playground in for children in front of the hotel. Now we need to take a break. When it is all done, we will see how the hotel runs. How will the 1960s concept work and how much further can we take it. I am in touch with companies that also relate to the 1960s and they want to do exhibitions. And as I mentioned, I am open to feedback and suggestions, so please, come to visit our renovated Parkhotel and do not hesitate to contact me via Facebook or our website.

By Jaroslav Kramer and Linda Štucbartová



sustainable development

Utility providers are rarely applauded. At best, they carry out their business in providing electricity, water and the like without attracting much attention. But when there are price increases or, on rare occasions, some interruption to supply, the reputations of these companies are immediately compromised.

Adding to their pressures, environmentalists commonly criticize the big power generators for emitting greenhouse gases (GHGs) that are causing climate change. This nation’s largest electricity provider, ČEZ, is one such business that has found itself in the firing line over the past years.

But the image of this massive conglomerate is beginning to change as ČEZ emerges as one of Europe’s most vocal advocates for the rapid reduction of CO2, which climate scientists warn will irreparably damage our planet, if left unfettered.

ČEZ is the largest utility and biggest public company in Central and Eastern Europe and the jewel in the Czech Republic’s corporate crown. It is involved in electricity generation, trade, distribution and heat, as well as coal mining and nuclear power, and operates in many countries.

It was with some pride that I witnessed the company’s Chairman and Chief Executive, Daniel Beneš, being applauded at a recent gathering of business leaders in Paris where he talked about his company’s impressive ambition to dramatically cut its GHG emissions to zero within 35 years.

Only 200 days before the crucial international UN summit on climate change in Paris, some of the world’s top business bosses attended the Business & Climate Summit in that same city this past May to send a message to governments that the world needs a new treaty to replace the now-expired Kyoto Protocol, which was also actively involved in the ČEZ Group CEO Daniel Beneš.

Attended by French President François Hollande, who gave the keynote address, Daniel Beneš who was the only speaker representing a company operating


coal-fired power. In front of an audience of some of the most distinguished business leaders, the ČEZ explained that his company has reduced overall emissions of CO2 since 2005 by 33 percent.

Mr Beneš emphasized that ČEZ’s strategy focuses on decentralized production, savings through efficiencies and low-emission electricity production from renewable sources, as well as nuclear power.

“We believe that the future of energy systems based on decentralized power generation and renewable energy sources,” he said.

The central challenge of the business summit was to seek such a path for industry towards low-carbon energy, which will ensure economic growth.

Mr Beneš stated: “Coal power plants will still have their place in power generation in the near future.” But he then surprised the audience by going on to say that it was clear that in the long term coal usage would have to come to an end.

How times have changed. In 1997, when I attended the mega-meeting of nearly 200 nations in the Japanese city of Kyoto arranged to find an agreement on how to combat global warming protocol, there was limited involvement from business.

Indeed, of those few companies in attendance, most were there to question the whole notion that fossil fuel-driven industrial development was causing climate change. Many had shared a mission to denounce environmentalists as enemies of capitalism and called for “business as usual”.

In fact this progressive stance predates the current CEO, with the ČEZ Group first publicly acknowledging its liability for GHG emissions in October 2006. This declaration was in response to the then minister of the environment, Peter Kalaš, who launched a dialogue about environmental protection with industry.

The Group committed in its public declaration to reinvest its profit from sales of saved emission allowances in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme in taking steps towards further GHG reductions, modernization of technologies for electric power production and introducing measures for environmental quality improvement.

Today, the company actively engages with key environmental pressure groups and is spearheading energy efficiency programmes as well as the introduction of renewable technologies.

ČEZ will inevitably be held to account by environmental NGOs and other key stakeholders. And some contest that the company isn’t doing enough. Some say that it’s a case of too little too late. Other criticise the company for its continued use of nuclear power, and there are those who question the sincerity of the group’s promises.

But to my mind, Daniel Beneš and his senior management team, represent a refreshing new generation of leaders who see the world very differently from past

industrialists. He surely gives rise to the optimistic view that it is business that can save our planet.

It’s now generally accepted science, that when fossil fuel is combusted, heat is released. This process produces carbon dioxide, which is one of a number of greenhouse gases that accumulates in the atmosphere and traps heat that would otherwise escape into space, causing global climate change.

December’s UN climate summit, COP21, in Paris is being dubbed as the “Last Chance Saloon” by many climate scientists and environmentalists. They predict that if an international new treaty cannot be agreed to reduce greenhouse gases, average global temperatures will rise above 2 degrees centigrade which would have irreversible consequences for our planet.

President Hollande, has called for a “miracle” to happen later this year at the crunch climate change conference in his capital city, saying this will be needed for a compromise to be reached on the future of limiting greenhouse gases that must involve both developed and developing countries.

I’ve attended every one of these COPs since Kyoto, and the wrangling between different governments intent on prioritising their short term national interests, makes me good reason to question whether a political solution can actually ever be achieved.

In contrast, May’s Business and Climate Summit in Paris was a breath of fresh air, with leaders of some of the companies pledging to take significant steps to reduce climate-threatening emissions, and calling on governments to reach a deal in December.

Commitments such as those made by ČEZ demonstrate that business is prepared to take a longer term view than politicians, and history may well show that it was companies that really made the difference in stabilising the climate. Let’s hope for a miracle in Paris.

By Jonathan Wootliff ■

CLIMATE CHANGEČEZ DEMONSTRATES TRUE LEADERSHIP

Jonathan Wootliff A former director of Greenpeace International, Jonathan Wootliff lives in Prague and works throughout the world as a sustainability consultant to business. He is a special advisor to the Czech Business Council for Sustainable Development. He has consulted many large corporations including BP, Colgate-Palmolive, McDonald’s, Procter & Gamble and Whirlpool, and providing counsel to companies on the development of sustainability strategies that benefit the environment, society and business. Among his many activities, he helps companies to resolve disputes, forge productive relationships with non-governmental organizations, and build long-term sustainability strategies. A qualified journalist with a subsequent background in public relations, Jonathan commonly assists companies with their sustainability communications. He can be contacted at [email protected]

Former Greenpeace International director,Jonathan Wootliff, is now a sustainability

consultant living in Prague.

Photo: Archive of Author


ambassadors without diplomatic passport

Rostya Gordon-Smith

How do you see today´s world?Generally, I see great opportunities for

individuals who have strong values, energy, and the passion to be involved in public life. I believe that opportunities abound for those interested in creating and forming grass-roots movements and influencing local communities for good. Granted, the world nowadays is globalized, but even so, local communities need to grow stronger and defend their right to exist.

How do you see the position of the Czech Republic in the world?

The world is a big place and the Czech Republic is a small country. When talking about countries, size doesn’t matter. Small countries can yield tremendous influence, and the Czech Republic is one such country. Now is a great time to develop a society with strong feelings of pride and patriotism. We need a country where people hold to their values, build strong families, are open to new ideas, and are eager to become a leader in some global specialty. To

Rostya Gordon-Smith is amongst 50 TOP HR experts in the world, however, in the Czech Republic she symbolizes „Ambassador of Women“ and their right to be represented both in politics and business while not having to make a choice between their work and family. Rostya has worked in 10 countries; she has four sons (each born on a different continent) and eight grandchildren.

Besides being a strong advocate of women quotas, Rostya is a strong supporter of motherhood and the role of a family in a society in general. She claims that „no professional success can make up for the failure in family sphere“. At the age when most women retire, Rostya came up with “a small project to keep her busy” but those who know Rostya know that wherever she invests her energy, things start to change. Her movement is called Minerva 21 with the aim to ”unite confident women who believe in continuous self-development, who will share their experience with others and who will strive to have a positive impact and influence in the society they live in“. Founding Minerva 21 was a response to the fact that there are more than 90 organizations specializing in women´s issues and often do not know about each other’s activities. Already after three months of existence, Minerva 21 managed to launch a mentoring scheme for students at the Technical University in Ostrava, organize a debate in Parliament and hold several networking events in Prague and Brno with the ultimate aim to persuade women to cooperate and not to compete.

Photo: Petra Sera

Minerva 21 motto: We are making waves.When you drop a pebble into a pond, waves ripple out in circles. First, small ones, which grow larger and larger as they move away from the drop point and in time more and more circles are created. With more pebbles, the circles entwine. MINERVA’s 21 message to women is the same: “make waves, make the water ripple”. The overlapping circles are symbols of women’s collaboration, communication, support and networking – all of which are creative processes based on the win/win principle. All participants gain.

Rostya Gordon-Smith, Founder, MINERVA 21 www.minerva21.net



Rostya Gordon-Smith put it simply, the Czech Republic needs to be sophisticated enough “to do” rather than “be done to”.

You often claim that “the reality is different behind the boarders” and that Czechs should not lock themselves in the local, provincial thinking. Have you thought, after returning to the Czech Republic in 1990, that you would still have to break these barriers after 25 years of democracy?

I returned to the Czech Republic in 1997 with the idea that I had learned many valuable lessons having lived in 10 different countries and having worked in at least 15 others. I decided to give my energy to the country of my birth. The barriers I talk about are the paradigms that we hold in our minds. I call them “mental cages”. These are the common sayings that are popular and and carry on some truth, but should not be applied to our values. For example: “Za dobrotu na žebrotu” (Being good leads to becoming a beggar), many times this paradigm stops us from going the extra mile to help others or get involved. Another matter that bothers me, and I would love to change it, is the general gloominess of the Czech population and the lack of motivation to want to change things around us.

You are also an expert on organizational development and intercultural communication plays a great role. Which intercultural traits do you see beneficial for Czechs and which ones we should change?

I love the Czech ability to adjust, be flexible, and join together in times of crisis. On the other hand, the general pessimism and resignation among us saddens me: our lack of ability to participate in a fruitful and useful discussion and get involved in a cause. It seems to me that we are mainly concerned with ourselves only.

Women cooperation and mutual support is often considered their weakness. However, many men came to me to warn me against “idealizing” men cooperation. So what differences do you see?

I do not “idealize” cooperation amongst men or women. I accept that we both work in different ways. Such would be an ideal situation for the advancement of diversity, but women still do not

have adequate representation in all sorts of areas where decision making is taking place. This is wrong. Such exclusion is not a reflection of a mature and sophisticated society.

This was one of the reasons I found MINERVA 21 earlier this year.

How do you perceive MINERVA 21 movement after six months of its existence?

I returned back to this country after nearly 25 years living abroad. One of the main reasons for this was that I wanted to share my experiences from not one country, but from many countries. I found MINERVA 21 and identified it as a “movement” because I believe that we need to move from many positions and paradigms in this country in order to create a better society for all of us. I believe that united women could be a driving force for positive change in this country. All the members of the MINERVA 21 board are successful women who have reached prominent positions, created businesses and non-profit organizat ions, and are mothers and wives. We are a perfect

mix of what women in this society are. Even I could not imagine the progress we have achieved in only 6 months. Women responded to our “call” and joined us, are helping us, are participating, and are committed. In short, we are confident women!

Many men complain that all activities that are mushrooming for women in the Czech Republic do not support diversity in the long term. How can you persuade men to cooperate with

women more? Can men who are interested in diversity become involved in Minerva

21 movement?I do not really know what men are complaining about. I know

that many men – mainly the younger generation—are open to diversity and working with women on an equal basis. I think men who care about this country should join with women in this

movement to build a more equal and fair society.

What is your final word to Prague Leaders

readers?It really is my

challenge to both women and men: come and see. Come and contribute. Come and become part of this movement. Come and be “MINERVANKA” or “MINERVAN” and help us, each according to your ability and circumstances, to contribute to

the better future for all of us.

By Linda Štucbartová ■

Linda Štucbartová graduated from the Institute of International Territorial Studies. After a one year scholarship at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, she obtained a Diplome d’études supérieures from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. Between the years 2002 and 2006, she worked in senior positions at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 2006 she has functioned in the private sphere, and lectures at the Anglo-American University, where she was named the Chair of the Department of Diplomacy. In addition to training in negotiation and communication of clients from the private, public and non-profit sector, she regularly collaborates with NGOs in the projects of the International Global Young Leaders Conference and the Women and Leadership Programme. Linda Štucbartová is a member of the Rotary Club Prague International. She currently works for Atairu. Articles are extracts from her book Velvyslanci i bez diplomatického pasu (Eng. “Ambassadors without a Diplomatic Passport”).



Zdeněk Bakala’s Scholar Patrik Procházka

The Rotary International Club of Prague is serving as a benefactor to Patrik’s life journey. A fundraising effort is underway to help support this young man’s fees for college and ongoing medical therapies. He attended Prague’s prestigious Open Gate grammar school on a scholarship and now attends Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida on a partial scholarship. Despite undergoing periodic operations which require significant time out of the classroom, Patrik remains at the top of his class. In the midst of all this, Patrik is determined to change people’s attitudes toward those with disabilities, both at home in the Czech Republic and around the world. He speaks regularly to help others recognize the gifts and incredible potential of all people, regardless of their physical and mental abilities.

“I won partial academic scholarship to study in the United States, being selected from around 250 people. Since then, thanks to Bakala Foundation which has inspired me with unlimited choices and has also supported me the most during my bachelor’s studies, I have had a strong base to turn the impossible into possible.“

How do you perceive today’s world?Today’s world is truly amazing and with all my

gratefulness I love to live in it. There is ultimate freedom and such an awesome diversity around us together with a strong connection. World is slowly going forward towards diversities as well as dreamers who believe one can achieve simply anything. I feel that in today’s world capability of achieving anything we can think of tends to be more realistic to people than in the past. From my perspective, people have unlimited options which are often well deserved by various obstacles. They can do exactly what they feel they want to from the bottom of their heart. They are braver and stronger, being aware of their own uniqueness. I personally was considered disabled as, due to serious illness after born, I was unable to walk. Considering to be severely limited along with living in a negatively bound environment where everything was impossible without discussions, I had two options, be or not to be. I decided to keep my inner self Photo: Oliver Beaujard

The story of Patrik reads like a fairy tale. But rather than fairy tale, it is a story of never giving up, falling and trying to walk (even literally) and sticking to your dreams. The story of Patrik combines my favorite themes of leadership, diversity, education and non-profit organizations. The article is written not only to help him but also to mention all those involved that made his journey possible. In today´s world, people often think that they cannot change much. Patrik and his story serves as an example that if more individuals and institutions cooperate, the outcome and the overall impact can be truly enormous. Meet an extraordinary young man, who was born with cerebral palsy and lived most of his life requiring the aid of a wheelchair. However, despite the doubts of medical staff, Patrik is now able to walk. This is largely due to Patrik’s incredibly positive attitude. He lives by the motto “Nothing is unattainable - if we do not give up our efforts to attain it.” and serves as a testament to the will of the human spirit.


and most importantly my dreams - to get maybe even further than those telling me that I am limited, disabled, or even useless or crippled. This dream has had even more powerful fuel behind it - to help others not to struggle as I had to struggle and understand the awesomeness of life regardless its conditions. I feel that people have managed to learn that we all are interconnected and can help each other to overcome obstacles.

I don’t believe in the existence of false hope, I am convinced that people are able to achieve anything in life if they keep being grateful for the obstacles and believe in their dreams. If someone feels disapproval, it’s like: “Don’t believe me, just watch!”

How do you perceive the position of the Czech Republic?

The Czech Republic has still had a long way to learn to understand that we all are more alike than different, that obstacles are here not to stop us but to help us to deserve what we dream of and that instead of jealousy there is something called support and inspiration. From my own experience, the majority of Czechs still perceive success as something what is not right as well as something they will never have. Why than would they be successful if they do not believe they will? Nevertheless, people tend to lack understanding of what is behind the success, the long journey full of obstacles. They feel jealous for other people’s success. Combination of success and disability is than even more harmful to these people. Harmful instead of inspirational. I remember on my journey to learn to walk I had to spent a lot of time in a hospital. Instead of support I often had to face jealousy. People were jealous that I can rest in a hospital, not considering the enormous pain I was going through. They did not even consider that I would switch with them without hesitation. However, at one point I have to agree with them. I personally believe people are just lucky to break their leg for example. It is simply because anything what gets into our lives with no chance to turn it over is an awesome experience and we have to make the best of it. Everything seemingly negative is an obstacle, a tool to really deserve what we wish for and we need to be grateful for it.

How does it happen that a boy originally from the town of Banska Bystrica determined to stick to his dreams ends up studying in the United States and walking instead being on wheelchair?

In the whole world there is nothing we would not be able to achieve if we have courage enough to fight relentlessly all obstacles towards our dreams. Facing of being considered abnormally crazy for this sentence,

TO BE CONTINUED WITH OTHER AMBASSADORS WITHOUT DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT

I had to learn not to care of what people think. I have always been grateful for everything in my life, having it clear that the physical change of being unable to walk did not make me disabled, but unique. As I was able to identify my goals and priorities, I won the scholarship to study in the United States, being selected from around 250 people. Since then, I have had a strong base to turn the impossible into possible. I disregard the limits and take risks, while being in love with my limitless choices and intuition.

The sentence I first said when I was 12, has naturally transformed into a shorter and sharper abbreviation - stick with your dreams, unconditionally!

www.stickwithyourdreams.com

You are known for the optimist attitude but this is not a common trait characteristics for many Czechs. Were you born with it or did you learn it?

Even as a small child I learned that crying over a spilled milk doesn’t help me at all. I have learned that smile, on the other hand, is powerful and capable of changing sadness into happiness. When I fall and cry, it makes other people sad, whereas if I fall and laugh, it eliminates negative feelings and also change the way people perceive the situation.

The reason why you left to study psychology and business to the US was your ultimate goal to establish a foundation to help other people with different physical abilities to reach their dreams and potential. How far you in establishing such an institution?

Thanks to having an awesome chance to grow academically, physically as well as personally I was able to understand something immeasurably important. If the disability is considered according to needs, then, we all are disabled in some ways. We all have specific needs. We need food – somebody farms it for us. We need clean water – somebody cleans it for us. We need a place to live – somebody builds it for us or at least provides us with necessary materials. We need a job – somebody creates it for us. Or – we do this for somebody else. We all are different in having different needs as well as opportunities to fulfill needs of others – as much as we are the same – we all need help and are able to help. To be concrete, we all are disabled of doing something and we all need help of others, on the other hand, we all are able to do something and we all can help others. This is essential for helping people to reach their full potential regardless of physical conditions.

I am currently working on establishing my own consulting company focused on unlimited choices and

the ways to help people to find them. I also feel the need to make a change in healthcare division and instead of supporting big factories for health I wish to create something different, based on biopsychosocial approach and ultimate care, small, individualistic and awesome, helping people in various conditions not to give up their dreams. This is coming along with the foundation, because finances should be the least obstacle in what we need to live life to the fullest. My aim is to provide unlimited support when it comes to health.

I know that there were many individuals as well

as numerous institutions that provided help and assistance on your journey. Can you mention those who supported you the most and how? What other kinds of support would you need? And how do you perceive the NGO sector in the Czech Republic in general?

I have been awarded a very unique bright green light from Bakala Foundation. This gave me confidence, firm base and power to always go my own way. I am extremely grateful for this connection full of common inspiration, wise advising and ultimate understanding. I have also been very strongly connected with The Kellners Family Foundation, Our Child Foundation, Deloitte, Kraft Foods, Konto Bariéry, Výbor dobré vůle foundation and Rotary Club Prague International, while steadily supporting each other. The whole life is about a connection and that is what I need the most, to be able to reach to those who need me. NGOs in the Czech Republic as well as many Czechs still hardly perceive my perspective of unlimited choices, which however results from gratefulness (from what we have achieved), belief (in what we wish to achieve) and happiness (over every obstacle we are lucky enough to be getting across by hard work to deserve what we wish to achieve).

Your final words to Leaders Magazine readers…Ultimate happiness does not depend on external

conditions. Please be happy for everything and stick with your dreams unconditionally. If you can, please spread my words in order to help to make the impossible possible.

Final note from the author…Even though this young man still needs a lot of

support, when he was asked what kind of support he needed, he did not mention the financial one first. He said that „the whole life is about connections and that is what I need the most, to be able to reach to those who need to get to know me“.

Please, reach Patrik at [email protected].

Those of you interested in financial assistance, please visit Rotary Club Prague International website and under the title project Patrik you have the details how to make a donation or contact Linda Štucbartová, the author of the interview.

By Linda Štucbartová ■

Linda Štucbartová graduated from the Institute of International Territorial Studies. After a one year scholarship at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, she obtained a Diplome d’études supérieures from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. Between the years 2002 and 2006, she worked in senior positions at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 2006 she has functioned in the private sphere, and lectures at the Anglo-American University, where she was named the Chair of the Department of Diplomacy. In addition to training in negotiation and communication of clients from the private, public and non-profit sector, she regularly collaborates with NGOs in the projects of the International Global Young Leaders Conference and the Women and Leadership Programme. Linda Štucbartová is a member of the Rotary Club Prague International. She currently works for ATAIRU. Articles are extracts from her book Velvyslanci i bez diplomatického pasu (Eng. “Ambassadors without a Diplomatic Passport”).

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88

CMA Traditional photo of all the finalists in front of the Žofín Palace

Photo: Archive

Manager of the Year 2014 Has Its WinnersOn 23rd April 2015, the results of this, already 22nd year of the Manager of the Year Awards were announced in Prague Žofín palace. The titul of the most suc-cessful manager in the Czech Republic for the year 2014 was awarded to Ing. Daniel Beneš, MBA, General Manager of ČEZ, a.s. and Mgr. Zuzana Ceralová Petrofová, Director and Legal Representative of Petrof company.

Besides the representatives of the Manager of the Year organizers who participated in the selection of the winners within the Committee - Jaroslav Hanák, President of the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, Jan Weisner, Chairman of the Confederation of Employers´ and Entrepreneurs´ Unions of the Czech Republic, and Pavel Kafka, President of the Czech Management Association - the awards to the TOP 10 best managers were handed over also by Andrej Babiš, The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Pavel Bělobrádek, Deputy Prime Minister for the Science, Research and Innovation, and Přemysl Sobotka, Vice Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of the CR. An imaginary baton was passed to their successors by Karel Žďárský and Ja-roslava Valová, Managers of the Year 2013. The Awards were held under the auspices of Miloš Zeman, President of the Czech Republic, who also congratulated the absolute winners in the course of the gala evening. The main partners of this year´s Awards were Eurovia CS and Česká spořitelna.

Branch Managers and other categoriesBesides absolute winners and TOP 10, the best

managers of 23 branches were announced.The title Young Managerial Talent was awarded to

Ing. Monika Šimánková, Ph.D., director of HESTEGO a. s., born 29 June 1977. As the Committee declared, she is effective in managing the key processes of the company and thank s to her control the company fully exploits all grant resources without the necessity to return them partially back.

The title Excellent Manager of a Small Business with up to 50 employees was awarded to Mgr. Helena Štáchová from Spejbl and Hurvínek Theatre with 32 employees. She was born 18 November 1944. Management of the theatre was passed to her in 1996 after her husband Miloš Kirschner had died, who in the past supervised development of Spejbl and Hurvínek marionettes character.

The title Excellent Manager of Medium Sized Business with up to 250 employees was awarded to Mgr. Zuzana Ceralová Petrofová, holder of the top award Manager of the Year.

Zdeněk Souček in the Hall of FameProf. Zdeněk Souček was inducted into the Hall of

Fame of the 22nd year of the Manager of the Year Awards. He was born 7 July 1932 and is considered

a guru in the area of strategic management who managed to develop theoretical as well as practical application of the field. He participated in the creation of hundreds of successful business strategies which together form a backbone of national economics. He is an author and coauthor of more than 20 books, tens of monographs, hundreds of articles in the Czech Republic as well as abroad. He appeared at many international conferences, and lectured at universities of many countries. He lectured, directed and motivated thousands of students when working in businesses, University of Economics of Prague, management schools, and specialized trainings for top managers.

The Best Student Essay awardThe titles of the winners of The Best Student Essay

award on the topic connected to the Year of Industry and Technical Education, which was part of the 22nd year of the Management of the Year Awards, were passed to Lucie Vozáková and Anežka Kolúchová from VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava, and Patrik Borýsek from the University of Economics in Prague. The awards were handed over by a Deputy Minister for Science, Research and Innovation Pavel Bělobrádek, prof. Eva Kislingerová from the University of Economics in Prague, who is a Chairman of the Award Committee,

Kristýna Langerová, President of AISEC, and Jan Klusoň, representative of StudentaMedia Company. The winners received Samsung tablets.

The event was concluded with a reception and jazzAfter the announcement of the Awards results,

the winners and organizers met with the top politicians and media, including the meeting and friendly discussion with the President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman at the outdoor terrace. The event was rounded off with a reception in Žofín Palace and garden tent, joined with the performance of a jazz singer Jan Smigmator and his band. Do you want to learn more? Go to www.manazerroku.cz.

Gender Gap 2015: Woman – key factor in the successful management of organizations and businesses

There was an independent part of the Day of Successful Business Managers, which included the announcement of the Manager of the Year Awards results; a morning Spring Conference of the Czech Management Association in the Great Hall of Žofín Palace called Gender Gap 2015: Woman – key factor in the successful management of organizations and businesses.


89

CMA

WINNERS OF THE MANAGER OF THE YEAR 2014 - Mgr. Zuzana Ceralová Petrofová, Director and Legal Representative of Petrof company and Ing. Daniel Beneš, MBA, General Manager of ČEZ, a.s.

Jan Mühlfeit, Chairman of the Manager of the Year Club at his speech

From left: Miloš Zeman, President of the CR and Ing. Daniel Beneš, MBA, General Manager, ČEZ - Manager of the Year 2014Manager of the Year 2014

Has Its Winners

The conference focused on the analysis by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on the relation between competitiveness and participation of women in management positions. The lectures were given by the top Czech female managers from private as well as public sphere, some of them already became holders of the title Manager of the Year themselves or were successful internationally as well. The participants could listen to: Olga Kupec, Executive Director of ABYDOS and Manager of the Year 2012, Renata Mrázová, General Manager of ING insurance company, Eva Syková, Director of the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, the Czech Academy of Sciences and Manager of the Year 2011, Alena Vitásková, Chairwoman of the Energy Regulatory Office, Dana Jurásková, Director of the General University Hospital in Prague, Helena Kohoutová, Director of Helas Agency, and Biljana Weber, General Manager of Microsoft ČR. Through a video greetings were brought also from Věra Jourová, EU Commissioner and besides the above mentioned speakers, the discussion paned was attended also by Michel Fleischmann, President of the media group Lagardère. The conference was moderated by a charismatic Jan Mühlfeit, top manager of Microsoft, Manager of the Year 1999 and Chairman of the Manager of the Year Club.

Evaluating the finalists and winners The Manager of the Year awards differs from

many other contests thanks to its elaborate system of objective evaluation of applicants. Contestants are judged in two rounds, by two independent committees, and must meet the following criteria: The manager cannot nominate himself for the competition. They may be nominated by legal entities, state and public institutions, banking institutions, employers, business and professional associations, regulatory or statutory bodies of companies, cooperatives, and previous winners of the competition. The candidate must agree to their nomination.

The competition is monitored by a Supervisory Committee composed of representatives of the competition’s partners, senior executives, and experts from the field of management. The Committe is appointed by the Supervisory Committee, which processes the data for the National Commission. It is composed of outstanding personalities and management experts delegated by individual unions, former winners of the Manager of the Year awards, and competition partners. National Commission materials are written according to the principles approved by the Committee, and winners in each category are selected through a voting process.

The competition is public, and competitors are required to meet the following criteria: must have made a personal contribution to the

success and development of the company must be highly qualified in their field of

management must use and develop modern methods of

corporate management, characterized by strategic thinking and ingenuity

his/her managerial career must apply to the global economy

must be able to obtain workers’ organizations objectives of the company

must follow the ethics, and obey the code of business conduct stated in the Managerial Code, available on the website of the Czech Management Association www.cma.cz.

Throughout the evaluation, the following data is also being considered: business results and the ability of the company

to prosper during the current financial crisis the societal benefits of the company the company’s products and services the company’s social and educational activities the company’s environmental approach

The Manager of the Year awards is the most prestigious and most sophisticated systematic management competition in the Czech Republic. Its aim is to objectively and independently

locate and visualize the best top managers (including foreign) operating for

at least three years in the Czech Republic, and appreciate their personal contribution to

the performance of companies and the economy. The competition is announced by the Confederation of Industry and

Transport of the Czech Republic (SP ČR), the Confederation of Employers ‘and Entrepreneurs’ Associations of the Czech Republic (KZPS ČR), and the Czech Management Association (ČMA), which is also the organizer of the competition. Since 1993, the competition has seen over 1200 finalists and the title Manager of the Year has been awarded to 55 personalities.

This year’s motto of the contest was “Prestige-Inspiration-Success in the Year of Industry and Technical Education.” The theme of “Year of Industry and Technical Education” was chosen this year by the SP ČR. In addition, this year SP ČR and ČMA celebrate 25 years since their creation.


the good things in life

The Louis VuiTTon FoundaTion

levels offer 11 galleries devoted to presenting the foundation´s art collections and short-term exhibitions. A glass-walled auditorium, with fantastic acoustics and a flexible design, can hold between 360-1000 people. Furthermore, there is a restaurant, as well as numerous viewing terraces which are intended to create the impression of a labyrinth, so that visitors are constantly surprised by new perceptions, sights, and feelings. It is a paradox that among the real functions of the building, there are amazing terrace views in all directions, overlooking Paris, La Defense, and Bois de Boulogne.

In the building’s construction and functionality, careful regard was given to the highest standards of environmental sustainability. Rainwater, primarily used for cleaning the facades and windows, is collected in a system that is separate from the drinking water, where it is filtered. There is a distribution system that waters the green areas and terraces. The consumption of drinking water is regulated to prevent waste. And perhaps the most interesting feature is the building’s use

of geothermal energy, warming and cooling the interior using natural and renewable resources. The building boasts an especially suitable geographic location, with two sources of ground water under the building. With a constant temperature of about 13 °C, water is pumped via closed circuit through a heat exchanger which, depending on the situation, cools or warms secondary circuits that regulate the temperature of the floors. After the thermal transfer, the water returns back to its original place without being consumed.

The original estimated cost of construction in the amount of 100 million EUR was increased to a total budget of 500 million EUR, which eventually was exceeded as well, though the final cost was never made public. This does not contradict the city’s interests, however, since the foundation was completely financed by the LVMH company and Bernard Arnault.

A third inaugural exhibition of the foundation is now showing works of art from the first half of the 20th century, which laid the foundations for today’s modern artists. Many masterpieces have

In the Bois de Boulogne at the edge of Paris, the latest building by Frank Gehry (architect of the Dancing House on the Prague riverbank) arouses interest, displeasure, admiration, envy, and many interesting questions...

When Bernard Arnault, the owner of LVMH Group (and the richest entrepreneur in France) visited a museum in Spanish Bilbao 15 years ago, it immediately became clear to him that Frank Gehry would be the right architect to design a foundation and museum of contemporary art in Paris in the park Bois de Boulogne. Ghery is an eccentric architect and the 1989 winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The LVMH group has owned the license for the 20 hectare in the large park of Bois de Boulogne since the 1980´s, thanks to the acquisition of the famous Christian Dior house, which owned the land since the end of the 1950´s when it was bought by Marcel Boussac, the important French entrepreneur and founder of Parfum Christian Dior.

Designed by Alphand and Barrel-Deschamps, and deeply connected with Paris symbolism, the landscape park inspired Gehry from the very beginning. The foundation project was an ideal opportunity to revive the original spirit of the place, and to enhance the overall feel of the garden. The walks were redrawn, architectural elements were cultivated, and various new plants now contribute to the vegetation. The main building stands 40 meters high, and not only sensitively harmonizes with the surrounding elements, but evokes the 19th century history of the garden’s glass architecture. Visitors experience many visual surprises, beginning with the sudden emergence of the building among the 100 year old oak and beech trees. An airy feeling surrounds the facade from all sides, enchanting this relatively small building made from steel, concrete, and wooden fibers, all “wrapped” in 12 glass sails that seem to triple the overall size. From the front, the building seems to be sailing on water. The engineers were able to project the 12 giant sails thanks to a highly sophisticated and complicated production technology, and by assembling a monumental puzzle consisting of 3600 glass panels. A special, enormous oven was built to produce the slender glass tables that required a certain level of flection, flexibility, and strength to withstand atmospheric conditions. The total weight of the steel structure is 15,000 tons, which is twice as much as the Eiffel Tower.

Within the total area of 11,000 m², including 7,000 m² of public space, the building’s 4

View of the Luois Vuitton Foundation from the main street



the good things in life

been borrowed from numerous world collections, and include artists such as Matisse, Malevitch, Munch, Bacon, Giacometti, Mondrian, Delaunay, Brancusi, Rothko, Monet, and Picasso. The selection and presentation of two big canvases by František Kupka shows the importance of this Czech artist, while his canvas “Amorpha, Fugue of Two Colors” expresses an abstract vision and interpretation of music. This painting maintains an irreplaceable role in art history, as it was the first non-figural painting publicly presented at the Salon d´automne exhibition in Paris, 1912.

The goal of The Louis Vuitton Foundation is to achieve the highest level of standards set by the International Council of Museums, and to prove that Louis Vuitton is more than just a lifestyle brand. It wishes to remain a non-profit institution, serving society and the general public. At the same time it hopes to preserve and exhibit the tangible and intangible heritage of mankind, to further education, and give pleasure to all visitors. With The Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris is getting an unconditional guarantee not only for a new art center, but also another symbol in the city’s history of great architecture.

By Ing. Arch. Iva Drebitko Photos: Ing. Arch. Iva Drebitko ■


Architectural “maquette “ of the Foundation LV

Entrance facade of the Foundation LV

Terrace with view of “La Defense” business quarter Iconic painting “Amorpha” by František Kupka

Balance:The business-life connecTionPart VIII: the Joy of abundance WIthout attachment?!1,2


personal enlightenment

■ Numerous self-help books are published each year describing how to create a great life by manifesting all of the things you have ever wanted. Most omit one of the critical steps for success.

■ The five steps of The Law of Manifestation are: Inten-tion, Attention, Imagination, Assumption, and Unattach-ment. The last step is almost always missing. It is argu-ably the most important and certainly the most difficult.

■ Five guidelines are offered as a means to developing the skill for Unattachment.

* * *

“The SecreT” Problem One of the best-selling books in recent years has

been The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.1 It claims to provide the formula for creating anything you wish in your life. The Secret has also been one of the most criticized books in recent years. Here’s a typical criticism: “Robert Cialdini, renowned psychology researcher and author of Influence: The Power of Persuasion, identifies six basic rules employed by politicians, advertisers and scam artists alike to persuade others. Each of them is employed quite adeptly by Rhonda Byrne in this book.”2 I won’t continue with this critic’s comments; they are quite negative and harsh, but typical of

James A. Cusumano, PhD

“Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be attained only by someone who is detached.

—Simone Weil, Author & Philosopher

FIGUre 1: Unattachment is absolutely necessary to be effective in practicing the Law of Manifestation.

A EDITOR’S COMMENT—This is the eighth article in a series based on the author’s latest book, “BALANCE: The Business-Life Connection, SelectBooks, New York, 2013.” The book is based on three decades of personal experience on how to achieve success and long-term fulfillment in both your personal and professional lives. Details concerning the book and points of purchase can be found at www.JamesCusumano.Com.

comments by other dissatisfied readers of The Secret.I simply want to make the following observations

that are not properly addressed, or are absent in the text of this bestseller.

The so-called “secret” which Ms. Byrne calls The Law of Attraction has been known for several millennia as The Law of Manifestation and has been practiced effectively by millions of people, long before the appearance of The Secret.

Yes, we create our reality first in our minds and then in the “reality” we experience with our five senses. However, Ms. Byrne mixes incisive and helpful metaphysics with dangerous pseudoscience and as a consequence there are valuable commentaries and suggestions in her presentation enmeshed with pure nonsense. For example, “If someone is overweight, it came from thinking fat thoughts . . . Food cannot cause you to put on weight, unless you think it can.” Yes, it’s true that to lose weight you must leave behind the fear of being fat and focus on being thin. But this focus, if properly practiced motivates you to eat healthy and to exercise. You don’t negate the calories of a banana cream pie by thinking they’re not there!

The biggest mistreatment in The Secret has to do with omission of the absolute necessity for Unattachment to expeditiously and successfully practice The Law of Attraction [Figure 1].

To be sure, those who read The Secret and are successful in achieving their goals, sing its praises. However, there are many more people who are not successful, and because of the excellent marketing within the text of the book, they more often than not rationalize that they must have done something wrong. In many case this might well be the absence of the practice of unattachment.

how The law oF aTTracTIon ReAlly workSOver several millennia, Wisdom Thinkers such as

Patanjali, Rumi, Buddha, Krishna, Jesus Christ, Balzac, Roger Bacon, Blaise Pascal, Benedict Spinoza, William Blake, Robert Browning, Henry James, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, David Thoreau, Albert Einstein and numerous others contributed to the development and refinement of the Law of Manifestation or as Ms. Byrne calls it, The Law of Attraction. This is not a new or rediscovered phenomenon.

There are five discrete and required stages to the process necessary to manifest into your life those things you seek to achieve: Intention, Attention, Imagination, Assumption, and Unattachment. Let’s apply them to a fairly simple, but often sought outcome—losing weight.

✔ Intention: You have an authentic deep desire to lose weight.

✔ attention: You give this desire frequent attention in your thought processes throughout your waking hours.

✔ Imagination: You imagine in detail how much weight you will lose, what you will look like, and the positive feedback you will receive from those around you.

✔ assumption: In the morning, before getting out of bed and in the evening before retiring, you assume that you have already lost the weight and you are pleased with the outcome. You envision your new self enjoying your new physique.

✔ Unattachment: This is the most challenging, and final stage, and it’s the stage not addressed by Ms. Byrne. You must proceed throughout your day completely unattached to the outcome you seek, whether you lose the weight or not. Although you are still committed to practicing steps 1-4, you have no emotional attachment to the final outcome, one way or the other.

Step 5 is often overlooked in self-help books such as The Secret, yet it is the most important of the five steps; and the most difficult! One of the means to


personal enlightenmentdevelop your capability for unattachment is through daily mediation, 30 minutes each morning. This puts you in touch with your true reality and the paradox of being totally unattached to the outcome, while still enthusiastically and actively practicing steps 1-4. You will no longer see step 5 as a paradox that is counter to steps 1-4 and your goal.

The purpose of unattachment is to minimize your radiating negative energy based on the fear of not achieving your goal. Such negative output could diminish or eliminate your chance for success [Figure 2].

There have been numerous critics of the Law of Manifestation; however, there are many texts that describe studies over the years which quite clearly indicate that this law truly works.3,4 It is based on an intimate combination of the principles of metaphysics and quantum physics. The reader is directed to other works for details.5

PracTIcal STorIeSLast year I read a relevant editorial in the New York

Times by columnist, Arthur C. Brooks.6 He shares a charming story of his visit to India. There he met a Hindu swami named Gnanmunidas at one of the temples in New Delhi. Most amazingly, the swami greeted Brooks with the modern vernacular, “How ya doin’, dude?” and in a Texas accent! As it happened, Gnanmunidas had grown up in Houston, the son of two Indian petroleum engineers, graduated from the University of Texas and as an entrepreneur went on to make a huge amount of money.

However, Gnanmunidas had an “awakening” at age 26. He gave away all of his money and material possessions and moved to India. Six years later he had become an ordained Buddhist monk. His only worldly possessions are two robes, prayer beads and a wooden bowl. He is, in fact, prohibited from even touching money.

Being an economist, Brooks queried Gnanmunidas, “Swami, is economic prosperity a good or bad thing?” As he held his breath for the response, the swami answered, “It’s good; it has saved millions of people in my country from starvation.”

Brooks didn’t expect this answer so he pressed further, “I was sure you’d say that money was corrupting.” The swami laughed at Brooks and smiling said, “There is nothing wrong with money, dude. The problem in life is attachment to money [Figure 3].” He went on to explain to Brooks that the “secret” to a good life is simple: Abundance without Attachment.

FIGUre 2: : Attachment can create fear which can minimize or eliminate your chance of success in practicing the Law of Manifestation.

FIGUre 3: There is nothing wrong with making money; it’s attachment to money that causes problems and the inability to successfully practice the Law of Manifestation.

1Rhonda Byrne, The Secret, Beyond Words, Hillsboro, Oregon, 2006.2 Reviewer identified as “Longhorn 25” in the Kindle reviews of The Secret.3 Deepak Chopra, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, Amber-Allen Publishing, San Rafael, CA, 1994. 4 James A. Cusumano, Cosmic Consciousness: Are We Truly Connected? A Journey to Well-being, Happiness and Success, Fortuna Libri, Prague, Czech Republic, 2011.5 Ibid6 Arthur C. Brooks, Abundance Without Attachment, New York Times, December 12, 2014. 7 Arthur C. Brooks, https://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/be-open-handed-toward-your-brothers-1/. 8 Bill Gates, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWPT-8DqVOk&index=1&list=PLytTJqkSQqtreu8hXg5luK6z_s00QudLN.


The Dali Lama in all his wisdom has often said that he does not see a problem with material things; it’s our misconception that “Satisfaction can arise from gratifying the senses alone.” Perhaps this works for the short term, but not for the long haul.

Gnanmunidas, of course is right about the importance of money; the percentage of our global community living on $1 per day has decreased by 80 percent in our lifetimes.7 Bill Gates, who is deeply connected to this issue, predicts that almost no countries will be “poor” by 2035!8

The point Brooks is making is that those of us who are fortunate to have achieved abundance, should be grateful and share with others the means to get there. He underscores the point I have described above concerning The Law of Manifestation, “The real trick is . . . avoiding attachment.”

meanS To The endSo what can you do to manifest wonderful things

into your life and achieve long-term fulfillment? Here are two suggestions.

✔ meditation: Commit 30 minutes a day to mediation. There are numerous resources that can teach you how to do this. It will take some time. Don’t be discouraged; that’s the key. This will put you in touch with your very core, your spirit, or soul, whatever you want to call it. And in doing so, you will create a set of life values that speak to you and truly make a difference.

✔ Unattachment: Practice, practice, practice! It will come and when it does, you will cherish your successes and be unaffected by those things that don’t work out. Also, the level of fear throughout your life will fall to nearly zero.

brookS haS a Few oTher Good IdeaS:✔ collect experiences, not things: As time goes by

you will remember the good experiences that occurred throughout your life, not the material things you collected. I still recall with vivid imagery and elation, the time I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro; much more than the first car I bought. The same can be said for my wedding day and the births of my three daughters.

✔ Steer clear of excessive usefulness: Numerous studies show that doing things for their own sake, as opposes to things that are simply a way to achieve something else, leads to mindfulness, awareness and joy. Yes, shop-till-you-drop may work for a brief moment in time, but you will need to continue the process continuously for long-term fulfillment. And that can be quite costly, materially and emotionally!

✔ Find your spiritual core: Dig deep inside, helped

by meditation and find your true spiritual core. I’m not referring to organized religion, but if that works for you, fine. There, as Brooks points out, “You will transcend health, wealth, power, pleasure and fame—for moving beyond mortal abundance. Or, more to his point, “Woe be unto those who live and die by slings and arrows of worldly attachment.”

To leave Ms. Byrne on a positive note, I think she has done many people a favor by introducing them to the concept of The Law of Manifestation, or as she calls it, The Law of Attraction. However, for The Law of Attraction to truly work, you must complete the contemplative series of steps summarized above with the final and key step of unattachment. Try it; it works!

Sat, Chit, Ananda!

Enjoy your journey, make a difference!James a. cusumano, Phd ■

James A. Cusumano (www.JamesCusumano.Com & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Cusumano) is Chairman and Owner of Chateau Mcely (www.ChateauMcely.Com), chosen in 2007 by the European Union as the only “Green” 5-star luxury hotel in Central and Eastern Europe and in 2008 by the World Travel Awards as The World’s Leading Green Hotel. It is home to Chateau Mcely Forum™ (www.ChateauMcelyForum.Com) which offers programs that teach the principles of Inspired Leadership. He is a former Research Director for Exxon, and subsequently founded two public companies in Silicon Valley, one in clean power generation, the other in pharmaceuticals manufacture via environmentally-benign, low-cost, catalytic technologies. While he was Chairman and CEO, the latter – Catalytica Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – grew in less than 5 years, to a $1 billion enterprise with 2,000 employees. He is coauthor of Freedom from Mid-east Oil, released in 2007 by World Business Academy Press (www.WorldBusiness.Org) and author of Cosmic Consciousness – A Journey to Well-being, Happiness and Success, published in English and Czech by Fortuna Libri, 2011. His new book, BAlANCe: The Business—life Connection was published in 2013 by SelectBooks in New York City. It was published in Czech in October 2013 by Fortuna Libri.

94

EU matters interview


An interview with MEP PAVEL SVOBODA, Chair of Legal committee in the European parliament

„We are in the process of committing mass suicide because of questionable political correctness.”


“The treatment is essentially simple: do not be afraid to use common sense!”

Dear Mr. Svoboda, you are the first Czech MEP who has ever had the occasion to play the role of a committee chair. In your case of Committee on Legal affairs (JURI). What does this role encompass and what kind of advantages does it give you compared to ordinary committee membership?

It is certainly an honour and a prestige to be the committee chair but it brings more work. Unlike ordinary member I have less time to meet with my constituents, which I deeply regret. The duration of the function is 2.5 years, therefore in the second half of my mandate I will focus more on meeting voters at home. Nevertheless, given my mandate as a chair I have a unique opportunity to meet a wide range of stakeholders. They are my source of feedback from the real world and I try to meet them as much as possible. On the other hand, chairmanship gives me a great opportunity to influence things and be a member of the supreme authority of the Conference of Committee Chairs and enlarged Bureau of the largest political group in the European Parliament the European People’s Party.

JURI deals with many issues related to business such as the reform of EU rules on trademarks, trade secrets and the future of copyright. These are the areas of your main interest during your career path. What will you pursue in this regard?

My priority is everything related to the digital economy and added value. The future of European economy lies there and we must focus on it. Creative ideas will be born only if we ensure fair compensation to their authors either trough copyright or patent rules or trade secret protection. Therefore, we have started focusing more on this area in the committee. In this regard, I expect that the EU unitary patent will ensure better EU-wide patent protection and allows us to catch up with the deficit against patent powers such as Japan or the US.

In addition to the JURI Committee you are also active in the Committee on Transport and Tourism. Social protectionism in transport is a new trend rising in some EU Western countries and goes against the principle of the internal market. How can we fight against these tendencies?

Protectionist measures, that’s how economic wars, whose impact is not thought through more Photo: Antonín Lavrenčík

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EU matters interview

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automotive components in the US. Therefore, TTIP is favourable for the Czech Republic.

In this context I would like to ask you, how can the EU fight against Russian propaganda against TTIP? At the moment, the EU plans to support media in the EU and non-EU countries in Eastern Europe.

First, we have to exclude the part of the propaganda that is deaf to rational arguments. As for TTIP opponents who use common sense, we have to give the right arguments and data on the table. We have to campaign TTIP as a source of new jobs as it will bring new investors to Europe. Since TTIP has been negotiated by the EU, we have to campaign it from EU level and express the pan-European support. Russian campaigns against TTIP are not so much about TTIP as such, but rather about a fear from closer relation of the two important entities that share the same liberal democratic values.

You are also active regarding the abolition of summer time. Why is it so important to you?

It is important for my electorate. During the electoral campaign, I have heard this issue quite often. This is a reason why I have organized a public hearing on summer time in the European Parliament. I wanted to take the stock of scientific research on this issue. I expect that this dialogue will involve the European Commission and further impact study will be undertaken followed by legislative actions.

In your election program, you stated that you plan to increase the visibility of Christian Democracy in the European Parliament. This topic is quite timely. But is the current EU able to defend its values because of its often exaggerated political correctness?

Value is a crucial idea for which a person is willing to sacrifice something. And there begins

than one step ahead, start. Social protectionism is a mutual distortion of the internal market in transport services. I expect that the Court of Justice of the EU will confirm this assertion. I see the immaturity of MiLog in the unilateral adoption of the Law by German government without considering its impact on neighbouring countries. We must respect the principles on which the internal market stands, i.e. four freedoms. Therefore, I hope that some of the carriers concerned by this measure will sue Germany and German court issues a preliminary question to the Court of Justice of the EU. I am sure there will be a company which will have enough courage to do so.

First Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans declared he is in favour of abolition of trialogues. According to him, they are not democratic as they allow participation of neither the highest political level nor the stakeholders. What is your opinion on that?

Trialogues serve as a tool for reaching a compromise between the EU co-legislators - the Council and the Parliament. As such, they are useful and fulfill the function they were established for. I do not see anything harmful and undemocratic in that. The European Parliament, whose members were elected in direct elections, plays the democratic element in this case.

The European Union is negotiating an ambitious trade and investment agreement with the US, the so-called TTIP, and the negotiation concerns all the committees across the EP. Is the EU able to reach an agreement in the area of regulations and defend our European standards well enough?

As I have been informed by the negotiators, there is a will not to harmonize the regulation of both sides, but to strengthen mutual recognition. This is the right way that allows preservation of EU standards. Of course, this principle can exclude areas of European public interest in order to prevent infiltration of American standards through the recognition, which we do not want. Typical areas that might be excluded are GMOs. I think it is necessary to treat various forms of dumping. An important area for the Czech Republic is certainly the standardization in the automotive industry. TTIP can allow Czech manufacturers of particular components to gain access to the production of

Pavel Svoboda (born 9 April 1962) is a Czech politician and lawyer. Svoboda was born in Prague and studied Law Faculty at Charles University. He also has D.E.A. degree from Université Sciences Sociales in Toulouse. From 2007 to 2009, Svoboda was an Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Council of Europe. From 23 January 2009 to 8 May 2009, he was minister without portfolio and chairman of the Government’s Legislative Council. In May 2014 he was elected Member of the European Parliament for KDU-ČSL, part of European Peoples Party. Subsequently he was elected Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI).]

the first problem: for what are we, the slackened off Europeans ready to sacrifice something? What’s more, and you are right in that, we falsely confuse this comfort with political correctness. The political correctness prevents us from name rightly the problems and ill-named problems cannot be correctly solved, because we bury our heads in the sand when facing them. In many European countries this can be documented on problems with inadaptable citizens. The same applies to our security: we bury our heads in the sand when facing the fact that security is a prerequisite for prosperity, not just some luxurious charm that you buy after everything else is paid. If we were really aware of the security value, then it would be primarily reflected in the implementation of budgetary commitments in defence within NATO, which we do not fulfil. So yes, we are in the process of committing mass suicide because of questionable political correctness and the apparent obviousness of values such as security, freedom and democracy. In doing so, the treatment is essentially simple: do not be afraid to use common sense.

By Alena Mastantuono ■

Photo: Archive of MEP Svoboda

Photo: Alexandra Alvarová

EU matters debates

Jaromír Štětina, Member of the European Parliament, spent 20 years under totalitarianism among “drill” workers and miners; he worked eight years as a miner at a coal mine in Northern Bohemia. The author says he could not keep his memories of this difficult time for himself. He portrayed the image of that time into his new novel. The book launch and the book signing were celebrated with the support of the European Peoples Party on 24th March in the premises of the Prague House in Brussels. The event was attended by around a hundred persons and was celebrated in a friendly manner. Jaromír Štětina adds: “Especially here in the European Parliament it is important to stress that we the MEPs from the post-soviet zone have a historical experience which differs from the one of MEPs who come from the so called old Member States.“

From left: Jaromír Štětina, and Pavel Svoboda, the “godfather” of the second edition of MEP Štětina book

Jaromír Štětina, MEP and Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality

From left: Jaromír Štětina, MEP and H.E. Jaroslav Kurfűrst, Ambassador of the Czech Republic in Belgium

From left: Jaromír Štětina, MEP and Jiří Pospíšil, MEP

Jaromír Štětina, Author of the book and MEP

Participants of the book launch

Book launch of the second edition of Pergameny, a novel By Jaromír Štětina, memBer of the euroPean Parliament.

Photo: Michaela Žarošská, Antonín Lavrenčík, Alexandra Alvarová

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EU matters events

The first official business mission from Central and Eastern Europe to the harbour of Antwerp was from the Czech Republic on 12 May 2015. Czech entrepreneurs, invited by MEP Martina Dlabajová, had the possibility to visit smart growing harbour of Antwerp and meet their Belgian counterparts. Czech delegation of 20 entrepreneurs also visited the European Parliament and Czech Permanent Representation to the EU.

Visit of the Harbor of Antwerp

Visit of the European Parliament with MEP Dlabajová czech Business mission

to antwerP and Brussels

IN COOPERATION WITHLEADERS MAGAZINE

Visit of the Harbor Authority

Organizer of the mission Martina Dlabajová, MEP and Philippe De Backer, MEP

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Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Kingdom of Belgium H. E. Jaroslav Kurfürst and Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the EU H. E. Martin Povejšil in cooperation with the Czech Centre Brussels and consular corps of Antwerp and Ghent hosted the VIP preview of the exhibition on 120 years of history of Škoda car on 20th May 2015 at the D´Ieteren Gallery. A special preview of new Škoda Superb was part of the evening.

viP Preview of the exhiBition laurin & klement / Škoda - 120 years at d’ieteren gallery Brussels

From left: H. E. Jaroslav Kurfürst, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Kingdom of Belgium, Roland D’Ieteren, President of D’Ieteren company, Paul van Denbempt, Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic in Antwerp, and Martin Povejšil, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the EU

From left: Vladimír Němec, Minister Counsellor, Czech Embassy to the Kingdom of Belgium, Martin Povejšil, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the EU, and Vincent Struye, Marketing Manager, Škoda car at D’Ieteren Company

From left: Michal Kadera, Director of External Affairs at Škoda Auto a.s, Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, and Daniel Braun, Deputy Head of Cabinet of Commissioner Jourová

Unveiling of the new Škoda Superb

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EU matters business

BUSINESS NEWSMay 2015


DID YOU KNOW THAT?

Luxembourg will contribute to EFSIThe European Commission announced Luxembourg

will join countries that will contribute to the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) which is part of the Investment Plan for Europe. Luxembourg plans to add 80 million EUR to the budget. It thus became the fifth country that announced the intention to contribute to the fund even before it was formally established. Apart from Luxembourg, Germany, Spain, France, Poland and Italy promised to contribute to the budget as well.

Council adopted a regulation capping interchange feesThe Council adopted on 20 April 2015 a regulation

capping interchange fees for payments made with debit and credit cards after having reached a compromise with the European Parliament. Interchange fees will be capped at 0.2% of transaction value for debit cards and 0.3% for credit cards. The estimated reduction was calculated to about 6 billion EUR annually in hidden fees for consumer cards. The proposal was first introduced by the Commission in July 2013.

MEPs disagree with cutting Horizon 2020 and CEF budget for the sake of the Investment Plan

Part of the European Parliament doesn’t agree with the plan of the European Commission to take part of Horizon 2020 and Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) budget and use it for the Juncker’s Investment Plan. The Commission wishes to contribute to the Investment Plan with 8 billion EUR and these two programmes should be affected the most. While the draft of the Investment Plan has general support in the Parliament, some MEPs fundamentally disagree with cutting the budgets of these two programs. Therefore, MEPs propose to use budgetary surpluses, meaning unspent funds from the EU budget, to increase the budget of the Investment Plan.

The third EU Justice Scoreboard was published The European Commission has published its third

Justice Scoreboard for the year 2015 that gives an overview of the quality of justice systems in Member States. The third edition focuses on three main indicators, which are efficiency, quality and independence of the justice systems. According to the Scoreboard, the efficiency and quality of the judicial systems in the EU is increasing. A positive trend that the EU wants to further support is the use of ICT tools, although availability of these tools differs substantially in Member States.

SMEs seek greater support by the CommissionBusiness organizations representing small and medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) expressed their dissatisfaction with the fact that the revision of Small Business Act (SBA) is not among Juncker’s Commission priorities. Although the SBA is one of the most important documents that should aim to improve the overall situation of SMEs in the EU, its revision is not planned for this year. According to SME representatives, the Commission should push SME agenda in the forefront of its priorities and strengthen the SBA on the EU level.

LET´S TALK NUMBERS!

The EU has a new EU driving licence code on alcohol interlocksThe European Commission introduced a harmonised EU code on alcohol interlock devices for driving licences in May 2015. This new code “69” will replace different national codes in use, for programmes where the driver is restricted to drive vehicles that are only equipped with alcohol interlock devices. Such programmes are planned or in use in several Member States, notably to prevent drink-driving offences from re-occurring.

Trade mark registration might become easier in the EU?After two years of inter-institutional discussions, the three EU institutions have reached provisional political agreement on the trade mark reform package in April. The agreed measures will make trade mark registration systems all over the EU more accessible and efficient for businesses in terms of lower costs, increased speed, more predictability and greater legal certainty. The reform will improve conditions for businesses to innovate and to benefit from more effective trade mark protection against counterfeits, including non-authentic goods in transit through the EU’s territory.

Hourly labour costs in the EU range from 3.8 to 40.3 EURThe average hourly labour costs in the EU in 2014

differed substantially, says Eurostat report. While the lowest labour costs of 3.8 EUR were recorded in Bulgaria, Denmark stands on the other side of the table with 40.3 EUR. Average labour costs amounted to 24.6 EUR in the EU28 and 29.2 EUR in the euro area. The highest increase in costs between 2014 and 2013 was recorded in Estonia (+6.6%), Latvia (+6.0%) and Slovakia (+5.2%). The average hourly labour costs in the Czech Republic were 9.4 EUR.

GDP up by 0.4% in the euro area and the EU28 Seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 0.4% in both the

euro area and the EU28 during the first quarter of 2015, compared with the previous quarter, according to flash estimates published by Eurostat. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 1.0% in the euro area and by 1.4% in the EU28 in the first quarter of 2015, after +0.9% and +1.3% respectively in the previous quarter. The estimate does not cover 9 Member states including the Czech Republic which rose, according to the Czech Statistical Office, by 3.9% compared with the previous year and by 2.8% compared with the previous quarter.

How is the EU implementing Europe 2020 targets?The EU is making good progress in fulfilling its Europe

2020 strategy targets, shows a study by the European statistical office Eurostat focused on the implementation process since 2008. The main objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy are divided into five categories, which are employment, research and development, climate change and sustainable energy, education and the fight against poverty and social exclusion. The most remarkable progress has been made in the area of climate change and energy, as well as in education, while the increase of expenditures into R&D is a bit slower. On the other hand, the EU is still losing in employment and poverty reduction targets.

Euro area exports are increasingThe euro area exports to the rest of the world grew

by 4% in February 2015 compared to February of the previous year. The value of exports in February 2015 was 160.7 billion EUR compared to 154.4 billion EUR in February 2014. In addition, the intra-euro area trade increased by 1% in the same period to 135.9 billion EUR.

EU unemployment rate slightly declinedThe unemployment rate slightly declined both in the

euro area and the EU28 in February compared to January 2015. In the euro area, the rate dropped from 11.3% in January to 11.2% in February 2015. This makes it the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since April 2012. In February 2014, the unemployment reached 11.8%. A mild decrease was recorded also in the EU28, where the unemployment rate was 9.8 % in February 2015, down from 9.9% in January 2015. As for the whole EU, the year-on-year decrease was of 0.8%.

IN THE WORLD!

Most trade barriers with EU raised by RussiaThe European Commission published its fifth edition of

Trade and Investment Barriers Report for 2015. The report focuses on key barriers with EU’s six strategic economic partners, which are China, India, Japan, Mercosur countries, Russia and the United States. It also gives an overview of the ongoing trade and investment negotiations and summarizes strategies how to tackle these barriers. According to the report, the highest number of trade barriers was raised by Russia (7 barriers) followed by China (6 barriers), India and Brazil (both countries 4 barriers).

SMEs will benefit from TTIPDirectorate General for Trade of the European

Commission published a study focused on how will small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) benefit from Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the United States that is currently being negotiated. According to the study, SMEs will benefit mostly from elimination of non-tariff barriers and reduction of administrative burdens. Although roughly 150 000 SMEs exported to the US in 2012, the mutual trade cooperation can be significantly intensified. The main issues that SMEs currently have to face are compliance with technical rules and regulations for goods, lack of information on regulatory matters, insufficient access to public procurement market or compliance with custom rules and procedures.

EU sanctions extended The Council of the European Union approved the

extension of sanctions that are targeting actions against Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. The duration of sanctions has been extended until 15 September 2015 and considers 150 persons and 37 entities whose assets were frozen and were banned from travelling. The sanctions have been applied since 6th March 2014 after the adoption by the Council on 5th March 2014.

European retail and wholesale sector calls for modernization of EU trade policy

EuroCommerce, an organisation representing six million retail, wholesale and other trading companies, and The Foreign Trade Association agreed that it is necessary to modernize EU trade policy in order to enhance competitiveness of the EU. There are too many trade restricting measures currently in place and their elimination would boost European companies, especially small and medium-sized ones. The main areas that need to be revised are rules of origin and anti-dumping rules. Furthermore, the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), two very important agreements that are currently being negotiated, need to be concluded soon.

Parliament wants to help hauliers active in RussiaThe Transport and Tourism Committee of the European

Parliament called for support to European hauliers that were negatively affected by Russian sanctions. The ban on imported food and farm products hit fruit, vegetables and dairy products producers and hauliers and therefore the Parliament seeks ways how to reduce the negative impact. The Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc emphasized the need for solidarity and common solutions. The Committee therefore suggested using financial support from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund.

Brought by CEBRE – Czech Business Representation to the EU (kindly supported by CzechTrade),www.cebre.cz

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Documents

Czech Leaders 02/2015