Bringing knowledge to SMEs

Polish medium-sized firms (MSF) will receive educational support as part of an all-Poland program launched by Microsoft Dynamics, the Polish Confederation of Private Employers (PKPP) Lewiatan, and Wyższa Szkoła Biznesu National-Louis University (WSB) from Nowy Sącz.

The "Friends of Success" campaign will comprise five all-day modules held in 10 locations in Poland, during which topics such as gaining capital, managing investments, identifying and winning clients, leadership and human-resources management will be discussed.

The scheme is directed at MSF management, as this is also the main target of Microsoft Dynamics, which was the initiator of the venture. "Before actually launching the campaign, we did a survey among MSF management, asking if they would be interested. Seventy-six percent decided they would go for it," said Ewa Ciesielska, the project's manager from Microsoft Dynamics.

Most lecturers in the program are academic workers from WSB. They are also the authors of the training program, together with experts from PKPP Lewiatan. "From the very beginning our university stressed the importance of practical knowledge necessary in managing a company on an everyday basis," said Rector of WSB,  Krzysztof Pawłowski.

"We wanted our partners to support us with their knowledge and experience. WSB is one of the few universities in Poland that offers practical teaching. Supporting entrepreneurship is the cornerstone of PKPP Lewiatan's activity," said Ciesielska. "Nobody knows better than we how much advanced knowledge is needed by Polish entrepreneurs," added the president of PKPP, Henryka Bochniarz.

The organizers say that their motivation for the project was not commercial, and participants will only be asked to pay zł.250 each per module. "We do not want to earn on the project. It is our investment in a long-term partnership that, we hope, will pay back in future," said Ewa Ciesielska. She says that Microsoft Dynamics, which is the initiator of the program, invested more than zł.1 million in the project.

The project, which is co-financed by Fortis Bank, commences in February 2006 and recruitment has just started.