AmCham Business Breakfast, 10 April 2014, Ljubljana
The guest speakers at AmCham Business Breakfast were discussing whether the quality is the only right answer to present Slovenia, Slovene products and Slovene knowledge. Our excellent guests were given the challenge of creating a framework in a way that “Made in Slovenia” = Excellence, quality and recognition.
Round table guests:
Dr. Nigel H. Croft, Chairman, ISO/TC 176/SC 2 (quality system), world renowned specialist in quality management and identifying the compliance of management systems; (CV attached)
Andrej Božič, general manager, who with his determination and vision ranked Steklarna Hrastnik again among the growing companies;
Emil Gaspari, successful American Entrepreneur with Slovene roots, who among other things promotes Slovenia with Slovenia vodka;
Jacek Pryczek, CEO, Goodyear Central Europe, who can present his point of view based on international experience and through global company perspective.
The discussion was moderated by Jaka Repanšek, MBA, partner in company RePublis and co-chair in the Intelectual Property Committee AmCham Slovenia.
»If there is no risk (»zero risk«) – there is no adventure of change and progress«
Dr. Nigel H. Croft, chairman, ISO/TC 176/SC 2 (quality system), world renowned specialist in quality management and identifying the compliance of management systems; (CV attached) reminded the AmCham Business Breakfast participants in his opening speech, that ISO standards are actually present in everything we do and help us to become more competitive, environmentally responsible, have higher social awareness and better quality of life. ISO is developing high quality voluntary international standards that enable easier international trade of goods and services, support sustainable and equitable economic growth, encourage innovation and protection of health, environment and security.
Dr. Croft believes that standardization promotes also innovation and therefore encourages creativity. He presented 3 concepts of standardization, which in the first step demand our identification of processes that are needed to achieve the planned results, the next component is continuous monitoring of risk (“risk-based thinking”) and control over potential risk in innovation implementation, where the Understanding of “Cause and effect” is very important, and the last phase Management of processes and system with use of “PDCA” (Plan, Do, Check, Act) – which actually means that we divide the tasks from the plan, we do them, we check if they work or we need changes and finally – act.
»I like to help Slovenia to be visible, transparent and – loved«
»My mission is to lead Slovenia beyond its borders«
Emil Gaspari, successful American Entrepreneur with Slovene roots, who among other things promotes Slovenia with Slovenia vodka, answered the question of excellent moderator Jaka Repanšek of how to create the brand of Slovenia, with simplicity – we have to turn around our mindset and our own beliefs of small size and instead of potentiation of constant excuse that we cannot do anything because of our small size: »How very small we are«, repeat »We really are small, but we have lots of big ideas with a big heart!«
Gaspari pointed out his life mission about Slovenia: »My mission is to lead Slovenia beyond its borders. My personal mission, to which I dedicate my work, energy, and love is to help Slovenia to be visible, transparent and – loved. After all, I was made in Slovenia« Gaspari humorously added. At the same time, he highlighted our two biggest weaknesses: »It is true that Slovenia is the only country with the word LOVE in its name, however the first four letters of the name Slovenia indicate your greatest weakness – SLOV (SLOW), meaning slowness in adapting, responding, operation. You are too slow! And I tell you as well that an American pulls the other American higher, while a Slovene pulls the other Slovene down. You have to get rid of these characteristics. Cooperate! «
Emil Gaspari is confident and lives according to his life moto: »The biggest risk is not to risk! «, therefore he is convinced that in life three Cs are needed (Courage, Confidence, Consequences): »If you see your failure as a lesson and look forward, you will always move forward. «
Slovene entrepreneur in America also believes that: »We give up too quickly. I successfully promoted Slovene wine to Chef Alain Ducass. I was at one of the retailers and saw that Movia wine was sold among the Italian wines. I asked “now what is this” and he said that Italian wine is just easier to sell. Because I was the one to sell him the Slovene wine, I demanded to place it in his selection of Slovene wines, or I would not deliver it to him anymore. He then also did that and this is how Slovenia needs to be promoted. «
We are staying in Slovenia, because we focus on technology, innovation, and highly qualified workforce
Jacek Pryczek, CEO, Goodyear Central Europe, who can present his point of view based on international experience and through global company perspective presented his viewpoint on the meaning of trademark »made in Slovenia«: »If we do not believe ourselves that “Made in Slovenia” truly means quality, then nobody will believe that. If you are not confident yourself, you will not convince anybody. In Goodyear Dunlop Sava Tires we believe, that this is quality. We invested 200 million euros in the factory in Kranj. Even in case of tires it is necessary to look at technology and innovation and that is why we are staying in Slovenia, although production in Romania would be cheaper. You cannot move all your capacities only because of lower costs. At certain point other advantages prevail – high technology, innovation, highly qualified and motivated workforce – in fact, it is people who make the important difference in the added value. Of course low costs are important for competitiveness, but quality is more important. Good brands already exist in Slovenia. In China for example, they have money and technology, however they do not have good brands nor good quality and it is difficult to compete for them. We have quality. Sometimes you must be bold. Do not become like one of the Central European countries for which they say that this country never misses a chance to miss the chance. You have to convince the people that Slovene is the best. «
Happy and smiling country actually helps when conducting business
Andrej Božič, general manager, who with his determination and vision ranked Steklarna Hrastnik again among the growing companies, answered the question from Repanšek of how to sell quality products instead of mass products saying that trademark “Made in Slovenia” does not help them: »Because our sales are focused mainly on business with larger customers, we actually have to convince them with quality. I was really proud of our progress, however it seems that we have forgotten what we have been doing in the recent years. When I was reading how a cheater could enter Elan, I asked myself how this was possible. Are we stupid apes climbing the trees? How we convince the customer – our product is smoother, it is more shining and is better. However if the country is not functioning, we can have the best factory, but we will not be able to sell anything. I cannot create a brand and fulfill the promise, if a potential customer comes into a ruined country that goes bankrupt. I am happy however, that one of our clients that recently came to Slovenia said – »I saw a lot of beautiful people with smiles on their faces. On our way to Hrastnik the sun was shining and also one lady smiled at me. This is a sign to carry out this business. Let’s do this. This is also a way to sell Slovenia« he said.
AmCham Business Breakfast, 10 April 2014 VIDEO CLIP
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