The skills you need to succeed
The WBJ's career expert, Matthew Tebeau, asks the country's leading entrepreneurs, investors and chief executives to reflect on doing business in Poland. Aleksander Kwiatkowski is a managing partner of IBM Business Consulting Services in Poland, and was previously with PwC (before it was acquired by IBM in 2002). Kwiatkowski has spent his career in consulting, leading a wide variety of projects both in Poland and Europe.
Matthew Tebeau: Has Poland changed a lot during your past 15, 10, 5 years? In what ways?
Aleksander Kwiatkowski: Poland has gone through three waves of development. The first wave was characterized by a bit of the 'cowboy' approach. A lot was possible, and most investors were looking for market share. They often did this through acquisitions they were not sure what to do with once they had purchased them. Then came a second wave as the economy became more mature. It focused on operational improvements, cost control and the like.
Now there is a new wave of opportunity related to EU entry. The economy is becoming very mature in segments and as a result there are quite a few new opportunities: entering new niches as well as building new businesses and of course taking advantage of the EU.
What expectations do foreign investors have about Poland that are not accurate?
The financial consulting team of IBM Business Consulting has recently completed a comprehensive research of the Polish marketplace, entitled "Investor Perspectives-Scorecard for Poland." Using a balanced scorecard approach we contacted experts and investors to make a reliable analysis of the Polish economy's competitiveness.
The results confirm some commonly held views. For instance, poor infrastructure-specifically on roadways-is a problem area, as is the poor legal framework.
It also goes beyond the one or two media facts and shows some benefits. For instance, Poland is still attractive in terms of cost structure and has the lowest labor cost overheads in the region. Also, the employee skill level is very high-Poland has the leading number of university graduates within the region.
Some other results are astonishing. For instance, many people think that the administration is too big and overpaid when in fact the reverse is true. It is too small and it is poorly paid. The cost profile and the number of qualified employees suggest an opportunity for service sector investments.
Is there a way in which corporations can organize themselves to take advantage of the Polish marketplace?
You will see certain shifts of regional headquarters or even European headquarters to CEE and Poland for a variety of reasons, ranging from fiscal to operational. The benefit, of course, depends on the business, but personally I feel that specialization is a key opportunity. Specialization can be functional-implementing shared services centers within the region as well as outsourcing of services. In these areas Poland offers great opportunity.
What are the key characteristics that you look for in a senior executive when you are recruiting or promoting?
We build teams that are often multi-cultural and our executives need to be able to work in Eastern Europe as well as Western Europe. Therefore, agility and emotional intelligence are crucial success factors. They need to be able to be partners, for transitions and restructuring, to the boards of our clients, and this requires the ability to not only build a strategy but to implement and communicate it effectively.
Are there cultural issues that foreign executives should be aware of when doing business in Poland?
There are cultural issues, but they are not that big. The risk for a foreign investor is that if they underestimate the difference there can be quite a lot of problems. So being aware that things are different is generally enough.
What are the key success factors for senior executives in Poland?
The ability to adapt to a changing environment is a key requirement and will remain important. I think that agility, professionalism and emotional intelligence are the success factors. Of course, emotional intelligence is crucial, as it is what allows an executive to work multi-culturally and to be able to build relations and create results operationally.
Multinationals succeed best when they send very successful executives to work here (often it doesn't work out so well if they don't have a real track record at home). The ideal profile of a senior foreign manager is someone who may be a bit bored with a very structured approach or environment.
Is there going to be another 'brain drain' as a result of Poland entering the EU?
No, I don't think so. The Western countries-UK, Ireland and Sweden-that have opened their doors to the new Europe already see a tremendous benefit. At the same time, this is giving Poland a benefit as it allows its people to find jobs-and they often send money home and many of them will come back with additional skills. It is a mutual interest.
Matthew Tebeau: Has Poland changed a lot during your past 15, 10, 5 years? In what ways?
Aleksander Kwiatkowski: Poland has gone through three waves of development. The first wave was characterized by a bit of the 'cowboy' approach. A lot was possible, and most investors were looking for market share. They often did this through acquisitions they were not sure what to do with once they had purchased them. Then came a second wave as the economy became more mature. It focused on operational improvements, cost control and the like.
Now there is a new wave of opportunity related to EU entry. The economy is becoming very mature in segments and as a result there are quite a few new opportunities: entering new niches as well as building new businesses and of course taking advantage of the EU.
What expectations do foreign investors have about Poland that are not accurate?
The financial consulting team of IBM Business Consulting has recently completed a comprehensive research of the Polish marketplace, entitled "Investor Perspectives-Scorecard for Poland." Using a balanced scorecard approach we contacted experts and investors to make a reliable analysis of the Polish economy's competitiveness.
The results confirm some commonly held views. For instance, poor infrastructure-specifically on roadways-is a problem area, as is the poor legal framework.
It also goes beyond the one or two media facts and shows some benefits. For instance, Poland is still attractive in terms of cost structure and has the lowest labor cost overheads in the region. Also, the employee skill level is very high-Poland has the leading number of university graduates within the region.
Some other results are astonishing. For instance, many people think that the administration is too big and overpaid when in fact the reverse is true. It is too small and it is poorly paid. The cost profile and the number of qualified employees suggest an opportunity for service sector investments.
Is there a way in which corporations can organize themselves to take advantage of the Polish marketplace?
You will see certain shifts of regional headquarters or even European headquarters to CEE and Poland for a variety of reasons, ranging from fiscal to operational. The benefit, of course, depends on the business, but personally I feel that specialization is a key opportunity. Specialization can be functional-implementing shared services centers within the region as well as outsourcing of services. In these areas Poland offers great opportunity.
What are the key characteristics that you look for in a senior executive when you are recruiting or promoting?
We build teams that are often multi-cultural and our executives need to be able to work in Eastern Europe as well as Western Europe. Therefore, agility and emotional intelligence are crucial success factors. They need to be able to be partners, for transitions and restructuring, to the boards of our clients, and this requires the ability to not only build a strategy but to implement and communicate it effectively.
Are there cultural issues that foreign executives should be aware of when doing business in Poland?
There are cultural issues, but they are not that big. The risk for a foreign investor is that if they underestimate the difference there can be quite a lot of problems. So being aware that things are different is generally enough.
What are the key success factors for senior executives in Poland?
The ability to adapt to a changing environment is a key requirement and will remain important. I think that agility, professionalism and emotional intelligence are the success factors. Of course, emotional intelligence is crucial, as it is what allows an executive to work multi-culturally and to be able to build relations and create results operationally.
Multinationals succeed best when they send very successful executives to work here (often it doesn't work out so well if they don't have a real track record at home). The ideal profile of a senior foreign manager is someone who may be a bit bored with a very structured approach or environment.
Is there going to be another 'brain drain' as a result of Poland entering the EU?
No, I don't think so. The Western countries-UK, Ireland and Sweden-that have opened their doors to the new Europe already see a tremendous benefit. At the same time, this is giving Poland a benefit as it allows its people to find jobs-and they often send money home and many of them will come back with additional skills. It is a mutual interest.
