Corp Vision 2016 Executive Awards

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EXECUTIVE AWARDS 2016

Best Entertainment Sales & Booking Executive - Mexico

Female CEO of the Year Brazil & Best Marina Facilities Provider - South America

165

YEARS

www.corp-vis.com

WELCOME TO THE executive AWARDS 2016 When looking to recognise and reward excellence in the corporate world, it’s all too easy to focus on the headline grabbing names, worldwide brands or company figureheads. But what about the people behind the scenes whose tireless dedication, astute decision making and boundless knowledge of their industry, market and clients keep their firms moving forward each and every day?

The 2016 Corporate Vision Executive Awards pay tribute to the shining stars of the executive world who form not just the backbone of their individual firms, but of their wider sectors and industries.

Creativity, innovation and passion for the product or service are the things that separate great companies from merely good ones and these awards celebrate the individuals who, through their commitment to these areas, are the driving force behind their firms’ growth and prosperity.

CONTENTS 4 Best Entertainment Sales & Booking Executive -

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BR MARINAS Female CEO of the Year - Brazil & Best Marina Facilities Provider - South America

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AJMAN BANK Banking Corporate Communications & Marketing Expert of the Year - UAE & Best Retail & Commercial Bank UAE

CINÉPOLIS Mexico

Product Distribution CEO of the Year & Best 10 Building Fencing & Hardware Products Supplier - UK ELIZA TINSLEY LTD.

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PARAGON PROTECTION LTD. Best Security VP 2016 - Ontario & Award for Excellence in Security Operations Management PRACTICAL INNOVATION Business Innovator of the Year 2016 - Global STUDIO K PRODUCTIONS LLC Best Multi-Media Automation Specialist SDI DISPLAYS LTD. SME Consultant & Financial Director of the Year - The Midlands

23 Award for Excellence in Mining Executive Support & TACMIN MADINI LTD

Best Mining Consultancy 2016

SNC-LAVALIN Best Hydro Engineering & Construction VP - Canada & Award for Excellence in Hydropower Solutions - North America

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ADGISTICS LTD Best Marketing & Advertising CEO - UK & Brand Asset Management Company of the Year

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CENTRAL PARK ENT & SURGERY CENTER Best Healthcare Facility CEO - Texas

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COFACE SIGORTA A.ÅZ. Most Innovative Credit Insurance CEO - Turkey

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FAVEO AG Cloud Business Entrepreneur of the Year - Germany & Best Trade & Manufacturing SME ERP Systems Provider - Germany

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RIFLE-SHOT PERFORMANCE HOLDINGS LIMITED Best SME Operational Software Vendor - South Africa & Business Alignment & Growth Specialist of the Year - Africa

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MAGYAR TELEKOM Most Innovative Human Relations Coordinator - Central Europe & Award for Excellence in Digital Education Initiatives

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ABCD TECHNOLOGY SARL Best Disruptive Material Technology CEO - Europe & Thin Film Technology Company of the Year - Europe

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BYTES OF LEARNING INCORPORATED Best IT Education Product Company President - USA

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KNOWLEDGE KINETICS INC- GAURAV BHALLA PH.D. Best Executive Education Specialist 2016

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PETER J SOLOMON CO- MARK BOIDMAN Best Investment Banking Advisory Managing Director - USA

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RX COMMUNICATIONS LTD Medical Communications Executive of the Year 2016 UK & Medical Writers of the Year 2016

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UNA HOTELS & RESORTS Hospitality Businesswoman of the Year - Italy

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VIGITRUST Best IT Security & Risk Management Business Leader - USA

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Best Entertainment Sales & Booking Executive - Mexico

Cinépolis is a Mexican cinema exhibitor and distributor dedicated to providing a quality cinema experience. We caught up with COO Miguel Mier to find out more about the firm’s latest innovations and international expansion plans.

Soon to be celebrating its 45th anniversary, Cinépolis is the 4th largest cinema exhibitor in the world based on number of screens, and the second in terms of volume of tickets sold. The leading cinema theater chain in Latin America, with over 4,680 screens Cinépolis is headquartered in Morelia, Mexico. Operating internationally across 13 different countries, the firm has grown significantly over the years, which Miguel, having worked at the firm for over 23 years, has overseen. He discusses the role he has played in the company’s success.

“Cinépolis is a family owned, professionally managed business. That professionalization of the business has happened over the past two decades and has had a trickledown effect aligning all functional areas to more structured and professional decision making processes and supervision. I am the first and only non-family member to be allowed to vote on the board, which is a true honor and one which I am particularly proud of. I have been COO for the past 10 years, and during this time I have overseen the firm’s overseas expansion, supporting our move into many new territories and market sectors, for example supporting the opening of our film distribution department, which we established three years ago.

“On a day to day basis I oversee every aspect of the firm’s global operations, including marketing, sales, human resources and IT, and all of Cinépolis’s international corporate offices report directly to me.”

Across the whole company the leadership style is democratic and collaborative, with all decisions made through communication, as Miguel emphasises.

“At Cinépolis we are essentially a family

owned business, and despite the fact that we have grown significantly over the years we retain our collaborative, supportive internal culture. All decisions are made through communication with all staff involved so that we have an overview of exactly what needs to be done. Drawing on the company’s collective intelligence ensures that we are always offering the most innovative cinematic experience for our customers.”

Innovation is a key part of the firm’s service offering, as Cinépolis have noticed the trends across the global market for regions such as India and Mexico, the firm’s home country, for higher rates of attendance in cinemas despite the lower comparative disposable income citizens have. This is because of the higher rate of investment in cinemas and films in these regions, whereas some regions, such as Europe, remain complacent, therefore ticket prices have dropped and piracy has become more prevalent. As such Cinépolis has moved into these regions in order to rejuvenate them, as Miguel explains.

“Mexico, where Cinépolis was formed and is based, has a strong culture of visiting the cinema to watch new films thanks to the competitive market, which includes both local companies and U.S based firms.

As such the quality of cinemas across the country is high, and this ensures that customers are willing to pay to visit the cinema rather than pirating the film online or watching it on DVD. We want to create an ambiance which will encourage people to return, with an emphasis on meeting clients’ needs.

“In 2009 we moved into the Indian market, as the country is largest consumer and producer of films in the world, supplying high quality films in poor quality cinemas.

We made a strategic move to enter the

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market and improve the quality of the cinemas, and have now become the third largest exhibitor in the country. Working in such a dynamic market makes innovation a necessity, and as such we are always looking to offer our patrons the very latest technology, such as our state of the art mobile app for reserving cinema seats, 4d technology and Imax screens. These solutions have made the cinema more appealing and allowed us to attract a wider range of customers across all demographics.”

As a global company Cinépolis operates separate strategies for each market in order to meet the needs of the clients it serves in that particular region. For example, in America the firm offers a luxury cinematic experience through its high end brand Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas, which operates across five states.

In recent years the firm has moved into other new regions through acquisitions, for example purchasing the largest Chilean exhibition company, Hoyts Cinemas, and more recently taking over a major Spanish firm, Yelmo Cinemas, in order to enter the European market. Lack of investment in Spanish cinemas has eroded the market, making piracy rife and ticket prices significantly lower than in other countries.

As such renovating the firm’s Spanish cinemas is the current focus, as it seeks to invigorate the market and inspire more film lovers to visit the cinema, rather than resort to illegally downloading or streaming the latest releases.

Looking to the future, growth across all areas remains the firm’s core aim, as Miguel concludes.

“Cinépolis is constantly growing and seeking new ways to innovate and expand, seeking new technologies to invest in and new countries to move into. There are always new developments in cinematic technology and we are keen to investigate the latest innovations and establish if they can be successfully applied to our cinemas for the benefit of our patrons. Having built and maintained a strong brand and global presence over the past 44 years we are keen to expand upon our current success and utilise our successful strategy in new regions.”

Contact Details Company: Cinépolis Phone: 01 552 122 60 60 Website: www.cinepolis.com

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Female CEO of the Year - Brazil & Best Marina Facilities Provider - South America

BR Marinas are a Brazilian company that specialises in marina development and marina operation. We invited CEO Gabriela Marins to talk us through the firm and her role in driving it forward as it seeks to build upon its current, market leading success.

BR Marinas own and operate six marinas all in the state of Rio de Janeiro Brazil, as well as two more under construction and more than 10 projects in the coast of Brazil. As such the firm is the biggest marina operator in South America, offering wet and dry berths, maintenance patio, fuel, restaurants, and shops.

Gabriela, whose experience is in retail, talks us through how she draws on this in her current role as company leader.

“Personally I come from the shopping centre market and allied with my passion with the sea this has helped me develop the Br Marinas way of life. Our focus is on training and consistently learning through others, past experiences and even our own past mistakes. It is my opinion that team work is critical to the success of any business, therefore we always aim to act in a supportive, collaborative way.

“As such we offer an inclusive internal culture which revolves around supporting each other. At BR Marinas we are a team, a family, and therefore we share experiences through our weekly team decision making forum. I work closely with my employees, despite being the CEO, as I believe that working with them and hearing their feedback ensures that we offer clients the solutions which they need.”

Constant development and evolution helps the firm to stay ahead of its competitors, and Gabriela explains how this approach ensures that the firm achieves its overall mission.

“Here at BR Marinas our mission is to be the bridge between our customer and the Nautical World. As service providers we want to facilitate our customers’ needs in every way so that they can enjoy their leisure time to the fullest.

To achieve this, we are changing the nautical culture in our country, as the

leading ports operator in Brazil. Our country has a huge coast, offering endless opportunities, but despite this having a boat is still a luxury, and it is our focus to try and change that and make our market more accessible.

“Fundamentally it is vital for a firm in our position to know the needs of our customers, analyse stakeholder’s risks, deliver on time, exceed expectations, spend time on properly planning, analyse the market, and study possible interferences in order to succeed.

Therefore this is our constant focus.”

In order to achieve this the firm launched Marina da Gloria, an urban marina right in the heart of the city of Rio in April 2016. The marina is an important port of entry for tourists, and is becoming a key destination for superyachts.

Moving forward, Gabriela believes that the need to grow the Rio de Janeiro boating market is more vital than ever.

The region is where her firm is based but looking ahead she is keen to expand and move into new countries, in order to build upon BR Marinas’ current success.

“Tourism is a vital market for Brazil, in particular Rio de Janeiro where we are based, and ports are the backbone of this market as they provide the point of entry for both tourists and the goods they purchase. Therefore, looking ahead I would like to see greater focus placed upon the infrastructure of this industry in the region so that firm’s such as ours can operate more efficiently and effectively.

“Ultimately, now that we have achieved our current strong market position I believe now is the perfect time for BR Marinas to look beyond Rio de Janeiro and explore new markets, and I look forward to the opportunities this will afford us in the future.”

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Contact Details Company: BR Marinas Address: Avenida Infante Dom Henrique, s/nº, 20021-140 Glória - Rio de Janeiro – RJ, Brasil Phone: +55 (24) 3421-4090 Email: info@brmarinas.com.br Website: www.brmarinas.com.br/en

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Banking Corporate Communications & Marketing Expert of the Year - UAE & Best Retail & Commercial Bank - UAE

Ajman Bank is a young, agile Islamic commercial bank built on the values of integrity, trust and transparency. We spoke to Maryam Al Shorafa VP and Head of Corporate Communication and Marketing to gain an insight into the bank’s service offering.

Ajman Bank is a young, agile Islamic commercial bank built on the values of integrity, trust and transparency. The first Islamic bank incorporated in the Emirate of Ajman, the Bank was established in 2007. Its shares were listed on the Dubai Financial Market in February 2008 and the Bank opened officially and started operations in 2009 from two branches in Ajman.

Since then the Bank has grown and it now boasts branches and ATMs across the UAE. Maryam explains the strategy behind this growth and how the firm has worked to ensure its continued success.

“With our strategy of targeting the rapidly expanding Shari’ah financial services market, Ajman Bank provides a wide range of value-driven banking services in the UAE for individual, business and government clients, all in compliance with Shari’ah principles. Ajman Bank seeks out the market’s best products, people and technology in order to deliver what customers want, how they want it, delivering real value and recreating that human touch lost in modern banking.

“Ajman Bank is a keystone in Ajman’s economic development strategy and in a position to benefit from the Emirate’s growth and potential like no other.

Ajman Bank is committed to becoming a sustainable organization in its truest sense, balancing care for the community and employees with the business of delivering value to its shareholders and customers.

“Based on our tradition of customizing products and services to meet customer demands, we operate with a more targeted approach than mainstream finance providers and our focus is on offering a

high level of client service. Our services are diverse and customized to suite our clients or what we like to call ‘business partners” needs.”

This vast suite of services is vital to the firm’s continued prosperity as the growing importance of Islamic banking assets in the GCC banking system has evolved throughout the past 5 years creating unique challenge of implementing market based monetary policy operations in Islamic banking systems, which arises from the complexity of designing instruments that satisfy Islamic principles, notably the banning of interest rates.

Yet, despite the increased interest, Islamic banking penetration in non-Muslim countries has been slow as Islamic banks find it difficult to expand into different jurisdictions and face regulatory and Shari’a complications in terms of approvals; Islamic banks are also finding it challenging to cope with the evolving global banking environment and making appropriate rules and regulations to cope with these changes while still remaining competitive with their conventional counterparts.

In order to remain at the forefront of this growing market Ajman offers the highest possible quality of service, focusing on supporting staff to ensure that they in turn provide clients with the help and advice they need. Maryam discusses the firm’s internal culture, as well as her own personal leadership skills and how these impact on the company’s success.

“Ajman Bank has a customer-driven and innovative culture; everything we do is with the goal of improving the experience for the customer. We have learned from our experiences that good

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attitude communication skills and product knowledge work in conjunction to create success. Mastering all of these provide our staff with the necessary tools to ensure customer satisfaction.

“Personally, honesty, fair-minded and forward-looking summarizes my leadership traits. I quote our inspiring leader HH sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum: ‘Leadership is the behaviour that brings the future to present by envisioning the possible and persuading others to make it the reality’.”

To ensure a continuous success of our business I always encourage my department to establish a clear and meaningful strategic planning process.

Engage all levels of employees. Create an effective communication plan. Use an innovation process for all new product development, service delivery, etc.

Moving forward, mobile banking, internet banking, staff-less branches and other innovative services will ensure that the banking industry now has to compete to personalize the experience and leverage the advanced technology to suit client needs. As such Maryam is eager to outline how Ajman bank intends to adapt around

these developments and build upon its current success.

“Growth over the past several years continues to generate optimism for the future of Islamic banking. But as competition ramps up, and early warning signs show growth slowing down, Islamic financial institutions have plenty of work to do.

“Whether the strategy is to focus on niche positioning, compete with conventional banks head-on, or a blend of both, sustaining growth will require most Islamic banks to achieve greater efficiency across the value chain.

“With the widespread adoption of social media, marketers are becoming more like publishers, creating content to educate and engage customers, rather than simply promoting our services. Hence the future will focus less about the impact of words, and more about the experiences created and actions triggered.”

Contact Details Company: Ajman Bank Website: www.ajmanbank.ae/site

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Building Product Distribution CEO of the Year & Best Fencing & Hardware Products Supplier - UK

165

YEARS

Eliza Tinsley Ltd. is a leading hardware manufacturer supporting a wide range of clients. CEO Rythm Jain Saigal outlines the latest chapter in the firm’s rich history.

Founded in 1851, Eliza Tinsley Ltd originally a chain manufacturer is steeped in history and has a long, unbroken history of supplying products that surpass the expectations of its loyal customers. During the firm’s 165th year in business it remains firmly committed to maintaining this enviable reputation through its numerous acquisitions, as Rythm, who has been CEO of the firm for 10 years, explains.

“Eliza Tinsley is a key member of one of the largest hardware manufacturing organisations in the world, giving us unrivalled control over both quality and price; enabling us to offer our customers premium products at competitive prices.

Manufacturing is at the heart of our business, with less links in the supply chain and greater control over production methods and materials we are able to supply very high quality products at competitive prices.

“During the decade that I have been CEO of Eliza Tinsley there have been a lot of acquisitions, each company that has been acquired is profit making and growing at a steady rate, throughout this period of time there has been a net increase in the number of people we employ. We have carefully grown the existing teams by bringing in market experts so that they can guide us when we have entered new markets therefore creating new roles and jobs across our portfolio of companies.

“Currently we are very excited about a new acquisition which is taking place at the moment, as we are in our 165th year here at Eliza Tinsley. We are excited about acquiring another well respected company, and we believe by doing so it will help us grow our market share. In addition to this, we are currently working on another acquisition which will take place early next year. As a team we are

working together to acquire market leaders which will give us access to new products and markets.”

Within the market currently, one of the key challenges that businesses face is embracing the omni channel business model. As such Eliza Tinsley have incorporated this as part of its core strategy to ensure that the brand has the maximum reach and ease for customers and end users, as Rythm is eager to empathise.

“At the heart of our company remains our commitment to customer service, our customer service and sales support teams have over 250 years combined experience of the industry and can offer a vast amount of technical assistance. We believe that communication is key; therefore, we try to ensure that our customers always receive the best help possible from our staff. We also work hard to ensure that we are offering our customers highly competitive prices and are confident that our quality to price ratio is the best available in the market today. This is why we have a good reputation within our industry and attract new clients through word of mouth.”

This dedication to client service relies upon committed, professional and flexible staff who are willing to go above and beyond to ensure that clients are fully supported and receive the products they need. As CEO Rythm is responsible for driving the firm’s internal culture and leading by example, ensuring that staff all understand the firm’s dedication to its clients and are willing to support this.

“Here at Eliza Tinsley employees are encouraged to develop their expertise and make suggestions and improvement, because ultimately I would like for each employee to look forward to coming to work, staying true to our mission

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statement: to become the UK’s leading hardware and office furniture provider and create a supportive and engaging working environment.

“My management style is a participative style of management that is decentralised; I encourage employees to take responsibility as I believe people thrive on responsibility. I involve my employees in decision making and encourage new ideas to promote a good culture within the company so that each employee feels valued.”

Looking to the future, Rythm is exhilarated by the firm’s plans to grow and expand through a rebranding strategy and a number of acquisitions.

“Going forward we are investing in developing a website and rebranding, which goes hand in hand with our social media strategy. Through social media we are attracting new customers and are able to connect with end users. The feedback that we are receiving is a going to play an important role in driving innovation.”

“Personally, I am very excited about the future because with the new acquisitions on the horizon, rebranding, new product launches and the new website launch, there will be many great opportunities. It will be a busy time for all of us, but with the support of my exemplary teams I feel sure that we will get through and come out a better company.”

Contact Details Company: Eliza Tinsley Ltd. Address: Potters Lane, Wednesbury, West Midlands, WS10 0AS, England Phone: 44 (0) 121 502 0055 Email: orders@elizatinsley.co.uk Website: elizatinsley.co.uk

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Best Hydro Engineering & Construction VP - Canada & Award for Excellence in Hydropower Solutions - North America

SNC-Lavalin is one of the leading engineering and construction groups in the world and a major player in the ownership of infrastructure. We invited Dr. Alfred Hanna, Senior Vice President of Hydro at the firm, to talk us through his role in the firm’s market leading success.

Established in 1911, SNC-Lavalin now operates offices in over 50 countries around the world, with a focus on quality and safety in design and construction.

We spoke to Dr. Alfred Hanna, Senior Vice President with strong background in the hydroelectric sector and over 33 years of power industry experience. He has been involved in many successful hydro projects globally and has been in the hydro sector all his professional life. Alfred was eager, in his opening comments, to emphasise the firm’s commitment to providing the highest quality of service at all times.

“Here at SNC-Lavalin our employees are proud to build what matters.

Our teams provide engineering, procurement, construction, completion and commissioning services together with a range of sustaining capital services to clients in our four industry focuses: Infrastructure, Power, Oil and Gas, and Mining and Metallurgy.

SNC-Lavalin can also combine these services with its financing and operations and maintenance to provide complete end to end project solutions.

“Fundamentally, we deliver projects that transform the world by bringing opportunities and sustainable solution to communities. We are also transforming

ourselves as we find new ways to offer innovative solutions for our customer and deliver greater value to our stakeholders.

A key part of this is that we maintain exceptionally higher standards for health and safety, ethics and compliance and environmental protection, and is committed to delivering quality projects on budget and on schedule to the complete satisfaction of its clients.”

The firm’s world recognition in Hydroelectric expertise is founded on its significant involvement in harnessing Canada’s extensive hydroelectric resources, dating from the early 1900s. The Hydro group has participated in projects in over 120 countries, representing an installed capacity of more than 296,000 MW. The Hydro group provides full services from planning and engineering to construction of an EPC/EPCM basis. In addition to its extensive list of greenfield projects, The Hydro group has rehabilitated and upgraded over 50 hydroelectric developments and performed over 100 dam safety assessments worldwide.

Alfred, who heads the Hydro group, is a civil and geotechnical engineer with more than 35 years of Canadian and international experience with major engineering works, particularly in the project areas of hydroelectric and water resources. He has managed and participated in projects in North America, Asia, Central and South America and Africa.

Throughout this time he has supervised and coordinated the activities of multidiscipline groups undertaking studies from reconnaissance to bankable feasibility, and preparing design and

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construction documents from the conceptual stages to detailed design and completion of constructed works.

Additionally, he has been, and is currently responsible for major hydroelectric design- build contracts. He is intimately involved in SNCLavalin qualification, designbuild bid preparation, negotiation of contracts, and execution of work.

Alfred’s unique set of specialized knowledge, qualifications and technical competence has supported him in his diverse hydroelectric project experience where he has had to balance assertive decision with flexible and holistic project management approach, while working alongside teams and stakeholders from government and private clients, to engineering and construction teams, First Nation and community groups. He discusses his leadership style and how he has adapted this to ensure that he and his team work to the very highest standards of health and safety.

“My leadership style is quite simple, with an aim to build a strong team and be one of that team, and as such to listen and discuss the opinion of each team member but at the end make a decision on the problem at hand. I also work with the team to reach the point that makes every team member feels that he or she owns the project. This ensures that I am able to make the team realize that they are managing the project risks and that it is up to them to deal with each risk so either it does not happen or if it happens they are ready to mitigate them to not affect the progress of the work.

“Through my leadership the SNCLavalin team recognizes that effective management is essential to completing projects in a safe and productive manner. Through the establishment of safety management systems that address responsibilities, accountabilities, process, and competencies our team will ensure that corporate, project, client and regulatory health and safety requirements are achieved and maintained through the course of the work. Our team demonstrates commitment to these goals through the use of leading edge safety

management systems that meet or exceed Regulatory standards; by establishing mechanisms that validate compliance to the Act, regulations, codes and safe work practices.

“A holistic approach to quality management which includes training, coaching, support staff, and documentation, helps achieve the project’s overall objective. For more than 15 years SNC-Lavalin has managed its projects within the frame work of a rigorous, ISO 9001 quality management system. SNCLavalin has well established Quality Systems Procedures (QSP’s) that conform to ISO 9001. This covers all aspects of Design and Construction Reviews and Audits, including Procurement and Installation and covers all subcontractors.”

Currently the energy industry, and in particular the hydroelectric sector, is going through a lot of changes. Gone are the days where the utilities hire a consulting firm to undertake the plant preliminary designs. The utility assumes responsibility for government agencies approval, arranging for project financing, procurement of all design, construction and commissioning. This is to be followed by the utility undertaking project operation and maintenance.

of the John Hart Replacement Project. The work is to replace the old existing facility with a new and more efficient generating facility. Our innovative design includes a new underground power plant powered by three turbines with an installed capacity of 132 MW. The state- of-the-art facility replacing the existing facility with enough capacity to annually supply some 80,000 homes with electricity. In addition, a new water bypass facility will enhance flow continuity of the Campbell River and protect the downstream fish habitat.

“Ultimately, Canada is blessed with vast water resources. Four of its ten provinces generate most of their energy from hydroelectric plants. These provinces are Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Manitoba and British Columbia. Taking for example the province of British Columbia where hydro generation is in the high ninety percent of the total energy demand, major projects are being either built, replaced or refurbished by more modern facilities. For example, the Site C mega project is in construction since last year with a budget of about $9 billion and capacity of1100 MW. The project will enter into service in 2022 and presents a number of exciting opportunities which everyone at SNC-Lavalin looks forward to taking advantage of.”

These activities entail the government utility assuming all the risks associated with the project development as well as those dealing with operating and maintaining it. This development model resulted in many projects that exceeded their budget by large margins with significant schedule delays.

The current industry is shifting quickly to a risk sharing approach that takes many forms in sharing risks with the private sector. In Canada the P3 (Public Private Partnership) model is becoming the popular way of developing infrastructure projects. That model was successfully adopted for roads, transit systems, bridges.

More recently it was applied to major hydroelectric projects famous for higher and more complex risks, such as a project which SNC-Lavalin recently undertook, the John Hart hydroelectric project. Alfred outlines how his firm is changing its approach in line with these developments for both this project and additional future work.

“A key development for our firm which will set us up well for the future is our winning

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Contact Details Company: SNC-Lavalin INC. Name: Dr. Alfred Hanna Email: Alfred.hanna@snclavalin.com Web Address:www.snc-lavalin.com Address: Suite 500-745, Thulow Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6E-0C5 Telephone 604-605-4902

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Best Marketing & Advertising CEO - UK & Brand Asset Management Company of the Year

Joe Jarrett is CEO of Adgistics Ltd., a company that is dedicated to support businesses with growing the value of their brand through technology. We caught up with Joe to find out more.

Adgistics is a marketing technology solution provider that offers cloudbased capabilities for the marketing and communications supply chain via its technology platform – the Brand Centre. The platform has evolved over nearly 20 years in line with the changing demands of brand management and the challenges marketers face. Today, the Brand Centre is a scalable creative hub that enables companies to optimise and support all of their brand and marketing operations activities and processes.

Throughout this phenomenal growth, Joe has been supporting the firm, drawing on his diverse experience, which spans his time in the Australian Military through to his work with Rupert Murdoch’s News Limited, to joining Quickcut, which was his first step into the world of enabling and disruptive marketing and advertising technologies.

He outlines his leadership style and how flexibility is key to ensuring the success of his firm.

a company.”

Moving ahead, Joe is looking forward to an exciting future for the firm as it looks set to flourish under his continued leadership.

“Looking to the future, I am very confident that Adgistics will continue to grow in 2017 and beyond. We operate in the world of branding, helping brands utilise technology to serve their customers better. How they do this and what they use to do so continues to evolve at a rapid pace and so we must constantly demonstrate that we can deliver with and for our clients. I want Adgistics to be the company our clients look to for inspiration, and this will be our continued focus moving forward.”

“My leadership approach is quite flexible and adapts to best suit a given situation.

For instance, I mix elements of the Authoritative, Coaching and Affiliative styles. I strongly believe that through my particular approach to leadership, I am providing the skills that will enable leadership behaviour to flourish at an individual level throughout the business, thereby ensuring continued success for our company.”

“This approach extends through to our internal culture, which is very much collaborative and client service centric.

We have had a lot of successes and expansion of our global footprint over the last six years. However, we are insistent that our many successes do not compromise our core values of quality customer service, integrity and the desire to continually improve in all aspects of our work and life together as

Contact Details Company: Adgistics Ltd. Name: Joe Jarrett Email: joe.jarrett@adgistics.com Web Address: www.adgistics.com Address: 2nd Floor Deben House, 1 Selsdon Way, London E14 9GL Telephone: +44(0) 207 378 6777

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Best Healthcare Facility CEO - Texas

Central Park ENT & Surgery Center is a full service ear, nose, and throat medical practice and ambulatory surgery center. We invited CEO Steve Blake to tell us more.

Central Park ENT & Surgery Center is 100% physician owned and operated, with Central Park ENT celebrating its 50th year and Central Park Surgery Center being fully licensed and accredited for 10 years. Steve talks us through his leadership style and how he works to ensure that his staff are constantly working to the highest possible standard, which is critical when working in such a vital market.

“My leadership style involves inspiring others to do their best and being a strong example to always try to do what is right. Being a change agent is difficult, but necessary. I believe that economist John Kenneth Galbraith, had it right when he said “faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.” In order to ensure the group’s continued success, I have tried to follow Ronald Reagan’s advice: “Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided upon is being carried out.”

but have taken the next step by offering a most competitive price transparent cash offering that includes the surgeon fees, facility (surgery center) costs, and anesthesiology expenses.

“One of the key issues in the United States is that large healthcare systems have been buying up independent facilities and physician practices at an alarming rate, offering higher reimbursement and escape from increased regulatory burdens. The problem with this approach is that it only exacerbates the cost issue. Studies have time and again shown that high cost does not mean better results. Through cash price transparency, our fees are clearly displayed on our website, as well as identifying other helpful sites to assist the patient in determining what should be a fair price. We hope that by demonstrating actual value (high quality at a lower cost), we can build, grow, expand, and help bend the cost curve in a meaningful direction, while at the same time taking great care of our current patients.”

“As such I try to instil an appreciation amongst our organization for the concerns of our patients and their families and urge everyone to take ownership of problems that they become aware of. Good training and constant communication are key.

Ultimately, Steve believes that it is astute competitiveness that will help Central Park ENT & Surgery Center to grow and succeed as it looks towards the future, both of the group itself and the overall American healthcare system.

“It is no secret that health care in the United States is facing a severe cost crisis. Our physicians seek to be a part of the solution by not only offering high quality compassionate medical care,

Contact Details Company: Central Park ENT & Surgery Center Web Address: www.centralparkasc.net / www.centralparkent.net

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EA160012

Most Innovative Credit Insurance CEO - Turkey

Coface is a global credit insurance company. We caught up with Emre Özer, CEO of Coface in Turkey, to learn more about the firm’s pioneering strategy for the region.

The Coface Group offers companies around the globe solutions to protect them against the risk of financial default of their clients, both on the domestic market and for export. In 2015, the Group, supported by its 4,500 staff, posted a consolidated turnover of €1.490 billion. Present directly or indirectly in 100 countries, it secures transactions of 40,000 companies in more than 200 countries.

Each quarter, Coface publishes its assessments of country risk for 160 countries, based on its unique knowledge of companies’ payment behaviour and on the expertise of its 660 underwriters and credit analysts located close to clients and their debtors, as well as are providing information services such as company rating, business reports and debt collection services.

In Turkey Coface was established in 2007 as the first credit insurance company, and has retained its position as market leader to this day. Emre, who working in the banking sector before joining Coface, outlines his goals and the techniques he employs to achieve these.

“My aim here at Coface Turkey is to increase efficiency and customer satisfaction. To achieve this, we are in close partnership with our clients in Coface Turkey, we advise at every stage of their business life cycle, we are helping to anticipate and evaluate their risks and supporting them make the right decisions on their trade.

“Fundamentally, I believe that in the

corporate market today it is not enough to simply sell the product. One shot relations newer brings sustainable success. That is why we are building long relationships and serving our clients from the same side of the desk by supporting them as their representatives.

Additionally, we provide credit insurance and aim to make the process easier for our policy holders. We need to present our products in the simplest way to allow our clients to understand; if they understand then they will explain to others, and through this we will continue to grow.”

Moving forward, Emre has many ambitious plans, both for Coface and the overall insurance market in Turkey.

“Looking ahead, my first aim is to grow the credit insurance market in Turkey and providing more services to the companies for their risk management.

Personally, I would like to add more skills to my repertoire, such as gaining experience in Fintech and insurance technology so that I can better support Coface with the fantastic opportunities that the future holds.”

Contact Details Company: Coface Sigorta A.S. Name: Emre Özer Email:emre.ozer@coface.com Web Address: www.coface.com.tr Address: Büyükdere Caddesi, Yapı Kredi Plaza B Blok Kat: 6 Levent – Beuiktau / Istanbul Telephone: +90 212 385 99 00

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EA160002

EA160024

Cloud Business Entrepreneur of the Year - Germany & Best Trade & Manufacturing SME ERP Systems Provider - Germany

Established in 1995, faveo is the Cloud Business Suite for the next generation.

We explore how the firm’s innovative solutions are changing the Cloud business market for the better.

Powered by Microsoft for small and medium companies in trade and manufacturing, faveo’s integrated solution combines all business-critical functions such as ERP, CRM, Office 365, server management, communication and collaboration in a cloud-based solution, In order to be successful in the wholesale trade, working with clients to achieve a viable buying arrangement is vital. In addition to the price of the solution today, the service level and the quality of product and service are among the key factors which draw clients in to faveo’s fantastic suite of products.

Ultimately, faveo 365, the firm’s flagship suite, is ideal for small and medium-sized companies in trade and manufacturing. The integrated solution combines all company-critical functions such as ERP, CRM, Office 365, communication and collaboration in a cloud-based solution.

Contact Details Company: faveo AG Address: Girardetstr. 2, 45131 Essen, Deutschland Phone: +49 (0) 201 47 86 0 Fax: +49 (0) 201 47 86 500 Email: info@faveo.de Website: www.faveo.com

Best SME Operational Software Vendor - South Africa & Business Alignment & Growth Specialist of the Year - Africa

Rifle-Shot Performance Holdings is a South Africa based business consulting, distributor, reseller and implementer of leading operational management software systems for large and medium businesses. We profile the firm and explore the range of solutions it provides.

Since 2001 Rifle-Shot has been a manufacturing activist, driving and assisting manufacturing and mining owners, transform themselves into leading world-class players, with sustainable, profitable businesses and creating legacies for the benefit of all. Our expert consulting, our world-class processes and best in class software solutions, offer business owners a unique opportunity to benefit from the growth in all economic conditions. Our customers include small, medium and large corporations in the public and private sectors.

The firm’s expert consulting, our processes and best in class software solutions, offer business owners a unique opportunity to benefit from the growth in all economic conditions. Customers who rely on the firm’s expert services include small, medium and large corporations in the public and private sectors.

Ultimately Rifle-Shot’s aim is to enable customers to see what they confront now, on this day, and what is coming and not just what they would have seen if it were last week or last month. This is accomplished by blending superior management consulting using subject matter experts with high value add niche software products and its unique and engaging project methodology, (Business Alignment and Growth), to effect exceptional operational performance in and with customers, and this will be the firm’s continued focus going forward.

Contact Details Name: Ian Huntly, Co-founder and CEO Email: Ian.huntly@rsph.co.za Web Address: www.rsph.co.za, www.ianhuntly. co.za Address: Suite 109, BryanPark Offices, 46 Grosvenor Rd. Bryanston, 2021, South Africa Telephone: 011 463 5073

CV Executive Awards 2016 l 17

EA160007

Most Innovative Human Relations Coordinator - Central Europe & Award for Excellence in Digital Education Initiatives

Magyar Telekom is Hungary’s largest telecoms provider, offering the full range of telecommunication and ICT services, including fixed-line and mobile phone, data transmission and non-voice, as well as IT and system integration services. Economist and Chief Human Resources Officer Éva Somorjai talks us through her role in the firm and how she has attributed to the firm’s impressive success.

Magyar Telekom supports a wide range of clients including residential and business customers, as well as large enterprise and other institutional clients who served by the firm’s subsidiary, T-Systems Hungary. Éva, who has worked for the firm for over 15 years and become CHRO nine years ago, discusses her leadership style and how she helps the firm to cultivate a collaborative and supportive culture.

“Here at Magyar Telekom we believe in partnerships, appreciating each other, creating value and demonstrating a service provider attitude. Today, collaboration is extremely important, as we need to cooperate not only across organizations or functions, but even across country borders, necessitated by the complexity of our tasks. The focus is always on serving customers. Our trainings and internal communication constantly stress the importance of listening to customers, and our team of internal ambassadors, consisting of employees, also strives to improve internal customer, i.e. employee satisfaction, since this impacts external customer experience.

“Personally with regards to my leadership style, I have a very simple theory about that: you can call yourself a leader, if you have followers. It is not difficult to verify whether your staff are supporting you; you just have to check whether someone is behind you, when you start to the direction of your choice. I also believe that good leaders contemplate, listen, consider, inspire and take a personal, humane approach, which is something I focus on constantly.”

Looking to the future, whilst the world of ICT is an industry where it is hard to make even short-term predictions, but Éva believes that the industry’s strong ties to the labour market and her firm’s market position will provide it with great opportunities going forward.

“Moving forward, as a HR Executive I consider it the greatest challenge to be how we can retain the people-focused nature of HR in the digital world, where an ever increasing number of processes can be put on online platforms, and how we can continue to provide a sense of security and perspective to our colleagues, as well as keep smiling even in the most difficult of times. This will be my focus in the future, as HR is always considered a kind of thermometer that measures the atmosphere in which the company must proceed.”

Contact Details Company: Magyar Telekom Ltd Name: Éva Somorjai Email: somorjai.eva@telekom.hu Web Address: www.telekom.hu Address: 1013 Budapest, Krisztina krt. 55., Hungary Telephone: +36 1 458-7130

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EA160008

Best Security VP 2016 - Ontario & Award for Excellence in Security Operations Management

Paragon Protection Ltd has a 40-year history of supplying uniformed security guards, consulting and investigation services to some of the most prestigious locations in and around the City of Toronto. We invited Senior Vice President of Operations Kevin Sanjari to tell us more.

Established in 1976, Paragon provides a wide range of professional security services to some of the most illustrious businesses and individuals in Canada, including Fortune 500, Fortune 100, real estate organizations and large property management companies. Kevin provides us with a fascinating overview of the firm’s history and how it came to achieve its current success.

“In the beginning Paragon Security operated like many of the other security operation companies in the City. We employed a centralized model of service that did not afford our client base the luxury of being operationally nimble.

We had lost some accounts due to this misalignment of services, which taught us to differentiate ourselves. Not understanding what made us different began our path to changing Paragon Security into the organization that it has become today.

to work with the teams to make them stronger and more resilient. It has worked for me through the past 29 years of my tenure with Paragon, and I cannot imagine changing that style now.”

Looking to the future, Kevin highlights the firm’s need for growth whilst outlining his focus on ensuring that the service quality which it prides itself on remains the same.

“Ultimately, expansion is a key focus for Paragon, but where and how to expand always begin discussions, that sometimes become circular in nature.

We have made a concerted effort to resource ourselves properly from a technology standpoint and are now in a great position to provide a high standard of service which meets the ever evolving needs of our clients.”

“Through trial and error, we discovered that the modular approach to service management allowed us to be client centric. It was an expensive model to employ but we began to see that the client experience was different, the internal client experience was different, and our long term employees began to take ownership of their respective areas of responsibility. We replicated the modular approach and turned that concept into a team approach.

Gone are the days of a centralized, "one stop fixes all" approach to service and client management. As such my management style is now highly collaborative. I listen, we listen constantly to our internal clients (directors, managers, administrators, schedulers, communications staff, mobile supervisors, security supervisors, and security guards) and I endeavour

Contact Details Company: Paragon Protection Ltd Name: Kevin Sanjari Email: KSanjari@pplguard.com Web Address: www.paragonsecurity.ca Address: 1210 Sheppard Avenue East, Suite 488, Toronto, Ontario M2K 1E3 Telephone: 416-498-2502

CV Executive Awards 2016 l 19

EA160010

Business Innovator of the Year 2016 - Global

Practical Innovation is an Israel based innovation specialist, whose Founder and CEO Tal Leizer is a leading innovation expert. We invited her to tell us more about her unique firm and the services it provides.

Established in 2008, Practical Innovation aims to introduce practicality into the world of innovation, and provide customers with effective innovation processes, from the creation of a new product concept, through the development process, and all the way to final product launch.

Tal’s practical attitude towards innovation was developed after years of experience as a client, as she explains.

“During my previous roles I witnessed so many failed innovation attempts, which resulted only in a great idea or a half-baked product which never reached the shelves. Practical Innovation was established to prove there is a different way to do it and to reap the benefits.

“Our processes begin by formulating exciting practical ideas. Any idea presented to the client is done with a detailed ‘recipe’ explaining the recommended way in which to produce it. This ‘recipe’ enables the immediate development of the new concept. In the following stages, we work with our clients step by step till the product or service is ‘on the shelf’ “This approach is relevant to any company, and many companies from various markets have already benefited from working with us; these include lighting, paints, faucets, Expended Polystyrene (EPS), coupling products, games, tea, baked goods, chocolate, dairy products, toiletries, wet wipes, health services, and many more. The capability to innovate is like trained muscles - we activate them every time in a different sector, and the results are always exciting and challenging.”

Alongside the firm’s main process, Breakthrough Innovation, the firm have also launched three additional specific processes to fit explicit needs: Boost

Innovation which aims to provide innovation to existing products or services; Golden Waste Innovation which offers golden ideas out of waste, as part of the global sustainability trend; and Process Innovation which infuses innovation into the company’s production process. Each company can decide which process is relevant and practical at any point in time.

Ultimately, Tal believes the firm’s international orientation is vital to the firm’s continued success, as she explains.

“Fundamentally we work with an international attitude. In all the processes the ideas are always for products that will be introduced for the first time in the world, and have never been contemplated before. This makes our processes relevant to any company anywhere that want to truly innovate.”

Contact Details Company: Practical Innovation Phone: +972-9-9550023 Mobile Tal Leizer: 972506508129 Fax: +972-9-9589150 Email: tal@prin.co.il Website: www.en.practicalinnovation.co.il

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EA160001

Best Multi-Media Automation Specialist

Studio K Productions is a multi-media automation firm founded by engineer, producer, author and photographer Dr Carl Catalano. We profile the firm and hear from Dr Catalano about the secrets behind its success.

Studio K Production LLC was established in 1996 by Dr Carl Catalano as a result of over 35 years of research, design, and development largely structured upon past experience that has evolved and shaped the firm’s growth, expansion, tested policies, in addition to learning and building upon capital growth expansion from our previous success that operates in a down-to-earth, serious, fun-loving perpetual motion towards success.

Dr Catalano is a very serious multimedia engineer-producer-author and recording artist who began performing, producing projects, developing information systems, and performed professionally for over 40 years; He enjoys entertaining his audience and performing or producing original music videos. Dr Catalano is well known in South Florida for nurturing his vast production and entertainment material.

Within the media industry currently, the changing boundaries are always a challenge, and as such in order to ensure that the firm continues to prosper Dr Catalano believes in constant innovation, as he explains.

“Fundamentally everyone within our industry must rely on or past benchmarks for continued growth and prosperity to reinvent ourselves and future perspectives while analyzing the costs of campaigns. Making the wrong business plan is costly when mistakes are made, reducing or losing the positive perspective values of imagination. Technologies “Moore’s Law” of the perpetual cycle of changing equipment values will certainly become quite expensive and leave little return on investment for each new customer.”

Moving forward Dr Catalano is

looking forward to future commercial development for the firm and is focused on producing and recording new material. As his final comment Dr Catalano outlines his pride in his success and excitement about the future.

“Ultimately, I am so proud we have been noticed for our many years of creative project development. It is great to be recognised for my hard work, and I have been fortunate to be able to work with many talented individuals over the course of my career, and in the future I am looking forward to the opportunity for more stimulating collaborations.

“Our future plans for expanding the multimedia production studio are focused on video streaming and marketing we are developing including live podcasts related to our produced works that will help poise for networking in the channel loop. We are currently working on a forth music CD and video to be released on our record label “SonicImpact Records” later in 2016.”

Contact Details Company: Studio K Productions LLC Address: 17476 SW 48th Street, Sunset Falls, Florida 33029-5191 Phone: 954.704.1247 Website: www.studiokpro.tv

CV Executive Awards 2016 l 21

EA160023

SME Consultant & Financial Director of the Year - The Midlands

SDI Displays Ltd SDI Displays create, make and install point-of-purchase, point-of-sale and retail displays. We invited Andrew Litchfield to tell us more.

SDI Displays is a Leicestershire based complete retail solution providing a wide variety of options to create a great shopping experience.

Andrew, who is a financial consultant outsourced from his company BH Consulting, which he established in 2015, outlines the role he plays in the company.

“My aim is to minimise the external cost to an entity of financial support by making them as efficient, and selfsufficient, as possible. I am providing the services of a Finance Director to SMEs, in both the manufacturing and services sectors, who do not require one on a full-time basis. My ultimate aim is to train staff to the point where they can function without me, at which point I can leave to start a new project.”

Having previously worked with a serial entrepreneur on multiple ventures and numerous acquisitions, disposals and other transactions, as well as managing the day-to-day finances of his various entities, Andrew has strong experience in this area. He talks us through the trends he is currently seeing in the finance consultancy market and the opportunity it creates: “Since I started my own consultancy business I have seen some unbelievably poor and inadequate support from small companies relying on external accountants for management information, often for an excessively high fee. As long as the desire is there, with a bit of guidance and training, business owners / bookkeepers / etc. can do far more for themselves. This can provide them with better quality information, on a more-timely basis and at a reduced

cost. As such I would like to prompt people / business owners to challenge the support and service they receive.”

Moving forward, Andrew’s aim is to continue to work with various firms, supporting them and sharing his knowledge and experience.

“Looking to the future I am keen to share my experience and to help educate and improve businesses across the corporate landscape.”

Contact Details Company: SDI Displays Ltd (re .FD) and Beaufort House Consulting (re. SME Consultant) Name: Andrew Litchfield Email: andrew.litchfield@sdidisplays.co.uk / andrew@bhconsulting.uk.com Web Address: www.sdidisplays.co.uk Address: Copt Oak Barn, Ridgefield Business Park, Nanpantan Rd, Copt Oak, Loughborough, LE12 9YE Telephone: SDI Displays – 0116 274 7040

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EA160017

Award for Excellence in Mining Executive Support & Best Mining Consultancy 2016

Tacmin Madini Ltd Sarel Blaauw is a senior partner, CEO, executive director and board level director for Tacmin Madini, who draws on over 30 years of experience specializing in mining, management and technical support to work as part of the mine owners team with the specific emphasis on adding shareholder value. We invited him to tell us more about his role and how he draws on his vast industry experience to ensure the continued success of his firm.

Over the last 20 years, Sarel has developed a reputation as one of the leading specialists in this industry and a well-known advisor to mining boards and executive management. His deep knowledge and practical experience in the open-pit mining and mine operational management is unique in this field. Sarel outlines how he started his firm, Tacmin Madini, drawing on his previous experience to build a foundation for success.

“As an expert in operational analysis and redesign, I have delivered business improvement services to open pit mining clients in platinum, gold, diamonds, copper, cobalt, phosphates, coal, fluorspar, manganese, iron ore, vanadium, PGM’s and chrome. I grew Tacmin from a start-up consulting firm into a multinational, multi-disciplinary company specialising in open pit mining, project management, mine engineering, EPCM contracting, reconciliation and business improvement. Assisting over 30 mines with mine optimisation, reducing costs and training of Clients personnel to develop sustainable optimal mining practices, totalling to aggregated savings of $300 million during operations improvement assignments since 1996.”

“During my former employ as executive director at MCC Contracts (Pty) Ltd, a South African open-pit contract mining firm, contributed to significant business developments, broaden their customer base and successfully procured numerous open-pit mining contracts which gave cause to a threefold increase in company revenue.”

Ultimately, in-spite of a global depressed commodity market, Tacmin Madini’s services continue to remain in demand

thanks to the firm’s low overhead and size, combined with the fact that the company’s service offering supports economic sustainability.

Recently Tacmin Madini celebrated its 20th Year Anniversary, which marks two decades of delivering innovative technology-based project management solutions to the mining industry. Moving forward Sarel is keen to build on his company’s sound track record of economic sustainability in an effort to support mining executives to encourage alignment to Sustainable Development Goals as adopted by the United Nations in September 1995.

Contact Details Company: Tacmin Madini Name: Sarel Blaauw Email: sblaauw@tacmingroup.com Web Address: www.tacmingroup.com Address: Regent Hill Office Park, Cnr Turley & Lesley Rd, Block B, 1st Floor, Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Telephone: +27 11 465 4464

CV Executive Awards 2016 l 23

EA160021

Best Disruptive Material Technology CEO - Europe & Thin Film Technology Company of the Year - Europe

ABCD TECHNOLOGY THIN FILM EQUIPMENT

ABCD Technology Sarl is a Swiss spin-off of EPFL providing disruptive equipment for deposition of complex 3D-shaped multi-element thin films. We spoke to DR. Giacomo Benvenuti to find out more about this innovative technology and the company behind it.

Established in 2006, ABCD Technology produces unique thin film vacuum deposition technology called the SYBILLA Series with chemical precursors in molecular beam environment to achieve complex, multi-element 3D patterned thin films in a single step.

The firm’s staff and network partners have worked to continuously improve the technology for over 15 years and have provided several solutions for both additive and combinatorial thin film growth. The tool is particularly suitable for top level R&D programs to develop new materials and architectures.

Giacomo explains how this approach has been critical in ensuring the company’s continued success.

“Here at ABCD Technology we are leaders not followers. In order to achieve anticipation of devices and markets trends and bypass bottlenecks competitors cannot address, technological and market knowledge is just not enough.

“As such the DNA of our company revolves around a strong understanding of different technologies and markets needs/ambitions on a wide range of verticals. We challenge common believes and introduce unique customised tools. Our ambition is to open new doors and enable a new start to our customers where we step in. To address this challenge, we have a multidisciplinary team dispatched throughout the various companies with top level skills in technological fields such as chemistry, physics, material science, engineering and complementary business fields. We also rely on top level board members from a wide range of fields that are acting as advisors.”

Giacomo, who describes himself as a disruptive innovator anticipating

emerging trends, likes to look beyond simply providing an incremental solution to a given problem. Instead he likes to challenge the problems by having a whole picture, anticipating all possible issues and scenarios, to provide an optimized, global, long lasting and high impact solution. This strategy is supported by a strong effort in Industrial Property protection, with two operating patents and eight pending ones. He discusses the future and how these projects, and others, will ensure that the firm remains at the forefront of innovation in the industry.

“Looking ahead, ABCD Technology, together with 3D-Oxides, are working on a new generation solution for IoT security and blockchains. It is a “tag” solution based on very complex material property fingerprints with possibly submicrometre resolution that enables to trace and authenticate people, objects and data. The solution can be packaged either as physical etiquettes for objects or as connected chips for cyber-security and cryptography. The added value of ABCD Technology equipment consists in combinatorial production (mass production of all different etiquettes) with additive growth process as the nano-patterning of the material would be very expensive to pattern in a second step process. Further from finally providing a technology able to address security for IoT, we also foresee many disruptive business models like VRM (Vendor Relation Management) or semantic web as each tag is unique and will provide a secured, traceable and authenticated bijective relation between the physical and the virtual world.”

Fundamentally, if optimisation is a short term and punctual process/objective, addressing very complex problems with long term planning, intensive risk/incertitude and in a fast evolving

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environment usually requires something more- a long term vision with strong flexibility to adapt to new conditions.

This is what ABCD Technology is providing; a very flexible equipment with several complementary processes able to address rapidly most of the bottlenecks thin film technologies are experiencing today and should address in the future. ABCD Technology brings to customers and partners a solution solving several problems simultaneously with the flexibility to stay competitive whatever might happen, and this will continue to be the firm’s aim going forward.

Contact Details Company: ABCD Technology Name: Giacomo Benvenuti Email: giacomo.benvenuti@abcdtechnology.com Web Address: www.abcd-technology. com Address: 12, route de Champ-Colin 1260 Nyon, Switzerland Telephone: +41-78 82 39 839

CV Executive Awards 2016 l 25

EA160020

Best IT Education Product Company President - USA

Bytes of Learning For over thirty years, Bytes of Learning has diligently researched, developed and published educational software technology for schools, enterprises and individuals, creating unique learning tools which draw on the vast industry experience of the firm’s President, Art Willer. We caught up with him to learn more about how he drives the company to success.

Since the recession of 2008, Bytes of Learning has focused its talent on the UltraKey product line, a computerbased typing instruction curriculum which is now available in online and desktop formats. Many industry experts, professional educators and users, regard UltraKey as the most effective and comprehensive typing instruction solution available.

Prior to taking on the role of President, Art gained a vast experience working in executive roles, and whilst he does not like to dwell on former mistakes, he is keen to draw on his past experience to ensure that he never makes the same mistake twice. It is this humble approach to leadership which makes Art such a great leader. He talks us through how he aims to ensure that his staff enjoy a supportive, collaborative working environment.

“Personally, I strive to be an authoritative leader as opposed to authoritarian.

Honesty is the first principle I follow, including being clear about what I can accept and consider, and what I cannot.

There is nothing worse than misleading staff to believe they are in a democracy, when they are not.

“That said, every member of our team is allowed to voice their opinion on any topic, and they are welcome to disagree with me or other members of the team, without fear of reprisal. Mutual respect is the order of the day.

“One of the best techniques I find in leading is to follow well. When a staff member has a point to make, I try very hard to listen to that point. It’s rarely a case where one party is completely

right and the other is wrong. More often, some aspect, however small, of a new approach or a new idea comes out of the discussion, often different from any ideas anybody had going in.”

Having worked in the technology market for many years, Art is in a strong position to see the challenges the market faces.

His is keen to emphasise the fact that despite the increased prevalence of technology in modern society, there is an ever pressing need for greater education and support on this topic.

“The development of affordable high speed Internet connection has made it possible for companies to change the way they do business, and for people to change the way they live their lives, which is a great force for good.

“Personally, I see a levelling off in truly new technologies or devices, but a continuing improvement in the technologies we have such as Internet cost and speed. This goes hand in hand with connectedness, including the ability for people to work from home or in satellite offices. We may even achieve the ultimate promise of technology, which is to have more leisure time.

“Ironically, the more technology people have, the less they know about that technology. We see a huge demand for forward thinking learning systems that help people cope with and take advantage of the tools that are available to them, which is providing a great opportunity for Bytes of Learning.”

As such, developing on the firm’s current success will be its aim going forward, as Art outlines.

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“Moving forward, we will continue to focus on our key aim, to position ourselves as a number one provider of educational software, online and offline, beginning with keyboarding instruction but continuing with other vital skill areas.

“As part of this we have recently launched UltraKey Online, which is catching a wide level of interest among educators, among enterprise trainers, and among individual consumers.

Our goal is to create the richest online learning experience people have ever encountered, and we have a number of ideas which will provide us with the means to achieve this, which we look forward to realising in the near future.”

Contact Details Company: Bytes of Learning Incorporated Name: Art Willer, M. Ed., President Email:artwiller@bytesoflearning.com Web Address: www.bytesoflearning.com Address: 24 Emerick Avenue, Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada L2A 2W3 In the U.S.: 266 Elmwood Avenue #256, Buffalo, New York 14222 Telephone: 800-465-6428, +905-947-4646; dial 2221 at the company greeting.

CV Executive Awards 2016 l 27

EA160019

Best Executive Education Specialist 2016

Knowledge Kinetics Inc is a consultancy and executive education firm run by global marketing, innovation, and strategy specialist Gaurav Bhalla, who talks us through the philosophy driving his company and how he applies it to his clients’ businesses to ensure their ongoing success.

Knowledge Kinetics is a corporate consultancy firm based around the vast experience of its owner and founder Gaurav Bhalla, who has worked around the world as a consultant, educator, entrepreneur, author, and speaker in leadership, marketing, strategy, and innovation for over 35 years.

Committed to learning and personal growth, he has helped executives and companies in over 30 countries solve complex business problems through the application of cutting-edge knowledge and ideas. Gaurav explains his philosophy and how he utilises this to help his clients, who include global corporate giants such as Citi, Deloitte, Glaxo, and Marriott, to innovate and explore how to grow and evolve in the most efficient, effective way possible.

“Personally, I have spent all my working life with one leg in the academic world and the other in the commercial world. As such I believe and have experienced how the application of cutting edge ideas to solving reallife business problems is crucial for gaining a competitive advantage.

The implementation of creative and innovative strategies enables organizations to win customers’ hearts, minds, and wallets. And when customers win, organizations win. Which is why I focus on helping and supporting my clients in a variety of sectors confront key challenges on the demand-side of their business – customer, competitors, and value offerings – through the application of relevant knowledge and contemporary ideas.”

Recent examples of companies who have sought Gaurav’s support include a multinational Fortune 500 bank seeking to become more customer-centric, and tailor their offerings to fit the needs of various market segments, regions, and

cultures in which the bank operates.

Another recent project involved working with a large global hospitality firm to innovate its client experience, by drawing on and applying the latest industry research on customer-journeys and customer experience mapping.

Working with businesses from around the world and in different sectors, Gaurav has developed a keen insight on how to innovate his own offerings and services to keep them relevant and meaningful for meeting the needs of his global clients. He offers two examples below, one from the field of consulting, and the other from the world of executive education.

“Currently in the consultancy market I am witnessing a greater emphasis on cultivating customer-centricity and becoming needs-seekers. Consequently, companies are more willing to transform their market mindset and operations, and to give primacy to customers.

More companies are operating with an outside-in mind set, i.e., starting first with what great experiences they want to deliver to their customers, then working backwards to designing and delivering those experiences through their technologies, products, and services.

The reason is simple, customer-centric companies always enjoy higher rates of growth and profitability than productcentric companies.”

“In the field of executive training, a transformational shift away from spot training, one or two-day courses, to continuous, ongoing training, with an emphasis on applying the training to real projects under implementation, or being considered, is gaining momentum.

Longer term training programs, where knowledge is disseminated over a period of weeks or even months, and

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applied to ongoing corporate projects, has two key advantages. First, it ensures that learning and the resultant understanding is retained for a longer period. Second, it offers companies a greater return on their training budgets, because the learning is now being used to improve the quality of design and implementation of strategic projects.”

Looking to the future, Gaurav intends to continue innovating, adapting, and evolving his service offerings as clients’ needs and markets change and evolve.

He shares his vision of his activities over the next few years.

“My focus going forward will be on areas that lie at the intersection of strategic issues increasing in importance to clients, and my core strengths, such

as digital transformation; co-creation and innovation; customer experience; and soulful leadership (a new narrative and model of leadership). I foresee continuing to help my clients strive for market leadership by assisting and guiding their marketing, innovation, and strategy programs and initiatives” In addition to his work as a consultant, educator, and executive coach, Gaurav is also a writer, published in both business and literature, as he outlines in his final comments.

“I have a new book launching early next year. The book’s theme is soulful leadership, and is titled, Awakening A Leader’s Soul: Learnings through Immortal Poems. I will be offering training courses, consulting, and

CV Executive Awards 2016 l 29

coaching support on soulful leadership.”

“Overall, I remain passionate, enthusiastic, and positive about the opportunities to help clients build stronger handshakes and relationships with both internal and external customers. Because, in the final analysis, the two biggest assets responsible for fuelling a company’s future growth and prosperity are its customers and employees.”

Contact Details Company: Knowledge Kinetics Inc Phone: (+1) 571 338 4234 Email: gaurav.bhalla@knowledgekinetics. com Website: www.gauravbhalla.com

EA160014

Best Investment Banking Advisory Managing Director - USA

Mark Boidman Peter J. Solomon Company (PJSC), an investment banking advisory firm, provides strategic advice to owners, Chief Executives, senior management and boards of directors of companies and institutions worldwide. We caught up with Mark Boidman, a Managing Director within the firm’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications Group, to learn more about some of his work in the fast-moving media space.

Established in 1989, PJSC is a New York based boutique investment banking firm that provides strategic advisory services to chief executive officers and senior management, owners of public and private companies, boards of directors, and special committees across a growing expanse of sectors.

Although well-known for its leading retail, media and technology practices, the firm has recently expanded into additional coverage areas that include energy and infrastructure. To date, PJSC has successfully completed more than 500 strategic and financial advisory assignments. Mark Boidman, a Partner, Managing Director and member of PJSC’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications Group, talks us through his team’s service offerings and sector specialization.

“The TMT team at PJSC represents clients throughout the media and technology industries; I pay particular attention to out of home (OOH) and digital out of home (DOOH) media and retail technology, including billboards and screens anywhere you find them outside of your home such as retail and public transit environments. We offer clients a combined 90 years of experience, having advised on a number of sector-shaping deals.”

“Our goal is to combine the partnership’s deep strategic knowledge and execution skills to reach the optimum value of a transaction and to create an enduring, trusted advisory relationship. Our advice is grounded in intellectual integrity and the commitment to the success of our clients is always paramount.”

Within the wider media and technology

markets there has been a trend towards converging digital, programmatic, mobile and location-based technologies to amplify business for companies that serve out of home media. This development is likely to provide several significant opportunities for deal activity around the world, as Mark is eager to explain.

“The global out of home media and retail tech industry is ripe for consolidation.

Against the backdrop of this dynamic landscape, we understand a key part of our role at PJSC is to provide clients with the knowledge and insights that will allow them to make well informed decisions with respect to their businesses.”

“Future trends that we are already anticipating include a move towards more targeted advertising which will link through social media sites to provide advertising aimed specifically at the individual positioned in front of a billboard or screen. Location-based technology is another huge growth opportunity as operators are placing digitized screens and advertising portals using mobile ad technologies to incorporate location data in places like transit hubs, entertainment and sports venues, and retail locations.

Fundamentally all of this adds up to a revolution in the market, which we here at PJSC look forward to supporting.”

At the beginning of this year PJSC entered into a combination agreement with Natixis, a French financial services firm owned by Groupe BPCE, France’s second largest financial institution, whereby Natixis acquired a 51% stake in PJSC. This has resulted in the creation of

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an enhanced global M&A advisory and financing platform, providing a number of opportunities for increased growth and product offerings.

“We now have the ability to leverage the Natixis platform and their presence in the global marketplace to provide clients with enhanced capital markets and financing capabilities – all while maintaining the unparalleled strategic advisory services that have defined us for nearly thirty years. We are excited for the future.”

Contact Details Company: Peter J. Solomon Address: 1345 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10105 Phone: (212) 508-1600 Fax: (212) 508-1633 Email: info@pjsc.com Website: www.pjsc.com Twitter: @PJSCtweets

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EA160013

Hospitality Businesswoman of the Year - Italy

UNA Hotel & Resorts is a market leading hospitality group based in Italy.

We caught up with CEO Elena David to find out the secrets behind her leadership success.

Established in 2000 to create a new Italian hotel group based on solid management skills, UNA Hotels & Resorts since the beginning has been known as an innovative operator with a strong identity defined through a careful and thorough work of marketing and communication and a clear strategy of management. Elena, who has been CEO since the firm’s inception 16 years ago, discusses her previous experience and how this.

“Personally, I graduated in Economics with a thesis analysing the grow of tourism in Tuscany, and this made me very passionate about tourism and influenced all my life. In 1990 I joined Starhotels as assistant to the financial director and became financial director and general manager of the hotel chain in 1998. Working for Starhotels I learned to work in a real hotel chain making marketing and communication real priorities, despite the fact that in Italy this approach was not very common at the time.

“As such I started to approach the hotel chain in an “industrial” and Anglo-Saxon way, dealing with costumer care and modern B2C models, and this shaped the way I still operate to this very day.

In July 2000, I was invited to take on the responsibility of developing and improving the Bonaparte Hotel Group chain of hotels, today known as the UNA Hotels & Resorts. Since this time I have been UNA Hotels and Resorts’ CEO, and together with the top management of the company, thanks to our strong focus on marketing and customer care, we were able to bring into the Italian market a hotel offering which in a very short time became easily identified with an exclusive experience for the guests, whether it was a stay for business or

leisure.”

For Elena, being a leader has always been strictly connected to giving value to people, and as such she operates a supportive, collaborative approach to leadership, as she empathises.

“Enhancing employees, giving them the possibility to express their full potential, is the best way to achieve better business performances. In addition, communication is key, and I am always keen to share the group’s vision - which aimed to introduce a new model of hospitality - and not hiding anything, both in good and bad times.

“Making people part of the project has always been a successful strategy, because it enforces their trust in the company, pushing them to work better and more gladly. A good working environment is fundamental because UNA’s idea of hospitality must be developed by people working in the hotels, in close contact with customers.

This is the reason why I have always tried to make them understand that everyone is responsible and an essential part of the success of this company.

People working for UNA Hotels know that they have to work hard, never give up and never settle, but continue learning. They have all grown up a lot here, they have seen their effort rewarded, and I try to set a good example to them, always trying to do more than my best.”

Currently the hospitality sector in Italy is very fragmented: we have many small hotels (more than 33.000), and this has a negative impact the tourism’s offer of the Country. Besides this, we aren’t very helped by the Government too.

In Italy we have unbelievable works

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of art, attractions and a lot of history, but all these great attractions are not promoted at all. Even if tourism in Italy is, and should be, considered one of the most important assets for the region, it has always been seen as a secondary market by the Government. The result is a lot of bureaucracy, the lack of a coherent legislation, and the lack of an efficient national tourism promotion institute.

Despite these challenges Elena is eager to continue to offer the very highest standards of service and create a hotel brand which people will come to revere. “Moving forward, our focus will continue to be providing the highest possible standards of service to every one of our visitors, in order to build upon our current success.�

Contact Details Company: UNA Hotels & Resorts Name: Elena David Email: info@unahotels.it Web Address: www.unahotels.it

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EA160015

Medical Communications Executive of the Year 2016 - UK & Medical Writers of the Year 2016

Rx Communications Ltd is a medical communications agency which was founded on a vision of excellence. We explore the firm and gain an insight into how it aims to always operate to the very highest standards as we speak to CEO Ruth Whittington.

Rx Communications Ltd started trading in 2000, with the vision to make healthcare evidence, particularly health economics and outcomes research data, accessible to all via excellent communication. The firm is the longest established medical communications agency that specialises in health economics and outcomes communications, as well as being among the most ethical and compliant medical communications agencies in healthcare today. As a boutique medical communications agency with a global reach, Rx has achieved a vast capacity while maintaining the highest possible standards. Yet Rx project managers treat all their clients as valuable individuals with unique needs, as Ruth is proud to emphasise.

“Here at Rx Communications we aim to lead in innovative healthcare communications and medical publications, strategic planning and management. We achieve this through our dedication to honesty and quality; we stick to what we are good at, and always let clients know if we can’t help them. That said, we do our very best to find affordable solutions for our clients at all times, even if it means recommending a different service.”

“We maintain high ethical standards; we follow GPP3 (Good Publication Practice version 3) guidelines and keep our clients and their clinician and academic authors on the straight and narrow. We will not give clients’ competitors their projects as work samples, we believe in and insist upon total confidentiality and information security from our team. We have also formalised our own Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to ensure the highest quality and consistency in delivering projects.”

“Fundamentally our networking model gives our clients the flexibility, capacity and dedicated resources to communicate information to any audience clearly, logically and accurately. We often utilise our writers in different time zones to deliver projects with urgent deadlines, that couldn’t be achieved otherwise.”

Ruth, an enthusiastic entrepreneur who is experienced in developing people and teams, enjoys seeing her colleagues excel, as she enthusiastically explains.

“I have a brilliant Senior Management Team who manage their own teams with skill and dedication to the highest quality work. We are constantly trying to grow our staff to become the best they can be, and we put a lot of effort and thought into how we can support them to develop both individually and as part of the overall Rx team. We consider both our internal and external editorial teams to be some of the best in the world of medical writing. With very strong internal review processes, an exceptional project management team working closely with our highly experienced writers, we have a winning formula that our clients appreciate.

My role is to find the new directions we need to go in order to stay ahead of the pack, anticipating what it is that our clients will need and want in the future to ensure that we always at the forefront of the market and are supporting our clients to the highest possible standard.”

Alongside offering a supportive, collaborative working environment for her staff, Ruth is also keen to support clients and ensure that they remain informed about developments within the industry.

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“In order to better support our clients we have just re-launched our website which, combined with active use of social media as we attend conferences and important events, is proving to be of great value for the healthcare community. We provide a constant stream of useful tips, commentary and educational information via Health Outcomes Communicator (HOC), our blog/newsletter. Our Beginners Guide series of booklets, designed to make health economics understandable (as it so often isn’t!) is currently being updated. These have been of great benefit to clients, who can customise them and, together with our suite of training tools, use them to bring their own staff up to speed.”

“As a company Rx Communications constantly goes beyond the expectations of a medical communications agency, delivering service levels that simply cannot be found elsewhere. Clients feel valued, respected and important. If feedback shows a need to improve our service, we implement it as fast as is humanly possible.”

Ultimately, Rx Communications is thrilled to have its work recognised and is honoured to have won this prestigious award. By constantly striving for excellence, the future for Rx Communications looks bright indeed.

Contact Details Company: Rx Communications Ltd Address: Hanrhys House, Main Road, New Brighton, Mold, Flintshire, UK, CH7 6QW Phone: +44 (0) 1352 706190 Fax: +44 (0) 1352 756260 Email: email@rxcomms.com Website: www.rxcomms.com

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EA160028

Best IT Security & Risk Management Business Leader - USA

VigiTrust is a Business to Business SaaS provider centred around helping enterprises achieve and maintain compliance and governance surrounding information security laws and standards. We Profile the firm, as well as its CEO and Founder Mathieu Gorge, examining the evolution of the firm and how it has come to achieve its current success.

VigiTrust and CEO Mathieu, have been providing information security and data compliance solutions for 13 years.

Bilingual and a French citizen, Mathieu has lived and worked in Ireland for nearly two decades, where he graduated in Business Studies with Languages at the University of Ulster. He is an established authority on IT security, risk management, information governance and compliance with more than 15 years’ experience in Europe, Australia, and the United States. Mathieu is a PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry-Data Security Standard) and data expert. In addition, he is also a published domain author, and international speaker and trainer on security, compliance and block-chain issues, such as Bitcoin currency.

In 2003, Mathieu founded VigiTrust which has, since then, altered its primary focus and is now a B2B SaaS provider of information risk and compliance software. VigiTrust has migrated from being a reputable Cyber Security consultancy organization to now being a market leading GRC (Governance, Risk and Compliance) software provider specializing in cloud based security compliance portals, providing education and awareness training, online security assessments and testing based on the VigiTrust Five Pillars of Security Framework©.

Fundamentally, Mathieu has been one of the pioneers in pushing the game-changing concept of continuous compliance. In order to bring it to the next Level, Mathieu has conceptualized very comprehensive and innovative continuous compliance platforms for PCI DSS (Payment card Industry), Data

Protection, 3rd Party Assurance and Vendor Risk Management. Together with the VigiTrust team, Mathieu was able showcase mid-market and enterprise GRC (Governance Risk Compliance) cloud based modular portals, which are disrupting the GRC market. VigiTrust believes that this is because the architecture of the solution, coupled with the security & compliance subject matter expertise of its team, make it really easy for CISOs, CSOs, PCI Program Managers and Compliance executives to make their GRC effort more robust, costeffective, scalable and future safe.

Despite limited barriers to entry in the market, but VigiTrust is now well establishedwith a strong reputation and a track record as an information security expert in a number of fields particularly PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards), eLearning for Security and Compliance Platforms.

Across the industry firms spend highly on marketing, however VigiTrust’s network and partnerships means that a fairly limited marketing spend can be maximized. Whilst VigiTrust cannot depend on patents to protect its technology, it does have an established reputation as security awareness and training specialists which would be difficult for other companies to replicate.

The technology that underpins the VigiTrust platform is continually evolving and hence VigiTrust can continually adapt and expand its services to meet the evolving needs of their customer base.

Moving Forward, VigiTrust plans to continue to grow and double again in the coming 12 months and further

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consolidate its place as a market leader in the GRC space in the US and in Europe. The firm continually innovates, adding new modules to its eLearning portfolio, incorporating new regulations and frameworks to its GRC tools especially around Vendor Risk Management, Fraud Management, and Incident Management, and this will remain its ongoing focus in the future.

Contact Details Company: VigiTrust Company: VigiTrust Name: Mathieu Gorge Email: Mathieu.gorge@vigitrust.com Web Address: vigitrust.com Address: 130 Cunningham House, Francis Street, Dublin 8, Ireland Telephone: 00 353 1 453 9143

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