Winners of the future: The innovative, creative, and conscious of the human capital potential
Adriatic Journal 11 March 2019
Saša Mrak, President of the Managers’ Association of Slovenia
Slovenian management is generally well-trained, but in order to be more effective in the future, it has to show more openness towards contemporary ideas and flexibility towards challenges it faces.
With one of the highest growth in the last decade and favourable export forecasts for the future years, Slovenia’s economy currently has no reason to worry about. But things can change rapidly in today’s world. Be it derailed by Brexit, a change in prices of raw materials, strengthened protectionism, customs and tariffs that some countries may introduce, all of these may impact Slovenia’s exports. It is time for Slovenia to be more careful, as some companies already report lower demand in foreign markets, says Saša Mrak, MBA, CEO of Managers’ Association of Slovenia, which is connecting over 1,100 Slovenian managers and supporting development of management in Slovenia.
Slovenian management has improved over the last years, the results of the competitiveness research conducted by the Swiss institute IMD show. Slovenia has climbed up the rankings to achieve 37th place among world countries. “But at the same time, we are very well aware there is still a lot of room for improvement in Slovenian companies, especially in terms of raising productivity.
However, there are certain positive aspects of how the Slovenian management is getting its job done. “Among the proven capabilities of the Slovenian management is flexibility and – despite the traditionally perceived lack of cooperation – good connections with the institutions of knowledge.« Innovation capacities of Slovene companies are at a high level, and when it comes to research and development, Slovenia is comparable to Germany or Scandinavian countries, Mrak adds.
In the future, the winners will be those who are fasters than the others in establishing links and building ecosystems of growth and development, Saša Mrak points out, adding that Manager Association promotes bigger ambitions for growth and development, as well understanding how important it is for businesses to achieve greater productivity and target higher added value.
