May-Jun 2010 - Business Partners - American

Transcription

BUSINESS
www.amcham.gr
MAY-JUNE 2010
Vol. IX | No. 48
CSR and
Governance—
CRT Principles
Managing Public
Real Estate
▼
Travel & Tourism
A New Era for
Cruising in
Greece?
▼
Leadership
Your Invitation
to Greatness!
▼
Insight
Systems Thinking
and Education
▼
Plus
Biz Buzz
Names and Faces
Trends & Trade Makers
AMERICAN-HELLENIC
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Global Office
of the Year
Stanton Chase Athens
ISSN 1109‐4990 CODE: 6526
VOLUME IX | NUMBER 48
CONTENTS
CHAMBER.PRESS
4 THE BOARD
24
6 LEADERSHIP
Your Invitation to Greatness!
BY GEORGIA KARTSANIS
photo: www.kamilonollas.com
Konstantinos Zafiropoulos,
Manos Panorios, Nancy
Mathioudakis, and Harris
Pezoulas, of the Athens office
of Stanton Chase International,
which was awarded Best
Stanton Chase Global Office,
discuss the award and today’s
HR industry
8
12
CHAMBER NEWS
INSIGHT
Systems Thinking and Education,
An Analytical Trap…
BY ALEXANDER ATHANASSOULAS
14
16
NAMES & FACES IN THE NEWS
CORNER OFFICE
Change is Unavoidable – Growth is Optional … Like Survival!
BY SPIROS PAOLINELIS
18
OBSERVATORY
Is Europe Finally Getting its Act Together?
BY JENS BASTIAN
20
BIZ BUZZ
Currents in Today’s Business Environment
6
22
NORTHERN GREECE TODAY
OPPORTUNITIES AND ADVANTAGES
❚ Anastasia Economou, Business Development Manager,
Macedonian Paper Mills S.A. (MEL)
❚ International Hellenic University
Georgia Kartsanis,
CEO, Sargia Partners S.A.,
on leadership coaching
24
THE INTERVIEW
Harris Pezoulas, Nancy Mathioudakis, Konstantinos
Zafiropoulos, and Manos Panorios of the Athens office of
Stanton Chase International
38
27
EDUCATION
New York Film Academy—Learning by Doing
Vasilis Maglaras, Head of
Business Development at
Hellenic Public Real Estate
Corporation, on the need for a
new perspective in managing
public real estate
28
CSR & GOVERNANCE
Caux Round Table Principles for Responsible Business
34
CSR & GOVERNANCE
Caux Round Table Principles For Government
38
REAL ESTATE
The Need for a New Perspective—
Managing Public Real Estate
BUSI N ES S PART N ERS I S TH E B IMON TH LY MAGA Z IN E
O F T H E AM ER I C A N ‐ H EL L EN IC CH A MB ER OF COMMERCE
DIRECTOR
Elias Spirtounias
[email protected]
PUBLISHER & EDITOR
Raymond Matera
[email protected]
PLEASE RECYCLE
ADVERTISING
Raymond Matera
[email protected]
DESIGN
snack•
PRINTING & BINDING
A. PSILLIDIS & CO
OWNER
American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce
Politia Business Center
109-111 Messoghion Avenue
115 26 Athens
Tel: +30 210 699.3559
Fax: +30 210 698.5686-7
E-mail: [email protected]
BRANCH OFFICE
47 Vassileos Irakleiou Street
546 23 Thessaloniki
Tel: +30 2310 286.453, 225.162
Fax: +30 2310 225.162
E-mail: [email protected]
BY VASILIS MAGLARAS
40
TRAVEL & TOURISM
A New Era for Cruising in Greece?
BY ANDREAS STYLIANOPOULOS
42
THE BOATING LIFE
Sea Ray 375 DA—Ideal for a Summer Holiday
44
46
TRENDS & TREND MAKERS
BUSINESS2BUSINESS
A B2B Toolbox
48
VIEWPOINT
InnoCentive—Collaborative Solutions
ΜAY-JUNE 2010 | BUSINESS PARTNERS | 1
DIRECTOR’S DESK
After a protracted decision-making process, the EU has moved ahead, with the support of the IMF and
the ECB, in supporting Greece’s request for assistance, a move that avoids default by the Greek government and at the same time imposes harsh measures within a limited time frame.
Today, we see that state debt is emerging as a global challenge, so that many countries must apply austerity programs and strict budgetary control. Greece, with 10% of Eurozone debt, may be the tip of an
international debt iceberg that may lead many economies adrift.
We should have reason to be optimistic that, by applying rigorous implementation standards, Greece
will succeed. But our economy must be driven to growth with new measures that are desperately needed. The simultaneous increase in VAT and fuel prices do not contribute in decreasing production costs
and attracting foreign investment. The state, in its failure to be frugal, prudent, and strict administrators
in the past, must not now strangle private initiative and entrepreneurial flexibility.
We urgently need a new model of development that will boost entrepreneurship, corporate investment,
and business growth. We urgently need a new investment framework with meaningful incentives and
lower taxation so that jobs are not only saved, but new ones are created. At the same time, non-productive subsidies in sectors that do not effectively contribute to growth should be immediately ceased.
A new vision, that focuses on and promotes innovation, entrepreneurship, productivity, and healthy
competitiveness must be at the heart of our growth model so that Greeks have a future to look forward
to that is constructive, meaningful, and rewarding.
Greeks have talent, tenacity, and the ability to excel. It is time that the state carries out its functions with
responsibility so that its citizens are proud to play their role and build a thriving economy, a flourishing
society. It is our duty to ensure that our young people remain in Greece, remain committed to Greece,
and are able to utilize their talent, education, and abilities to the fullest.
The American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce has always supported such a vision and today, more
than ever before, is ready and willing to support a new model of productive development and to contribute to the success of today’s Herculean effort so that our results are meaningful and sustainable.
Elias Spirtounias
Executive Director
The American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce
A Dynamic, Proactive Chamber
The American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce was established
in 1932 and is one of the largest, most active, and dynamic American Chambers in Europe. Virtually all American companies that
do business in Greece and Greek companies that engage in trade
with the United States are members of the Chamber.
The Chamber's membership is comprised of more than 1,000
proactive companies that seek to expand business horizons, create new business partnerships, and take advantage of trade and
investment opportunities in today's global economy.
The American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce is an active mem-
| BUSINESS PARTNERS | ΜAY-JUNE 2010
ber of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington D.C. and the
European Council of American Chambers of Commerce (ECACC).
Mission Statement
The American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce strives for continuous improvement of American-Hellenic commercial and
financial relations, through increased membership and through
the organization of top-quality events, exhibitions, fora, seminars,
and congresses on both sides of the Atlantic.
American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce
Executive Committee
Committees
Gramatidis Yanos President | BAHAS, GRAMATIDIS & PARTNERS
Auditors Committee
Kouides Leonidas Vice President | KOUIDES A.P. & L. S.A.
Kyriacou Marios Vice President | KPMG CERTIFIED AUDITORS S.A.
Members: Alexandris Spyros, Sabatakakis Kyriacos, Spanos Nikolaos | Coordinator: Hadjianagnostou Andriana
Construction and Real Estate Committee
OF COMPANIES
Members: Alexopoulos Charis, Andritsos Dimitris, Charagionis Theodore, Dimakopoulos Alexandros, Sarantopoulos Edward, Spanos Elias, Vassos Alexandros, Vrettakos Dimitris | Coordinator: Constantinidou Dafni
Panayotopoulos Litsa Treasurer | OTEACADEMY
Corporate Governance Committee
Karayannis Angelos Secretary General | KARAYANNIS K. GROUP
Anastassopoulos Simos Counselor | PETSIAVAS N. S.A.
Chairman: Papacostopoulos Constantinos | Members: Alexandris Spyros, Charalambous Yiangos, Dimou Ioannis, Petalas Apostolos, Siamishis Andreas | Coordinator: Constantinidou Dafni
Bacacos George Counselor | BACACOS P. CHEMICAL & PHARMACEUTICAL
Corporate Social Responsibility Committee
Adamantiadis Christos Counselor | CHARTIS GREECE
PRODUCTS CO. S.A.
Papadopoulos Thanos Counselor | CHEVELLAS S.A.
Spirtounias Elias Executive Director
Chairman: Stavridis Stelios | Members: Alexiou Maria, Lolas Vassilis, Papademetriou Pakis, Psyrra Irene, Vrachatis Ioannis | Coordinator: Boyatzis Angela
Express Committee
Chairman: Mavropoulos Michael | Members: Alevizou Christina, Ieremias Emmanuel, Karayannis Angelos, Ungerer Frank-Uwe | Coordinator: Mamali Georgia
Greek Economy Conference Committee
Chairman: Kyriacou Marios | Members: Adamantiadis Christos, Anastassopoulos Simos, Bacacos George, Vrettos Nikos, Yannopoulos Sotiris | Coordinator:
Dikeoulia Angeliki
Board of Directors
Antonopoulos Constantinos | INTRALOT S.A. INTEGRATED LOTTERY
SYSTEMS AND SERVICES
Bakatselos Nikolaos | PYRAMIS METALLOURGIA S.A.
Charalambous Odysseas | CISCO SYSTEMS HELLAS S.A.
Constantelis George | BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB A.E.
Costopoulos John | HELLENIC PETROLEUM S.A.
David George | COCA-COLA HELLENIC BOTTLING COMPANY S.A.
Filiotis Dionysios | PHARMASERVE-LILLY SACI
Giannakopoulos Themistoklis | BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO HELLAS S.A.
Kalkanis Peter | JOHNSON & JOHNSON HELLAS S.A.
Kourouglos John | M.J. MAILLIS GROUP
Koutsoureli Efi | INFO-QUEST S.A.
Kyriakides John | KYRIAKIDES GEORGOPOULOS & DANIOLOS ISSAIAS
LAW FIRM
Mamidaki Eleftheria | MAMIDOIL JETOIL PETROLEUM COMPANY S.A.
Manos Alexandros | PIRAEUS BANK S.A.
Mavroudis Theodore | PHARMAGORA S.A.
Nanopoulos Nicholas | EUROBANK EFG
Neiadas Vassilios | BUSINESS CONSULTANT
Papalexopoulos Dimitri | TITAN CEMENT COMPANY S.A.
Passaris Despina | PROCTER & GAMBLE HELLAS LTD.
Innovation and Education Committee
Chair: Panayotopoulos Litsa | Members: Charalambous Odysseas, Giourelis Stefanos, Kollas John, Makios Vassilis, Makridakis Spyros, Patakiouti Maria, Skoura
Alexandra, Tsangos Christos | Coordinator: Tzagaroulakis Katerina
IPR Committee
Members: Boscopoulos Paris, Galanopoulou Katerina, Makris Antonis, Skorupski
Sarah, Zachou Dora | Coordinator: Constantinidou Dafni
Leadership Committee
Chair: Miropoulos Artemis | Members: Griveas Polychronis, Jukes Simon, Katsivelis Pavlos, Kofinas Kyriakos, Paraskevaidis Stavros, Sarakakis Alexandros, Sarlikiotis Antonis, Sklikas Gregory | Coordinator: Constantinidou Dafni
Northern Greece Committee
Chairman: Kouides Leonidas | Members: Bakatselos Nicolas, Gigilinis Alexandros,
Hadjiyannakis Constantine, Katsaros George, Makios Stratos, Mavroudis Theodore, Philippou Nikos, Symeonidis Dimitris, Tzelepoglou Rigas | Coordinator:
Tsavdaroglou Nikos
Pharmaceutical Committee
Chairman: Constantelis George | Vice Chairman: Filiotis Dionyssios | Members:
Apostolidis Pascal, Boscopoulos Paris, Gerassopoulos Marcos, Karagiannoglou
Stelios, Karella Katherine, Katzourakis George, Zervakakis Takis | Coordinator:
Tseritzoglou Voula
Programming & Planning Committee (North Greece)
Members: Accas Ioannis, Alexopoulos Charis, Antoniadis Christodoulos, Economou Anastasia, Efetzis Vassilios, Kokorotsikos Paris, Kouides Antonis, Kouimtzis
Thanassis, Lakassas Dimitrios, Mamidakis Alexandros, Meimaris Ignatios, Papageorgiou Constantinos, Thomaidis Vasilis, Tsaras Ioannis, Ziambras Ioannis | Coordinator: Tsavdaroglou Nikos
Public Affairs Committee
Members: Anastassopoulos Simos, Kyriacou Marios, Papadopoulos Thanos | Coordinator: Xidou Ritana
Strategic Planning Committee
Peristeris George | TERNA S.A.
Members: Adamantiadis Christos, Costopoulos Alexandros, Gramatidis Yanos,
Priamou John, Stavridis Stelios, Vrettos Nikos | Coordinator: Mamali Georgia
Philippou Nikos | PHILIPPOU DOMIKA ERGA S.A.
Taxation Committee
Plessas Dennys | LOCKHEED MARTIN (INTERNATIONAL) S.A.
Priamou John | U.S. COMMERCIAL COUNSELOR (RET.)
Saracakis John | GENERAL AUTOMOTIVE COMPANY S.A.
Stavridis Stelios | PISCINES IDEALES A.E.
Symeonides Dimitris | MEVGAL S.A. DAIRY PRODUCT INDUSTRY
Chairman: Kostas Stavros | Members: Altiparmakis Christos, Ampeliotis Evaggelos,
Anastasiadis Charalampos, Antoniou Vassilios, Desipris Antonis, Doucas Spiros,
Gigantes Stavros, Gika Efstathia, Ioannidou Maria, Kerameus George, Laskaratos
Panagiotis, Loukas Konstantinos, Mavraganis George, Melemenis Ioannis, Nomikos
Vassilis, Sarafoglou Gerassimos, Savvaidou Katerina, Sfakakis Konstantinos, Spyriouni Litsa, Stavrides Bill, Stavropoulos Ioannis, Theofilides George, Trakadi Maria,
Tsakonas Yiannis | Coordinator: Tzagaroulakis Katerina
Tourism Committee
Tamvakakis Apostolos | NATIONAL BANK OF GREECE
Chairman: Stylianopoulos Andreas | Members: Ananiadis Tim, Agglos John, Argiri
Byron, Daliakas Stavros, Ikkos Aris, Koutsivitis Stylianos, Marriott Carol, Peressiadis Costas | Coordinator: Dikeoulia Angeliki
Vrettakos Dimitris | DISCOVERING VALUE ASSOCIATES S.A.
Women in Business Committee
Synghelides Polychronis | CHRYSLER JEEP IMPORT HELLAS S.A.
Vrettos Nikos | THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP (BCG)
Zeritis Panos | THRACE PAPER MILL S.A.
| BUSINESS PARTNERS | may-june 2010
Chair: Kartsanis Georgia | Members: Adamopoulou Efi, Dimou-Lampadari Maria, Karageorgi Fotini, Mathioudaki Nancy, Papakonstantinou Ioanna, Parissi Efi,
Rossou Efi, Sideri Anastasia, Tarou Iphigenia | Coordinator: Boyatzis Angela
Leadership
by Georgia Kartsanis
CEO
Sargia Partners S.A.
“You have only two
choices: change YOU or
change IT; much of what
increases our Mojo comes
from changing our own
attitudes and identity.”
—Marshall Goldsmith, 2010
Leadership Coaching
from Sargia Partners
Your Invitation to Greatness!
T
echnological advances, globalization, and the adverse economic environment we’re witnessing
have increased the complexity
of our business environment,
resulting in new challenges and transformational changes—all of which require
new leadership competencies.
Behavioral coaching in organizations is
a significant contributor to this changing
and challenging landscape. It is a vehicle
for individuals and organizations to adopt
changes that are measurable and clearly
related to business or organizational goals.
It is the science and art of facilitating performance, learning and development of the
individual, team and organization to assist
the growth of the organization. Behavioral
coaching is the application of behavioral
and cognitive principles and techniques to
assess, measure, change, and evaluate individual and group behavior within organizational settings.
Behavioral coaches work with leaders,
managers, HR personnel and others to de-
At Sargia Partners we specialize in Leadership Coaching and
Personal Branding Consulting.
We make high performing
senior executives and their
teams better by championing
and challenging them to even
velop a climate in which people embrace
change. Such a climate generates, fosters
and rewards behaviors that are necessary
and essential for success and growth. For
example, how a leader embraces change affects how individuals in the organization
react to change. In turn, this attitude affects
customers and, ultimately, profit.
Any organization can be viewed as an organism, a living thing. Like individuals, organizations and businesses also differ on several
constructs relevant to change. These include:
❚ Readiness to embrace change
❚ Knowledge, skills and abilities to introduce and mange change
❚ Forces of resistance or barriers to change
As well as working with leaders to transform
their view of themselves, others, and the
world, behavioral coaches operate within a
framework of leadership based on results.
Rather than focusing on the personal attributes of successful leaders, they work with
coachees to achieve results for employees,
the organization, its customers and its shareholders. Some of the skills addressed include
greater heights of success.
Our unique service portfolio offers Leadership Coaching, the
90-Day Turn System, a holistic
and systematic coaching approach to organizations, so
they may align their high value
establishing and focusing on specific business
outcomes, communicating these to the team
group, accepting responsibility and ongoing
measurement of results, and regularly reviewing business practices. Goals and action
plans are all set around desired outcomes.
Finally, documented benefits of leadership coaching include an enhanced ability
to develop and foster trust; increased accountability within the organization; the
development and maintenance of more
satisfactory relationships with the board,
shareholders and employees; enhanced
credibility and influence as an ambassador; increased ability to align others to the
company’s vision and mission; successful
change management projects; enhanced
managerial competencies; increased selfresponsibility; an increase in other’s responsibility; and the creation of a culture
that truly values learning.
On a fundamental level, we are designed to
be an invitation for greatness, an invitation
for our clients to participate in their own
life, in a different way.
executives’ culture and behaviors with strategy. In Personal
Branding through unique corporate workshops and one-to-one
coaching, we empower executives’ personal brand identity and
improve their corporate image.
Combining these two services,
we intervene in the executives’
inner and outward world to significantly contribute to their professional and personal success.
 www.sargiapartners.com
CHAMBER
NEWS
Message from the President
Vision 2020
Elias Spirtounias
One year ago, in anticipation of perilous developments in Greece,
and the unfolding of treacherous fiscal positions, the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce convened the architects of
Greece’s economic policy of the last 20 years, in an unprecedented
series of discussions, aimed at examining the structural difficulties of Greek economic policy and forging a strategy for the future.
As it turned out, our fears were justified and our strategy correct.
In fact, since 2007 the Chamber has insisted that structural reform is the only way to combat fiscal problems. Yet Greece’s fiscal
position contained far more “toxic” elements than was known at the time. The tools that
resulted from this series of discussions, two policy workbooks on economic reform, are
vitally important today, and remain highly relevant to Greece’s economic future.
In 2010, following Greece’s serious financial difficulties, our Chamber is once again at
the forefront of initiating programs, policies, and proposals designed to improve the
Greek economy and boost trade and development, entrepreneurship, employment, and
trans-Atlantic relations.
The American-Hellenic Enterprise Initiative (AHEI), announced on April 15 with
Minister Katseli, Ambassador Speckard, and Deputy Minister Kouvelis in attendance,
is a major, unprecedented effort to unite Greece’s business and cultural organizations in
expanding Greece-U.S. relations. We believe AHEI will play a key role in catalyzing new
partnerships in energy, tourism, food and beverage, exports, education and innovation,
as well as fostering new, entrepreneurial activity among the younger generation.
It is my pleasure to announce that the Chamber is now moving forward under Vision
2020, a new Chamber framework that is guiding us toward initiatives, events, and actions that respond to today’s challenging environment in Greece. Vision 2020 is the
Chamber’s beacon to help bring about the changes and reforms needed today.
The American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, recognized as one of the most influential, progressive, and important business organizations in Greece, focuses on three
essential objectives; 1) to advance Greece-U.S. business, commercial, and investment relations; 2) to improve the business and social environment in Greece, and 3) to respond
to the needs of its members with ideas, events, initiatives, fora, and conferences so that
each member is able to further his or her interests vis-à-vis the Chamber. For years we
have tirelessly advocated for the visa waiver program to be implemented.
It is my sincere hope that each and every one of you have benefitted from our efforts
and, working together, it is my hope that we shall continue to meet and exceed the expectations of our members. I believe Vision 2020 is a vital and instrumental tool that
will assist us in meeting our goals.
Chamber Supports
Wealth Management
Forum
The Chamber supported the Wealth
Management Forum 2010 held May
18 at the St. George Lycabettus Hotel.
The Forum was organized by derivaties.gr, whose founder, Panagiotis D.
Tzellos, launched the event. Executive Director of the Chamber Elias
Spirtounias addressed Forum delegates and underlined the importance
of a developing a strong wealth management industry in Greece, which
would benefit the economy, employment, and education system.
The event addressed two central
topics: if wealth management in the
Greek market is efficient and adequate for Greek high net worth investors and investment options and the
investment decision making process.
Speakers included representatives
from Bank of Piraeus Wealth Management, EFG Eurobank Ergasias Private
Banking, J. P. Morgan Asset Management, Prologue Capital, Schroder
Investment Management Limited,
Steadfast Management Corp., the Vafias Group Family Office, and Ulysses
Capital. Coordinators were Alexander
Singer, Principal of Kallisto Investment Advisors, and Stratos Goudinakos of Ulysses Capital.
New Website
In May, the Chamber launched its new website, providing a full overview of the Chamber and
its activities and designed to be a more interactive channel for information, communication,
and resources, both for Chamber members and for visitors from throughout the world.
 www.amcham.gr
Stavros Siokos,
Bank of Piraeus Wealth Management.
American-Hellenic Enterprise Initiative
On April 15, 2010, the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, as lead partner, officially launched the American-Hellenic Enterprise Initiative (AHEI). U.S. Ambassador
Daniel Speckhard, Minister of Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping Louka Katseli and
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Spyros Kouvelis addressed the meeting.
The mission of the American-Hellenic Enterprise Initiative (AHEI) is to develop and implement Greece-U.S. actions that further bi-national trade, investment, technology transfer, green energy solutions, R&D, and entrepreneurship through the combined efforts of
AHEI Partners. AHEI focuses on the challenges of the 21st Century and is an initiative to
respond to those challenges with solutions derived from Greece-USA synergies.
A key component of AHEI is to tap into the power of the young generation of Greeks,
Greek Americans, and Americans to generate new trans-Atlantic partnerships and new
administrative models and tools.
Combining forces with a variety of Greece-based and U.S.-based partners is seen as deriving multiple benefits of synergies, benefiting from economies of scale, creating wider
and more effective networks, and being more effective as a single, powerful voice to effect change. In addition, the initiative is designed to coordinate Greek efforts and events
in the United States, those of both the public and private sector, in order to achieve optimal results through crucially important cooperation.
The American-Hellenic Enterprise Initiative is under the auspices of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping, the Ministry
of Culture and Tourism, as well as in cooperation with the US Embassy in Athens.
Partners of The
American-Hellenic
Enterprise Initiative
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Athens Chamber of Commerce
& Industry
Hellenic Foreign Trade Board
Panhellenic Exporters Association
Export Credit Insurance Organization
Exporters’ Association of Crete
Association of Greek Tourism
Enterprises
Greek National Tourism Organization
Invest in Greece
Association of Thessalian Enterprises
and Industries
Federation of Industries of Northern
Greece
Federation of Industries of Thessaly
and Central Greece
Franchise Association of Greece
National Confederation of Greek Trade
Hellenic American Union
Hellenic American University
Fulbright Foundation
Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce
and Industry
Chamber of Larissa
Chamber of Magnesia
Chamber of Kavala
Chamber of Rethymno
Evia Chamber
Chamber of Lassithi
U.S. Ambassador Daniel Speckhard
Chamber President Yanos Gramatidis
Piraeus Chamber of Commerce
& Industry
Messinian Chamber
Chamber of Lakonia
Chamber of Corfu
Chamber of Pieria
Argolida Chamber
Chamber of Fthiotida
Chamber of Kastoria
Chamber of Ahaia
Cyclades Chamber
Heraklion Chamber
Minister of Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping
Louka Katseli
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Spyros Kouvelis
Chania Chamber
Chalkidiki Chamber
ΜAY-JUNE 2010 | BUSINESS PARTNERS | CHAMBER
NEWS
Chamber Presidnet Yanos Gramatidis
Pharmaceutical Committee President
George Constantelis
Minister of Health and Social Solidarity
Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou
SFEE President Dionysios Filiotis
Panel Discussion
Healthworld
On April 21, 2010 at the Hotel Grande Bretagne, the Chamber hosted Healthworld 2010, with the main theme Integrated
Healthcare Policy: Is There a Winning Formula for all Stakeholders? Held for the 9th consecutive year, under the auspices of the
Greek Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity, Healthworld
2010 examined healthcare issues in era where the healthcare
system and services are under considerable strain and provided
constructive proposals that will contribute to the reinforcement
of the Greek Healthcare System. Healthworld 2010 also focused
on IT infrastructure of the Greek healthcare system. Live trans-
10 | BUSINESS PARTNERS | ΜAY-JUNE 2010
mission of the Conference was available at www.amcham.gr.
Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou, Minister of Health and Social
Solidarity, gave the keynote address.
Sponsors were Alapis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pfizer Hellas and
Sanofi Aventis.
Supporters were Abbott Laboratories (Hellas), Gilead Sciences Hellas, and Pharmaserve-Lilly. Contributors were Merck Serono and
Novartis and communication sponsorswere Business Partners, City
Press, Flash, Free Sunday, Iatronet, Kerdos, MEDchannel and SBC
Business Channel. Video & Webcasting sponsor was MDATA.
2nd Annual Taxation Conference
Thessaloniki
On April 26 the Chamber held its 2nd Annual Taxation Conference at the Hotel Nikopolis
in Thessaloniki, dedicated to representing the business community on matters of taxation policy and legislation in Greece. This year’s event focused on how new taxation
legislation, within the challenges of the economic crisis, targets financial stability and
economic growth.
Chamber President Yanos Gramatidis and Chamber Vice-President Leonidas Kouides
opened the conference and initial remarks were made by Stavros Costas, Chairman
of the Chamber’s Taxation Committee. The evening keynote was delivered by Dimitris
Georgakopoulos, Secretary General, Taxation & Customs Affairs, Ministry of Finance.
Other speakers included Theodoros Mavroudis, Executive Director, Alapis; Evangelos
Karaoglou, President and Managing Director, V. Karaoglou S.A.; Orestis Arapoglou, Managing Director, VORIA.gr; Panagiotis Diallinas, Regional Director, Eurofast Global Ltd.
Sponsors were Alapis and V. Karaoglou S.A.; supporters were VORIA.gr, Εurofast Global Ltd., Κου-Κου S.A., and communication sponsors were agelioforos.gr, naftemporiki.
gr, e-forologia.gr, Epsilon7, Business Partners, ΕΡΤ3, and Macedonia TV.
Chamber President Yanos Gramatidis
WIB Chair
Georgia Kartsani
Chamber Vice President
Marios Kyriacou
WIB Forum
The Women in Business Committee of
the Chamber convened the WIB Forum
2010: The Rise of the Female Economy, on March 22 at the Hotel Grande
Bretagne. The 2010 WIB Forum examined the role of women as the dominant
force in the global economy, primary
drivers of shifting spending patterns
and catalysts accelerating social change
worldwide. The Forum featured keynote
speaker Michael Silverstein, consumer
behavior expert, best-selling author and
Senior Partner of The Boston Consulting Group, who recently co-authored
the book “Women Want More.” Chamber Vice President Marios Kyriacou
launched the event. Sponsor was Alapis;
supporters were Atos Origin, Procter &
Gamble Hellas, Regency Entertainment;
contributor was Focus Bari, and communication sponsors were Kathimerini,
SBC TV, Flash 96, Flash.gr, Business Today, Ad Business, and Business Partners.
Dimitris Georgokopoulos
General Secretary, Ministry of Finance
Chamber Calendar
May 31 Athens, Hotel Grande Bretagne,
Conference “The Organization of the Gaming Market in Greece”
June 2 Athens, Hotel Grande Bretagne, 8th
Annual CSR Conference
June 14 Athens, Athenaeum Intercontinental Hotel, Annual General Assembly Meeting
Elias Spirtounias, Yanos Gramatidis, Dimitris Georgokopoulos.
Stavros Kostas, Leonidas Kouidis
June 23 Athens, Hotel Grande Bretagne, 2nd
Annual Corporate Governance Conference
Insight
by Alexander Athanassoulas
Alexander Athanassoulas is an international consultant on business growth through
human systems and President and CEO of STIRIXIS SA
Systems Thinking
and Education— An Analytical Trap…
A
t the time, this was helpful.
The problems we were trying to solve were really simple
problems with solutions which
could be proved over again
and again by experiments within the same
stable and constant environment. Traditional Analysis did produce a lot of answers we
were looking for. But the world has evolved
and developed immensely since then. And
the problems we now need to solve have become far more complex and holistic, more
social and less technical. This is where Traditional Analysis Thinking fails us.
And to add to the demands of the modern
world, society is proceeding at such a rapid
pace today that it is a challenge just to keep
up with that change. Technology has made
the spread of change throughout the world
immediate and concurrently serves as a catalyst for its further acceleration. We now realize that, over the past several centuries, we
have gathered information and knowledge
but gained little or no understanding of the
systems we examine, so that we are able to
re-organize and optimize them. Today’s solutions cannot be tested “in-vitro” or under
simple reiterated experiments under “standard conditions for temperature and pressure
(STP).” Take, for instance, global warming
or the global credit-crunch crisis. We need
to understand the system as a whole, not its
parts individually, and set up proactive, feedforward mechanisms to control any fraction
of it possible before the eruption of a crisis.
What stops us then? Strangely enough, the
modern educational system does. We teach
our children to think the way we do and
to examine problems using the same mental models of the past. We expect them to
know what they want to be, and what they
want to study, when they are very young
and prepare them for this by enhancing
specific disciplines which are “related” or
“useful” to their future. This leads by and
large to the exclusion of all “unnecessary”
knowledge, whether it is other science directions or, usually, activities building social skills, arts, or sports. We then assign
students to different buildings, direct them
we should teach our
children Systems
thinking from day
one; It is all about the
purpose of knowledge
and the value that
derives from it
Post-Renaissance
scientists developed and
established what we now
call Traditional Analysis
Thinking, or Reductionism.
They reduced problems
into ever smaller questions
and, by answering them,
re-constructed the
problem and arrived at
solutions.
to certain discipline-restricted discussions,
and ensure work-groups are water-tight to
suck-up any remaining oxygen that might
support free-thinking, creativity and lifeaspiring wisdom.
The result of all this is not hard to comprehend. Our top minds are mostly secluded
and distanced from our society and everyday life. Their conquests are a mystery,
not only to us, but to other scientists as
well, with whom they often fail to share a
common language, as each now examines
the tree closer and closer from his or her
own perspective and they all begin to forget
what the forest looks like.
We are trapped in this vicious circle and we
need to break it fast. Systems thinking is a
way of living we should teach our children
from day one; pre-nursery school is a good
start. It is all about the purpose of knowledge
and the value that derives from it, not the
knowledge itself. Systems thinking is about
teamwork, trustful relationship-building and
cross-discipline collaboration; only these arrangements can produce functional solutions
for tomorrow’s society. Our educational system needs to serve as a cross-discipline
knowledge platform promoting free-thinking and unconventional wisdom, through
the recognition of the today’s holistic and
global core of problems.
C.Ad.01/07
Foh / 2+
NAMES & FACES
...in the news
 Democrats Abroad Announces Renewed
Country Committee
On March 16, Democrats Abroad announced that the organization
has approved the refounding of Democrats Abroad Greece (DAGR)
as a country committee. Founded in 1964, Democrats Abroad is the
official overseas branch of the U.S. Democratic Party which represents Americans living abroad. The Greece Country Committee of
Democrats Abroad helps Americans living in Greece register to vote,
organizes educational events and builds a sense of community among
the Americans residents in Greece. Greece had an active committee
from 1986 until 2008.
Democrats Abroad is the official overseas branch of the U.S. Democratic Party. With members in more than 160 countries around the
globe, Democrats Abroad holds eight positions on the Democratic
National Committee and sends a voting delegation to the Democratic
National Convention to select our presidential candidate.
The Executive Committee of Democrats Abroad Greece is:
Chair Yvette M. Jarvis
Vice Chair Alec Mally
Secretary Brady Kiesling
Treasurer John A. Bacalis
Counsel Nicholas J. Pisaris
Members at Large Lyn Waldie and Kostas Zafirakis
 R. Nicholas Burns in Thessaloniki
Former Ambassador to Greece R. Nicholas Burns addressed an audience of friends and supporters invited by the New York Committee of
the American Farm School at the Yale Club on Monday April 19th.
“Ambassadors come and go, but the American Farm School, serving
Greek and Balkan students for over a century, remains a strong and
visible example of what is best about America, and does more for U.S.
relations abroad than almost any other kind of investment we could
be making in the region.”
Asked how young people can best serve their country, he spoke about
the current rise in idealism, and a new surge in young Americans
wanting to go into public service, but being more entrepreneurial
than in the past; having more options than the State Department;
starting up new NGOs; or serving U.S. nonprofit educational and
other institutions abroad. “Places such as the American Farm School
deserve your support.” He is currently Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Speaker’s
Corner
New President, CEO at Invest in Greece
Paraskevi Boufounou was named President,
and Christos Alexakis was named CEO, of
Invest in Greece Agency, the official Investment Promotion Agency of Greece, which
is under the responsibility of the Ministry of
Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping.
Ms. Paraskevi Boufounou has extensive
Paraskevi
Boufounou
professional experience. Mr Alexakis is an
economist with a specialization in financial
markets. He has broad professional experience as a Senior Executive in enterprises with
a global presence. In parallel, Mr. Alexakis is
an Assistant Professor at the Department of
Economics of the University of Piraeus. He
Christos Alexakis
has published books on investment issues
and numerous articles in international academic journals.
Economist Robert Z. Aliber in Athens
Noted economist Robert Z. Aliber, a professor of international economics and finance at
the University of Chicago, spoke at the Global
Leadership Series event at the Hellenic American Union in Athens on May 13, with an emphasis on financial crises of the past 40 years.
The topic of Prof. Aliber’s speech was “Four
Robert Z. Aliber
Waves of Financial Crises in Forty Years - Mexico, South Korea, Greece, the United States, and Norway —The
Story of Dysfunctional International Monetary Arrangements.”
New Online Process for Visas
to the United States
The Consular Section at the U.S. Embassy Athens announced an enhanced process for applicants seeking nonimmigrant visas to the United States. This process is for
those applying for the old style visa through the U.S. Consulate General NOT Visa Waiver Program
 http://athens.usembassy.gov/non-immigrant_visas.html
Factually Speaking
Foolish Hearts
—Aldous Huxley
—Dale Carnegie
Facts do not cease to exist because
they are ignored.
Any fool can criticize, condemn and
complain.. and most fools do.
 Club Hotel Casino Loutraki
on Best Workplace in Greece List
Mara Marinakis
Marketing & Business
Development Manager
Learning Systems Consulting Group
Talent Maximization
Who is Profiles International?
Profiles International helps organizations create highperforming workforces through a comprehensive suite
of employee assessment solutions. We help our clients
understand their people at the deepest levels and leverage their potential to maximum performance.
Why companies should use assessments?
Because most companies spend between 50-60% of their
income on people costs. This means there is tremendous potential for increased profits when efficiencies in
Human capital investment are achieved through the use
of assessments, especially in an economic crisis.
How can a company benefit from Profiles Assessments?
Companies have come to accept that “average” job
performance is an acceptable standard. This is no time
for average but for maximum! Through the use of assessments, Profiles’ goal is to change this perception.
Companies that use assessments for better decisions on
hiring and developing human capital, profit from greater
employee longevity, by lowering people costs, from higher per-person productivity, from increased quality, from
less managerial frustration – having more time for leadership, from having happier employees, fully engaged
and winning even when it gets tough … and tougher!
Profiles International is now represented in Greece and Cyprus
by Learning Systems Consulting Group. Contact us at mara.
[email protected] to get the Executive’s Guide to
Employee Assessments.
Adaptive Change
In the struggle for survival, the fittest win out at the expense
of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves
best to their environment.
Club Hotel Casino Loutraki is the only company in the tourism and
leisure industry to be included—for the second year in a row—in the
Best Workplaces 2010 list, as one of the 10 large - sized companies
with the best workplace in Greece. Regarding this important achievement, Mr. Antonis Stergiotis, Administrator of Club Hotel Casino
Loutraki, said: «Our 1.800 men and women employees are the driving force behind CHCL’s evolvement into one of the most successful
casino resorts in Europe, with a leading position in the Greek market.
The fact that our company gets listed, for the second year in a row,
among the Best Workplaces in Greece, is a major source of pride
and satisfaction. Because it proves that our strategy and goals are acknowledged and shared by the people of Club Hotel Casino Loutraki.
Thanks to everyone’s efforts, we have achieved a lot until now and we
are moving further on. We advance together as a company, as professionals, as people and families.”
 Study Shows up Internet-unsavvy MPs
Online communication between the members of the Greek parliament and their constituents is “unsatisfactory” based on a study
conducted by Athens’ Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences on Nov. 24-Dec. 15, 2009 and updated in March 2010.
According to the study, two out of three MPs have their own website,
the use of email is very limited (7.3 %) and online communication is
unsatisfactory, lacking dialogue with the citizens. Also, blogging is
limited (9.6 %), one in four MPs has a facebook account and leading
political figures refuse to adopt online political communication.
Furthermore, only one in four websites that belong to MPs are regularly updated to refer to current political events, while the way political positions are being presented is not characterized as satisfactory,
with the majority of those websites functioning as bulletin boards.
 Leo’s House of Bagels
Authentic New York bagels now available in Athens, are being produced
by Greek-American Leo Gavallia. His new business endeavor Leo’s
House of Bagels, was launched May 10 in Athens with the presence of
U.S. Ambassador Daniel Speckhard, The event took place at Polly Maggoos restaurant in Metaxourgio. Sponsors of the “spreads” and the wine
were Kraft PHILADELPHIA and Verdi Spumante. For more information on where to find Leo’s bagels visit www.houseofbagels.gr/
Horses and Friends
Over a long distance, you learn about the strength of your horse;
over a long time, you learn about the character of your friend.
—Chinese Proverbs
—Charles Darwin
Corner Office
by Spiros Paolinelis
Managing Director
Blanchard International (Hellas)
Change is Unavoidable –
Growth is Optional …
Like Survival!
B
ut it does not have to be so:
Leaders have the option to
make Change a career springboard or a gravestone.
Realizing that the success of
the Change hinges on the performance of
the people involved in it sets the right foundation. Shifting their focus from “managing Change” to “leading people through
Change” will guarantee the success.
To start with: “Who plans the fight, does
not fight the plan,” so leaders need to Expand Involvement & Influence throughout
the change process. This is not about finding communication opportunities but creating opportunities to get people involved
and listen to them.
Change is not an event but a process. Announcing a Change is just the beginning
of a long journey with a happy or a not so
happy end. When going through change,
people go through predictable stages of
concerns and the following strategies will
help leaders address them and make the
change a success.
Select & Align the Leadership Team: No
leader can bring about a change by himself.
He needs to assemble a strong leadership
team, made of influencers, who are aligned
and speak with one voice, sending a single,
clear and inspiring message that minimizes
confusion. Leaders must give clear answers to
Putting back to back
two of the best known
management insights—
“The only constant is
change” and “Most change
initiatives fail or underdeliver” – yields a terrifying
thought: “The only constant
is failure through change!”
People need to know “Why do we have to
change?” and “What do we change to?”
the following questions and act accordingly:
❚ Who are the people without whom I cannot succeed?
❚ Who are the people with whom I cannot
succeed?
Explain the Business Case: People need
to know “Why do we have to change?” and
“What do we change to?” and leaders must
provide credible answers. Still, they should
expect resistance here because changes demand extra effort, even temporary or permanent sacrifices from the people impacted.
The key here is clarity about “where we are
going” and flexibility on “how to get there.”
Envision the Future: A clear and inspiring
vision is essential not only to get people on
board but also to enable them to realize how
they fit in the change process and see their
place in the picture of the future. Although
it is indispensable for a leader to envision
the future, it is not enough: he must help
others see what he sees.
Enable & Encourage: In every change there
are new skills that people have to develop
or new tasks that people have to perform.
What used to be their strength could now
be their weakness and typically people get
de-motivated.
They need somebody to tell and show them
how to do things and redirect their energy
when they do not meet expectations. And
at the same time they need support: somebody to listen to them, help them see how
their experience and old skills fit in the
new situation, praise them for every little
progress, share with them the big picture,
keep reminding them “why.” This requires
extra time from leaders, at exactly the time
when they themselves have similar needs!
Execute & Endorse: The key in this stage is
accountability. Both leaders and employees
must be held mutually accountable for implementing the change. Leaders must be measuring the impact of the change and share it
with people, using metrics and language that
people can understand. Planning or even engineering early successes is essential.
Keeping focused on, and responding to the
concerns of the people impacted by Change,
will make Change your competitive advantage.
Observatory
by Jens Bastian
Senior Economic Research Fellow at ELIAMEP
(Hellenic Foundation for Foreign and European Policy)
in Athens
Is Europe
Finally Getting its
Act Together?
M
oreover, can this unprecedented intervention contribute to rescuing their
own vision, i.e. the common currency?
This governments’ backed loan guarantee facility arrived on the heels of the €110 billion
international financial assistance package for
Greece. The ink had hardly dried on the Athens agreement, when EU finance ministers
had to rush against time and seek a consensus on the single largest financial intervention ever attempted inside the euro zone
since its inception 11 years ago. But the major difference between the Greek assistance
and the Brussels emergency funding facility
for all euro zone members was one of timing
with considerable political implications.
What took the better part of five months to
agree for Greece, with huge political controversies and even more costs in terms of
euro devaluation vis-à-vis the US dollar and
widening bond spreads, needed less than 36
hours in the case of emergency funding for
vulnerable member states of the euro zone.
The crisis had long seized to be only about
Greece. It engulfed the common currency
and bond markets across Europe. The risk
of contagion was rising the longer the EU
and in particular the German government
of Chancellor Merkel were seen as dithering amid a crisis in need of immediate and
convincing policy intervention.
What has been exposed during the past
months, and will need much more than financial repair assistance, are deep institutional deficits in the operation of political
economies across the European Union in
general and the euro zone in specific. To list
but the most obvious:
1 Absence of a single government at EU
level capable of reacting, let alone anticipating crisis reaction mechanisms;
2 There is no single treasury among euro
zone members;
3 In the absence of a single treasury euro
zone members also have no effective fiscal coordination toolbox;
4 There is no fiscal agent in Europe that can
handle in an orderly manner sovereign
restructuring or rescheduling procedures.
Thus, the IMF has been called on board,
not only as a financing institution but also
as a provider of technical expertise and experience on this most delicate of issues for
a number of countries in the euro zone.
5 As the Greek authorities have repeatedly
discovered with rising frustration and
As news was spreading
across Europe that the
European Commission,
the European Central
Bank (ECB), the 16
Eurozone members and
the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) had jointly
arranged a massive
loan guarantee facility in
excess of €780 billion, the
immediate question that
arose was: is this enough
to stabilize the Eurozone?
ever higher political and material costs,
the role and responsibility of US-based
rating agencies during the sovereign debt
crisis needs to be addressed as soon as
possible. The discussion about European
rating institutions has just begun.
We are indeed living in extraordinary financial times. But the extraordinary level
of financial resources being provided first
to Greece and now made available for other
vulnerable countries in order to stabilize
the euro zone should not mask the challenge ahead. While throwing truckloads of
money at the problems may reassure markets, central bank authorities and governments for some time to come, the solution
to these structural challenges is essentially
non-financial.
It is about economies across Europe regaining competitiveness, addressing trade imbalances across the continent, reducing
sovereign debt levels in all 27 EU member
states and identifying the appropriate instruments for the EU and individual member states to avoid future threats to the euro
zone’s stability from a crisis that started as a
serious public finances problem in Greece
last October but metastasized into a massive crisis of credibility across Europe.
BIZ BUZZ
Smart Car, Watch out,
Here Comes the Spira!
A safe, 130 kg foam auto getting 100+ miles per gallon
is no longer a dream. Lon Ballard used 90% reinforced
foam construction to offer both pedestrian and passenger
protection in the Spira, a new 3-wheeler being produced
in Thailand. It reaches speeds of over 70 mph and it is
unsinkable. The Spira team hopes foam will revolutionize
autos and motorcycles, the way Crocs and flip-flops have
revolutionized shoes and sandals with foam.
Lon Ballard has invented a way to bring safety to both pedestrians and passengers with a
revolutionary foam, super light vehicle. Over 6 inches of soft foam on all sides provides
an estimated 1 billion tiny foam air bags for enhanced safety. The exterior and interior
of the auto are primarily composed of foam for pedestrian and passenger protection. Its
30-pound, foam composite top is easily removed to have a convertible. It is expected to
be priced at about 5,000 Euro.
Preparing for the Future
Universities across the U.S. are answering the call to action raised by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in partnership with the National Science Foundation. That call
has focused public attention on the NAE Grand Challenges, a critical grouping of problems that must be addressed and solved in order to maintain national security, quality of
life and sustainable future. Addressing issues this complex requires innovation and cooperation from engineers of all kinds, as well as policy makers, economists, geologists,
biologists and sociologists.
The Grand Challenge Summit Series represents a commitment to sustain critical dialogue and engagement with grand challenge problems and to change the way we educate our students in order to better prepare them for the challenges ahead.
 http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/
Astrofos—Lighting by Design
Two innovative Greeks—Michalis Alexandrou and Nikos Marmaras—have developed
the first remote-controlled LED lighting system at their high-tech company Astrofos.
Light-emitting diode—or LED—technology is not merely for the small red light-emitting diode that indicates when a television is on standby.
It has many more complex uses, as the illuminated night-time facades of some wellknown Athens buildings shows.
Astrofos—established in 2007—developed a cutting-edge technology that allows buildings’ owners to customize the exterior lighting according to any occasion, as each individual bulb can produce a spectrum of 16 million colors.
The company—which also makes bulbs used for interiors such as stage lighting and
nightclubs—is now finalizing a prototype bulb that, apart from color, will provide the
conventional white hues used in room lighting.
 http://www.astrofos.com
Robotics
Education
Program
The City of Athens School Welfare
Department and Municipal Education
Committees, Athina Municipal Radio
9.84 FM and World Robot Olympiad
Hellas have announced the start of “Robotics Education,” a new program for
Athens primary and junior high school
students which is part of the multidynamic “Schools – Let’s Go Athens!”
program. The initiative recognizes the
need for students to acquire specialized
knowledge of and skills relating to the
application of new technologies.
The Robotics Education laboratory
lesson involves the development of
applications to familiarize children
with new technologies, assist them in
comprehending cognitive subjects such
as movement, energy, and mechanics,
and to promote collaborative learning.
Students are actively involved, work in
teams and uaw a specially designed
educational package.
The program has been designed on a
global level by LEGO, in collaboration with
Tufts University and Carnegie Mellon.
Feeling Bad?
Call it in
Imagine you’re not feeling well, so your
physician attaches you to a cool little
device that actually has an integrated
cell phone. The device monitors you in
real time and can send information directly to your doctor, or to any number
of doctors so they can evaluate your
symptoms on their iPhones. If you start
feeling worse, they can even inform
you—or an ambulance driver, in the
worst-case scenario—where to go for
treatment based upon the feedback
from the system.
Imagination meets reality at RS TechMedic where just such a device is
undergoing development. According to
CEO Dr. R.A Brest van Kempen, the device, called Dyna-Vision, was developed
from “...a wish list of physicians and
their patients.”
Dyna-Vision seeks to make life easier
for the physicians as well as the patients. Dyna-Vision is the first and only
device in the world with an integrated
mobile phone. With this connection the
recordings are transmitted to a remote
server for analysis by a physician. This
process is fully automated so there
is no action required by the patient to
transfer the data.
International Exposure and Experience
for Students
Since 1987, the Non Government Organization ELIX has been cultivating a voluntary
conscience and promoting voluntary service. Programs take place in Greece and around
the world.
ELIX’s strives to assist in the development of the person and his/her evolution as citizen
of the world through active participation in public life. ELIX coordinates voluntary
participation aimed at the protection of the environment, the preservation of cultural
heritage, and the promotion of civilization and social service. ELIX cooperates with
Local Authority Organizations, Government Bodies, Companies, Institutions as well as
local environmental and cultural clubs and associations. ELIX is a member of the international network Alliance of Voluntary Organizations, of the Pan-Hellenic Network of
Ecologic Organizations and of the Network Volunteerism and Environment.
Social Media for Business
Social Media 101:
Tactics and Tips to Develop Your Business Online
Chris Brogan, Wiley
In Social Media 101, social media expert and blogger Chris Brogan presents the best
practices for growing the value of your social media and social networking marketing
efforts. Brogan has spent two years researching what the best businesses are doing
with social media and how they’re doing it. Now, he presents his findings in a single,
comprehensive business guide to social media.
You’ll learn how to cultivate profitable online relationships, develop your brand, and drive
meaningful business. Brogan shows you how to build an effective blog or website for
your business, monitor your online reputation and what people are saying about your
business online, and create new content to share with your customers.
❚ Presents specific strategies, tactics, and tips to improve your business through improved social media and online marketing
❚ Looks at social media and the wider online universe from a strictly business perspective
If you aren’t using the Internet and social media to market your business and stay in
touch with your customers, you’re already falling behind. The Social Media 100 gives you
100 effective, proven strategies you need to succeed.
ΝΟRΤΗΕRN GREECE
TODAY
by Anastasia Economou
Business Development Manager
at Macedonian Paper Mills S.A. (MEL)
Personal Green
Responsibility
E
cological organizations are being formed every day, protesting
against whatever can be thought
of as harmful. Most developed
countries have a number of laws
and directives, in order to protect the planet, obliging industry to act using the “Best
Available Techniques” (BAT) for sustainable
production and handling. In waste management, new technologies are being used for
the recovery of waste. Reuse, recycle, and
energy recovery are among the most important practices, followed by composting.
All these practices and programs have a
meaning, however, only if each and every
one of us is willing to act as a green cell of
society.
Behaviors and attitudes are formed at an
early age; therefore education plays the key
role in forming environmental consciousness. Usually, the family is the primary
learning environment but in relation to
the new needs for ecological perception,
the procedure is often of a different nature.
Children receive messages from a variety
of sources—school, television and media
programs and campaigns, events organized
by municipal authorities. Most important,
however, are the campaigns and programs
materialized by industry, in the framework
of Social Responsibility of the sector.
Children are more open minded than adults
and are more willing to change habits and
begin using ecologically friendly materi-
als, recycling or reusing waste, and saving
water. Their passion is driven back home,
where their “green” attitudes are then “imposed” on their parents.
In principal, the right attitude is “reduce
waste.” Nonetheless, if we consider that
even our presence upon the planet produces waste, we need to redouble our efforts in
treating waste materials.
Most recycled materials can be used as raw
materials by different industries. Paper, aluminum, glass, a variety of plastics, if they
are properly sorted, can be used in the production of recycled products, saving valuable natural resources. For optimum results,
recyclables should be free of foreign materials. The cleaner the raw material is, the less
energy is used for its cleaning, the less residues remain for further handling and last,
but not least, the quality of the end product
is better. To achieve maximum purity of re-
“Green” is the new trend.
By all means, of course,
the protection of the
environment is not only a
trend but a necessity.
cycling materials, sorting at the source is a
necessity and education must be directed in
this direction, so we would be able to move
on from the “single stream” system.
Non-recyclable materials from industrial
and municipal sources can also be ecologically handled. If we look to the north, to cities such as Zurich, Milan or Munich, we see
modern, well-designed, and well-painted
buildings, in most instances minutes away
from the city center, that school classes visit
every day, seeing how waste is collected
and literally disappears—or not. It is transformed to energy, by the use of new, innovative techniques and equipment.
The fastest “renewable” resource is transformed to electricity, hot water, or steam,
that society and industry needs, saving vast
volumes of water, fossil fuels, wood and
other non-renewable resources.
So, there is still a hope to do something for
the planet, by developing such a mentality.
Public opinion should embrace such investment in the sake of the planet’s future.
Ecologists should bear in mind that by using the car to shop for groceries—each one
of us, every day—harms the environment
much more than does industry itself…
A thought well worth considering as we assess our “personal” green responsibility.
NORTH
ER
GREE N
CE
The International Hellenic
University (IHU) is Greece’s
first public university where
programs are exclusively
taught in English.
International
Hellenic University
E
stablished by Law No. 3391 October 2005, the IHU plans to offer
undergraduate and postgraduate
degrees from three schools: Economics and Business Administration, Humanities and Science & Technology. Its strategic mission is threefold:
❚ Provide research and education that meet
the needs of the international community
❚ Enhance understanding of the economic,
socio-political and technological issues
facing the societies we serve, through
teaching and research of the highest academic standard
❚ Create an international and diverse student
and faculty community to foster greater understanding between cultures and nations
Currently IHU provides six postgraduate
programs. The School of Economics and
Business Administration offers:
❚ An Executive MBA: This is a part-time
weekend studies program for business executives with professional experience and
University degree.
❚ An MSc in Management: A full time oneyear evening studies program for recent
University graduates.
❚ An MSc in Banking & Finance: A full time
one-year evening studies program for recent University graduates. The program is
also offered part-time in two years.
The School of Science and Technology offers two full time one-year programs taught
in evening classes: an MSc in Energy Systems and an MSc in Information and Communication Technology Systems.
The School of Humanities offers an MSc in
Black Sea cultural studies.
The Business School started its programs
in March 2008 (EMBA) and January 2009
(MSc programs) while the other two
Schools are currently recruiting for their
first intake that will start in October 2010.
Apart from Greece, student having enrolled to
datre come from 15 countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, FYROM, Moldova,
Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Germany, Netherlands, Syria and the UK.
Programs are taught exclusively in English
and a large number of visiting professors
from top international universities (such as
Cass Business School, LSE, London Business
School, Leeds Business School, Bath Business
School, NYU) teach the high-quality, promising young academics of the University.
With backing from the Greek state, educationalists and businesses in the North
Greece region, IHU is set to become one of
Europe’s foremost research institutions and
is focused on attracting leading academics
and outstanding students from Southeast
Europe (SEE) and across the world.
On May 8, 2010, the University and the
Business School held their first graduation
ceremony, where 64 graduates in the three
Business School programs from 11 countries,
including Greece, received their postgraduate
degree certificates. The ceremony was celebrated in the Music Hall of Thessaloniki in the
presence of prominent members of the business and academic society, as well as the parents and guests of the graduates. At the same
ceremony, two distinguished members of the
Greek diaspora were awarded with Honorary
Doctorates of IHU: Professor George Constantinides from the University of Chicago, for
his contribution to the research in the field of
finance, and Minos Zombanakis, President of
the Group for International Study and Evaluation AG, for his contribution in the creation
and development of Euromarkets.
Interested candidates for enrollment in any
of the postgraduate programs of the university should possess a recognized university
degree with a good academic grade record
and excellent knowledge of the English language. In addition, they should provide two
good reference letters and a motivation statement. Following the submission of the application form with all supporting documentation, the admissions office informs candidates
of the admission’s decision within two weeks
of the receipt of the application.
 www.ihu.edu.gr
THE INTERVIEW
Stanton Chase Athens—
Global Office of the Year
The Athens office
of Stanton Chase
International
was awarded Best
Stanton Chase
Global Office.
T
he numerous problems, setbacks and the
market decline of the Executive Search
sector were seen as a challenge for the
Athens office of Stanton Chase International which was awarded as the Best
Office during the global annual conference, held in
the US. The President of the Company Mr. Harris
Pezoulas and Partners Mrs. Nancy Mathioudakis, Mr.
Konstantinos Zafiropoulos and Mr. Manos Panorios
define the “secret” behind their success.
What is the added value of this prize?
Nancy Mathioudakis I was never concerned about prizes. I have always
thought that one must do his job as best as he can. The work is a value in itself
and values are not related to prizes. For the first time this year, however, while
travelling to San Francisco to receive the prize of “the best office in the world”
for my company, I was feeling anxious. I began to read a newspaper. The front
page was about my country’s bad financial situation. I started talking with the
man who was seating right next to me –he was German: “Are you going away
from Greece? It’s totally understandable”, he said to me joking. To be frank,
his remark bothered me. I thought about last year: Pressure to meet our goals,
reducing investments, unemployment, people’s frustration, the European outrage, insulting front pages in the newspapers. However, during a difficult era
and in a market directly connected to the financial crisis, the Greek office managed to stand out globally… How obvious is that? And I suddenly realised why
I was feeling anxious. It was not stress; it was pride. I was proud of something
beyond the obvious… I turned to my fellow passenger with a smile of satisfaction. “The feeling of the obvious is not always understandable”, I said to him.
“And this is a feeling I wouldn’t change for anything in the world. I am going
away from Greece for a little while. But I plan to return. This is obvious for the
people who put their soul in whatever they do”.
How are Executive Search offices evaluated and in what context was Stanton Chase Athens awarded?
Nancy Mathioudakis During the annual global conference of Stanton Chase,
held each year in a different continent and country, a total of four prizes are
awarded: the three Best Offices per market and the First Prize for the Best Office
among the 70 offices of Stanton Chase in 43 countries worldwide. The performance of all offices is monitored throughout the year based on specific criteria
and at the end of each year the winners are announced. This contest enhances
competition among the offices, multiculturalism and highlights the best practices, which are the foundation of progress. A total grade of 9.05/10 –one of the
highest ever- was given to the Greek Office.
According to which criteria was Stanton Chase Athens awarded with the
first prize?
Manos Panorios The assessment criteria are based on the office’s efficiency and
productivity, on the infrastructure and the systems being used, on client and
photo: www.kamilonollas.com
Manos Panorios, Konstantinos Zafiropoulos,
Nancy Mathioudakis, Harris Pezoulas
candidate satisfaction level and last, on the development of the skills and competencies of the office team members.
Mr. Pezoulas, why did you succeed?
Harry Pezoulas The road to the top needs vision, strong leadership, capable and
committed executives and an organized, meritocratic corporate environment,
promoting creativity, participation and excellence. We combined the high operational standards of Stanton Chase, its structure and systems, its persistence
to quality and to client service with the traditional characteristics of the Greek
Executives, such as the humanity, pride and sensitivity towards both the clients
and the candidates and of course, our need to succeed. The Executive Search is
a sacred work, because you define dreams, goals and aspirations; you discover
talents, overcome difficulties, and participate in a creative project both for the
client and the candidate. The successful choice of a candidate can mark the
success of a company. Our clients are both the companies and the candidates.
The companies ensure the healthy growth of our office, while the candidates
confirm our value.
Regarding our staff, we have created a true community of team members where
their creativity, adaptability and high education level have found fertile ground
in Stanton Chase’s organized and meritocratic environment. Against the notions of “knowing people”, “influence” and “financial interests”, we try to execute
each project by sending the best candidates to our clients, according to transparent procedures and objective criteria. It seems that the market is rewarding
us for our stance since we enjoy long lasting relationships with major clients.
The road to the top
needs vision, strong
leadership, capable and
committed executives
and an organized,
meritocratic corporate
environment
THE INTERVIEW
Would you like sharing with us some information regarding Stanton Chase’s
history in Athens and worldwide?
Konstantinos Zafiropoulos Stanton Chase International is a specialized global Executive Search consultancy firm of first choice to multinational companies, offering executive search services with worldwide reach, regional knowledge and local
insight. Formed in 1990, Stanton Chase operates with truly integrated resources of
70 offices in 43 countries. In recent surveys, Stanton Chase is ranked among the
top 10 international executive search firms by size, stature and reputation. Stanton
Chase is a member of the International Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) and strictly adheres to its ethics and code of conduct.
Stanton Chase Athens is positioned among the top Executive Search firms in
Greece. The extroversion which characterizes Stanton Chase Athens has led to
the expansion into the emerging markets of the Balkans and the Middle East,
with the establishment of offices in Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria and recently in
Middle East (Dubai and Qatar), where affiliated offices operate in order to cover
the local and regional needs of clients for executive search services.
Has Executive Search sector been affected by the financial crisis and what
was Stanton Chase Athens response?
Manos Panorios Following a number of years of continuous growth, in 2009
the market of Executive Search was marked by a decline rate of 32,5%, according to the official statistics of the AESC, due to the general decline in economic
try with annual revenues of over $ 10 billion. The demand for capable executives will continue to increase,
and finding and recruiting them will be a strategic
target for companies that wish to further grow. There
are many trends that drive this demand, including the
demographic issue, the gradual retirement of “baby
boomers” who currently hold senior management positions, the fact that high calibre talent is very mobile
and the executive management tenure is at an all time
low, and globalization which results in a rapid increase
of management talent in the developing world like
China, India, the Middle East and Southeastern Europe. In order to successfully respond to this reality,
Executive Search firms need to invest in the specialization of their Consultants so that they are able to really assess candidates not only for their experience but
mainly for their personality and fit with the culture of
the client-firm.
Mr. Pezoulas, are you optimistic about the future?
Life itself teaches us that it goes in circles. The only
thing we don’t know in every financial or life circle is
its depth and its duration. The current situation appears grim for the Greek economy and thus for the
Greek society. Difficult times will come and will bring
along new experiences and most importantly, a new
way of living. The Executive Search sector, which is
tightly connected with the state of the economy, is often a precursor of changes. In this difficult economic
context, it is certain that the 800 to
1000 companies, which form the
backbone of the healthy private economic sector, will react in order to
stand out by creating new opportunities and by being more extrovert and
dynamic. With these companies in
the steering position, our hope is that
the economy will react and especially
its most important sectors such as the
energy, tourism, shipping, financial services, rural organic farming and the international trade. Already in
the last decade, many companies have extended their
influence by expanding to: the Balkans, Middle East
and North Africa. This is the time to intensify our efforts as the global economy shows signs of recovery.
My only point of concern is the new immigration wave
of competent managers, who will try to find an alternative out of Greece due to the imminent unemployment. In conclusion, I am cautiously optimistic and I
am hoping that we, all the Greeks, will react as we have
done so several times in the past, under the “last
minute” pressure.
The successful choice of a candidate can
mark the success of a company
activity. It is obvious that the market of Financial Services had the greatest losses, while the sectors of Energy and Health were the least affected.
Facing this new situation, SC Athens reorganized its structure and functions,
aiming to increase its market share focusing on continuous improvement of processes, systems and client services. Following our goal to establish long- lasting,
successful partnerships, we developed the philosophy of Key Account Management which ensures a proper understanding of the culture of our clients, immediate and effective response to their needs and establishment of mutual trust.
What are your thoughts on the future of Executive Search Consultants?
Konstantinos Zafiropoulos The Executive Search industry celebrated in 2009
its 50th anniversary, having initially started as a by-product of Management
Consulting. Today, Executive Search has grown into a global consulting indus-
Education
Elli Ventouras-Onaldin,
Academic Dean, discussed
the programs and
philosophy of the New
York Film Academy.
New York Film Academy
Learning by Doing
What kind of programs does the New
York Film Academy offer?
The New York Film Academy is considered
the best hands-on film school in the world
by many of today’s top filmmakers. The New
York Film Academy was founded on the philosophy that “learning by doing” combined
with best industry practices is more valuable than years of theoretical study for filmmakers and actors. This educational model
allows students to achieve more in less time
then at all other acting and film schools in
the world. We offer Two-Year Accelerated
Master of Fine Arts Programs in Filmmaking, Acting for Film, Screenwriting, Documentary Filmmaking, Producing and Photography. Three-year accelerated Bachelor
of Arts degrees are offered in Filmmaking or
Acting for Film, and one and two-year Conservatory programs are offered in Filmmaking, Acting for Film, Screenwriting, Animation, Musical Theatre, Dance, Documentary
Filmmaking, and Producing.
Monthly workshops are offered in NYC, LA,
and Abu Dhabi. Summer workshops for adults
are offered at Harvard University, Yale University, and Disney Studios; in Europe, at La
Fémis in Paris, France; at Cinecittà in Rome,
and Florence, Italy; and in London, England.
Summer High School programs are offered at
all of these locations except Abu Dhabi.
Are you considering Greece as a location
to offer your courses?
We are investigating the possibility of offering our short-term summer programs in
Greece. We are also looking into the possibility of partnering with Institutions in Greece
to offer filmmaking and acting study abroad
programs to Greek College students.
Why do you think Greece is an attractive
market?
I have been approached by many students
who come to our offices in NY and have asked
why we do not offer a program in Greece. I
think that now with so many new television
channels and opportunities in Greece, film-
making and acting are becoming more obtainable careers than they were before. There
are many television productions happening
all around Greece. There has been a request
for us to offer Music Video classes from a
Music Producer because there is a need for
Music Video directors and there is a need for
commercial directors. Filmmaking is not only
learning how to be a motion picture director,
there are many different avenues that one can
point their career in, once they have the proper tools. I also feel that there is now a need for
new product in Greece and there is more of
an opportunity now than ever before.
What skills do students learn and develop
at NYFA?
We teach the art and craft of filmmaking
through a balance of classroom instruction,
hands-on film workshops, and immediate
directing experience. Students are behind
the camera from the first day of class. Students will learn about and explore the numerous visual, dramatic, and technical challenges that directors face. NYFA students
write, shoot, direct, produce and edit their
own short or feature length films starting
from their first day of classes during intensive short-term workshops and accelerated
one and two-year degree programs. In addition to writing, producing,directing, and
editing their own films, students assist other
members of their crews in the roles of director of photography, assistant cameraperson,
and gaffer/grip, providing everyone with extensive set experience. Ultimately, through
intensive hands-on instruction, our goal is
to empower students to artfully, cinematically, and originally tell stories.
 www.nyfa.com
CSR & Governance
The Caux Round Table
(CRT) is an international
network of principled
business leaders
working to promote a
moral capitalism.
Caux Round Table
Principles
for Responsible Business
T
he Caux Round Table (CRT)
advocates implementation of the
CRT Principles for Business
through which principled capitalism can flourish and sustainable and socially responsible prosperity can
become the foundation for a fair, free and
transparent global society. At the company
level, the Caux Round Table advocates implementation of the CRT Principles for Business as the cornerstone of principled business leadership. The CRT Principles apply
fundamental ethical norms to business decision-making. A specially designed process for incorporating the CRT Principles
into the culture of a corporation is available
for companies to use. Ethical training for
corporate boards of directors and new ethics curriculum for business schools are being developed. To promote better outcomes
for globalization, the Caux Round Table is
working to raise the level of awareness of
senior business leaders, thought leaders
and elite opinion around the world about
new opportunities to attack global poverty.
These include legal and regulatory changes
in developing countries that will improve
the environment for productive investment
of foreign and domestic equity capital. The
Caux Round Table is working in alliance
with global business leaders, international
institutions and policy makers to improve
investment environments in selected developing countries by also suggesting certain
Principles for Governments and the adoption of the 12 core “best practice” standards
for transparent management of national financial institutions.
CSR & Governance
Introduction
The Caux Round Table (CRT)
Principles for Responsible Business set forth ethical norms for
acceptable businesses behavior. Trust and confidence sustain free markets and ethical
business practices provide the
basis for such trust and confidence. But lapses in business
integrity, whether among the
few or the many, compromise
such trust and hence the ability
of business to serve humanity’s needs. Events like the 2009
global financial crisis have
highlighted the necessity of
sound ethical practices across
the business world. Such failures of governance and ethics
cannot be tolerated as they
seriously tarnish the positive
contributions of responsible
stakeholders, will ultimately
lead to business failure and,
at times, to counterproductive
clear that if capitalism is to be
respected, and so sustain itself
for global prosperity, it must be
lapses in business integrity. . . compromise such
trust and hence the ability of business to serve
humanity’s needs
business to higher standards
of living and the empowerment
of individuals around the world.
The self-interested pursuit of
profit, with no concern for other
The principles are rooted in
three ethical foundations for
responsible business and for
a fair and functioning society
more generally, namely:
responsible stewardship;
living and working for mutual
advantage; and the respect and
protection of human dignity.
regulation. Consequently, business leaders must always assert ethical leadership so as to
protect the foundations of sustainable prosperity. It is equally
both responsible and moral.
Business therefore needs a
moral compass in addition to
its practical reliance on measures of profit and loss.
The CRT Principles
The Caux Round Table’s approach to responsible business consists
of seven core principles as detailed below. The principles recognize
that while laws and market forces are necessary, they are insufficient
guides for responsible business conduct. The principles are rooted
in three ethical foundations for responsible business and for a fair
and functioning society more generally, namely: responsible stewardship; living and working for mutual advantage; and the respect
and protection of human dignity. The principles also have a risk
management foundation—because good ethics is good risk management. And they balance the interests of business with the aspirations of society to ensure sustainable and mutual prosperity for all.
The CRT Principles for Responsible Business are supported by more
detailed Stakeholder Management Guidelines covering each key dimension of business success: customers, employees, shareholders,
suppliers, competitors, and communities. These Stakeholder Management Guidelines can be found at Attachment A (below).
PRINCIPLE 1
RESPECT STAKEHOLDERS
BEYOND SHAREHOLDERS
❚ A responsible business acknowledges its
duty to contribute value to society through
the wealth and employment it creates and
the products and services it provides to
consumers.
❚ A responsible business maintains its economic health and viability not just for
shareholders, but also for other stakeholders.
❚ A responsible business respects the interests
of, and acts with honesty and fairness towards, its customers, employees, suppliers,
competitors, and the broader community.
PRINCIPLE 2
CONTRIBUTE TO ECONOMIC,
SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL
DEVELOPMENT
❚ A responsible business recognizes that
business cannot sustainably prosper in
societies that are failing or lacking in economic development.
❚ A responsible business therefore contributes to the economic, social and environmental development of the communities in
which it operates, in order to sustain its essential ‘operating’ capital – financial, social,
environmental, and all forms of goodwill.
❚ A responsible business enhances society
through effective and prudent use of resources, free and fair competition, and
innovation in technology and business
practices.
PRINCIPLE 3
RESPECT THE LETTER AND THE
SPIRIT OF THE LAW
❚ A responsible business recognizes that
some business behaviors, although legal,
can nevertheless have adverse consequences for stakeholders.
❚ A responsible business therefore adheres
to the spirit and intent behind the law, as
well as the letter of the law, which requires
conduct that goes beyond minimum legal
obligations.
❚ A responsible business always operates
with candor, truthfulness, and transparency, and keeps its promises.
PRINCIPLE 4
RESPECT RULES AND
CONVENTIONS
PRINCIPLE 5
SUPPORT RESPONSIBLE
GLOBALIZATION
❚ A responsible business respects the local
cultures and traditions in the communities in which it operates, consistent with
fundamental principles of fairness and
equality.
❚ A responsible business, everywhere it operates, respects all applicable national and
international laws, regulations and conventions, while trading fairly and competitively.
❚ A responsible business, as a participant
in the global marketplace, supports open
and fair multilateral trade.
❚ A responsible business supports reform of
domestic rules and regulations where they
unreasonably hinder global commerce.
PRINCIPLE 6
RESPECT THE ENVIRONMENT
❚ A responsible business protects and, where
CSR & Governance
possible, improves the environment, and
avoids wasteful use of resources.
❚ A responsible business ensures that its operations comply with best environmental
management practices consistent with
meeting the needs of today without compromising the needs of future generations.
PRINCIPLE 7
AVOID ILLICIT ACTIVITIES
❚ A responsible business does not participate
in, or condone, corrupt practices, bribery,
money laundering, or other illicit activities.
❚ A responsible business does not participate in or facilitate transactions linked
to or supporting terrorist activities, drug
trafficking or any other illicit activity.
❚ A responsible business actively supports
the reduction and prevention of all such
illegal and illicit activities.
STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT
GUIDELINES
The Caux Round Table’s (CRT) Stakeholder Management Guidelines supplement the CRT Principles for Responsible
Business with more specific standards
for engaging with key stakeholder constituencies. The key stakeholder constituencies are those who contribute to the
success and sustainability of business
enterprise. Customers provide cash
flow by purchasing good and services;
employees produce the goods and services sold, owners and other investors
provide funds for the business; suppliers provide vital resources; competitors
provide efficient markets; communities
provide social capital and operational
security for the business; and the environment provides natural resources
and other essential conditions. In turn,
key stakeholders are dependent on
business for their well-being and prosperity. They are the beneficiaries of ethical business practices.
1. CUSTOMERS
A responsible business treats its customers with respect and dignity. Business therefore has a responsibility to:
❚ Provide customers with the highest
quality products and services consistent with their requirements.
❚ Treat customers fairly in all aspects
of business transactions, including
providing a high level of service and
remedies for product or service problems or dissatisfaction.
❚ Ensure that the health and safety of
customers is protected.
❚ Protect customers form harmful environmental impacts of products and
services.
❚ Respect the human rights, dignity and
the culture of customers in the way
products and services are offered, marketed, and advertised.
2. EMPLOYEES
A responsible business treats every
employee with dignity and respects
their interests. Business therefore has a
responsibility to:
❚ Provide jobs and compensation that
contribute to improved living standards.
❚ Provide working conditions that protect
each employee’s health and safety.
❚ Provide working conditions that enhance each employee’s well-being as
citizens, family members, and capable
and caring individuals.
❚ Be open and honest with employees
in sharing information, limited only by
legal and competitive constraints.
❚ Listen to employees and act in good faith
on employee complaints and issues.
❚ Avoid discriminatory practices and
provide equal treatment, opportunity
and pay in areas such as gender, age,
race, and religion.
❚ S upport the employment of differently-abled people in places of work
where they can be productive.
❚ Encourage and assist all employees in
developing relevant skills and knowledge.
❚ Be sensitive to the impacts of unemployment and work with governments, em-
ployee groups and other agencies in
addressing any employee dislocations.
❚ Ensure that all executive compensation and incentives further the
achievement of long- term wealth
creation, reward prudent risk management, and discourage excessive
risk taking.
❚ Avoid illicit or abusive child labor
practices
3. SHAREHOLDERS
A responsible business acts with care
and loyalty towards its shareholders
and in good faith for the best interests
of the corporation. Business therefore
has a responsibility to:
❚ Apply professional and diligent
management in order to secure fair,
sustainable and competitive returns
on shareholder investments.
❚ Disclose relevant information to shareholders, subject only to legal requirements and competitive constraints.
❚ Conserve, protect, and increase
shareholder wealth.
❚ Respect shareholder views, complaints, and formal resolutions.
4. SUPPLIERS
A responsible business treats its suppliers and subcontractors with fairness,
truthfulness and mutual respect. Business therefore has a responsibility to:
❚P
ursue fairness and truthfulness in
supplier and subcontractor relationships, including pricing, licensing,
and payment in accordance with
agreed terms of trade.
❚ Ensure that business supplier and
subcontractor activities are free from
coercion and threats.
❚F
oster long-term stability in the
supplier relationships in return for
value, quality, competitiveness and
reliability.
❚ Share information with suppliers and
integrate them into business planning.
❚S
eek, encourage and prefer suppliers and subcontractors whose employment practices respect human
rights and dignity.
❚S
eek, encourage and prefer suppliers and subcontractors whose
environmental practices meet best
practice standards.
5. COMPETITORS
A responsible business engages in fair
competition which is a basic requirement
for increasing the wealth of nations and
ultimately for making possible the just
distribution of goods and services. Business therefore has a responsibility to:
❚ Foster open markets for trade and
investment.
❚ Promote competitive behavior that
is socially and environmentally responsible and demonstrates mutual
respect among competitors.
❚ Not participate in anti-competitive or
collusive arrangements or tolerate
questionable payments or favors to
secure competitive advantage.
❚ Respect both tangible and intellectual
property rights.
❚ Refuse to acquire commercial information through dishonest or unethical
means, such as industrial espionage.
6. COMMUNITIES
As a global corporate citizen, a responsible business actively contributes
to good public policy and to human
rights in the communities in which it
operates. Business therefore has a
responsibility to:
❚ Respect human rights and democratic institutions, and promote them
wherever practicable.
❚ Recognize government’s legitimate
obligation to society at large and support public policies and practices that
promote social capital.
❚ Promote harmonious relations between business and other segments
of society.
❚ Collaborate with community initiatives seeking to raise standards of
health, education, workplace safety
and economic well-being.
❚ Promote sustainable development in
order to preserve and enhance the
physical environment while conserving the earth’s resources.
❚ Support peace, security and the rule
of law.
❚ Respect social diversity including local
cultures and minority communities.
❚ Be a good corporate citizen through
ongoing community investment and
support for employee participation in
community and civic affairs.
BACKGROUND TO THE CAUX
ROUND TABLE AND THE
PRINCIPLES FOR RESPONSIBLE
BUSINESS
The Caux Round Table (CRT) is an international network of business leaders working
to promote a morally and sustainable way of
doing business. The CRT believes that its
Principles for Responsible Business provide
necessary foundations for a fair, free and
transparent global society. The Caux Round
Table was founded in1986 by Frits Philips
Sr, former President of Philips Electronics,
and Olivier Giscard d’Estaing, former ViceChairman of INSEAD, as a means of reducing escalating international trade tensions
between Europe, Japan and the USA. At the
urging of Ryuzaburo Kaku, then Chairman
of Canon, Inc, the CRT began to focus attention on the importance of global corporate responsibility in reducing social and
economic threats to world peace and stability. This led to the development of the 1994
Caux Round Table Principles for Business
around three ethical foundations, namely:
responsible stewardship; the Japanese concept of Kyosei - living and working for mutual advantage; and respecting and protecting human dignity. The 2009 CRT Principles
for Responsible Business comprise seven
principles and more detailed Stakeholder
Management Guidelines covering each of
the key stakeholder dimensions of ethical
business practices: customers, employees,
shareholders, suppliers, competitors, and
communities. The CRT Principles have been
published in twelve languages, utilized in
business school curricula worldwide, and
are widely recognized as the most comprehensive statement of responsible business
practice formulated by business leaders for
business leaders.
 www.cauxroundtable.org
Published with permission
from The Caux Round Table
CSR & Governance
The Caux Round Table
offers the following
Principles for Government
in the expectation that
better government
around the world
will attract greater
investment of private
capital to create more
wealth for poor people.
Caux
Round Table
Principles
For Government
A
fter a decade of remarkable economic growth in many
parts of the global economy, the Caux Round Table
notes that sufficient investment capital has been accumulated that, should it be invested wisely in poor and
developing countries, a dramatic reduction in levels
of poverty could be achieved for most of humanity. In the stock
markets of the world some thirty trillion US dollars are available
for equity investment. Trillions more of US dollars are available in
short-term money markets, in currency markets, and in possible
debt financing. There is more liquid capital available to the owners
CSR & Governance
of private business than poor countries could presently absorb into
their economies.
Yet in most instances such capital is not invested where people are
poor. In the minds of many, therefore, globalization remains vulnerable to a moral critique that it does not, and, some would say
that it can never, achieve social justice. The Caux Round Table believes that, while private business can improve standards of living
through the creation of wealth, business only responds to opportunities for profitable exchange. The investment of capital waits upon
favorable conditions; such investment is reactive and selective, always searching for well-founded expectations of return as well as
for security that those expectations will come to fruition.
It is the work of others, not primarily that of business, to create
the fundamental conditions under which capital can be invested.
Bluntly, it is in the first place the task of responsible government to
provide for sustained wealth-creation. Business can be called upon
to invest responsibly within the framework of the Caux Round Table’s Principles for Business once governments erect and sustain the
requisite infrastructure of laws, regulations, and physical improvements to transportation and communication.
Bad government is a short cut to endemic poverty.
Therefore, the Caux Round Table offers the following Principles
for Government in the expectation that better government around
the world will attract greater investment of private capital to create
more wealth for poor people.
Just as the Principles for Business, these Principles for Government
derive from two ethical ideals: “Kyosei” and “Human Dignity”. The
Japanese concept of “Kyosei” looks to living and working together
for the common good while the moral vision of “Human Dignity”
refers to the sacredness or value of each person as an end, not simply as a means to the fulfillment of others’ purposes or even of majority demands.
General Principles
1
trust shall lose their authority and may be
removed from office.
ublic power is held
P
in trust for the
community
Power brings responsibility; power is a necessary moral circumstance in that it binds
the actions of one to the welfare of others.
Therefore, the power given by public office
is held in trust for the benefit of the community and its citizens. Officials are custodians only of the powers they hold; they
have no personal entitlement to office or
the prerogatives thereof.
Holders of public office are accountable for
their conduct while in office; they are subject
to removal for malfeasance, misfeasance or
abuse of office. The burden of proof that no
malfeasance, misfeasance or abuse of office
has occurred lies with the office holder.
The state is the servant and agent of higher
ends; it is subordinate to society. Public
power is to be exercised within a framework of moral responsibility for the welfare
of others. Governments that abuse their
2
Holders of
public office are
accountable for
their conduct while
in office; they are
subject to removal
for malfeasance,
misfeasance or
abuse of office.
iscourse should guide
D
application of public
power.
Public power, however allocated by constitutions, referendums or laws, shall rest its
legitimacy in communicative action and
discourse among autonomous moral agents
who constitute the community to be served
by the government. Free and open discourse,
embracing independent media, shall not be
curtailed except to protect legitimate expectations of personal privacy, sustain the confidentiality needed for the proper separation
of powers, or for the most dire of reasons
relating to national security.
3
The Civic Order must
not forget its duties
to citizens.
Public power constitutes a civic order for
the safety and common good of its members. The civic order, as a moral order, protects and promotes the integrity, dignity,
and self-respect of its members in their
capacity as citizens and, therefore, avoid
all measures, oppressive and other, whose
tendency is to transform the citizen into
a subject. The state shall protect, give legitimacy to, or restore all those principles
and institutions which sustain the moral
integrity, self-respect, and civic identity of
the individual citizen, and which serve to
inhibit the processes of civic estrangement,
dissolution of the civic bond, and civic disaggregation. This protects the citizen’s capacity to contribute to the well-being of the
civic order itself.
4
tained, supported by honest and impartial
tribunals and legislative checks and balances.
7
The state shall nurture and support all those
social institutions, most conducive to the
free self-development and self-regard of the
individual citizen. Public authority shall
seek to avoid, or to ameliorate, conditions
of life and work which deprive the individual citizen of dignity and self-regard or
which permit to powerful citizens the exercise of dutiless opportunities of exploitation
of the weak.
The state has a custodial responsibility
to manage and conserve the material and
other resources that sustain the present and
future well-being of the community.
Corruption may not be
condoned.
Public office is not to be used for personal
advantage, financial gain or as a prerogative manipulated by arbitrary personal desire. Corruption—financial, political and
moral—is inconsistent with stewardship
of public interests. Only the Rule of Law
is consistent with a principled approach to
use of public power.
5
Security of persons,
individual liberty and
ownership of property
are the foundation for
individual justice.
The civic order, through its instrumentalities, shall provide for the security of life,
liberty and property for its citizens in order
to insure domestic tranquility.
The civic order shall defend its sovereign integrity, its territory, and its capacity to pursue its own ends to the maximum degree
of its own choice and discretion, within the
framework of international law and principles of natural justice.
6
Justice shall be
provided.
The civic order and its instrumentalities
shall be impartial among citizens without
regard to condition, origin, sex or other
fundamental, inherent attributes. Yet the
civic order shall distinguish among citizens
General welfare
contemplates
improving the
well-being of
individual citizens.
8
The state is the
servant and agent
of higher ends;
it is subordinate
to society.
according to merit and desert where rights,
benefits or privileges are best allocated according to effort and achievement, rather
than as birth-rights.
The civic order shall provide speedy, impartial and fair redress of grievances against
the state, its instruments, other citizens
and aliens.
The Rule of Law shall be honored and sus-
ransparency of
T
government ensures
accountability.
The civic order shall not act with excessive
secrecy or provide its citizens with inadequate information as to the acts and intentions of the civic order and its instruments,
which secrecy or withholding of information would prevent its citizens from acting
the citizen’s part in the discourse providing the civic order with its authoritative
legitimacy.
9
Global cooperation
advances national
welfare.
Governments should establish both domestic and international conditions under
which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources
of international law can be maintained; live
together in peace as good neighbors; and
employ international machinery and systems for the promotion of economic and
social advancement.
 For more information, please contact:
Stephen B. Young, Global Executive Director,
Caux Round Table, E-mail: [email protected]
Real Estate
The Need
for a New
Perspective—
by Vasilis Maglaras
Head of Business Development
Hellenic Public Real Estate Corporation
Managing Public Real Estate
The rational management of
Public Real Estate Property has
always consti-tuted a conditio sine
qua non of every developed and
production-oriented economy.
E
specially in the case of the Greek
Economy, which has never really
expe-rienced the characteristic
stage of Western industrial development, but re-mained bound to
small-scale industrial production and the in-
ward looking provision of services to its own
limited market, the rational management of
Public Real Estate Property was the special
gauge to measure the course of economic
growth. However, there is no integrated and
centrally planned pol-icy today to ensure the
public interest, on the one hand, and activate
the crea-tive element of the Greek economy,
the free market, in order to exploit the extenive public property holdings in favor of
the Greek economy and the Greek citizens
on the other hand.
The Hellenic Public Real Estate Corporation
(KED), in the current economic crisis, must
inititate and implement significant activity
relating to the scheduling of tenders for the
development of real estate holdings, which
will help the stagnant real estate market
and redesign the investment map in many
regions of the country, mainly in the periphery. Thus, the Hellenic Public Real Estate
Corporation, apart from the broad actions
it must undertake concerning Public and
Private Partnerships in order to create vital
The most efficient method which can ensure the public
interest, actuate the know-how of the market, and guarantee
rapid procedures, are development tenders through
Development Program Consultants.
The construction
of houses and
professional spaces
in the Elliniko
region . . . will
create employment
and investment
opportunities while
the state won’t have
to spend a Euro
infrastructure for the country in a period
of limited cash flow, must also pursue, at a
rapid pace, the development of large public real estate holdings, the exploitation of
which has been demanded for decades.
The most efficient method which can ensure
the public interest, actuate the know-how
of the market, and guarantee rapid procedures, are development tenders through
Development Program Consultants. In this
way, the prolife-ration of development activities is ensured (many plans run at the
same time irrespective of the associated
bureaucracy), the activities are outsourced
and the Consultant is paid according to the
success fee method. This method en-sures
that the tenders are not in danger of degenerating into a waste of money with no results, and benefits, for public finances.
Furthermore, the Hellenic Public Real Estate
Corporation, in the framework of the efficient
development of Public Real Estate Holdings,
must pursue a series of measures in order to
enhance its transparency relating to the issue
of small-scale real estate sales and, since the
market must in no case be taken by surprise, if
feasible, all the decisions must be made public
long beforehand. This new policy, apart from
enhancing transparency, will also prepare the
market in order to increase competition and
derive greater gains for the public sector.
Perspectives
Having all these points in mind, we must
conclude that it is necessary H.P.R.E.C. to
be enhanced through the creation of a new
company (eg. Public Real Estate Property
S.A.) which will undertake the duties of the
existing Hel-lenic Public Real Estate Corporation and the object of all Public Real
Estate Companies. Therefore, P.R.E.P shall
constitute the strategic organization for the
implementation of the Housing of Public
Services in Greece and abroad (through
construction, leasing, Public and Private
Partnerships) and, at the same time, will
undertake the exploitation and development of real estate (leasing, sales, longterm leasing, constructions). To achieve the
these goals we can modernize the existing
organization.
More specifically, for Public and Private
Partnerships, which constitute a new auspicious tool, we will have to create, within the
new S.A., a business unit which will, among
other activities, undertake and monitor all
the new, com-plex procedures.
This incorporation will aim at the permanent
reduction of expenses, since it will limit all
the technical housing services to one body
and all the develop-ment companies to one
body. Moreover, all services dealing with
property, which are now divided among
various ministries and organizations, are
uni-fied under a single management unit
enhancing transparency and productivi-ty.
With this specific new policy for the development of Public Real Estate Prop-erty we
can change and reinvigorate the growth of
our country while provid-ing a solution
to the everyday problems of citizens, and
mainly to the issue of their living standards.
In Athens, for instance, through the exploitation of the former Airport of Elli-niko,
we can create added value and produce
immediate revenues which will be used to
transfer environmental resources to areas
facing trouble, such as the West of Athens
or other suburbs. For such a policy we need
credibility and alliances with the local society which must accept these plans via an extensive policy of compensative motivation.
The construction of houses and professional spaces in the Elliniko region as well
as the development of parks and entertainment facilities for the inhabi-tants of Athens will create employment and investment
opportunities while the state won’t have to
spend a Euro.
In Thessaloniki, the plans for the development and exploitation of military camps
and other large real estate tracts, as well as
their management by Pub-lic Real Estate
Property S.A. in collaboration with the municipalities and other organizations in order to create added value and revenue, will
help fi-nance the plans for urban renewal,
as well as other projects, such as the transfer
of HELEXPO, the development of an International University and the like.
The planning and implementation of these
kinds of policies and schemes re-quire audacious proposals and a firm reaction
against any established inter-ests which infest public property and impede one of the
main levers for the growth of the Greek
economy. We believe that today such a perspective is feasible.
Travel & Tourism
A New Era
for Cruising
in Greece?
G
reat marquee port density,
spectacular historic attractions, short distances between
popular destinations, adequate
choice of feasible home porting locations, good airlift from major European, US and Asian gateways, excellent
pre-post hotel options, reliable ship repair
facilities and finally, a temperate climate
that makes it more suitable for winter cruising than its western counterparts. In addition, this sub- region offers better access
to alternative winter cruising areas - such
as the Red Sea and Dubai – as well as the
potential for commercially attractive positioning cruises to and from there.
An Ideal Hub
Strategically Greece is the ideal hub to host
the coming new wave of East Mediterranean cruise development. Apart from being a
safe and politically stable EU state, Greece
has excellent tourist and hub port infrastructures, high recognition as a destination, satisfactory scheduled and chartered
airlift from major European and Asian gateways, and conveniently distanced access to
all corners of the East Mediterranean and
Black Sea. In addition, the Aegean is the
only area in Europe that can sustain 3 & 4
- night cruising year-round, which is very
important for the development of emerging
markets. All this is no secret to the industry and in short, Greece is given probably
its last great chance to capitalize on its inherent potential to become the main East
Mediterranean cruise hub.
Cabotage Abolished
On April 21st, 2010, the Prime Minister of
Greece Mr. Papandreou finally announced
the abolishment of cabotage, a reform that
will probably bring the first tangible economic development results in this disastrous time. At last, common sense has prevailed in our country!
Initially conceived as a military commandeering tool for coastal shipping, cabotage
remained in force long after its original
purpose had expired, fulfilling a role it
was never intended for; that of protecting Greek owned/flagged cruise vessels
from international competition. While the
cruise industry matured and modernized
in the real world, a vicious circle began as
Greek cruise operators started to lose competitiveness and began to meddle with the
unions to force the perpetuation of their
“safety” umbrella. This unholy pact had its
price, as gradually labor cost and manning
scales for Greek flagged vessels started to
become untenable, tipping the scale between the benefits of a Piraeus monopoly
and ultimate sector viability. Few Greeks
By Andreas Stylianopoulos
Executive Vice President
Navigator Travel & Tourist Services Ltd
The East
Mediterranean
is arguably the
world’s most
perfectly laid
out region for
operating high
yielding cruise
programs.
Greece is given
probably its last
great chance to
capitalize on its
inherent potential
to become
the main East
Mediterranean
cruise hub.
have fully understood, even to this day, how
cabotage – and the mentality that went with
it – eventually turned a once flourishing
Greek cruise industry into the moribund
dinosaur of the late 90s.
When Carnival Corporation chose to settle in Piraeus in the mid 90s, a move that
marked an early overture of what was about
to unfold in the Mediterranean with the globalization of the cruise industry, it was cabotage induced short-sightedness that pushed
this unique opportunity into the welcoming
arms of neighboring Italy. Who can say that
what ensued was not a “renaissance” for Italian cruising, a source of great wealth for the
country and prosperity for its people? It is
almost tragic to think that Greek cruising
could have enjoyed some of the benefits of
this boom, instead of collapsing on the eve
of the Athens Olympic Games of 2004.
Lost Opportunities
In its recent history, our country is unfortunately full of such stories of foolishly lost
opportunities and it is really no surprise that
we are where we are today. Even so, unbelievably, there is still vehement resistance against
the lifting of cabotage and a certain minority
is now determined to destroy all credibility
of this reform, even by unlawful means. The
recent incident of passenger harassment in
Piraeus is an example of this, since the Zenith
was flying an EU flag—in this case Maltese —
and had an established right by Greek law to
homeport in Piraeus. Obviously, this means
nothing to these people! By the same token,
they saw no problem in harassing tourists
at the Hotel Grande Bretagne or breaking
into the Acropolis site and presenting the
world with a photo opportunity that not only
harms tourism, but the overall seriousness
of a country that is desperately trying to be
taken seriously once again.
Of course, people like that are too obsessed
with their party’s agendas to stop and think
about the majority of Greeks who are called
to struggle for a number of years, in the
hopes of getting their country back on its
feet. But where is the Greek government?
How are these people allowed to do as they
please? Because we are not talking about legal
demonstrations in a democratic context, but
reckless and unlawful acts with very harmful
consequences that would not have gone unhindered in other European countries…
Opportunity Redeux
One of the few important tradable values
that Greece has managed to retain in this
crisis is its commercial appeal as a destina-
tion. The government needs to understand
that this value must be protected at all cost!
With regard to cruising, it is important to
note that a simple change in legislation is
not enough to encourage developments to
occur at the desirable speed. You don’t just
change the law and then sit there and wait
for the millions to come in. For example, as
a result of the Zenith incident and the way
it was handled—allowing an illegal obstruction of a lawful operation to take place unhindered—we already lost the home porting of a Celebrity ship in 2011. Though good
faith still exists to a certain point, mostly due
to damage control efforts by the Association
of Greek Tourism Enterprises, it would have
been useful if some government tourism official also joined in to appease the situation.
The cruise industry as a whole is watching
very closely and, as with everything else
these days, Greece’s credibility status is being judged every step of the way. Yes, there
is demand for home porting in Greece and
yes, there is interest to invest here. However,
the Greek government must also tangibly
convince businesspeople, and tourists, that
it is able to guarantee that the new law will
be upheld and that smooth unobstructed
operations will be feasible in Greek ports
for all cruise vessels.
Boating Life
Sea Ray 375 DA—
Ideal for a Summer Holiday
The Sea Ray 375 DA is one of the most versatile
boats available, great for leisurely day
outings and superb for extended voyages. With
outstanding sea-keeping abilities, an open and
airy cabin, and two well-appointed staterooms,
the Sea Ray 375 DA is perfect for every lifestyle.
THE SE A R
AY
375 DA
IS AVAIL A
FOR CHAR BLE
TER!
SPECIFICATIONS
Overall Length
Beam
Draft (Inboards)
Dry Weight
Fuel Capacity
Water Capacity
Holding Tank
Dead Rise
11.43 M
13’0” / 3.96 M
40” / 101.6 CM
22,000 LBS / 9,979 KG
300 GAL / 1,135.5 L
75 GAL / 283.9 L
35 GAL / 132.5 L
17°
The Sea Ray 375 DA
is available from
Kappa Marine
www.kappamarine.gr
TRENDS &
TRADE MAKERS
Oink, Oink. Energy and You
The energyhog website is a superb resource for
do-it-yourself resources on learning about energy savings. The site has information, tips on
how to save energy at home and at work, and an
interactive energy audit you can take to assess
your energy consumption and efficiency.
You can save 10-50% on your home energy bills
by making some energy smart improvements to your home. Energy-efficiency improvements not only make your home more comfortable, they can also yield long-term financial rewards. The first step to taking a whole-house energy-efficiency approach is to find
out which parts of your house need the most help. A home energy survey can help suggest
the most effective ways for you to reduce your energy costs.
 http://energyhog.org/
Real Estate Trends—Greece
According to a recent study by Southeast Real
Estate, the impact of the financial crisis has been
evident in all aspects of the Greek economy. Overall
sentiment in the Real Estate market mirrored the
sharp decrease in investment activity and postponement or cancellations of large development
schemes.
Building permissions dropped sharply by 16% compared to 2008.
Poor government support, low quality product and an unstable legal/tax regime kept
foreign investors cautious.
Prices are expected to decline further during 2010 due to the accumulative credit tightening, resulting in significant investment opportunities.
Student Input:
e-Governance
The University of the Aegean, the National Technical University of Athens,
the University of Piraeus and the Greek
Interoperability Centre are organizing
the 1st Panhellenic Student Competition
for Innovation in Electronic Governance.
The aim of the competition is to promote student innovation in the field of
E-government by rewarding the most
innovative ideas and applications in
relation to promoting efficiency in Public
Administration and the quality of services provided to citizens and businesses.
The competition will be held under
the auspices of the Greek Ministry of
Interior, Decentralization and eGovernment and the support of scientific and
professional institutions.
The submission deadline is July 1, 2010.
 http://wegov.blogspot.com (in Greek)
 www.southeast-grp.com
The EUROPE DIRECT Contact Centre is a service which helps you
find answers to your questions about the European Union. It offers
information on all sorts of subjects related to the EU including your
rights and opportunities as an EU citizen and how to take advantage
of them. It can provide direct responses to general enquiries and, if
you have more detailed questions, signpost you to the best source
of information and advice at EU, national, regional and local levels.
To contact EUROPE DIRECT:
❚A
toll-free number (00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11) from anywhere in the
27 Member States. Certain restrictions may apply for calls from
mobile phones and/or hotels.
❚A
normal telephone number (+32-2-299.96.96) from anywhere
in the world (standard local telephone charges apply). You will
reach an English speaking operator but may request to be put
through to an operator speaking one of the EU’s other official
languages.s
❚ A direct response service via e-mail (Website based)
❚ An interactive, real-time Web-Assistance service for visitors of
the EUROPA web site, allowing you to enter into a one-to-one
navigation session with an operator and get an immediate reply
to your question.
The Contact Centre is accessible by telephone or electronic mail
from Monday-Friday 09h00-18h30 CET. Outside of these hours
you may leave a message on the voice-mail system.
 http://ec.europa.eu/europedirect
E.U.
T
C
E
R
I
D
The results are in. The 20 Best Workplaces in Greece has been developed by Great Place
to Work Institute Hellas with the scientific supervision of the Applied Research & Innovation Department of ALBA Graduate Business School.
Best Workplaces 2010
Top 10 BWP with more than 250 employees
1.Coca-Cola HBC Greece
2.GlaxoSmithKline Pharma
3.ABBOTT LABORATORIES Hellas
4.Tasty Foods
5.AXA INSURANCE
6.Athenian Brewery S.A.
7.AstraZeneca AE
8.Würth Hellas
9.Club Hotel Casino Loutraki
10.Ericsson Hellas
Top 10 BWP with 50 to 250 employees
1.Bristol-Myers Squibb
2.Psimitis SA
3.Manpower
4.ΑΙOΝ
5.Data Communication ΑΕ
6.CHARTIS
7.International Life ΑΕΑΖ
8.Medtronic Hellas
9.Genesis Pharma
10.Xerox Hellas AEE
Recognizing Greek Americans
The Greek America Foundation
is hosting the National Innovation Conference (NIC) 2010 that
will take place on June 12 in Chicago. The event will bring together
speakers who have been selected
for their demonstrated leadership
and include corporate leaders and
internationally acclaimed personalities in the business world, the
arts, and the media.The conference will take place as part of a larger event that will include a special awards reception
where Greek America’s 40 Under 40—young leaders of Greek America, will be honored
and recognized.
 Visit the NIC 2010 website for additional information.
One-Stop Shop
Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping Minister Louka Katseli presented a bill to the
Cabinet which foresees the creation of a one-stop shop for the setup of all types of enterprises, in order to shorten the procedure required to just one day.
The minister said the new procedure will cut costs by over 70% and raise Greece on the
global competitiveness scale from the 109th to the 90th position.
Currently, 15 steps and 38 days are required to set up a business, which will become
one step in one day, with the help of the General Commerce Register.
The bill will be tabled in parliament by June and its clauses will apply three months from
the day it becomes law.
 www.southeast-grp.com
.
Business School
Podcasts
W
W
W
Best Workplaces Hellas
http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/ideasatwork/
Columbia Business School: Ideas at Work
http://media.darden.virginia.edu/podcasts/
Series.asp?SER_ID=4
Darden School of Business (The University
of Virginia)
http://ecorner.stanford.edu/podcasts.html
Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders (Stanford
University)
http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/
Fuqua School of Business (Duke University)
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/
Knowledge@Wharton Audio Articles (University of Pennsylvania)
http://mitsloan.mit.edu/
Sloan School of Management (MIT)
http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/
Stanford Graduate School of Business
feed://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/digital/rss/
radiotuck.xml
Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Center for Digital Strategies
http://www.chicagobooth.edu/multimedia/
podcast/
University of Chicago Graduate School of
Business
http://www.bus.umich.edu/
University of Michigan, Ross School of
Business
http://mba.yale.edu/
Yale School of Management
Sam’s Rules
for Building a Business
1. COMMIT to your business.
2. SHARE your profits with your associates
and treat them as partners.
3. MOTIVATE your partners.
4. COMMUNICATE everything you possibly
can to your partners.
5. APPRECIATE everything your associates
do for the business.
6. CELEBRATE your success.
7. LISTEN to everyone in your company.
8. EXCEED your customers’ expectations.
9. CONTROL your expenses better than
your competition.
10. SWIM upstream.
—Sam Walton (founder of Wal-Mart)
Database mining is used by
researchers to gather, collect
and analyze patterns from a
range of information. A number of businesses, like marketing and medical research,
distinguish specific patterns to
better understand their practices and try to improve them.
Proper analyzing techniques
are needed to make sure the
patterns are truthful and take
all variables into account.
The right type of data needs to
be gathered so that the database mining process shows accurate results. This means that
all unnecessary or incomplete
pieces of information that can
skew the results need to be
removed. It is important to establish exactly what questions
need to be answered, to make
sure the data mining produces
useful results.
Classification and clustering
are important techniques in database mining. These methods
are often used when dealing
with a large database that includes a lot of information that
must be categorized. This can
include numerical equations
and statistics. The data can either be classified into different
types of groups that are predefined by the researchers, or it
can be automatically clustered
into groups of similar items.
Regression is another popular
tool in database mining. This
process models and analyzes
different variables in order to
produce a formula that is true
for the classified set of data. Its
function is to create an errorfree equation, so that new data
can be quickly processed and
sorted. Quantitative data, such
as measurements or speeds, is
often analyzed in this way.
amcham
Database Mining
@
info
B2B
One of the industries that relies
heavily on database mining is
marketing. Finding out which
products are the most profitable with what types of people
is very important for marketers
who wish to predict possible
profits and make an action
plan. For example, if it is determined that teenagers prefer
one type of soda over another
by a large margin, marketing
officials will take that into account and advertise the product to a teen demographic. This
both increases profits and saves
resources by not wasting money on advertising geared to age
groups who are less likely to be
interested in the product.
Source—www.wisegeek.com
Dining: For Business and Pleasure
A View with a Room
Electra Roof Garden Restaurant
At the Electra Palace Athens, the Roof Garden Restaurant welcomes guests with one
of the most stunning views in town—the
glorious Acropolis—panoramic, unimpeded, inspiring. Evenings in Athens were
made for this. This indoor/outdoor dining
area manages to be cozy yet open, warm
yet airy. This dinner-only restaurant is best
suited to more intimate dining, with groups
up to 10 well tended to by the efficient wait
staff. Chef Venieris has crafted an innovative Mediterranean menu that showcases
local ingredients and his extensive experience. Starters might include trahana with
sea bream, red mullet on a bed of warm
tomato and green bean salad, or beef fillet
and liver meatballs in lemon sauce. Mains
include roasted crawfish with artichokes,
grouper fillet with sea-endives, breast of
chicken with mushrooms, home made
pasta and fresh white cheese, or beef
filet with celery root and asparagus. Desserts favor the traditional—with a twist.
The wine list, carefully selected of mostly
Greek vintages, pairs up nicely with the
menu and there are several sweet wines
for a post prandial treat.
Electra Palace Athens
8-20, N.Nikodimou St. | Tel: 210 337 0003
The Business Bookshelf
The Great Reset
How New Ways of Living and Working
Drive Post-Crash Prosperity
by Richard Florida
We tend to view prolonged economic downturns, such as
the Great Depression of the 1930s and the Long Depression
of the late nineteenth century, in terms of the crisis and pain
they cause. But history teaches us that these great crises
also represent opportunities to remake our economy and
society and to generate whole new eras of economic growth
and prosperity. In terms of innovation, invention, and energetic risk taking, these periods of “creative destruction” have
been some of the most fertile in history, and the changes
they put into motion can set the stage for full-scale recovery.
In The Great Reset, Richard Florida provides an engaging and sweeping examination of these previous economic epochs, or “resets.” Looking toward the future,
Florida identifies the patterns that will drive the next Great Reset and transform
virtually every aspect of our lives — from how and where we live, to how we work,
to how we invest in individuals and infrastructure, to how we shape our cities and
regions. Florida shows how these forces, when combined, will spur a fresh era of
growth and prosperity, define a new geography of progress, and create surprising
opportunities for all of us. Among these forces will be new patterns of consumption, and new attitudes toward ownership that are less centered on houses and
cars, the transformation of millions of service jobs into middle class careers that
engage workers as a source of innovation, new forms of infrastructure that speed
the movement of people, goods, and ideas, a radically altered and much denser
economic landscape organized around “megaregions” that will drive the development of new industries, new jobs, and a whole new way of life.
Jargonaut
Glocalize
A term coined by author Thomas Friedman,
it refers to the positive side of globalization.
It means the ability of a culture or country
to absorb enriching influences of other cultures without being overwhelmed.
Attention Economy
A buzzword created in Silicon Valley, referring to the management of information
that treats human attention as a scarce
commodity, and applies economic theory
to solve various information management
problems. In other words, “attention economy” is a marketplace where consumers
agree to receive services in exchange for
their attention. Examples include personalized news, personalized search, alerts, and
recommendations to buy.
Change Agent
A person inside a corporation who pushes
for real change in terms of getting the
company up to speed with technological
advances, by leading an e-commerce team,
for example.
Deep Dive
Slang for exploring a subject in-depth. For
example, “We did a deep dive on that market and found nothing of value there.”
Granular
or Granularity
The Arion Resort & Spa
By Andreas Stylianopoulos,
Executive Vice President, Navigator Travel & Tourist Services Ltd
The Arion Resort & Spa is just a
short drive from the center of Athens
yet is a million miles away. In Laimos, Vouliagmeni, one of the most
picturesque landscapes in Attica, the
Arion offers luxury, indulgence, fine
dining, and a superb spa.
Guests may choose from the comfort
of standard rooms, elegant suites or,
for the sense of truly getting away
from it all, fully renovated bungalows. Located in the Astir Palace
complex, the hotel offers views of
the Saronic Gulf, private swimming
pools, beaches, and plenty of private niches. And why not jaunt to
Sounion for a visit to one of Greece’s
historical landmarks.
Diners have the choice of Kymata
Restaurant, Blue Hytra Restaurant,
the Blue Pool Bar and Sofa Bar and
the renowned Matsuhisa Athens, for
fusion Japanese.
Athletic facilities, exercise equipment, mini soccer, basketball, boating and nearby golf are sure to keep
everyone in good shape.
In business terms, this describes the fine
details, after you drill down to get to the
nitty gritty.
POTATO
Person Over Thirty Acting Twenty One
Ohnosecond
The fraction of time it takes to realize you’ve
just goofed; for example, right after you hit
the send button on an e-mail and realize
you meant to send it to someone else
Phonesia
The affliction of dialing a phone number and
forgetting whom you were calling just as
they answer.
 www.arionresortathens.com
ViewPoint
InnoCentive—
Collaborative Solutions
F
ounded in 2001, InnoCentive built
the first global web community for
open innovation, enabling scientists, engineers, professionals and
entrepreneurs to collaborate to
deliver breakthrough solutions for innovative R&D-driven organizations. InnoCentive Seekers, who collectively spend billions
of dollars on R&D, submit Challenges to the
InnoCentive Marketplace where more than
200,000 engineers, scientists, inventors, business people, and research organizations in
more than 200 countries are invited to solve
them. Solvers who deliver the most innovative solutions receive financial awards ranging up to US$1,000,000. InnoCentive’s Seekers include commercial, government and
non-profit organizations such as Procter &
Gamble, Avery Dennison, Pendulum, SAP,
Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen, Solvay, GlobalGiving and The Rockefeller Foundation.
Solvers
❚ The InnoCentive Solver community is one
of the world’s most diverse, socially committed and financially rewarded network
of creative minds.
❚ InnoCentive offers the world’s most intellectually stimulating and personally rewarding Challenges.
❚ InnoCentive gives Solvers the opportunity to apply passion, creativity and knowl-
InnoCentive harnesses
collective brainpower
around the world to solve
problems that matter.
verse and socially committed network of
creative minds.
❚ InnoCentive manages the lifecycle of innovation, providing a systematic, confidential and pay-for-performance approach
for any organization to find, review and
purchase innovation.
Example
edge necessary to Challenges that change
the world one innovation at a time.
Seekers
❚ Seekers are corporations large and small,
non-profit organizations and government
entities.
❚ InnoCentive seekers are visionaries who
understand that R&D must evolve to meet
the challenge of the 21st century in order
to properly accelerate product creativity,
ingenuity and time to market.
❚ Open access to one of the world’s most di-
The American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce
Oil Industry Outsider Solves Oil Spill Recovery Challenge
In the summer of 2007, the Oil Spill Recovery
Institute (OSRI) posted 3 Challenges on the
InnoCentive website, all dealing with oil spill
recovery issues. The first of these Challenges
was solved in November 2007 by an oil industry outsider who used his expertise in the
concrete industry to come up with the winning solution. John Davis, an InnoCentive
Solver from the Central United States, was
awarded $20,000 for his creative solution.
Awards
Awards range from $5,000 to $1 million
based on the complexity of the problem. To
date over $4 million in award money has
been awarded to Solvers and 539 Submissions have been awarded, for prizes typically in the $10,000 to $25,000 range.
 www.innocentive.com
BUSINESS
Become a Member
Subscribe
To become a member of the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, one of Greece’s
most preeminent and proactive business organizations, apply on the Chamber website at
www.amcham.gr, send an e-mail to [email protected], call the Chamber at 210-699-3559,
or fax the Chamber at 210-698-5687-7 and request an application form.
To subscribe to Business Partners,
send an e-mail to [email protected],
call the Chamber at 210-699-3559, or
fax the Chamber at 210-698-5687-7.
48 | BUSINESS PARTNERS | may-june 2010
IHT1149_IHTKathi_BusPartners_208x280_Layout 1 22/01/10 11:43 Page1
For business thinking
that stands out from the crowd.
Pay just €1.09 a day for the IHT and
Kathimerini English Edition, and get awardwinning culture and lifestyle newspaper
Athens Plus free every Friday.
Call 210 480 8222 today.
YOUR
New
SITE
www.amcham.gr
AMERICAN-HELLENIC
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
HEAD OFFICE:
109-111 Messoghion Ave., Politia Business Center, GR 115 26 Athens, GREECE
PHONE: +30 210 699 3559, FAX: +30 210 698 5686, 210 698 5687, 210 699 5033
E-mail: [email protected] | www.amcham.gr
BRANCH OFFICE:
47 VAS. IRAKLEIOU Str., GR 546 23 THESSALONIKI, GREECE, PHONE: +30 2310 286453

May-Jun 2010 - Business Partners - American

Transcription

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