CV January 2017

K

January 2017

IBB g Building for the Future

We speak to IBB Polish Building Wholesale Managing Director, Jacek Ambrozy and find out how he has led the company to its continued success. Page 8

Quercus Investment Partners Page 12 Eka Plus Page 14 - Noetica Page 76 TCI Express Page 16 Savills, Hong Kong Page 20 Aeon Astron Europe B.V. Page 72 Rodeo Visual Effects Page 81 FileHold Systems Inc. Page 85 CIBC Page 50

Believer in People Paul Black - sales-i Page 10

Leading by Example Sonia Couto - Konverge Page 18

Also in this issue (l to r): PKF Malta - Mr Simon Moyes - Solutions4Strategy - Cellnovo - Italmatch Chemicals Group - Noetica - Compass Lexicon - Essar Ports Ltd.

Editor’s Note

, Happy new year! Welcome to Corporate Vision Magazine in 2017. Our first edition of the year brings you the usual mix of latest news, company features and expert comment.

Giving readers some expert advice in the new year is Gary Turner, co-founder and managing director at Xero. He explains what small enterprises should do if they want to thrive in 2017. In addition to this, we look at the latest research from the Chartered Management Institute who reveal that 81% of managers have witnessed some form of gender discrimination or bias in their workplace in the past 12 months.

Elsewhere in this issue, we feature Jacek Ambrozy who is Managing Director of IBB Polish Building Wholesale. We learn how they have used technology, namely their IBBestimator mobile app, to be able to reach more customers in a quicker time.

Finally, we give you a roundup of other firms that have been successful in their sector. From the technology sector to the legal industry, there is something exciting for everyone in this edition.

I hope you enjoy this issue.

K

Matt Lewis, Editor Phone: +44 (0) 203 725 6842 Email: matthew.lewis@ai-globalmedia.com Website: www.corp-vis.com

2 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

Contents

, 4. News 8. IBB Building for the Future* 10. Believer in People 12. Renewing Interest in Renewable Investment 14. Pro-active Approach to Problem Solving 16. First Class Distribution 18. Leading by Example 20. The Real Estate Adviser of Choice 22. Enhancing the Community 24. Success in Securities 26. Driving a Coaching Culture Worldwide 28. Ocean of Possibilities 30. From Small MBO to Global Leaders 32. Excellence in Education for the University of Edinburgh 34. Raising the Bar for Bacardi 36. The Key to Success 38. Looking for Perfection 40. Small Details Make Big Differences 42. Innovative and Dynamic Services 44. Putting the Intellectual in IP 46. Positioning Your Patent Beyond The HorizonSM 48. Driving Innovation at Mullen Group 50. A Supplier Management Expert 52. Stand Up and Be Counted 53. Doing the Right Thing the Right Way The First Time 54. Improve Your Thinking And Your Career 55. Creative, Agile and Decisive 56. Get Your Hands Dirty at the Speed of Life 58. Success in the Skills Sector 59. Competing in the 21st Century 60. Excellence in Law Since 1984 62. Adding Expertise to Industry 63. Deeply Rooted in the Community 64. Leading the Way in Lead Generation 65. Universal IT Knowledge, Simplified for Your Business 66. Very Positive Adventure 68. Tube and Pipe Fabrication Solutions 70. Air Care 72. Transforming Quality of Life 73. Energizing the Healthcare Market 74. Leading Light in Life Sciences 76. Champions of Responsible Software 78. Secrets to Success 79. Leaving a Lasting Legacy in Litigation 80. Tenacity in Technical Services 81. Animating the Industry 82. Better Way to Treat Diabetes 84. Travelling in Style 85. Feature Rich, Yet Affordable 86. RegTech Transforming Regulatory Pain into Results 88. Towering Over the Competition 90. Learning Made Simple 91. Driving Through Success 92. Sarah Gould: Certified Commercial Consultancy 94. Always Offering More 95. Engineering Excellence 96. Transforming Talent Acquisition 97. Plastic Fantastic 98. Connecting Your Contacts 99. Sensing Success 100. Giving the Gift of Excellence 101. A Safer and Cleaner Workplace 102. Winner’s Directory

*

Jacek Ambrozy @IBB Polish Building Wholesale

NEWS

,

K

Four in Five Managers Have Witnessed Gender Discrimination or Bias in Past Year

New research reveals that four in five managers (81%) have witnessed some form of gender discrimination or bias at work in the past 12 months.

The survey of 851 UK managers, carried out by the Chartered Management Institute for its CMI Women campaign, found that inappropriate remarks, gender bias in recruitment and promotion decisions, and gender inequality in pay and rewards are still proving major barriers to gender equality in many organisations. This is despite the fact that bridging the gender gap in the UK by 2025 would add as much as £150bn to the economy. According to CMI Women, the UK economy will need two million new managers by 2024 – and 1.5 million will need to be women to achieve gender balance.

Asked what behaviours they had personally witnessed in the past 12 months, half (50%) of managers pointed to gender bias in recruitment/promotion decisions, while 42% said they had seen inequality in pay and rewards. Over two-thirds of managers (69%) said they saw women struggling to make their views heard in meetings, and four in five (81%) said they had witnessed inappropriate remarks (such as comments with sexualised overtones masquerading as ‘banter’).

While the research finds that men are less likely than women to witness gender discriminatory behaviour, it also reveals that progress is being made and there is a wider will for change, with the majority acting to promote gender balance: Minister for Women, Equalities and Early Years, Caroline Dinenage said: “Gender discrimination is completely unacceptable - women should never be held back just because of their gender.

Shining a light on this issue is absolutely key to achieving equality in the workplace, which is why we are introducing requirements on all large employers to publish their gender pay and bonus data from April.

4 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

NEWS

, “But equality is everyone’s business – and it benefits both men and women alike. Men have an important role to play in championing gender equality and this initiative will encourage even more men to actively drive this issue so that all employees can reach their full potential.‎” The survey shows male managers strongly support gender parity, with 84% in favour of a gender balanced workplace. The survey also reveals that three-quarters (75%) believe men in senior leadership roles have a particular responsibility to support the career development of talented women.

Ann Francke, CEO at CMI, said: “It’s amazing that four in five managers have witnessed some form of gender biased-behaviour at work in the past year. Achieving a better gender balance is essential to boosting the UK’s productivity, which lags far behind our G7 competitors. If we’re to meet this ambitious target, then managers at all levels must call out behaviour that discriminates against women and encourage equality within their workplace.

“Of course, there are many things that managers, and particularly men in senior roles, can do. There are the big things like championing better flexible working arrangements and sponsoring and mentoring women. But there are the everyday things, like giving everyone an equal chance to be heard in meetings, and to cut out the ‘locker room’ banter that is holding us all back.”

CMI Women has created ‘Blueprint for Balance’, an innovative open source tool that helps organisations achieve 50/50 management. According to the managers surveyed, the top five Blueprint for Balance interventions they think would lead to a gender balanced workforce are: • Flexible working – having a better work/life balance • Balanced recruitment – seeing different sorts of role models for leadership • Promoting leadership equality - recognising that work can have an emotional impact on employees

•

•

Mentoring and sponsorship – more opportunities for women Skills and career development - everyone having appropriate opportunities to contribute and be heard in meetings

Heather Melville, Chair of CMI Women and Director for Strategic Partnerships at RBS, commented: “We need men at every level as management to champion and support women rise up through the ranks and get their fair shot at reaching the top. Our Blueprint for Balance sets out the many ways that men can promote gender equality, strengthen their organisations and help us reach our target of 1.5m more women in management by 2024.”

Today’s research has been released to coincide with the second phase of CMI Women, ‘Men as Role Models’. Senior executives from leading UK businesses are lending their support to the initiative, encouraging men in management to be role models in the workplace and becoming everyday champions of women at work. They include: • Chris Stylianou, Chief Operating Office (UK and Ireland) of Sky • Michael Lewis, CEO of E.On Climate & Renewables • Martin Steadman, CEO of Nutmeg ‘Blueprint for Balance’ is a free online resource that allows employers to share information and learn from others the practices and policies that have helped improve gender balance in their organisations: www.managers.org. uk/cmi-women/blueprint-for-balance

Big Data Specialist Appoints New Managing Director The specialist data company, ITG Creator, was acquired in February 2016 by marketing technology and services company, Inspired Thinking Group (ITG).

Paul Kearney has been appointed Managing Director of London-based digital marketing company, ITG Creator.

The multi-award-winning company specialises in developing CRM Strategy as well as delivering complex, data-led digital marketing campaigns to clients such as Virgin Trains, TUI Holidays, Liberty Global Group as well as a number of global Pharmaceutical brands.

Kearney will take over responsibility for the company’s operations and customer service, while ITG Creator founder and CEO Mark Brennan shifts focus to developing new business and strategies that enable clients to deliver one-to-one personalised communications to customers.

Kearney joins from global engineering and project management giant Bechtel Corporation, where he spent three years in various senior roles, including Operations Director for large infrastructure projects in Gabon as well as being the Regional Manager.

A founding member of Inspired Thinking Group, from 2010 to 2013, he was the digital marketing director and prior to that he spent 16 years in the Royal Marines, where he set up, trained and commanded a 110-man spe-

cial forces unit and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel RM. He has spent a significant amount of his time on operations in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Simon Ward, CEO, Inspired Thinking Group, said: “We are delighted that Paul has re-joined the team, he is the ideal person to lead such a dynamic and fast growing company. His experience within ITG and his broader management experience in huge organisations will benefit the entire business as we continue to expand.”

ITG Creator is a London-based big data specialist that helps develop CRM strategies for bluechip clients by identifying revenue opportunities in their customer data, then executing heavily personalised creative strategies that engage with customers on a oneto-one basis to increase customer lifetime value.

It delivered four billion personalised emails, app push and text messages in 2016.

ITG Creator is the personalised marketing arm of Inspired Thinking Group, whose Media Centre marketing resource management technology automates the marketing operations of some of the world’s leading brands and retailers, including Marks & Spencers, Heineken, Audi, PUMA.

N

NEWS

,

Six New Year Resolutions for a Smarter Start-up

K

By Gary Turner, UK MD and co-founder of Xero

The infamous year 2016 is now behind us and we all have a fresh start moving into the new year one which could perhaps be one of the most unpredictable since the market crash in 2008. Low confidence and an anxious approach to ambition could stunt the growth of start-ups, so here are my key resolutions that small enterprises should adopt if they want to thrive in 2017.

1. Smarter marketing, not larger It’s good business sense to always look after the pennies, but with unknown economic territories ahead of us, it’s important for start-ups to tighten up the side of the business where thousands could be wasted when hundreds could take you further = marketing. Social media and SEO will be the most cost-effective ways to drive brand awareness, so invest in consultants and training sessions to help you cover the basics that will ensure your business is heard in a world full of competitors. What’s most important for you to take note of in these workshops is the efficiency of micro-targeting – put spend purely into targeting where your audience digests content and news. Don’t look to reach large numbers, look to reach relevant numbers.

2. Inspiration comes from the workplace It might sound simple; it might sound unimportant - but neither is true. Your working environment plays a huge role on your energy, motivation and inspiration – three characteristics you’ll need in bundles to take a start-up off the ground. Walk into offices up and down the country and they can be flooded with unnecessary paper, overcrowded desks, folders upon folders and general mess. Take action and declutter your office by taking more of your work online – with the rise of cloud-based services such as Google Docs, sharing working documents has never been easier. What’s more, the cloud has been utilised across industries, and some services even allow you to take your accounting spreadsheets and numbers purely within the cloud. This takes me nicely onto…

6 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

NEWS

, 3. Re-evaluate your business tools The beginning of the year is an opportune time to calculate all tools your business subscribes to, and analyse what’s working and what’s not. It could be that you’re paying for three different tools that can all be done by one, this will drive costs way down. For instance, Xero is a tool that allows you to take control of payroll, pay bills, send invoices, creating POs and more – it’s time to research what tools out there will optimise your business.

4. 2017 will be the year of networking Business owners will need to keep their finger on the pulse of trends that result from Article 50 being triggered. You can make predictions based on what you’ve read online and how your business has been performing, but to get a deeper understand and grasp on where trends will head, you will need to discuss the industry with your peers. Like Open Data, everyone will benefit from each other’s learnings and can adapt accordingly. SMBs are the backbone of the UK economy, and a united effort to thrive this year will help us prosper as we leave Europe.

5. Prioritise your employees’ happiness Hard workers are hard to come by. You’ll remember sitting in your office interviewing countless candidates who simply weren’t right for your company, so use that experience to treasure what you have now. Research what the larger organisations are doing and you’ll see a host of perk packages, health schemes and away days. While this is great and a real morale booster, employees really respond to one-on-one time with their boss. Simply showing your appreciation of their work and reassurance of their career path will give them the confidence to work for you, and the ambition to achieve for you.

6. Protect yourself against security threats Hackers and cyberattacks are becoming more sophisticated by the day, and the threat of a data breach is more likely than ever before. It’s vital that businesses of all sizes who use online and financial services ensure they have strong security practices.

Using the most up to date virus protection and firewalls is a given, but extra layers of security such as multi-factor authentication (requiring a username and password as well as a piece of information that only the user knows) can help your accounts from being compromised by phishing and malware.

Gary Turner is co-founder and managing director at Xero.

The World’s First LIVE Global Platform Connecting Coach & Tour Operators TripCenter.net Revolutionises the Group Travel Organisation Booking Process TripCenter.net is a new ground-breaking service set to completely transform the way GTOs (Group Travel Organisations) book group travel tours. The revolutionary portal condenses a complicated booking process into a straight-forward, time efficient system that will save time and money throughout the group travel sector in a way that has never been seen before.

This first of its kind service will transform the travel marketplace and provide a much-needed bridge between global demand and local supply. Whatever the requirement, whether a coach trip around the UK or another continent, TripCenter.net will offer a live, real-time solution for group tours. TripCenter.net will change the way coaches are booked across the globe and access to the platform is completely FREE to tour operators around the world.

Traditionally, GTOs are forced to spend precious time and resources manually searching for local coach operators and tour guides across the globe. TripCenter.net collates a complete selection of verified and approved coach and tour operators, eliminating the need for pain-staking research and completely re-inventing the way GTOs book their itineraries.

Chirag Golwala, travel tech innovator & entrepreneur has spent two and a half years developing

the platform. He says: “We know that coach operators currently function at around a 62% utilisation rate throughout the year.

TripCenter.net will help optimise coach utilisation rates for owners and businesses. We want to bring more business and exposure to operators all around the world.”

The cost of a trip is firmly agreed during the instantaneous booking process, reducing the risk of loss of earnings. This is a challenge in current industry practise for GTOs, where post-trip payment can leave room for confusion over costs. However, with TripCenter. net, once a booking is made a 10% deposit is taken and the remaining balance paid prior to departure, eliminating uncertainty.

While the back-end of TripCenter. net is highly complex, years of work have gone into making the site as easy to use as possible.

The interface for users is simple yet comprehensive. There is no charge for GTOs and suppliers pay only a small commission upon confirmed bookings. All users are verified by TripCenter.net to ensure a quality standard of service.

The time-consuming process of booking group tours across the globe once acted as a deterrent to those wanting to explore. TripCenter.net eliminates this issue, empowering users with the ability to organise global travel with the click of a button.

N

1611CV10

,

IBB Building for the Future As Managing Director, Jacek Ambrozy has led IBB Polish Building Wholesale, a company responsible for supporting construction businesses with their material needs, to continued success. With the expansion of their brand through various elements, IBB is hitting new

Established in 2005, IBB Polish Building Wholesale (IBB) supports small and medium-sized construction businesses with all of their wholesale material needs. Having had experience in conducting construction works in many European countries, including Poland, Sweden, Germany and UK, the company decided to establish economic foundations through the import of construction materials. The firm has four branches in the UK – London, Croydon, Birmingham and Manchester.

At first, these materials were mainly imported from Poland but have since expanded into other countries. The imported materials have to meet the following conditions. Firstly, they have to be the same quality but at a lower price, they have to complete the diversity of the products available on the market and have a better quality than the materials available so far. All of these goals, which the company has consistently achieved for more than ten years, has allowed us to build a base of over 10,000 customers, builders, investors etc. and the prospect of approximately 7,000 building materials.

As the owner and managing director, Jacek Ambrozy speaks to us about his role and how this affects the business goals of the company.

“My role is to set goals for the company and clearly set our mission on the market. The next challenge is to find and build tools to allow us to reach these goals.

Maintaining high standards in ethics and innovation are our main objectives, which are the same as building sector goals everywhere. Both of them have to be regularly implemented to the construction sector to build its strength and its position in the UK economy. Professional behaviour and open mindedness are important characteristics of every builder.”

• Jacek explains how the IBB has expanded their brand. The firm has implemented many components which have greatly benefited the business including software tools, a mobile app and magazine.

“Our aim is to be the first builders merchant in the world selling materials with a small margin.

Our customers subscribe to our PRO version of IBBestimator app – we are giving them the best building material prices on the market. The deal has been going for two years now. More and more customers understand the idea which benefits both of us.”

Other brand components include: • IBBestimator – An online construction software, estimation tool, built by builders for builders and investors.

This mobile

8 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

•

application makes life easier for customers. The app has many features which include estimating labour, materials, plant and tools and overheads equipment, filtering estimates using the convenient onhide-off options, generating automatic workload and work schedules, description of the building object, the description of construction work covered by the calculation and archiving estimates - having access to the saved, written estimates and editing IBBBuilder – company monthly magazine 64+4 pages, 5k copies every month and online versions. The magazine provides excellent advertising opportunities for construction related businesses and is a great way to reach local building trade. It is read on a regular basis by IBB Polish Building Wholesale customers, builders, architects, developers and all involved in the construction industry.

IBBTherm – new innovative brand for External Render Insulation System materials; joining other companies to lower their CO2 footprint.

Products are based on a special combination of ingredients that allow for easy application, whilst maintaining good adhesion to the substrate. Properly configured additives regulate

•

•

•

the time that products take to work, and enable easy application on every type of surface especially important in case of rendering, where the desired structure must be obtained without risk of premature binding.

Earn with IBB – networking program available 24/7 online.

If customers recommend IBB, we receive extra income as a commission IBB Polonia London VC – volleyball team are currently English champions in 2016 IBB Polonia London FC – the main sponsor of young football teams

The IBBestimator mobile app was launched over two years ago and has been a tremendous success for IBB as more customers have been reached in a quicker time period. The app contains a base of construction specialists and prices of building materials. Customers can use the app to perform a quick and professional valuation of construction works or download the latest edition of IBBBuilder company monthly magazine.

Technology is important to IBB. The firm uses their own software for their accounts, stock control, client database and emailing system. In addition, all their branches have installed online CCTV systems and all the company’s vans are working under track online and mobile control.

g IBB Building for the Future

As well as technology, there are other challenges in the industry over the last few years which have affected IBB including change in customer needs and business relationships. However, Jacek acknowledges that the main issue that is most concerning to the construction industry is Brexit.

“The latest challenge not only for us but also for all UK citizens are the changes affecting the construction industry after Brexit.

We believe that the costs of the decision to leave the EU will be paid by weak companies and ordinary citizens. We are doing what we can to keep tight material prices and not increase them, which I feel should be a duty for all UK businesses. IBB are keeping well aware of any economy changes in the UK after Brexit,” Jacek comments. “For everyone in business, our main challenge is our competitors.

Thanks to them, we strive to maintain development so I wish all the best to my competitors.”

Ethics is something which Jacek believes is the most important aspect of any business. “It’s not possible to be perfect all the time.

We are human,” says Jacek. “But how we deal with problems, how we resolve them and how we deal with other people, makes us successful businessmen and gentlemen. Ethically, this helps us to achieve our goals.

Through online construction software, an app and online magazine, IBB’s brand is getting stronger and the company can look forward to a bright future.

Company: IBB Polish Building Wholesale Name: Jacek Ambrozy Email: ja@ibb.pl Web Address: www.ibb.uk Address: 18 Gorst Road, London NW10 6LE Telephone: 020 8965 7972

##

“In addition to ethics, it is important for our company to continue to innovate, work hard and keep an open mind in order to build a successful team. To keep the business going, the UK has to be free and open for others.”

1701CV36

,

Believer in People sales-i was established back in 2008 by Paul Black and has since grown into a worldwide company. Paul Black chatted to us about the success the company has experienced and what the challenges have been to become CEO. In short, sales-i is a unique sales performance tool that proactively tracks and monitors customer purchasing behaviour, fed entirely by data that comes primarily from a company’s ERP system, including the likes of Sage, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, amongst others. Their software fuels the typical product-based salesperson with instant, actionable sales information. This information can be used to make every sales call more personal and profitable. Paul Black, founder of the firm, explains more about what they do and how they engage with clients.

“Our customers are distributors, manufacturers, and wholesalers in product-based industries.

As such, the size and diversity of our customer base is huge, from our smallest customer at around £1.5m annual turnover to corporate giants tipping the scale at £20bn in turnover.

“Companies in these sectors often have hundreds of thousands of customers, products, and invoices, so information overload is one of their biggest challenges.

Our software condenses complex information for the typical ‘low tech’ user, and presents it in simple, actionable information.

“Most salespeople, at some point or another, will have had to choose between a good night’s sleep or being fully prepared ahead of their 9am sales meeting.

The process of trawling through spreadsheets, sales reports, and customer information until the small hours of the morning is becoming a thing of the past thanks to sales-i.

“As CEO of sales-i, I am heavily involved in all aspects of the company, including recruitment/

retention, sales, marketing, building our local network of partners and, most importantly, executing my vision for the business by ensuring those around me are as vested in its future as I am.”

Hiring the right staff is important to Paul. He explains to us why he believes that the people who work for him ensure his business is successful.

“I am a huge believer that people make a business a success. The sales-i team are an incredibly talented bunch of people. Simply put, I only employ staff that are better at fulfilling a certain role than I would be!

“All my business success stems from employing the right people, and everything that hasn’t gone quite so well is often down to employing the wrong people.

The team are what makes sales-i and without them, I wouldn’t be winning this award today.

“As a company, we invest heavily in people, their development, and careers, whether through training courses, support, or mentoring. Like with our product, we are always looking for ways to improve. Positive change is the key to any successful business.

I encourage the team at sales-i to learn from each other, the industry, and our customers.

Being successful isn’t a trait that you can develop overnight, and so I encourage the team to constantly learn from their experiences. Fail, but fail fast.

Learn from it, improve, and move on. If anything, that’s my key principle: fail, but fail fast.”

As well as being a believer in people, Paul outlines the other key attributes that he believes have helped him to become an award winning CEO.

10 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

“Being adaptable and able to use the tools and materials at my disposal has been an integral part of my success. These range from my employees, material resources, and finance. Taking full advantage of them, and using them wisely for the improvement of sales-i, has been key.

“As I mentioned before, I believe we should all learn to ‘fail fast’, and that’s truer than ever for myself, too. Failing is part of the learning process: we fail, we learn from it, and we move on.

We quickly learn not to make the same mistakes again.

“The sales-i office is a fluid environment - my door is always open to the team. We all have a good time at work, and while it’s a fun place to be, we’re all very committed and really care about seeing sales-i progress on this journey.”

“As a CEO, overcoming challenges has been crucial to my own and the company’s success. In the early days, financial constraints were frustrating at times – as is the case for many technology startups. Before developing sales-i, I secured a funding grant and used this to research my target markets, allowing me to finetune my ideas and ensure the idea for sales-i was a solid one. I then approached angel investors to fund the development and inception of the product.

“Hiring the right employees can also be tough sometimes. I want my employees to not be afraid of making mistakes because it’s so crucial to growth, both personally and professionally. Enlisting a top-level board of directors was also a significant challenge. I needed the right experience, characteristics, and personalities to sit on the board, and thankfully

that is what we have now: an extensive team of non-executive directors.

“Opening our US office in Chicago was a huge challenge.

Branching out into the US is a decision rarely contemplated by other UK businesses, but one that has helped me to grow and develop my skills as a business leader. Our office in Chicago now employs a team of over 25 and continues to grow every month.”

Another challenge for Paul is the impact of industry changes on the business. Paul explains more about how the industry has changed over the years.

“The industry has changed a huge amount in the last few years. The world is becoming incredibly timecentric and our time is becoming increasingly precious. This has directly impacted my business; people are more aware than ever of their professional lives eating into their personal ones.

That’s what sales-i changes. Our customers don’t have the time or inclination to interrogate multiple spreadsheets full of sales data.

Who does? We’re giving time back to busy salespeople and giving them more time to spend at home with their families while sales-i does all the legwork ahead of their sales meetings.

“Inbound marketing is also becoming increasingly important, and this is something we’re very aware of within sales-i. Sales and marketing are no longer highpressure push models, but one that sees contacts lovingly nurtured, from their initial contact with us through to becoming a customer.

“The internationalisation of the world has played a huge role at sales-i, mostly to our advantage. It has opened new markets and territories for us that we wouldn’t have

g Believer in People

previously considered possible to sell into. That, coupled with the advancements in technology, has meant that we can now sell sales-i anywhere in the world.

“Buyers increasingly want, and have come to expect, more from us as their supplier. So we’re always working to get regular feedback on features and gathering fresh ideas from our customers and prospects.

We currently have three full-time product managers and a product analyst for this very reason.

They concentrate on nothing but developing and improving sales-i for our customers. Some of our biggest and best features have resulted from customer suggestions.

New product developments and enhancements are something I will always be involved in, from start to finish.”

On a personal level, Paul has set some key milestones in growing sales-i as a company over the next few years. These are as follows: • Grow to a customer base of 3,000 companies within 18 months • Grow to £66m ($100m) in turnover within the next two years • Develop a world-class customer ‘stickiness’ of 98% • Have the company trade sale ready and look towards my next project • Have succession plans in place for all key members of the team • Have 50+% of the employees owning share options in sales-i In the future, Paul outlines some of the company’s plans and where they expect to grow in 2017 and beyond.

“From a product point of view, we have just launched purchase-i and are busy working away on a brand-new addition to our portfolio that will be in the same vein as sales-i. It will be launched in the very near future – watch this space!”

Company: sales-i Name: Paul Black Email: tellmemore@sales-i.com Web Address: www.sales-i.com Address: sales-i, Prologis House, 1 Monkspath Hall Road, Solihull, West Midlands, B90 4FY Telephone: 0845 508 7355

##

“I want sales-i to become a workplace of choice and continue to develop the product further. I’m never satisfied, so in my mind, sales-i is nowhere near being finished yet. We will continue increasing our employee base in the UK, the US, and mainland Europe, particularly in regards to development and delivery.

Australasia is also becoming a hotspot.

1612CV30

,

Renewing Interest in Renewable Investment Quercus Investment Partners specializes in utility-scale renewable energy infrastructure investments. European CEO of the Year, UK and Co-Founder Diego Biasi talks us through his role in the firm’s success and its flagship fund.

Created in 2010, Quercus is a specialised renewable energy fund which has so far raised Eur 200 ml through two subsidiary funds, which have both now been closed, with all proceeds having been invested successfully. Diego outlines the fund’s strategy and how it aims to ensure the best possible return on investment for its clients.

“Here at Quercus out strategy is to consolidate assets in three big platforms: an Italian solar one, Italian wind one and a European (Scandinavia, UK and Italy) multitechnology one focusing on the wind, biomass and solar markets.

The purpose is to optimise the return and deliver a biannual dividend to investors for at least 10 years. The strategy for the three active funds is acquisition of operating assets with three to five years of track record in order to ensure that all of our assets have long term proven success, which helps mitigate risk.”

With offices in s based in Luxembourg, London, Milan and Rome and a team of around 30 staff, Quercus supports exclusively institutional investors from around the world. It is the expertise of these staff which Diego harnesses through his masterful leadership to ensure that everyone operates to the

best of their ability and supports clients as much as possible, as Diego explains.

and working hard are central to being a top CEO.

“The team at Quercus is made of very experienced Managers in the energy and renewable energy sector. Each of the Senior Managers has on average 20 years’ experience in both the European and international markets, ensuring that clients get the best support and investment advice possible.

“In order to be a strong and productive leader you need to be highly determined, working productively for long hours (on average I work 120 hours a week) and sleeping for only few hours a day. Positive thinking and always being always highly focused are also key as they ensure that you are always looking to your goals and realising them.”

“My personal challenges as CEO revolve around ensuring that I hire the very best talent on the market and that I support them to ensure that they fulfil their full potential. I work hard to ensure that I always listen to and get to know my staff, and that I work collaboratively alongside them in order to use their expertise to make the company go further.”

Alongside his work at Quercus Diego founded a charity foundation last year to support poor children with critical illnesses, as he firmly believes that everyone has to give back at some stage, especially if they have had a lot of success in life. Juggling this with a busy social life which includes sports, visiting church once a week and meditating every day before work can be challenging, but he believes that being determined

12 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

Ultimately, the renewable energy investment market continues to develop and is becoming increasingly competitive, offering a wide range of opportunities for firms such as Quercus, as Diego concludes.

“The team at Quercus is made of very experienced Managers in the energy and renewable energy sector. possible.”

“Overall, our aim here at Quercus is to become one of the top players in the renewable energy market worldwide. I will be launching new funds in the next two years to work outside Europe in order to achieve this ambitious target.

“Personally, I have an equally exciting future ahead of me, as I believe that my charity foundation will develop a lot in the foreseeable future. In the first year it has raised over GBP 500,000. I will be able to help many children around the world though the foundation to give them the possibility to have a future as bright as I have, or even more.”

£ €

g

Renewing Interest in Renewable Investment

##

Company: Quercus Investment Partners Name: Diego Biasi Email: diego.biasi@quercus-partners.com Web Address: www.quercus-partners.com and www.quercusassetsselection.com Address: 11 Albemarle St, London W1S 4HH Telephone: +44 20 7871 4533

1701CV16

,

Pro-active Approach to Problem Solving Eka’s solutions provide the analytical and operational tools commodities companies need to manage today’s complex and volatile markets. Eka’s best-of-breed solutions manage commodity trading, enterprise risk, compliance, procurement, supply chain, operations, logistics, bulk handling, processing, and decision support. Executive VP and CMO Michael Schwartz, discusses how Eka has become an award winning firm.

With a team of 315 staff with offices in the Americas, Asia, Australia, and EMEA, Eka is the global leader in providing Smart Commodity Management software solutions. The company has over 50 tier one customers in agriculture, energy, bulk, and metals and mining. Michael Schwartz spoke to us in more depth about the reasons behind their success.

“We are very excited to receive this recognition for our Commodity Analytics Cloud solution. Eka has redefined the commodities trading market by creating commodity value chain specific analytics to answer commodity market participants’ most important questions. To remain competitive in today’s complex and volatile markets, commodities companies need advanced analytics to make better, faster, fact-based decisions.

“Commodity Analytics Cloud brings together data from across the value chain, including CTRM, ETRM, ERP, CRM, treasury, and spreadsheets. Users can leverage complex algorithms and predictive models quickly and efficiently. A generic business intelligence application requires millions of dollars and countless hours to develop the algorithms for a commodity-specific analytics solution.

“Eka has created a series of apps specifically designed for commodity value chains that address high value business issues. Providing an end-to-end analysis of the entire enterprise, these apps span multiple categories including positions, P&L, trading, procurement, risk, credit, finance, supply chain, reconciliation, counterparties, and more. With Commodity Analytics Cloud, users can uncover opportunities otherwise unavailable and reveal invisible risks faster and more effectively.

“Artificial intelligence (AI) is the next step to helping our customers answer questions they couldn’t answer before. The unprecedented volume, variety and velocity of data available from sensors, social media, and mobile devices require analytic abilities beyond conventional tools. Advanced algorithms with the ability to learn are required to make sense of so much unstructured data and provide insight to enable better decision making.”

Eka’s team is a cross section of experts in industry, analytics, technology, and commodities. As well as having the experience of these experts, Michael explains the other reasons that help Eka stand out from their competitors.

“Our solutions were developed based on the technology gaps we experienced in industry and conversations with our

14 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

partners and customers. Many competitors are pitching generic BI or ERP systems to manage commodity analytics, but these systems are not designed for the complexity of commodity management. Commodities are not priced like other goods.

Unlike most manufacturing businesses where the price of goods is known throughout the supply chain, unpriced and partially priced positions cause core differences in the way a commodity is bought, sold, shipped, stored, invoiced, accounted for, and valued throughout the supply chain.

ERP and generic BI solutions have no way to account for the fact that prices will change in the future. BI solutions’ strength is in integrating neatly structured data from various sources – not interpreting unstructured formats and external sources that now inform commodities markets.

and the techniques Eka employs to ensure they stay ahead of any emerging developments.

“Eka’s Commodity Analytics Cloud provides five times the value of a generic BI system or a heavily customized ERP solution.

It provides the insight business users require to make better, fact-based decisions. It’s also less expensive to implement, easier to use, and provides a quicker return on investment.”

“We invest over 20 percent of revenue each year in R&D, exploring innovative technology and testing new ideas to improve efficiency, effectiveness and profits. For example, in 2016 we started a drone pilot project with the University of Adelaide because we saw tremendous potential replacing manual scans and piloted aircrafts with drones.

Based on our tests, we know that drones can complete a scan at 50% the cost in 50% of the time. At Eka, innovation is the cornerstone of our organization.”

Technology is constantly changing, therefore companies need to adapt to changes if they are to thrive.

Eka is no exception. Michael shares his thoughts on the industry

“Most commodity trading companies are still relying on first generation CTRM systems, spreadsheets, generic BI solution and ERP systems to collect and analyse data. Commodity markets are fast-paced, data-intensive, and volatile, making tracking and analysing data challenging. First generation systems and solutions that are not designed specifically for commodity markets require a lot of manual manipulation – both time consuming and error prone – to gain visibility into commodities throughout the value chain.

Additionally, the volume, velocity and variety of data is expanding every day, pushing commodities companies towards cloud-based services and advanced analytics to be able to make sense of all that data.

g Pro-active Approach to Problem Solving

“Eka has offices all over the world where we adopt leading edge technology in each region. We have a strong team of industry experts focused on innovation, customer satisfaction, and new opportunities. Eka fosters an entrepreneurial mind set, encouraging creativity and a proactive approach to problem solving. Collaboration is the norm, with employees reaching out to team members around the world to help solve problems.

Team building goes beyond working together, and frequent after hours gatherings foster networking and camaraderie.

“Eka hires innovators, perfectionists with eagle eyes, and technologists with a keen interest in the making commodity value chains more efficient. We offer exciting opportunities to be part of new technology in a growing industry. Our employees are members of a team of highly energized, enthusiastic and focused individuals working on challenging and exciting projects and innovative technology.”

Moving forward, Michael outlines the developments he foresees in the technology industry, as well as telling us how Eka will adapt to these changes.

“We have entered the fourth industrial age, the age of the SMAC stack. Unlike the smokestacks of manufacturing plants, the SMAC stack is all about technology - social networks, mobile apps and machine-to-machine connectivity, advanced analytics driven by big data, and cloud-enabled technology.

In 2017, companies’ big gains in efficiency and productivity will come from advances in the SMAC stack. Advances like artificial intelligence will enable companies to analyse more data faster, enabling even better decision making.

“Many of Commodity Analytics Cloud’s core principles leverage the SMAC stack. Commodity Analytics Cloud is a cloud-based solution that can be accessed on mobile devices. Its analytics engine is driven by advanced algorithms and machine learning, and the cloud-based platform collects and processes the volume and velocity of data generated throughout the value chain each day. The proliferation of mobile includes the rapidly expanding number of devices connected through the Internet of Things. This machine-tomachine communication enables real-time data to be captured and processed by Eka’s solution from even the remotest or most hazardous locations in the supply chain.”

Michael concludes the interview by telling us all about how their willingness to embrace technology and their experience in commodity markets will bring about continued success in the future.

“Commodity markets will remain volatile with tight margins and commodity trading companies will continue to seek ways to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Eka’s solutions deliver results and demand for our products is growing. In the fourth quarter alone, we opened three new offices in Europe and North America to support rapid growth in those regions. We will continue to embrace new technology to enhance commodity planning, including accessing data from the Internet of Things and developing artificial intelligence to improve our commodity intelligence engine.

“Eka leveraged our expertise in commodity markets to create an analytics platform that answers commodity trading companies’ most important questions.

Commodity Analytics Cloud collects and analyses data from disparate systems and this technology has applications beyond commodity value chains. In the future, I could see expanding our analytics cloud offering to all companies with complex value chains.”

Company: Eka Name: Michael Schwartz Email: Michael.schwartz@ekaplus.com Web Address: www.ekaplus.com

##

As well as technology, staff also play an important role at Eka. Michael describes the firms approach to ensuring they hire the right staff who share the firm’s goals and mentality.

1701CV09

,

First Class Distribution TCIEXPRESS is a specialist and leader in express distribution in India. The entire spectrum of services comprising domestic and international air, e-commerce, priority and reverse express services to the consumers’ fingertips. Award winning Managing Director, Mr Chander Agarwal chats to us about how he has contributed to the business.

The history of TCIEXPRESS can be traced to 1958 when one man, one truck and one office came up in Calcutta, India. It may not have been a very inspiring effort but clearly the small fledgling was destined for bigger things. It was not long before it grew into a company of substance, and later still, into one of India’s leading Express transportation, and logistics provider with a global presence. Today, it has spawned into a multi-office, multi-vehicle organisation with reach in 202 countries and the ability to service 670 of India’s 675 districts. There are more than 2,000 skilled personnel and a slew of initiatives that make TCIEXPRESS a powerful brand.

become much more organised.

There is still a large scope for automation, robotics, and IIOT which I see becoming a daily requirement of the industry. We ourselves have invested heavily in technology and this becomes our differentiator among others.

Known in the country for on-time delivery services, TCIEXPRESS makes it a reality by following well-connected routes for prompt movement of cargo through a hub-and-spoke distribution model.

The company services clients across all industry verticals such as automobile, pharmaceuticals, retail, electrical and energy, telecom, engineering, and e-commerce industry to name a few.

“The industry is going through an exciting phase. The rise of e-commerce and online platforms are boosting demand and generating the constant urgency for mass delivery of products. The market for logistics is definitely growing at an exponential pace and will continue for the next few years.

According to Chander, the logistics industry has evolved over the years. He examines how he thinks the industry has altered since TCIExpress was founded and how this has affected business.

“One of the shifts that I have seen is in the adoption of technology.

I think the industry has moved beyond the old practices and has

“Additionally, the new age businesses such as e-commerce have grown so rapidly across the world that it is difficult to imagine a world now without it. Given liberalisation, the government’s efforts to improve infrastructure and connectivity and increasing ease of doing business in India, I see much more happening in the near and distant future. We are getting future ready too and will strive to maintain our leadership position in the market.”

“Having said that I also foresee certain challenges in the current environment which might hamper the growth of the industry. Firstly, the infrastructure needs to be strengthened and modernized provisioning huge demands.

Secondly, some players still adhere to the conventional mode of operations which affects overall industry growth. They will need to adopt the next practices in order to be compliant and adept with changing global norms.”

16 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

Chander believes that technology is important to maintain the highest standards, however overall in the sector it is not always used efficiently and effectively.

started with Transfreight USA, a 3PL specializing in lean logistics, primarily for Toyota Motor Vehicles USA to learn the business challenges.

“I feel technology is inadequate in this sector. Other industries have understood the need for automation and have started deploying advanced technologies such as robotics, Internet of Things to name a few. We should understand the need of the hour and adapt to these models to be future ready now.

“Working outside the family business has given me an ‘outside-inside’ view of the business and has helped to gain valuable intelligence on the business. After Transfreight, I came back to join as Joint Managing Director of the TCI Group where I was responsible for growing TCI’s presence in emerging economies like Brazil, Indonesia, and Africa as well as set up best practices for the company. This again helped me to gain subsequent knowledge to build a separate business entity altogether as a Managing Director.

“At TCI Express, we believe technology is a significant pillar that we need to quickly adopt in our industry. Industry estimates suggest that globally the use of UAV’s or drones in the sector is estimated to grow between $1.2 and $1.5 billion by 2020.

This certainly provides an enormous window of opportunity for logistics service providers to grow in their respective geographies. Technology is a pivotal enabler for the progress of any industry and with the right regulations formulated, they can be a formidable combination for success.”

With regards to his own career, Chander speaks about his background and what challenges emerged when starting out in business.

“Coming from a business family, it was only imperative that I first learned the threads of the business. The business acumen was already inherited but before taking the leap at the top, I started my journey

“Every stage of my professional life has been a different learning curve and addressing these challenges through them have enabled better judgement and vision. Usually when one inherits a business, it’s not easy to live up to the expectations laid out owing to the earlier generation’s success; here I first learnt the tricks of the trade outside and then returned enriched with knowledge and skills to address them back in India. Looking at The changing dynamics of the India Logistic Industry, I created TCIExpress as one of the fastest and reliable express distribution business.”

Aside from the challenges he has overcome, he also lists his father as the person who has inspired him by instilling some key

g

First Class Distribution

principles into him from a young age as Chander explains.

“I think the attribute that makes me a successful managing director are firstly compassion and strong morals which I have inherited from my father who has always been my inspiration. I have seen him as an honest, principled and visionary leader who has won love and earned respect over the years. He inspired me to evolve to a leader and lessons learnt from him will continue to hold good even for the future. Vision is that one key ingredient without which we can never be able to look at the future.”

Heading into the future, Chander expresses his thoughts on the intended goals of the business.

Company: TCI EXPRESS LIMITED Name: Mr Chander Agarwal Web Address: www.tciexpress.in Address: TCI House, 69, Institutional Area, Sector-32, Gurgaon-122007(Haryana) (India) Telephone: +91 8860763272

##

“We aspire to grow with timely investments. We are nimble, agile, prepared and are always evolving. I see myself as among the change makers of this industry and earning my respect as a valued industry leader. I think we are headed for an interesting time in the industry and the logistic sector is one of the key pillars that contribute to the GDP of the country’s economy. It will be quite exciting to see how the industry transforms post the implementation of GST.”

1701CV05

Leading by Example

g

Company: Konverge Digital Solutions Name: Sonia Couto Email: Sonia.couto@konverge.com Web Address: www.konverge.com Address: 400 University Ave, Mezzanine Telephone: 416-640-2345 Ext 200

## Field Eagle Konverge’s award winning product, Field Eagle, is a tablet-based mobile inspection solution that improves Operations, Compliance, Audits, Maintenance, and Health and Safety. In high risk industries, inspections and audits are accepted as a sound practice to identify issues or concerns before they cause major problems. The Field Eagle System transforms inspections and audits from a subjective, manual, and ad-hoc activity to an objective, automated, and controlled process. Field Eagle facilitates strict adherence to specifications and digital documentation, providing absolute clarity on what is inspected, how, and to what criteria. When the inspection is complete, a report will be delivered automatically from the device which can then be presented for immediate action, or clarification. Field Eagle is helping companies automate their audit and inspection processes by eliminating paper and pen, and creating a more efficient process of data collection to help predict failures, standardize audits and inspections, and improve overall operations.

MenuSano MenuSano is an award winning web-based nutrition calculator designed for restaurants.

This application allows restaurants to calculate the nutritional composition of their menu items and display nutritional facts on their menus, websites, food products, or anywhere they choose. Restaurants can easily enter ingredients that make up a meal and access MenuSano’s well researched database with over 80,000 food items to generate a nutritional profile for each recipe.

18 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

,

Leading by Example Sonia Couto is a proud recipient of ‘IT Businesswoman of the Year’. In her role at Konverge Digital Solutions, she has ensured her drive and expertise have greatly contributed to the company’s growth and success. Sonia chats to us about how the firm works with clients to achieve great results.

Konverge Digital Solutions specializes in developing breakthrough software applications.

The firm works with some of the world’s largest companies and some of the newest start-ups.

Konverge consulting practice includes custom software development, web and mobile apps, SharePoint, business intelligence, and many more.

In addition, Konverge markets a portfolio of award winning software solutions.

Sonia explains the role she has held at Konverge for the past ten years, and the firm’s overall mission.

“I work with our clients to understand their overall business objectives and needs, the strength of the team and Konverge’s ability to deliver on our promises to the client. I ensure organizational effectiveness, provide leadership and manage the day to day functions of the business.

“Our mission is to turn business ideas into software solutions for business success. Our team embodies three fundamental values: commitment, innovation and evolution to keep our client success a top priority.”

The company begins a healthy business relationship with clients to achieve Konverge’s mission, as Sonia explains.

“Building a transparent relationship with our clients is the first step to building trust.

We work hand in hand with all of our clients to understand their business need/ideas and leverage technology to meet their organizational objectives. Our clients are involved every step of the way throughout the lifecycle of a project. We see our clients as our partners because if we help them achieve success then we are successful.”

The sector is constantly growing and changing. Sonia discusses the market and the issues that face Konverge, as well as explaining how they remain innovative for their clients.

“We are in the technology sector, therefore one of the challenges is that it’s always changing, and new technologies emerge on a regular basis and we have to keep up. Being in business since 1994 shows that Konverge continues to be an innovator in this sector.

We pride ourselves in continued learning and we have come up with some very innovative ways to continue servicing our clients with the latest technologies. We have different teams who focus on perfecting different technologies.

Educating everyone on the process, standards, quality and guiding them throughout to make sure it is being executed has been part of our success to date.

We are very proud of the fact that we still have our very first client.

“Aside from building custom solutions for our clients we also build our own SaaS solutions applications that we take to market. Building our own products allows us to experiment with new theories and technologies that we could not do on a client’s project.

This process allows the team to think outside the box, experiment and be creative. It keeps everyone fresh and excited.”

Konverge has always kept up to date with current and future trends in the industry in order to create the best possible service to clients.

“For 17 years, Konverge has been a Microsoft Gold Partner. As a partner, Konverge has a close and collaborative relationship with Microsoft. In return, Microsoft has declared that Konverge is committed to evolving technologies for the interest of our own needs as well as those of our clients.”

As a businesswoman, there are also personal challenges to working in business. Sonia describes how she has managed her career in a male dominated working environment and the advice she would give to women who are looking to succeed in the industry.

Trending...

“This is a male dominated industry but I have learned that if you get involved, speak up, give ideas and show what your strengths are you will earn both men and woman’s respect. I’m never afraid to take on new challenges; they drive me to push myself to levels I had not reached before, making me better at what I do. Taking others input and using it to help solve a problem, and involving them on a daily basis has really helped me.

“I believe that perseverance, patience and continuing to learn has helped me succeed in this industry. You have to be willing to accept when you are wrong and learn from your mistakes. Be a leader, speak your mind, and lead by example. I really enjoy being in this industry because it is an ongoing learning experience, every day I learn something new.”

The future for Konverge looks bright. The firm aims to continue innovating and using the newest technologies available to develop top of the line solutions for their clients. In addition to being custom development and product experts, the company is expanding their practise into new technology domains such as virtual reality, Artificial Intelligence and wearables.

1701CV49

,

The Real Estate Advisor of Choice Savills is a leading global real estate service provider listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The company, established in 1855, has a rich heritage with unrivalled growth. We heard from ‘Business Woman of the Year - Hong Kong’ Edina Wong, who told us all about her career and how she has helped Savills to maintain their success.

As a leading real estate provider, Savills has over 700 offices and associates throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East, employing over 30,000 people.

Edina Wong gave us more insight into how the firm operates.

track record and excellence in customer service. As forward thinkers, we work as strategic partners for our clients offering them creative solutions to the ever-changing market.”

“Savills mission is to be the real estate adviser of choice in the markets we serve. We do not wish to be the biggest, just the best (as determined by our clients). Our values capture our commitment not only to ethical, professional and responsible conduct but to the essence of real estate success, with an entrepreneurial value-embracing approach. How we do that?

In 1990, Edina started with First Pacific Davies (later acquired by Savills) as an agent in the Prestige Homes department. In 1994, she was promoted to Associate Director and went on to sell topend luxury properties in Hong Kong. Edina re-joined Savills in 2000 as their Senior Director of the Residential Services, responsible for managing two sectors within this department – tenant and landlord representation. She tells us how her previous experience has helped her excel in her current role.

“We take pride in everything we do. We deliver the highest quality of services and always go the extra mile to meet our clients’ needs. Most importantly, we seek to employ and retain only the best people. We pride ourselves on our integrity, unblemished

“I started my career in real estate as an agent. At the time I assisted my prime client, Jardine Fleming, with all of their expatriate housing solutions ranging from trainees, fund managers to managing directors. There was a need for me to help with their personal

The Gateway Apartment

relocating requirements, it was not just finding the suitable property but also assisting with every aspect of their move. I worked very closely with the company on their annual budgeting and expatriate policy to help them regulate costs.

“In 1990, I was offered an opportunity to market and sell sites and properties at the top end of the market. During this period, I met and worked with all the major developers and investors in the Asia Pacific region.

“The experiences I gained as an agent has given me great insight in managing, training and empowering my team.

My extensive knowledge of the real estate industry along with my marketing experience have served as a great asset in strategic planning, whether it be with corporate clients with their budgeting requirements or landlords on pricing and launching ideas.”

Edina works in a male dominated sector therefore she explains what techniques Savills employs to attract the best female talent from across the industry, as well as the challenges she has faced as a woman working in a male dominated sector.

“My department works with clients on their residential needs and is predominately represented by females. I feel this is mainly due to services we provide.

Part of the team specialized in the provision of ‘destination services’. We assist expatriates and their families relocating to Hong Kong with their search for a

20 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

residence and schooling options for their children. During the entire process we would largely communicate with the wives and children directly. I feel that being the same gender definitely helps and it seems to be easier for clients with a family to relate to a mother. Our aim is to make this often challenging transition as comfortable and as seamless as possible for the entire family.

“Walking into a room dominated by male counterparts can be daunting at times. Many females feel that they need to adopt an ‘alpha mentality’ to demonstrate assertiveness amongst their peers. I feel it is more important to be true to one’s self and not to concede to perceived expectation. My personal advice is to be bold, voice your opinion, even if it is very different from the majority. Many times a different idea may evoke a new way to look at the situation, leading to a new strategy or approach.”

This leads on to Edina talking about what changes she would like to see that will enable women to succeed in a competitive industry.

“The role of women in society has evolved and shifted through the decades. I think it is difficult to try and change the long-accepted mind set. However, the Millennials are more progressive with their views on ‘gender equality’, which has opened the path for more opportunities for women. I do believe in time the barrier between the genders will minimize (and close) and a woman will no longer trail behind men in the ever changing corporate landscape.”

g

The future is very exciting for Savills. In February, Savills will launch Harmony, a new residential landmark on Upper Stubbs Road on The Peak, Hong Kong. This elegantly appointed 18-unit property, complete with private residential car parks, is nestled on a podium accessed via a private elevated driveway from strategically located upper Stubbs Road, offering unobstructed panoramic view of Victoria Harbour and Happy Valley to the north, and tranquil, lush greenery and mountains to the south. Aside from this, Edina tells us what else the firm has in store for the future.

“We are forward thinking and always aim to seek new opportunities for our clients. In Hong Kong Residential Services, we plan to increase our residential sales force to assist many of our tenants who are ‘purchasers in waiting’. We will continue building strength in project marketing and landlord representation, all key to success in the current market sentiment.

The Real Estate Adviser of Choice

“Increasing our residential sales force and continuing to help our team to excel through appropriate training and development is key to achieving outstanding performances. I will continue this culture into the future, the team’s success is also my success.

“We have adopted our strategy to deal with the recent changes in the market and to become the strongest in our field. In order to maintain our market leader position, we must remain vigilant to cope with any further changes in the market.

Embracing technology to innovate and reach our target audience will assist to efficiently launch our projects.”

“We are proud of our achievements at The Gateway Apartment and have been appointed as their sole marketing and leasing agent for the past six years. The Gateway Apartments is an oasis of luxury living at the unprecedented harbour front location in Hong Kong. Each apartment is gracefully furnished to exude spacious and ultimate comfort with the enjoyment of breath taking views. Residents not only enjoy the renowned sixstar service but also benefit from the exclusive use of their ‘Pacific Club’.”

As well as Savills future plans, Edina talks specifically about her role and what her department will focus on in 2017 and beyond.

##

Company: Savills Hong Kong Limited Name: Edina Wong Email: ewong@savills.com.hk Web Address: www.savills.com.hk Address: 23/F, Two Exchange Square, Central, HK Telephone: 2842 4283

Harmony

1701CV53

Enhancing the Community

g

Company: Essar Ports Ltd. Name: K K Sinha Email: kk.sinha@essar.com Web Address: www.essarports.com Address: Essar House, 11 K K Marg, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai – 400034, Maharashtra, India Telephone: +91 22 66601100

## 22 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

,

Enhancing the Community Essar Ports Limited (EPL) develops and operates ports and terminals. It is one of the largest private sector port companies in India by capacity and throughput. We invited K K Sinha to tell us more about the company.

Essar Ports is one of India’s largest private port companies with world class assets at strategic locations.

The company’s activities are primarily in the bulk side, including dry, liquid and break bulk. Their clients are from a variety of sectors, including the oil, steel and power industry and major exporters and traders of the country for the cargo stream which they specialize in handling.

K K Sinha spoke to us about the firm’s business strategy and how their approach to client service is second to none.

“In the short term we aim to provide world class operational parameters to our customers which will facilitate their business growth. In addition to diversifying our cargo mix and completing and commissioning of our ongoing projects, our strategy is to expand through both organic and inorganic means. This may be through acquisition or through new concessions. We are open to opportunities which are in line with our vision and look forward to participation under Sagarmala initiative of Government of India.

Employee development and customer delight are a key focus area for the business.

“We believe in developing state of the art facilities which can deliver world class parameters to our customers and add to customer delight. To achieve the

same there is strong focus on capabilities like entrepreneurial orientation, project management, operational excellence, customer focus, negotiation and nurturing of people. We believe environment/ ecology and local stakeholders play a pivotal role in the success of any business and working towards their preservation and development on sustained basis is core to our philosophy.

“Essar positively impacts the lives of all stakeholders including employees and the communities living close to its facilities. Community initiatives aim to enhance livelihoods through programs focused on entrepreneurship, education, empowering women, infrastructure, environment and health. It sees involving community leaders as key to success. Essar generates direct and indirect employment for thousands of people in the region it operates. The company adheres to stringent health, safety and environment standards wherever they operate.”

K K Sinha explains the changes that the industry has gone through, as well as describing the effects that this has had on Essar Ports.

“Indian Port’s traffic has grown at 7% CAGR in the past with Non major Ports taking the lead in the last decade and cross 1 Billion Tonnes annually. At the same time Non Major Port’s traffic has

grown at 12% CAGR and they have increased market share from 24% (in 2001) to ~43% (in FY 2016).

“With the passage of time, the industry has moved towards delivering better standards like higher parcel sizes, faster loading/ unloading rates, minimizing turnaround times and providing environmentally friendly handling measures. POL, bulk cargo and containers have been driving the growth story and going forward LNG is expected to be a game changer. The industry is heavily dependent on Commodity Market and prone to various risks. To overcome the same, it is important to invest in long term sustainable solutions which has been central to Essar Port’s vision.

“We believe in developing state of the art facilities which can deliver world class parameters to our customers and add to customer delight.”

“Projects in India are prone to higher implementation risk in terms of high financing cost, securing various approvals, land acquisition issues and ensuring Hinterland Connectivity for evacuation of Cargo. However, the National Perspective Plan issued by Ministry of Shipping highlights the focused approach of government and their vision to resolve these issues plaguing the sector.”

K K Sinha outlines the firm’s future plans and what they are doing to expand the business.

“Essar ports has cargo handling capacity of 140 MMTPA and we are in the process of increasing the capacity to 194 MMTPA. Capacity addition will be through commissioning of our ongoing project and expansion of our various terminals across the country like the Port Terminals at Hazira, Visakhapatnam Port, Paradip port etc.

“We are looking at increasing our market share and presence in various segments, including LNG and Container Business. I think we have a very large portfolio with secured cargo stream which helps us to expand through various means, organically or inorganically. Decades of experience and technical prowess in the port sector, coupled with a strong team, have laid the foundation for the company to be one of the premier port sector players in India.”

1701CV71

,

Success in Securities Compass Lexecon is one of the world’s leading economic consulting firms. We invited Vice President Andria van der Merwe to talk to us about the firm and her role in its success.

As one of the world’s leading economic consulting firms, Compass Lexecon provides law firms, corporations and government clients with clear analysis of complex issues, drawing on its experience and expertise, which applies to virtually any question of economics, in virtually any context of the law or business.

also gave a speech on Market Liquidity and Liquidity Risks at the Swiss Finance Institute Wealth Management Retreat in Europe in 2016 where I shared my deep industry knowledge with practitioners in European markets. I am the holder of three US patents and have published several research papers in internationally renowned journals.”

Andria, who has been with the firm for over seven years, outlines her role and how she uses her expertise to support the company in its ongoing success.

Currently, Compass Lexecon has a professional staff of more than 425 individuals, including 137 highly skilled Ph.D. economists and econometricians and more than 165 other individuals with advanced degrees located in 17 offices. Andria herself holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Andria describes opportunities the firm’s work provides, which serves to attract the very best talent in the market.

“I specialize in securities and antitrust litigation as well as regulatory proceedings relating to fixed income securities and interest rate derivatives. Before joining Compass Lexecon, I was a Director of Portfolio Management at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago.

In my previous position I managed a fixed income portfolio and was also involved in the trading, design, and execution of derivatives and fixed income securities. Exposure to realworld trading provides me with an in-depth understanding of intricacies of financial markets and the challenges traders encounter daily. I find the experience and insights I gained invaluable in developing solutions to the complex issues that our clients face.

“Alongside my work at Compass Lexecon I regularly participate in industry wide discussions for example, the 100 Women in Hedge Funds Panel on Managing Liquidity in Fixed Income Portfolios in 2015. I

“Compass Lexecon is often involved in high-profile cases, in which significant importance

“Overall, our success on large, complex projects lies in the combination of a diverse set of skills.”

24 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

attaches to the outcomes, including financial damages, criminal penalties, regulatory decisions or corporate business opportunities. These matters often call for cutting-edge economic analysis. The combination of interesting case subject matter and high-level analytics attract the best and brightest. I enjoy collaborating and sharing knowledge with great colleagues.”

“Overall, our success on large, complex projects lies in the combination of a diverse set of skills. I do not believe that there is only one way to succeed - my advice would be to find what you are passionate about and then to take advantage of every opportunity that may cross your path. I do believe that having superior analytic and communication skills and enjoying rigorous empirical analysis are important characteristics for success in this industry.

My book “Market Liquidity Risk: Implications for Asset Pricing, Risk Management and Financial Regulation” published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2015 drew attention to issues of importance for a broader audience and I hope will create opportunities for work, collaborations and investigations that will benefit not only our clients, but other participants in the financial marketplace. I would encourage others to teach and publish as a way to develop their expertise and ideas that may result in more business as well as important insights into financial policy issues.”

Fundamentally, rigorous empirical analyses are critical to Compass Lexecon’s success, as Andria is keen to highlight.

“In each matter we work on, my colleagues and I at Compass Lexecon seek to develop an in-depth understanding of the issues that our clients face and form our expert opinions anchored in sound economic theory and critically supported by rigorous empirical analysis of these issues. We excel at conveying complex economic concepts and analyses to our clients including regulators, judges and juries.”

Moving ahead, Andria foresees many great opportunities for both herself and her firm in the future and is looking forward to taking advantage of these.

“Structural change brought about by technological advancement is changing the amount of data and the complexity of techniques available for empirical analysis.

At Compass Lexecon, we will continue to take steps necessary to support the challenges brought about by this increased complexity and are excited for these developments.

“Overall, I hope to continue to grow Compass Lexecon’s practice in areas of fixed income securities, financial markets and trading. I also hope to use my expertise in market microstructure, market liquidity and fixed income to serve our clients and more generally, to add new thinking to the debate surrounding the impact of new financial market regulations.”

g Success in Securities

##

Company: Compass Lexecon Name: Andria van der Merwe Web Address: www.compasslexecon.com Address: Chicago, USA

1701CV29

Driving a Coaching Culture Worldwide

g

Company: Academy of Executive Coaching Ltd Email: info@aoec.com Web Address: www.aoec.com/ Address: 8 Northumberland Avenue, London, WC2N 5BY Telephone: +44 (0)20 7127 5125

## 26 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

,

Driving a Coaching Culture Worldwide The Academy of Executive Coaching Ltd (AoEC) exists to provide both the highest quality accredited coach training to individuals and to manage culture change at all levels of an organisation with both small and large scale developments. This is completed through a combination of expert consultancy, an international faculty team, a large pool of AoEC trained coaches who are on hand to provide individual and team coaching, the training of internal coaches, leadership and management development, and thought leadership in subjects such as Resilience, Trust, Mindfulness and Wellness and Recovery.

High standards and quality always have and always will be the starting point for the Academy of Executive Coaching. The firm believe that all organisations and their people should have the opportunity to flourish, as the AoEC values the individual and respects that each journey for their clients is unique. There is no such thing as a ‘one size fits all’ approach, and AoEC’s clients and participants are offered the opportunity to own their development and tailor it to what works for them in a supportive environment. This is what brings about the personal and professional growth and incredible transformational results that those who have availed of the training have witnessed.

The Academy of Executive Coaching’s aim is to bring about positive change in human interaction and communication, so as to deliver an improved triple bottom-line for organisations with a focus on results, relationships and reputation. The team at AoEC feel strongly that companies who insist on focusing solely on profit will not be around in the next 10 years. AoEC believes that change needs to happen in the form of a more collaborative, distributed leadership style, where employees are responsible for

their choices and held accountable for them. They believe this level of autonomy can be applied for a more empowered and motivated workforce, where individuals are supported to draw on their own insights and knowledge to come up with solutions, rather than operating in a command and controlled environment.

AoEC recognise that there are a number of issues facing HR and training teams today, which include a lack of transparency in communication, difficulties in developing talent to align with meeting business objectives, and struggling to create a company culture that motivates, attracts, empowers and retains talent, to name just a few. AoEC’s team of professional consultants and highly skilled faculty all have a strong business background and a passion for people, which enables the AoEC to stay relevant and passionate about supporting HR and T&D professionals in facing these challenges.

Another of the major assets of the AoEC is their ability to design programmes that get to the heart of what is outlined as a need. The faculty and consultants combine master level psychological experience with extensive business leadership and coaching expertise, whilst maintaining their focus on ensuring that they

deliver on the personal and/or organisational objectives. The increased return on expectation provides a competitive advantage when partnering with the AoEC. The challenge for the Academy of Executive Coaching is encouraging people to challenge themselves and their organisation, and to be confident in doing so.

The team at AoEC supports their development so they are able to manage the critical relationships that assist in driving change. The firm’s high-quality training is tripleaccredited by leading coaching bodies; the ICF, EMCC and AC. The team at AoEC notes that one of the factors driving this necessary shift from what was previously described as ‘The Wild West of Executive Coaching’ is accredited coach training. This is crucial to the success of the coaching industry, the coach practitioners and their coaches; research shows that it is no longer good enough to call yourself a coach without the proper credentials.

Although the AoEC is a virtual organisation, whose business hub is in London, their business is far reaching across the UK and internationally, with partners operating in Scotland, Ireland, Boston, New York, Brazil, Croatia, Germany, Estonia, Romania,

Turkey and East Africa. The world is becoming a smaller, more connected place with advances in technology, which is enabling teams to communicate across time-zones and continents. It also means the need for leadership development and coach training is a global requirement, causing AoEC to continually strive to develop their partners so they can best service the needs of organisations across the globe.

The team’s vision revolves around changing the world and those involved fully appreciate that they have got a large amount of work to do, but they not afraid of that; AoEC see challenges as opportunities for growth. All involved at the firm recognise that we live in an uncertain and volatile world, but they also recognise that where there is uncertainty, there is possibility.

Since 2005, the Academy of Executive Coaching has trained 11,000 people worldwide; they believe in coaching you to be a coach, to be the best you can be.

AoEC do not just teach coaching methodologies, they work with you to identify and develop your own model, your own style, your own ‘signature presence’. AoEC’s team feel that by continuing to develop individuals and organisations to be the best they can be, they are not alone in their mission to change the world.

1612CV32

,

Ocean of Possibilities Anupam Dasgupta has been in his current role in heading marketing and communications for GrayMatter Software Services, which is a specialist provider of big data, BI and analytics products and services. In this interview, he chats to us about what has made him award winning.

For the past two years, Anupam has had a senior role at Graymatter, with activities including sales, marketing strategy and planning, content marketing, search engine optimization, events and campaigns, social media marketing, PR and publications, partnerships and alliances etc. The key result areas are lead generation, branding and revenue generation.

Anupam talks about his previous experience and how this has helped him in his current role.

“My previous role was in a firm with a similar business i.e., BI and Analytics. My role involved heading marketing and presales which has helped me significantly in my current role. As part of this role, I strategized and implemented extensive inbound marketing techniques. In my opinion, content-led inbound marketing is the essence of digital marketing and is one of the pillars of modern marketing. One of the key achievements was to get leads and improve branding with free, organic marketing. Content with the right messaging, coupled with smart SEO is truly a potent mix. In fact, paid campaigns or any outbound outreach to prospects would not be successful without effective content.”

Any successful businessperson must keep themselves motivated in order to be successful. Anupam explains what he has done to keep positive and focused in his career.

“I have a simple guiding principle – keep learning. While there could

be so many factors beyond your control, the one thing that always works is to keep learning and adding value to yourself. What this means is that more often than not, you would deliver more than expected, which is half the job done, in spite of other factors beyond your control.”

During his career, Anupam has faced many challenges in the industry. He gives us an insight into the industry at the moment and what influences are currently affecting it.

“The Big Data, BI and Analytics industry is growing at a fast pace across the world. The industry has a very bright future and is constantly evolving. The challenges include unavailability of budgets for advanced analytics programs due to lack of a defined business case or ROI for the investments. Other roadblocks include unavailability of skilled resources for high end analytics tools and technologies.

Openness to adoption of new BI implementations is also an impediment at times. In some cases enterprises are not yet at the level of data maturity that could serve as a base for sophisticated analytics. In other words, sometimes basic data quality and integration issues exist that need to be addressed and the business needs to adapt to the changes, before advanced analytics techniques, higher up the value chain, can be applied.”

Also, the industry being fast moving needs adaptability on the part of practitioners too . Anupam explains how employees stay

28 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

on top of current and changing developments in technology.

“I think constant learning and application of learning is the key to staying ahead of emerging developments. As part of the fast growing BI and Analytics sector, in my current and previous firms, one thing in common is that employees constantly innovate and learn under the patronage of the management, to achieve currency and growth in a dynamic business environment.”

As part of his overall role in business development, Anupam is also focused on strategy.

Business strategy is about being able to anticipate the market and being one step ahead as Anupam explains. A part of that is also to be inward looking and prepare to meet the market expectations.

“In my current and previous roles, the focus of the business was on predicting the pulse of the market and refining competencies proactively to be one step ahead.

This requires investments from the business to ensure a 3600 ramp up of the organization constantly, but it’s an essential ingredient which is taken into account by mature management teams.”

Finally, Anupam talks about his own personal goals and outlines his plans for the future, saying “my future plans are to focus on digital marketing strategies in the BI and Analytics space. It’s an ocean of possibilities and I think there is always something more to be done. Maybe, I will start up a digital marketing consultancy someday too.”

g ##

Name: Anupam Dasgupta Email: anupam_dasgupta@ymail.com Telephone: 0091-7093601979

Ocean of Possibilities

1612CV23

From Small MBO to Global Leaders

g

Company: Italmatch Chemicals Name: Norberto Gatti (Lubricant & Plastic Additives) Email: n.gatti@italmatch.it Name: Mark Eyers (Water & Oil Additives) Email: m.eyers@italmatchgroup.com Web Address: www.italmatch.com Address: Via Magazzini del Cotone 17 (modulo 4), 16128 Genova Telephone: +39 010.64 208 201

## 30 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

,

From Small MBO to Global Leader Italmatch is a global specialty chemical group, with leadership in lubricant, water and oil, detergents and plastics additives, markets and technology leadership in phosphorus derivatives (both organic and inorganic), polymers, esters and chlorides, from synthetic to fully natural products. We profile the firm and look at what they have achieved within their industry in the last years.

Italmatch Chemicals Group started out in 1998 as a small MBO. Today they have six manufacturing plants in Italy, Spain, Germany, UK, plus four in Asia Pacific and two in USA. Initially created by the management supported by two Italian PE investors, the firm initially purchased a chemical manufacturing plant with 30 people and sales of about €15M producing phosphorus and sulphur compounds for lubricant oil. The initial period for the firm was a challenge as they did not have enough senior staff & a management team.

However, after a few months, a CFO and a sales and marketing director joined the company, and today they contributed to transforming the company and increasing their own global responsibilities.

The initial firm’s main objective was to build a stand-alone company with a clear long term strategy.

Following the initial management buyout, Italmatch focused on certain, initial strategic priorities starting from lubricant and plastic additives/flame retardants.

Italmatch today has sales of 340 million, employs approximately 500 people and has profitability in excess of 15%. Their main growth is achieved through research and development, and also innovation. 5% of the firm’s

sales go towards R&D. With an innovation pipeline covering at least next five years, and full with more than 100 new products/ application, Italmatch delivers on average five-ten new commercial products/applications per year.

Another way the firm ensures growth is through selected acquisitions and global partnership with global players.

Firstly, Italmatch finalized eight selected acquisitions in the period between 2007 and 2016, almost one per year, bringing the company to today’s size and business portfolio.

Each acquisition had potential synergies that allowed each target to at least double profitability with Italmatch, in a three - five-year time frame, compared to the initial profitability at time of purchase.

These acquisitions have given Italmatch global opportunities and new, diversified product offerings with a selected panel of around ten global multinational Partners. Growth has been achieved through diversification of the product offering to the same customer, with respect to the historical product base, and also through globalization with presence in the 3 Regions.

Italmatch has been a constant in the industry since its inception.

The main industry drivers and growth factors have been water, oil and lubricant additives. Italmatch

has quickly developed to become a major global supplier of a broad range of Water Management & Oil Performance Additives through Dequest, GRS Polymers, Solvay Desalination, Corrosion Inhibitors and Mining Businesses and USA based Compass Chemicals acquisitions. The firm is currently well-positioned to fulfill today’s needs of the global water and oil additives markets due to its broad product range, dedicated technical support/ solution providing capabilities and more flexible and/or regional manufacturing set-up.

Following the take-over in January 2007 from Akzo Nobel of the Arese manufacturing plant and the lubricant business produced in the same unit, Italmatch started immediately to integrate the strength of the two plants in order to increase its cooperation with all major lubricant additive manufactures.

The success has taken Italmatch to become a global reference in the market for bath special raw materials for lubricants and also in specific additives, especially in the MWF business, leveraging from its flexibility in manufacturing and fast response to customer needs. With recent acquisition of a business in the corrosion inhibition sector as well as with the recent acquisition of a manufacturing plant in the USA, Italmatch is currently expanding its reach to customer specific

needs and well as its geographical manufacturing base in order to be more effective in servicing its global customers/partners.

Italmatch’s expansion of its R&D capabilities in Arese, not only toward the synthesis of new chemistries but also with a new and state of the art applicative laboratory, increases the cooperation with its customers/ partners in order to increase its response to satisfy the market needs and its efficacy to tackle the changes of the global scenario in the lubricant and MWF industry.

The company is working with an improved environmental sustainability focus in order to reuse by-product generated in the plant and reduce wastes.

The next stage for Italmatch is to grow further entering 2017.

In 2014, the largest European fund (Ardian with asset portfolio of 50Bn) invested 88% always together with the Management, through its MID CAP Fund. The common goal of Ardian and Management is to bring Italmatch to the next sized growth phase, with sales between 500 & 1 BN, making Italmatch one of the global leaders in Specialty Chemicals Additives.

BW160051

,

Excellence in Education for the University of Edinburgh Tina Harrison is Professor of Financial Services Marketing and Consumption at the University of Edinburgh Business School, where she is actively involved in conducting academic research in the area of financial services marketing and consumer decision-making, as well as teaching on those topics and frequently engaging in consultancy for financial institutions. We spoke to her to learn more about the work she undertakes and how she supports the school to ensure all of its students leave with the skills and qualifications to succeed.

The University of Edinburgh Business School is ranked amongst the top 1% of Business Schools worldwide, holding ‘triple crown’ accreditation granted by the three main bodies who assure quality of education in this area, AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA. The Business School has developed expertise across a number of areas including: Accounting and Society, Financial Decision Making, Credit Research, Resilience, Strategic Leadership, Service Management and Sustainable Business. With more than 100 academics from 28 nationalities and an alumni community of 14,000 in more than 120 countries, the school is recognised as a connected community for thought leadership on the international business stage.

Tina, who has been with the Business School since 1993, talks us through her field of research and how she has discerned her current research topics following years of study and hard work.

“Since the start of my academic career, my research interests have been in the area of

financial services marketing and consumption, examining how consumers make financial decisions and the impact of marketing action on consumer decision-making.

The initial focus of my research was on market segmentation of the personal financial services sector (identifying the needs and behaviours of different groups of customers and the factors affecting their behaviour), followed by studies to understand customer loyalty, customer retention (studies in cross-selling) and the factors contributing towards the development of relationships with financial service providers.

“More recently, my research has focused on consumer understanding of financial services, financial capability and risk, as heightened by the financial crisis. My research into financial capability has focused on individual consumers, specifically in relation to pension saving and the role of technology in enabling financial decisionmaking. Financial decisions affect all our lives. However, due to the inherent risk and uncertainty of financial decisions, consumers

32 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

are often poorly informed and susceptible to making poor decisions that have significant personal as well as societal consequences.

Individuals increasingly are expected to assume responsibility for financial decisions. There are both moral and economic imperatives to improve financial capability. My research, thus, contributes to the ongoing debate between theory, policy and practice on how to build and sustain financial capability and empower financial consumers.

“My current research focuses very much on consumer understanding of finance, financial capability, and financial socialization. Throughout 2016, together with colleagues in the Business School, I have been conducting research into young adults’ financial capability, based on an analysis of data from the Money Advice Service’s UK Financial Capability Survey.”

Women contribute a great deal to the University and its work, and therefore it places a great deal of emphasis on supporting them, as Tina explains.

“Women make up approximately half our staff in general. Attracting the best female talent is not one of our main challenges as we do very well at this. Our key challenge is ensuring a more even spread of women at the higher grades and particularly at Professor level. We have been doing a great deal to focus on this, including engaging in the Athena SWAN Charter. The Charter was developed in 2005 and open to any university or research institute committed to the advancement and promotion of the careers of women in science, engineering and technology, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) in higher education and research. The scheme was extended in 2015 to recognise work undertaken in arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law.

“The University achieved its first Athena Swan Bronze Award in 2006 (successfully renewed in 2009 and 2012) and achieved Silver in 2015. These awards recognise demonstrable progress on gender equality and plans for continued development. We are now going for Gold!”

g Excellence in Education for the University of Edinburgh

Thanks to the support of the University Tina has come far, creating great research which will be of vital use to the corporate landscape, and going forward she is keen to build upon her current achievements, as she concludes.

Company: University of Edinburgh Business School Name: Tina Harrison Email: Tina.Harrison@ed.ac.uk Web Address: www.business-school.ed.ac.uk Address: 29 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh EH8 9JS

##

“Moving forward I have a number of goals in terms of doing further research and writing more books.

However, my real dream would be to be able to use my research to really have an impact on developing financial capability among young adults and changing young peoples’ lives for the better.”

BW160056

Raising the Bar for Bacardi

g

Company: Bacardi Limited Contact: Amy Federman Website: https://www.bacardilimited.com

## 34 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

,

Raising the Bar for Bacardi Bacardi Limited is the largest privately held spirits company in the world, producing and marketing a vast array of internationally recognized spirits and wines. We caught up with Global Corporate Communications Director Amy Federman, our 2016 Corporate Communications Businesswoman of the Year, to find out more about how she helps drive the company and its iconic brands to success.

Founded more than 150 years ago in Santiago de Cuba on February 4, 1862, family-owned Bacardi manufactures its brands at 29 facilities and sells in more than 160 countries.

The Bacardi brand portfolio of premium and super-premium spirits and wines comprises more than 200 brands and labels, including BACARDÍ rum, GREY GOOSE vodka, DEWAR’S Blended Scotch whisky, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE gin, MARTINI vermouth and sparkling wines, CAZADORES 100% blue agave tequila, and other leading and emerging brands including WILLIAM LAWSON’S Blended Scotch whisky, ERISTOFF vodka, and ST-GERMAIN elderflower liqueur.

Amy’s role comprises a wide range of corporate communications, including engaging with various audiences interested in knowing more about Bacardi, its executives, its corporate and brand initiatives, its heritage, and the more than 200 brands and labels of premium spirits. She discusses the firm and its corporate communications strategy in more detail, highlighting the firm’s focus on offering quality products despite operating across so many different brands and categories.

“Bacardi is a vibrant, familyowned spirits company – nurtured by seven generations of the Bacardi family. We are the fourth largest international spirits company in the world, as well as the world’s largest, privately held spirits company, with more than 200 brands and labels with nearly 6,000 employees.

“We pride ourselves on our family ownership and enjoy our private status; this sets us apart. With a family name on every bottle of our iconic rum, we are fully committed to continue growing organically, through innovation or acquisition as we continue to invest in our future even today, as we mark nearly 155 years of Bacardi as a family, company and brand.

“As a modern, vibrant company, with an incredible history, we have a long-term commitment to the premium spirits industry – we are in it for the long term. We see being family-owned as a plus. This allows a long-term commitment to growing and nurturing brands and investing heavily behind them.

Being private also allows the company more flexibility — we can be nimble and move quickly on key issues.

“As for the company’s Corporate Communications strategy, the goal is to enhance and protect the corporate reputation of Bacardi globally so we make ourselves

as available to numerous stakeholder audiences, as well as communicate on the various brands, our executives, innovations and campaigns. Our mission is to be open, transparent and accessible.”

Looking ahead, this dedication to quality will remain its ongoing focus.

“Over the past three years, Bacardi Limited has received numerous accolades for our “Good Spirited” Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) platform focusing on environmental sustainability. Moving forward this will remain our ongoing focus as we concentrate on ensuring our products are responsibly sourced, packaged sustainably and efficiently manufactured.”

“We pride ourselves on our family ownership and enjoy our private status; this sets us apart.”

BW160058

,

The Key to Success Keystone Intelligence is a financial consulting firm, specialised in supporting the asset management industry. Founder Donna Chen talks us through how she has drawn on her experience to guide the firm to the success it enjoys today.

Established in 2009, Keystone provides advisory, market research and recruiting services to a wide range of clients including international and local financial institutions such as asset managers, banks, insurance companies and securities houses., as well as large corporate organisations from across the business landscape.

Donna, who founded the firm over seven years ago, discusses how far the company has come since inception and the role she has played in leading it.

“Since I established Keystone I have served as the founder, the holder and the manager.

Prior to founding the firm I had more than 10 years in financial service industry acting as the head of marketing and product development in various fund houses.

“I also have eight years of successful experience in fund marketing & product development, including as Head of Marketing and Planning at the Shenghua SITE, Head of Marketing and Corporate Planning of Polaris SITE, Marketing VP & Product Manager of Invesco Taiwan. My expertise in business management, product development, marketing, operation, human resources and regulatory issues in financial industry has helped me both in my market research and headhunting business.”

Consulting is a male-dominant industry, however, Donna firmly believes that it is not gender that

makes one stand in the field, but their profession and personality.

“In my point of view, women tend to be more detail-oriented and careful. However, when it comes to make tough decisions, it can be quite a challenge to play hard, handle pressure and emotion. In addition, women need to work even harder than men to prove their ability, making it tougher for women to succeed than men in this market.

“However, anyone can make a difference if they work hard enough, and in order to succeed in consultancy you need abundant experience and profession to meet your job requirement and to provide your client with organized and ethical advice. Most important of all, you must stay passionate about your job and infuse this into every aspect of your work.

“It is crucial that no one sits back and lets their gender decide if they can succeed or not. You have to work hard and build up a trustworthy, dedicated image.

I used to attend seminars, and occasionally invited to be the speaker, which helped me spread the word about both myself as a business leader and my company. It is crucial to seize speaking opportunity and attend conferences, both domestically and internationally, as this also helps the wider industry to gain an insight into your success.”

Ultimately, Donna emphasises that the consultancy industry is driven by information and people, and therefore moving forward she remains committed to providing excellence in both.

36 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

“Here at Keystone we try hard to hold our independence as a consulting company, providing advisory services to international financial institutions who are interested in entering Taiwan’s financial market. Industry specific knowledge and experience, strong corporate ethics as well as good English speaking ability are the keys to our success, and as such building upon these key skills will remain our ongoing focus as we look to the future.

“Alongside this, Keystone is currently focusing on financial service industry in Taiwan. We are looking forward to extend our services to more firms in nonfinancial industries.”

“Here at Keystone we try hard to hold our independence as a consulting company, providing advisory services to international financial institutions.”

g The Key to Success

##

Company: Keystone Intelligence Inc. Name: Donna Chen Email: donna.chen@kint.com.tw Web Address: www.kint.com.tw Address: 5F-3, No. 89, Songren Rd., Xinyi Dist., Taipei, Taiwan 11073 Telephone: (+886-2) 8789-3662

MP160025

Looking for Perrfection

g

Company: Empower (Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation) Name: Samer Khoudeir Email: nada.mouawad@empower.ae; Samer.khoudeir@empower.ae Web Address: www.empower.ae Address: P.O. Box: 8081, Dubai - UAE Telephone: +971 4 3755555

## 38 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

,

Looking for Perfection Established in 2003, Empower aims to enable the real estate sector in UAE, to efficiently utilize energy resources through District Cooling Services (DCS). Samer Khoudeir, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at the firm chats to us about how they provide reliable and cost effective services.

Empower is the world’s largest district cooling company, with more than 1.2 million Refrigeration Tonnes (RT) served to more than 65,000 customers across 850 buildings in Dubai. The company is a board member for International District Energy Association (IDEA), the centuryold global authority of district energy, and the firm is partner to UNEP’s District Energy in Cities initiative. It provides its services to various landmark projects such as Dubai International Financial Centre, Business Bay, Jumeirah Beach Residence and Palm Jumeirah, among others.

Samer tells us about the firms last and unique campaign and how this has benefitted both clients and the environment.

“The latest and unique campaign Empower launched for the benefit of our end-users as well as the environment was 24⁰C Summer Campaign, which urged our customers to keep their AC thermostat, especially during hot summer months, on 24 degree Celsius. This is the optimum level of indoor comfort which avoids wastage of energy and saves on CO2 emission. The campaign’s outcome was enormous and very much convincing, which marked significant reduction in consumption during the hottest months. Empower runs the campaign every year at our major projects.

As said previously, Empower is partner to UNEP’s District Energy in Cities initiative and recently, HE Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of EMPOWER has been designed in November 2016 by the UNEP as the special advisor on district cooling within the mentioned initiative.

In March 2016, Empower was awarded the CSR Label from Dubai Chamber for the second time, in recognition of its corporate social responsibility and sustainability practices.

Empower is pioneer in implementing district cooling plants in line with Green Building principles and that follow the guidelines of Treated Sewage Effluent (TSE) and Thermal Energy Storage (TES), for their high environmental benefits for everyone involved. Empower has the region’s first and second Green Building DC plants, certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.

“The overall mission is to promote sustainable and optimized use of energy resources”

Samer outlines the firm’s mission and what steps they take to ensure their services are satisfying clients.

“Our overall mission is to promote sustainable and optimized use of energy resources by delivering reliable, cost-effective and environmentally friendly worldclass district cooling services to achieve customer satisfaction, thereby creating long-term shareholder value. Our goal is to grow wider and to promote the district cooling as an efficient tool for a sustainable and optimized use of energy resources. Our services contribute to reducing CO2 emissions.

“We operate under the guidelines of our leaders in Dubai, including the UAE Vision, Dubai Vision, and Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy. And we are proud that we currently operate more than 1,200,000 refrigeration tonnes (RT), providing environmentally responsible district cooling services to large-scale real estate developments.”

It is imperative to note that Empower employs the right techniques in order to ensure their overall client outcomes are successful. Samer explains more.

“We cooperate closely with our customers and we deal with them not as a service provider, but as an advisor/consultant on their project.

So we provide both the technical support and the assistance in the decision-making process. It is important to highlight that we have a wide customer portfolio, from

apartment-dwellers, buildings, commercial establishments and offices, hotels, medical facilities and hospitals, transportation infrastructure, universities and schools, and retail outlets. We look for perfection, thus we follow up the implementation in all phases from the pacification and decision making, till the investment, infrastructure deployment, and consumption by end-users. We adopt a realistic and proactive approach toward our clients and we offer professional services facilitated by the use of smart facilities and equipment.”

Empower plans to continue their growth into 2017. Samer tells us what they have learnt from recent industry changes, as well as what people can expect from their future work.

“Our partners are implementing the DCS in projects like Dubai Technology and Media free Zone, the business village, Ghoroob Mirdiff and City of Arabia among many others that require thousands of refrigeration tons.

We are proud to witness such growing demand.

“At the last 7th edition of the IDEA district cooling conference that we hosted in Dubai we have come along the best practices in the industry, innovations in storage, new criteria in designing plants and clues to optimize the exploitation. We think this has been valuable to all participants; beside it represents a real benchmark that allows all of us to get keys for developing new services and products.”

1612CV42

,

Small Details Make Big Differences Simon Moyes is a leading Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon practising out of The Wellington Hospital in St John’s Wood and a branch of London Bridge Hospital in the City at 31 Old Broad Street. We profile Simon and his work, exploring how he aims to provide the very best support and care to his clients in this vital sector.

Simon Moyes specialises in arthroscopic and minimally invasive treatment for mainly sports injuries specialising on problems for the knee, shoulder, foot and ankle.

He is a pioneer of arthroscopic surgery taking up the post of Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at UCL Hospitals in 1994 with a special interest there in arthroscopic surgery and sports medicine.In 1998 he moved into full time private practice, which he continues to offer to this day.

Simon’s overall mission is to ensure the patient is happy and

informed at all times – he believes this is all part of an efficient recovery plan. The patient has access to members of the team at all times to ask questions and they take the time to understand the patient’s situation in-depth.

Medically, they aim to reduce the need for surgery and if surgery is required, then it usually minimally invasive such as key-hole or arthroscopy where there is a quicker recovery time.

In order to ensure full satisfaction and provide the very highest standard of client service, when patients call Simon Moyes’ office they are greeted by a person, not an answer phone. Every effort is made to see the patient

on that day, and to ensure they receive same day scans. By the end of the day the patient can expect a diagnosis at which point a treatment programme is set out for the patient and the overwhelming majority of patients are treated conservatively/nonoperatively.

The team at the practice has been working together for 15 years and are highly experienced in ensuring patients are aware of the whole process. After the operation, should it be required, the patient would typically come back for consultations (on average twice) to ensure their recovery is smooth as their aftercare is as important as the treatment itself. After discharge, Simon is always happy to help with any problems or questions that may arise, ensuring that clients are supported throughout the process.

Within the wider healthcare industry, the latest medical devices and technology are offering real benefits to patients, for example arthroscopic technology is permanently evolving and making the surgeons life easier. Simon works closely with a couple of companies called Arthrex and Smith & Nephew, both of whom have developed excellent tools for making it easier for surgeons to carry out cartilage repair surgery. Smith & Nephew also have developed a new device, a form of radio frequency probe which enable certain types of

40 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

arthroscopic surgery to be carried out faster and more effectively.

This is valuable in knee, shoulder and arthroscopic hip surgery.

Developments are also happening in the area of reconstructive surgery and that we are now allowed to use bone marrow derived aspirate concentration to augment cartilage and ligament repairs. This aspirate is rich in stem cells and whilst still experimental is believed to enhance cartilage, ligament and tendon repair and can also be used to treat arthritis.

As such, in order to ensure the continued success of his practice, Simon will continue to maintain his current high standards of practice, integrate the latest developments and innovations into his work to ensure he is always offering the very highest standard of service to his patients. A particular growth area is that of medical tourism with an increasing number of patients flying in from outside of the UK to London which is a large hub for medical tourism and the want for treatment with him. These are certainly growth areas in patient numbers and he is seeing an increase in the number of patients coming in from the UAE and the African Sub Continent. Simon’s future plans also include increasing development and usage of stem cell based technologies to improve outcomes and to potentially establish a stem cell bank.

g

Small Details Make Big Differences

##

Company: Simon Moyes Email: simonmoyes@simonmoyes.com Web Address: www.simonmoyes.com Address: The Wellington Hospital, Wellington Place, London, NW8 9LE Telephone: 0207 323 0040

EA160031

Innovative and Dynamic Services

g

Company: Spectrum Partners, LLC Name: Angela Jenkins-Lester Address: 200 Centennial Avenue, Suite 200 - Piscataway, NJ 08854 12 Christopher Way, Suite 200 - Eatontown, NJ 07724 Phone: (888) 880-7732 • (732) 924-4500 Fax: (866) 728-0534

## 42 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

,

Innovative and Dynamic Services Spectrum Partners, LLC is a full service Enterprise Information Technology Management and Consulting Firm providing a wide range of technology solutions. Winners of ‘President of the Year 2016 - New Jersey’ & ‘Full Service Technology Solutions Company of the Year 2016 – USA’, Spectrum has achieved great success. We profile the firm and learn what they have done to achieve these accolades.

Spectrum Partners serves as a trusted advisor for all Enterprise Information Technology needs and has the capability to assess, design, deploy, operate, and maintain data, voice, video, and converged technologies seamlessly within wired and wireless infrastructures.

The firm’s key differentiator is ensuring product and system interoperability with a focus on Certification and Accreditation (C&A).

Their strategic relationships with the industry’s best of breed providers’ position the company to objectively recommend services that best match the needs of their clients.

Since 2008, Angela M. JenkinsLester has been president and CEO of Spectrum. With over 20 years of collective experience in lead roles of strategic technology assessment, analysis, conceptual design, implementation, systems integration, operations and maintenance (O&M), and overall project and program management, she is vastly experienced in the industry.

In addition, her other experience includes extensive financial analysis including budgeting, forecasting and planning while adhering to cost, schedule, and performance, with extensive

experience in federal and state government, financial and technology industries.

Her most recent contributions to the industry are as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for various technology consulting roles and strategic telecommunications initiatives for the United States Army Enterprise Information Systems. These include wireline and wireless converged technology worldwide implementations.

Further experience includes working strategic initiatives in nonprofit, retail, financial services and technology industries with some technology projects amounting to over $20M per effort.

One of Angela’s other notable achievements included assisting in the proliferation of Natural Language voice-activated solutions and the 1st computer based VoIP gateway. She was also instrumental in the successful product launch of companies such as WebEx (collaboration tool), Interactive Intelligence (PC-based phone switch), and Microlog (IVR application).

Spectrum offers their clients a wide array of services. Firstly, Spectrum supports customers’ needs to enhance business productivity through assessment of existing processes and technology, further design,

implementation and management of a unified workspace. This unified workspace encompasses a combination of networks, devices, and applications. These offerings include cyber security, cloud computing and FedRamp Compliant solutions.

The firm is also involved in data network infrastructure. Spectrum designs, implements, upgrades and maintains network systems for clients. As well as this, they also implement processes and technology that allow clients to identify, isolate, resolve, and prevent network interruptions.

Spectrum also provides outsourced capabilities of these processes and technologies.

Legacy voice systems are another service which Spectrum offers to clients. The firm manages and implements the support and upgrades, whilst offering plans to modernize telecommunications infrastructures as well as offering options for hosted solutions.

Spectrum offers to unify legacy PBX and IP telephony products with the latest approach to system software, equipment and/ or hosted solutions.

Finally, wireless and wired infrastructure is an important aspect of the company’s work.

Spectrum designs and implements the latest in 802.11wireless technologies and

mobility, with a key focus on FIPS 140-2 compliance. With wired infrastructure, the firm’s engineers and consultants encompass the experience to plan, design, and install a cable plant management system that will allow clients to manage the complex cable and fibre infrastructure required by today’s networks.

Spectrum’s Structured Cable Plant design goals are to ensure manageability, operability, and infrastructure requirements are part of the planning, development, and deployment of the project plans. Another goal is to improve overall IT availability, performance, and qualityof-service levels by aligning development and deployment of new applications or equipment within operational requirements.

With a variety of innovative and dynamic services being offered to their clients, Spectrum Partners can look forward to a bright and prosperous future.

“Spectrum Partners can look forward to a bright and prosperous future”

1701CV76

,

Putting the Intellectual in IP The Lesavich High-Tech Law Group, S.C., counsels high-tech start-up, emerging and established clients in all areas of intellectual property law and business law and entrepreneur law. We caught up with Founder Stephen Lesavich (Attorney of the Year 2017 – Illinois) to learn more about the firm and how it works to achieve excellence for each of its clients.

Specifically, the group uses its specialized high-tech experience to assist clients in procuring, managing, protecting, leveraging, licensing and asserting intellectual property. As part of the firm’s services it prepares and prosecutes patent, trademark and copyright applications in the United States and around the world via its Foreign Associates.

Stephen, who throughout his varied career has represented household names including, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Nike, Open TV and Rambus, discusses the firm and how it differentiates itself from its competition.

“The Lesavich High-Tech Law Group opposes and defends trademarks and provides with co-counsel, litigation and litigation consulting for complex, high-tech intellectual property disputes.

Most client matters are completed on a reasonable cost basis compared to large IP law firms so clients can budget their IP protection and are not surprised by invoices they receive for their IP work. This sets our firm apart from our competitors, and marks us out as the best possible option.”

“Personally, I have deep technical professional experience and expertise in the computer, networking, cybersecurity and telecommunications areas. I have worked professionally as a software engineer and have a PhD in computer science as well. I talk directly to engineers, scientists and inventors in their own technical language and ask the appropriate technical and legal questions to protect new inventions. In addition, with deep business management experience I talk directly to CEOs and other C-level management executives to help them avoid legal problems and assist them in developing legal strategies to protect and exploit their IP assets. One big thing that sets my firm apart from other IP law firms in Illinois is the continued successful procurement of hundreds of issued patents, registered trademarks and registered copyrights for a large number of global clients.”

“Our client satisfaction is achieved through successful procurement of defensible issued patents, registered trademarks and registered copyrights. The tangible IP assets that add significant financial value to their companies.”

Among Stephen’s specialisms is IP law, and he has been operating in this sector for many years. He talks us through the techniques he employs in order to offer the very best IP services, advice and support to his clients.

44 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

“Intellectual property law is a speciality area of the typically comprising the procurement and protection of patents, trademarks and copyrights. IP law has specialized rules and procedures. In the United States, an attorney who desires to be patent practitioner is also required to pass an additional bar exam to practice before the United States Patent Office. This ensures that everyone working in this sector, including myself, operates to the highest possible standard.”

“In order to achieve this, one of my law firm’s trademarks is ‘Protecting innovations on the edge of technology.’ As a patent attorney, I am able to work with inventors who are at the edge of technology trying to protect the next generation of innovations. I try to incorporate new innovations and new technologies into my practice of IP law whenever I can to keep up with the clients I represent.”

Operating in an ever evolving market the group has to constantly adapt in order to remain at the forefront of innovation; as such Stephen concludes by describing how his firm is working to remain at the ahead of the game and adapting to the constant digitalisation of the industry.

“Mobile devices, wearables, mobile payments and social media has significantly changed the technology landscape and in turn the legal landscape. Since we are a high-tech law firm, we have to be able to interact and communicate with our high-tech clients no matter what types of new technology or social media they are using. This remains our ongoing focus as we aim to offer clients the very highest standard of service.”

K

Established in in 2002, The Lesavich High-Tech Law Group, S.C. represents many different high-tech and world-class clients with global presences for patent, trademark, copyright and business law matters.

Company: Lesavich High-Tech Law Group, S.C. Name: Stephen Lesavich, PhD, JD Email: info@lhtlg.net Web Address: www.lhtlg.net Address: 5008 Green Bay Road, Suite 107, Kenosha, Wisconsin 53144 USA Telephone: +1.312.332.3751 Twitter: @SLesavich Linkedin: www.linkedin.com Google+: plus.google.com

1612CV03

At the VERSFELD & HUGO, LLC immigration law firm, we help both individuals and corporations across the world with all matters that relate to Immigration, Naturalization, Visa and Consular Law. Our attorneys provide world-class immigration assistance.

mail@versfeldlaw.com

www.versfeldlaw.com

1701CV52

Positioning Your Patent Beyond The HorizonSM Company: The Juhasz Law Firm, P.C. Name: Paul R. Juhasz Email: pjuhasz@patenthorizon.com Web Address: www.patenthorizon.com Address: 10777 Westheimer, Suite 1100, Houston, TX 77042, +1 713 260-9643, Key Center, 601 108th Avenue NE, Bellevue, WA 98004, +1 425 943-7619

## 46 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

g

,

Positioning Your Patent SM Beyond The Horizon The Juhasz Law Firm is an intellectual property (IP) counselling, protection, licensing and litigation company. Combining deep IP experience, broad IP capabilities across a wide spectrum of industries and technologies, and extensive expertise in IP strategies, Paul Juhasz talks to us about what has made the firm such a success.

The Juhasz Law Firm is an iconic patent, copyright and trademark firm with offices in Houston, Texas and Seattle, Washington. The firm brings years of experience, its founder Paul R. Juhasz alone with over 30-years, into attending to the needs of a global client base.

Juhasz Law specializes in patent, design, trade mark, and copyright prosecution, counselling, oppositions and cancellations, enforcement, litigation, licensing, transactions, and due diligence.

Paul tells us more about the firm’s expertise and experience, and how this benefits clients.

“Our technical expertise spans a wide range of technologies including electrical, electronics, computers, cloud computing, telecommunication, semiconductor, software, mechanical, chemistry, pharmaceutical, biotechnological, medical devices and systems.

We are trained to work as a team, in a process customized for clients, to meet specific client needs and requirements. Juhasz Law has excellent operations and technological infrastructure for global patent filing and litigation and licensing.”

“Representative clients include Fortune 500 and mid-size companies as well as individual inventors. We have an extensive network of relationships with legal, technical, and business

experts inside and outside the U.S. Our current clients are our best reference. At The Juhasz Law Firm, we link top notch lawyering with the business strategy of our clients. We take the time to understand each client’s needs and provide them with unique solutions that matches their needs.”

“Our direct experience and other extensive litigation and licensing experience is brought into every engagement – preparation, prosecution, counselling, monetization (licensing/sale), and litigation. We have helped clients generate hundreds of millions of dollars in value. For one client, our services generated an 1100% return on investment.

We have large department IP portfolio and IP resource decision-making and leadership.

We are patent experts who are extensively published, including in 101 patentable subject matter, patent exhaustion, patent licensing, patent litigation, and IP management.”

An important aspect to any law firm is its commitment to ensuring neutrality, confidentiality and fairness in their cases. Paul explains what the firm does to maintain its high professional standards.

“Since its inception, The Juhasz Law Firm has been governed by its core values. These values shape the culture and define the character of the law

firm. They guide how the firm behaves and makes decisions as well as the firm’s interaction with its clients and each other.

At the heart of The Juhasz Law Firm are the following four core values: Respect for individual – treating every individual, be it client, strategic ally, network member, and all individuals with respect; Integrity – being ethically unyielding and honest in firm dealings; Client value creation – enabling clients to better see, understand, and realize the potential strategic value from their IP; and Network – leveraging firm relationships, networks, and knowledge to deliver excellent services to Firm clients and in all firm endeavours. Consistent with these core values, the firm has established and maintains procedures that ensure neutrality, confidentiality and fairness in our cases.”

“The Juhasz Law Firm recognizes that there is a correlation between the value of IP and the extent of linkage between the IP and business strategy of a company. That is why our mission is to help companies strategically protect and position their IP in a way that seeks to link IP to the company’s business strategy.

The Juhasz Law Firm does so using proprietary methodologies that allow companies to better see, understand, and realize the potential strategic value from their IP.”

Paul is aware that the firm needs to maintain the same high standards in the future, as well as in the present. He concludes the interview by outlining the firms’ expansion plans.

“We recently announced the opening of our Seattle office, which serves as the Firm’s center for intellectual property practice in Seattle, Washington, the West Coast, Asia, and the Asia-Pacific.

Our Houston office serves Texas, the remainder of the U.S., Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. We hope to build on our practice in both locations to help current clients achieve even more with their patents and to reach other companies to help them do the same.”

“We know that the future of clients may depend on the financial, legal and strategic representation of their intellectual property. For IP needs, clients should consider all their options, including those outside the traditional patent lawyering box, which can add more predictability to their IP strategy. For IP needs, companies should think of the firm that helps them converge their IP and market strategies. The Juhasz Law Firm is a select firm that can and does do that for companies.

“Lastly, at Juhasz Law we know that good ideas don’t come easy. We here at Juhasz Law are committed to protecting your best ideas and Positioning Your Patent Beyond The Horizon℠.”

1701CV14

,

Driving Innovation at Mullen Group Mullen Group is one of the leading suppliers of trucking and logistics services in Canada, providing a wide range of specialized transportation and related services to the oil and natural gas industry, principally in western Canada. Joanna Scott serves as the Vice President, Corporate Services and Corporate Secretary at Mullen Group Ltd, where she also serves as the Corporation’s in-house legal counsel. Joanna told us more about her role within the firm and offers advice to other women looking to succeed in the business.

Mullen Group operates a decentralized business model that allows each Business Unit to operate as a separate subsidiary under its own brand, and is held accountable for its own performance and results.

Mullen Group’s Corporate Office provides oversight and support to the Business Units by coordinating business strategies, monitoring financial and business performance, providing management services, centralized banking and financial expertise, and offering shared services such as payroll, human resources support, information technology support, legal and accounting services.

Joanna has worked at Mullen Group for two and a half years, and in her current role is responsible for corporate legal matters, corporate governance and the day to day management of the Corporate Investor Services Group. She works across numerous areas within Mullen Group, and was happy to detail this work further.

“In addition to becoming General Counsel, I am in-house counsel for all 28 of Mullen Group’s Business Units. I also act as a Corporate Secretary, working with

the board on such matters as corporate governance, corporate compliance and securities law.

I am the Chair of the Disclosure Committee, which is responsible for overseeing company disclosure, and I am the Chair of the Policy Committee, which is responsible for developing new policies when required, and reviewing existing corporate policies in use.

“I am not only involved in the legal aspect of the business, but in the strategic and long term goals of Mullen Group. I am a member of the four-person Senior Executive team in my capacity as VP, which assembles to discuss the strategic direction of the company, business management and business risk. In this role, I interact with investors, debt-holders, and assist in the management of the individuals in Mullen Group’s unique Business Units.”

Before joining Mullen Group, Joanna worked in a law firm setting, and recalls that this presented a number of challenges to her as a woman in business.

“It was a challenge to be taken seriously in this environment, to be able to get the interesting and challenging files whilst also gaining understanding from the Partners as to my role as a

48 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

mother, particularly as the mother of child with a disability.

“The opportunity to work at Mullen Group was honestly the best thing that could have happened to me, both from a career perspective and as a move for my family.

From the view of my career, to be included on the senior executive team has been one of the most amazing opportunities I have been afforded in my career, and from the family perspective, I have been able to foster a much better balance as a mother and a wife; I am very grateful for Mullen Group’s focus on family. The team here at Mullen Group has respected my opinion from the beginning and they appreciate and value me as a member of the executive team. The three men I work with on the Senior Executive Team go out of their way to mentor me and include me in all aspects of the business side of Mullen Group. They are truly amazing colleagues and I attribute much of my success to their leadership and mentorship.”

Joanna believes that other women in this business should seize every opportunity they are given, and should not be afraid to voice their opinion and share their expertise with the team they are working with.

“I also believe that one of the

most important things a woman can do is to find a great mentor, someone who they can trust. I think one of the most important attributes required to reach the top of a firm within my sector is to actually leave the mentality of reaching the top behind. To be successful, in my view, the focus should be on being a valuable member of the team; one’s goal should not be to reach the top, but to achieve excellence in the role that you function in.”

Mullen Group has been in business since 1949, and Joanna is looking forward to what the future holds for the business, and she feels very fortunate to be a part of this future.

“My personal goal for the future is to get to know the business and people of each of Mullen Group’s Business Units. It is something that I have been working on since I started at Mullen Group, but it does take time. My goal is to go out and visit each site and gain a better understanding of the various factors that impact each business unit. It is also my goal to get to know the people who work at each Business Unit and dtermine how I can assist them in achieving their corporate goals”

g Driving Innovation at Mullen Group

##

Company: Mullen Group Ltd. Name: Joanna Scott Email: jscott@mullen-group.com Web Address: www.mullen-group.com Address: 121A – 31 Southridge Drive, Okotoks, AB T1S 2N3 Telephone: 403-995-5217

BW160044

,

A Supplier Management Expert Lula Kosanic is a truly seasoned expert in supplier management. In her current capacity, she is responsible for an annual spend of about $500MM, across about 200 suppliers, with 3,000 annual deal transactions. We spoke to her to find out more about her success.

Over the past seven years, Lula has achieved some truly stellar results.

She has delivered over $200MM in annual spend reductions, largely through leading strategic billion-dollar outsourcing deals, renegotiating price reductions through market price benchmarking, and restructuring strategic partnerships to deliver economic value to the business.

Behind this success is her practical approach to business problems, and her strength in being able to achieve results is largely because she has been able to take complex problems, simplify issues, and suggest practical recommendations. She thrives on building high performing talent with a commitment to excellence.

This commitment to excellence can be seen across Lula’s career. She started her career in telecommunications at Bell Canada, holding various procurement roles and client facing deal roles. She was recruited to Bell’s largest Enterprise client, CIBC, where she took on the task to re-build an Outsourcing Governance practice in technology, and then expanded her mandate to include all suppliers.

Following this, Lula took on a broader scope to rebuild the expense management practice, promoting a culture of cost avoidance. The approach behind this was to proactively catch potential errors before they are billed instead of correcting errors at some point in the future. In parallel, she has developed an Asset Management practice, with significant accomplishments in the software space, enabling a strong compliance mandate to mitigate risk.

“I don’t think we can imagine with precision what the world will be like in the next ten years, but that in itself is an exciting thought, and I look forward to being part of that journey.”

50 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

In terms of her academic experience, Lula completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto, graduated with an Executive MBA from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University, and a Certified Management Accounting (CMA, CPA) designation. She also completed her corporate director designation for non-forprofit boards.

“Having exposure to a supplier organisation is beneficial to anyone’s career track in this industry,” says Lula. “You learn how service organisations operate, and what it takes to sell internally.”

Alongside this experience, Lula spent several years representing the Canadian Delegation at annual Atlantic Treaty Association General Assembly meetings in Europe. She was among a small team that established the Youth Atlantic Treaty Association in Portugal in 1998, and became the first president of the Canadian Chapter. She also served on the board of the Canadian Institute for Strategic Studies, led by then Chairman Hon. Hugh Segal, and worked to integrate the organisation into the Canadian International Council.

In total, Lula has travelled to over 35 countries in a personal and professional capacity. Her most significant and memorable experience was working in Asia on a consulting project for a Canadian mining manufacturing company, establishing a joint venture with an Asian firm to manufacture safety equipment.

Ultimately, Lula has a passion for business, and establishing strong partnerships that deliver value to all parties. She does not look at her work as hard, but a fun challenge, where there is no problem too complex that she would shy away from. One thing that has enabled success in her career is her relentless perseverance to getting the job done, always through a positive “glass is half full” approach.

Her brand is built on integrity, perseverance and results.

Having been recognised for her expertise in supplier management and as the most influential female Director in Canada, Lula is passionate about the opportunities over the next decade. “I don’t think we can imagine with precision what the world will be like in the next ten years, but that in itself is an exciting thought, and I look forward to being part of that journey.”

g A Supplier Management Expert

Recognized Expert in Supplier Management & Most Influential Female Director – Canada

K Company: CIBC Name: Lula Kosanic, MBA, CMA, CPA Senior Director - Expense, Vendor, Asset Management

1701CV15

,

Stand Up and Be Counted Whitefriars Catholic College for Boys aims to empower young men to live with integrity through experiences of community and prayer and through a sensitivity to justice. It assists them to take their place in a contemporary global society as valued individuals, alive with the wisdom of the Gospel. Businesswoman of the year, Emilia Fields, speaks to us about the importance women play in providing a memorable experience for students.

Emilia’s role at Whitefriars College has many facets. She has been a mainstay for 18 years, and has been in her current role, as Director of International Student Program for the last 12. She tells us what her day to day responsibilities are as well as her previous experience.

“I coordinate the Homestay program and recruit the respective homestay families.

I am responsible for the promotion of the program and the recruitment of international students. I select and liaise with the overseas Whitefriars accredited Agents. I am the Prisms Administrator (Enrolment, Welfare and records) and VRQA Policy Assurance officer (Victorian Government). I organise overseas promotional trips and attend exhibitions,

seminars, visits to parents, agents and schools. I also oversee the Bridging Program which is a 20 weeks Intensive English Course for new international students.

Additionally, I have commitments as President of Vision International (An Association of Victorian Secondary schools), Representative of Victorian Non-Government Schools at the Ministerial Round table (a Victorian State Government initiative) and Member of the Victorian Student Interest Group (A Victorian Education Department project)”.

“My previous positions of leadership at Whitefriars were Transition Coordinator, House System Coordinator and Student Representative Council Coordinator. Prior to Whitefriars, I was Foundation Head of School at a Co-educational College, Head of School at a Girls College and part- time University lecturer” Emilia discusses the importance of women in the industry and what role they play in providing the highest standard of education at Whitefriars College.

“The sector is going from strength to strength and the competition is much more evident in every aspect especially in areas such as global citizenship and multiculturalism. Over 58% of our staff at Whitefriars are women.

The school believes in women as leaders and many women are

52 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

in positions of leadership and in middle management positions in our school. The College has a great reputation and this helps high quality women leaders to be motivated enough to apply for various positions within our organisation. They also feel nurtured and respected. The main challenge for women is to believe in who they are, what they can do and then go for it.

“The advice I would give to women is that they should be proud of their achievements and believe they can make a valuable contribution to education as professional leaders, as well as not to feel intimidated by the other gender in terms of promotion and applying for jobs.

Once in the job: stand up, be counted, ask for help and then leave a legacy.”

Emilia highlights what the future holds in 2017 for international students at Whitefriars College,

as well as her personal goals which she aims to achieve.

“In the area of International students, we will continue to enhance integration of students, globalisation within the school community and the transition of international students to tertiary education.”

“My personal goals are to continue to strengthen international programs in schools. We listen extensively to students and then adopt new programs that enhance the students’ positive experience in a new country.”

Ending the interview, Emilia hopes to see more awareness in society with regards to gender equality and to continue to see women celebrated at the helm of their undertakings. She has a bold message for the business women of the world – “Stand up and be counted”.

K

Whitefriars is a Catholic College for boys which is situated in Melbourne, Australia.

It is a Carmelite school which began teaching in 1961. The College is officially registered by Austrade to recruit international students into the College and the International Student Program has been running for 20 years.

The College has a student population of 1,200 and the levels taught are Years 7 to 12.

The people Emilia works with are the students, the staff, the boys’ parents, the overseas and local accredited agents, and the homestay parents.

Company: Whitefriars College Name: Emilia Fields Email: efields@whitefriars.vic.edu.au Web Address: www.whitefriars.vic.edu.au Address: 151 Park Road Donvale, Melbourne, Victoria Australia Telephone: +61 3 98728280

1701CV74

,

Doing the Right Thing the Right Way The First Time We invited ‘CEO of the Year 2017 – South Carolina in the Office Technology space , John Eckstrom to speak about his company success and what he believes has made him award winning.

“Through the years, we have heard so many times that something, and you name it, can’t be done.” The team members at CBE know that those are words that I do not want to hear. I am OK hearing that we may not want to do something but let’s face it, do you really think that the typical difficult issue we see can’t be done ? I on occasion remind folks that we, not CBE but American ingenuity, put a man on the moon 45 years ago and brought him back safely.

The company follows a key principle ‘do the right thing the right way the first time’.”

Despite John becoming award winning, John is reluctant to be in the limelight and acknowledges that it is a collective effort from his staff that contributes to CBE’s overall success.

“What I see is that others look at CBE’s success and automatically call me a successful CEO. While that may feel good, I see they are these as two different achievements and I would have to say that the most important task has been to assemble a strong team that makes me us all look good.

“If you saw look at the team that has been assembled, you may not recognize me for this award. Rather it would have been something to recognize me for the creation of that team that I have. For now, you can call me an award winning CEO but I will have to quickly deflect that recognition to the strong management team that makes me look good.”

CBE operates in a challenging industry which has gone through many changes over the years.

According to John, the current state of the industry continues to be one of hyper-change. He talks about what is high on everyone’s agenda and the importance of technology.

“We could fill up pages and pages of issues affecting the industry. On the top of almost every list centres around security.

Here, we have been part of some very effective initiatives that put us in the forefront in our industry.

“Absolutely everything we do and touch is centred around technology. The issue becomes the delivery of those solutions.

What we e see too often are people that have a standard of ‘good enough’. From our perspective, that is a bar set too low. At CBE, we begin every engagement with the objective of making that encounter an amazing experience for our clients. We actually use the phrase, “Will it Amaze? “This is backed up by unsolicited communications from our clients stating that they did not know how sick they were until CBE made them better.”

John concludes the interview by informing us of the company’s future plans and growth opportunities in the coming months ahead.

“We have all heard that if you are not moving forward the only other option is to move backwards”.

Standing still just does not work.

We are and have been on a growth track for the last few years.

Just in Q4 of 2016 we completed the expansion of our NOC (Network Operations Center).

Called the First Response Center (FRC), our NOC It is the heartbeat for the forward mobility for CBE. “Every aspect of our growth presents new challenges but also new opportunities to shine. Right now, we are having fun wrapping our collectives arms around those opportunities. I will also add that 2017 will be an exciting year and that we are looking forward to projecting our full expectations.”

K

Having begun as a traditional copier company, in the mid 1970’s, turned managed network support company, Carolina Business Equipment is a business process advisor, solutions provider and support organization. John Eckstrom joined the company as its CFO in 1994 and helped the company to reinvent itself and stay relevant in a constantly changing industry. Most these changes centred around the networks that supported their client’s businesses. John chats to us about how the company approaches clients, and how CBE works with them to achieve their goals.

Company: Carolina Business Equipment Name: John Eckstrom Email: johne@cbesc.com Web Address: www.cbesc.com Address: 5123 Bush River Rd, Columbia, SC 29212 Telephone: 803-798-7522

1701CV18

,

Improve Your Thinking And Your Career Dean Williams, owner of Dean Williams Executive Coach (DWEC) Ltd, has been offering highlevel senior coaching for the last 16 years, and over the last ten of those years, has conducted around 2,000 one to one sessions. In December last year, Dean was awarded the prestigious ‘UK’s Finest in HR And Talent Training 2016’ at the HR Excellence Awards 2016. We invited him to tell us more about his business, and his latest successful book.

DWEC Ltd offers one to one and team coaching for senior people in business. Dean is invited to work with high potential talent (from a variety of job specialisms) within some of the world’s leading organisations.

Samsung, HSBC, Barclays, Bupa, Thames Water and MasterCard are just some of the high profile companies that the coaching business works with.

Dean explains more about the service which he offers to clients.

“The concept of what I do is getting people to improve their thinking in order to improve company and individual performance and results. This is done by offering a deep understanding of their goals and

dilemmas, and a robust and challenging approach”.

“I offer a lot of career coaching to people who are ambitious in their career development aspirations. Over the last ten years, and two in particular, I have looked at the formula and structure of my career coaching.

There are countless examples of individuals that I have managed to help in their thinking, and actually achieve a higher level of sustainable career success. I have found that achieving career success has a science to it and is predictable”.

In his latest book, ‘Thrive: How to Achieve and Sustain HighLevel Career Success’ which was published in December 2016, Dean explains a roadmap

concept he created and how it helps towards achieving career success.

“This roadmap (or as I call it ‘Career Annulus’ © Dean Williams 2016) covers 9 core aspects of essential focus and mastery in your career, together with a challenge to see if you are ready for further high-level career development. Some of the core aspects include: How To State Your Ambition, The Importance Of Finding Cheerleaders, and Looking And Acting The Part Above Your Current Grade”.

After receiving his HR Excellence Award and releasing his book, Dean is keen to move towards working with HR departments and talent teams to help them manage and nurture their top talent.

“I want to work with internal teams to share the formula and science of the ‘Career Annulus’ © Dean Williams 2016. In turn giving them the tools to keep, engage and grow their top talent.

After all, losing top talent is a very costly exercise”.

Dean is offering an in demand half-day workshop to share his understanding with talent teams.

You are invited to contact Dean for further information.

Aside from his work at DWEC Ltd, Dean is co-founder of The Business Coaching Academy, whose focus is to offer Accredited training to leaders and managers on how to coach, whilst he is also a trustee for a leading international charity called Hope & Homes for Children.

K Company: Dean Williams Executive Coach Ltd Name: Dean Williams Email: dean@dwexecutivecoach.co.uk Web Address: www.dwexecutivecoach.co.uk Telephone: 0845 604 4403 Twitter: @dwecintouch Additional website address: www.thebcacademy.com https://www.amazon.com/Thrive-Achieve-Sustain-HighLevel-Success/dp/1786238039

54 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

1701CV28

,

Creative, Agile and Decisive Duncan Hughes-Phillips, winner of ‘CEO of the Year 2017 - Surveying Services (UK)’ speaks about Base Quantum Ltd. and what the company has done to become an international chartered Quantity Surveying consultancy.

“We are a relatively small business, but we have developed a real global presence. In the last 12 months we have worked on jobs, or in locations around the UK & Europe, South America, North America, Africa and Asia.

“We do not try to compete with the mainstream – we are an expanding, diverse team with a wide range of expertise, and we seek to meld the talents of our individuals with a PR and marketing ‘machine’ to search for niches where we can operate.

Anywhere a little bit different where our skills can be put to good use is where we want to be.

“We break our services down into constituent parts, and we understand our value chain and how to sell our core skills in the market. We leverage on our ability to find new opportunities to sell our services (or parts of our services), on finding new places to sell what we do, and on finding slightly different services to sell in the mainstream market. We also find different ways to package the core services of a quantity surveyor – this helps us find new places where there is minimal competition.

In addition to informing us about the basic premise of the business, Duncan goes onto to explain their business strategy and how this has benefitted clients since the company was founded.

“Our business strategy has always been the same. To be receptive to change in the industry, to be creative, agile and decisive and to chase opportunities with courage and vigour. We take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves.

“We try to be perceptive, use academic training (I am an MBA graduate), experience, instinct and the in-depth knowledge of our team of professionals to try to interpret where the market is going next. We always try to stay ahead of the curve.

“To make our ethos work, we have to be different in how we do things. We try to remove the internal clutter and strife that many other organisations suffer from. To provide our team with an opportunity to imagine the possibilities in an industry laden with pressure is a key challenge for us.”

Not only has the business faced challenges, but Duncan himself discusses the personal challenges he has overcome in order to become an awardwinning CEO. “Starting was the biggest challenge. The recession, a lack of alternative employment

opportunities, and a loss of confidence and cynicism in employers left me with no option, otherwise I am not sure I would have done it. Overcoming the loneliness of being a start-up was horrid. This was a key driver behind growing.

“Most of my challenges have been personal. I have always felt that technical skills drive you forward in life, but personal skills hold you back. Understanding and resolving the personal traits that have held me back have been a challenge. There are other challenges, for example facing up to relinquishing control, which is a key step in turning the business from being a small firm to a big firm, has been a challenge.”

There are many projects on the horizon for Base Quantum in 2017 and beyond. Duncan outlines the future plans for the business.

“We are currently working hard on our succession plan.

This year we will be launching

our new structure with a new management team.

“We are also looking to develop our formal international base.

Over the last two years, we have had an office in Dubai which we have used for a base to work in MENA, but in 2017, we will be looking to spread our reach into other parts of Asia, Africa and possibly Australasia.

“We are also developing new products, which will enable us to market the forensic expertise that we have usually use after a project has been completed into situations where it can be of benefit earlier in the construction process.”

As for his own career future, Duncan sees himself watching with pride as the next generation of CEOs and Managing Directors put their stamp and spin on the business, and he looks forward to working with them, teaching the skills needed to take the business into the middle part of the 21st century.

K

Base Quantum is a firm of chartered quantity surveyors and expert witnesses.

We started trading in March 2012 and have grown rapidly, from a team of three at the end of 2012 up to a team of 54 (and growing) at the end of 2016. Duncan Hughes-Phillips chats to us about how the firm competes in the market.

Company: Base Quantum Ltd Name: Duncan Hughes-Phillips Email: Duncan.phillips@base-quantum.co.uk Web Address: www.base-quantum.co.uk Address: Aldwych Studios, 71-91 Aldwych, London, WC2B 4HN. Telephone: 0207 043 0993

1701CV55

Get Your Hands Dirty at the Speed of Life

g

Company: Clarity International Name: Francesco Furnari - Chief Marketing & Sales Officer Email: francesco.furnari@clarityinternational.com Web Address: www.clarityinternational.com Address: 86-90 Paul Street, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 4NE, UK Telephone: 020 8123 9519

## 56 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

,

Get Your Hands Dirty at the Speed of Life Clarity International creates user-friendly bespoke software solutions and engaging eLearning content to empower people in complex organisations. As an award-winner, Francesco Furnari, our CMO of the Year 2016 – UK, has helped in the continued success of the company. We spoke to him to find out more.

Clarity International is a worldwide digital design integrator working with large multinational corporations, supercharging the effectiveness and experience of their employee engagement, digital learning and sales tools. For over ten years, their strategists, designers and technologists, located in offices across three continents, consult and guide major enterprises through the journey of building a digital ecosystem. Francesco Furnari explains more about what the company does.

“We create easy-to-use bespoke software solutions and engaging eLearning content to empower people in complex organisations, driving them to meet their objectives and more.

Clarity International has grown with a global list of clients that includes HSBC, BT, Ministry of Defence, Marsh & McLennan, TEVA, Toshiba, Huawei, HP, and Microsoft.

“We’ve won numerous awards and industry recognitions including the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, two Learning & Performance Institute Awards and three BT Innovation Awards. We are a Nielsen Norman and Microsoft SharePoint certified company.

Clarity International is also a member of the Neuromarketing Science & Business Association and a corporate member of the Cambridge Institute for

Sustainability Leadership. As a company, we provide financial support to several charities and encourage our team to get involved with the local community and the wider world through volunteering.”

Francesco talks about his role and the challenges and industry trends he has faced whilst becoming an award-winning CMO. “The key challenge I have faced to become a successful CMO is to come up with new tactics and techniques. My neuromarketing studies - done over ten years ago - helped me a lot.

Understanding the nature of the human being and how our brain works was fundamental to any communication, marketing and sales activity. Our scouting teams in Silicon Valley, Israel and Japan also play a key role here. They allow us to stay on top of new technology and communications trends which, in turn, enables us to provide advanced end-to-end solutions for our clients.

“My motto is ‘get your hands dirty at the speed of life’. Along with my team, I have designed and run 700+ management campaigns for our clients on digital learning, product design, user experience, employee engagement, transformation, digital media and sales enablement. I spent a lot of my time out in my clients’ offices, so I travel quite a lot.

“As a communications officer, there are also so many industry trends which I follow - gamification, storytelling, virtual reality, social learning, artificial intelligence, and the list goes on - but the key to success stems from understanding people’s experiences and the context in which they work and live. I explore their experiences to understand their habits and needs to identify the problems they face and opportunities for our clients’ business.”

Technology is vital for any business. However, Francesco explains how the user experience is just as important, if not more.

“An unfriendly user experience and technology - even if it is a ‘cool’ one - will simply fail. Our focus is on user needs and lifestyle understanding. Not only do we want to know who they are, but we want to dive deeper into understanding their motivations, mentality and behaviour. This sort of deep insight will help us keep our clients’ products/solutions focused on delivering a great experience.

A very high level of service and a personal relationship with our clients are in Clarity’s DNA. Over the years, the marketing industry has changed considerably. Francesco speaks about how these changes have affected business and shares his thoughts on the current state of the industry.

“We live in a society which is constantly changing and so everything around us is changing too - technology, houses, cars, schools, hospitals, products and so on. If we want to effectively communicate to people - either inside or outside a company - it’s imperative that communications techniques and tactics evolve and adapt to the individual accordingly; think about the Millennials in a corporate environment.

“Many - if not all - of my clients are going through a transformation or change programme i.e. HR, IT, Finance, Operations, etc. These programmes will have a big impact on their employees. Our job is to consult and guide our clients through this journey and get their employees to embrace the changes.”

Ultimately, Clarity International has a bright future ahead which Francesco explains.

“Clarity International will continue what it’s best at: consulting and guiding major enterprises through the journey of building digital ecosystems, and creating user-friendly bespoke software solutions, eLearning programmes and engaging content to empower people in organisations. The result: our clients save £X million thanks to our proven ROI model.”

1701CV82

,

Success in the Skills Sector NOCN is a leading Awarding Organisation and Apprentice Assessment Organisation that has been creating learning opportunities for 30 years. We caught up with Managing Director Graham Hasting-Evans to learn more.

“Four years ago NOCN was a small UK Awarding Organisation, operating in a limited part of the market and struggling to compete. Now it is a successful international business, regarded as a leader, valued by its customers as a friendly,

flexible and responsive partner.

Testimony to the success of our ongoing growth strategy is the fact that NOCN now spearheads major policy developments and influences change throughout the skills industry.

“As a charity, NOCN follows the Nolan principles and it is a firm believer in equality for all and is an accredited Leader in Diversity” One of the central management tools that Graham has brought to NOCN is the Balanced Scorecard from Harvard Business School, to support business strategy development and performance management. This innovative approach helps his team keep track of and identify issues and refocusing activities for greater impact. He discusses how his approach and how the skills and attributes he brings, help his organisation succeed.

“Personally, my principles are driven by a desire to help people, providing qualifications and opportunities to transform lives.

Everyone in society should have the skills they need to maximise their potential.

“One of the biggest challenges I have overcome at NOCN has been the transformation of an organisation in difficulty into a successful business which I am proud to lead. Change is hard and there have been issues to overcome at every level, from top to bottom.

“Even harder than internal transformation has been changing external perceptions of the organisation. NOCN was

58 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

not regarded well when I joined.

We have worked hard since then to rebuild our reputation: as experts, with high quality products, a trusted and reliable partner, focused on helping people achieve their potential and for businesses to thrive.”

As a sector, skills and education is constantly evolving and developing; in particular it has massively changed through UK Government policy over the last five years. Another aspect of this dynamic sector is the use of technology in learning, an area which Graham believes is essential to stay ahead of as this will play a key part in the education of upcoming generations.

“Technology is very important in education and we face a revolution in the way people access training and qualifications.

It will not be long before a mobile device is the primary way to learn; not from a book or a website but on a phone or other smart device. This is certainly true, to a large extent, for our international markets where many learners, for example in India, are accessing

courses exclusively online. The UK market is moving this way as well and we will see how the other big tech trends such as AI, AR and VR, will be used by the industry. Educators are naturally innovative and they like to explore new ways of delivering learning.

NOCN is committed to providing learning opportunities for all and technology is certainly a great way to do this.”

Looking to the future, Graham’s aspiration for NOCN is for it to be in the top ten for its industry in the UK and to be recognised as experts in the UK and internationally, and he believes that this is an achievable goal, as he proudly outlines in his concluding comments.

“NOCN’s business strategy is to expand and diversify; it is already growing organically and exploring possible acquisitions, diversifying into new markets, products, customers and countries. In five years’ time, I want to be handing over a much bigger, better and more successful organisation to my successor, than the one I inherited.”

K

NOCN is a successful Awarding Organisation providing qualifications, examinations and certifications in Further Education in the UK and overseas. It is also a leading Apprentice Assessment Organisation, appointed to deliver end-point assessments as part of the UK government’s apprenticeship reforms. As one of the top three assessment providers in England NOCN acts as an educational consultant to governments, organisations, employers, professional bodies and training providers, with customers in the UK, India, Middle East, Europe and Africa. Graham, who has been the firm’s Managing Director for six years, discusses the firm’s ongoing focus on growth in order to continue providing excellence for its clients.

Company: NOCN Name: Graham Hasting-Evans Email: graham.hasting-evans@nocn.org.uk Web Address: www.nocn.org.uk Address: 99 Parkway Avenue, Sheffield, England, S9 4WG Telephone: 0114 227 0500

1701CV33

,

Competing in the 21st Century We spoke to Kevin Stuart, Director of Operations at CareerAcademy.com, to learn the secrets of their success. CareerAcademy.com offers a huge online training membership to help individuals and corporations enhance their skills to improve productivity and overall value. Members access over 1,400 courses covering Project Management, IT Networking, HR and more.

Director of Operations, Kevin Stuart explains what the company does to ensure that students receive a successful outcome.

“We utilize expertly skilled highly certified instructors to develop our training courses. Their main focus is to craft a training course that covers all material required for a student to sit and pass the certification exam. Our trainers develop courses that not only cover the exam objectives but surpass that material ensuring student success and above knowledge potential. Clear communication between teams is key to that success during all phases of course development.”

CareerAcademy.com is a highly respected company, whose goal is to offer the most affordable online comprehensive certification training membership

that is available worldwide.

Kevin explains how the company stands out from industry competitors to achieve this goal.

“The overall value and pricing of our training membership is what sets us apart in the industry. Unlike our competitors, we do not charge an individual course fee; we feel that isn’t how training should be offered in today’s robust work environment.

People have to wear many hats; therefore, they need access to a comprehensive training membership that allows them to switch from one topic to the next without any pay walls.

A simple membership fee is required, and then our members have full access to all of our training courses (which we are continuously expanding).

“Our training membership is available to more than just the US market. Our training can be viewed anywhere anytime as long as the individual has access to the Internet, that’s the beauty of online training. Everyone can use it!

“We not only offer HR courses within our online training membership but we also include training material relevant for the entire enterprise. We are widely known for our IT networking and project management certification training material as well as our cyber security, IT service

management, HR, business skills and office productivity training.

Our membership includes training for everyone from the entry-level administrator to the highly skilled IT technician or project management professional.”

Within the wider industry, CareereAcademy.com has adapted to changes in the industry that have affected the firm as Kevin explains.

“We are competitive! Highly competitive! Not only in our very aggressive pricing model but also in the fact that we keep our training up to date and as relevant as possible. We are the industry’s best value learning membership providing yearly premium membership access for only $99 while our competitors charge $99 per month!”

Kevin finishes the interview by telling us how he sees the company developing in the market and also outlines

the plans for the future of CareerAcademy.com.

“Our ability to offer a wide range of over 1,400+ courses for one annual price is second to none.

We continually add courses to our catalogue while keeping current training up to date with all the latest and greatest in project management, office productivity, business skills, HR, IT networking and cyber security certifications. We are always looking for ways to expand our membership features to ensure not only do our members get the best training available, but also the best features to go along with the best training.

“In the future, we plan to grow, expand and grow some more! We are always looking for opportunities in which we can increase our membership whether that is via a partnership or reseller arrangement as well as content distribution/ expansion.”

K

CareerAcademy.com is the industry’s best value learning membership. For one low annual fee, their members have access to over 1,400 online certification training courses, featuring project management, business skills, HR, office productivity, IT networking and cyber security.

Additional membership features include the ability to earn PDUs, CEUs, CPEs, certificates of completion and college credits.

Company: CareerAcademy.com, Inc. Email: info@careeracademy.com Web Address: www.careeracademy.com Address: 160 Gould St. Suite 208 Needham MA 02494 USA Telephone: 1-781-453-3900

1701CV35

,

Excellence in Law Since 1984 Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele, LLP is a full service law firm providing legal advice to its clients in numerous areas of the law. The team at Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele adhere to the philosophy that for quality legal representation, a firm must address the law whilst also addressing the specialized needs of each individual client.

Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele, LLP is dedicated to providing the best quality legal service to each and every one of its clients, while providing personalized solutions and attention throughout the process, as the firm believes that their clients deserve no less.

Professional, knowledgeable and personal service at a level seldom found in the legal profession today is found every day at Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele. The lawyers of the firm make a practice of it.

The firm was founded in 1984 with the philosophy of serving its clients fully, which remains at the very core of the practice today. This exceptional degree of service is what sets the firm apart from its competitors, and enables their attorneys to form long-term, beneficial relationships with their clients. Despite boasting many areas of specialization, the team of attorneys are able to offer a personalized service in each area. By providing their clients with a full range of services, Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele is able to support their clients in almost any legal situation they may encounter.

Given the globalization of commerce and the establishment of the information age, the law firm decided many years ago

that their clients would be best served by establishing a regional presence. The firm has offices in five Southeastern states, staffed by full time attorneys and support staff. Many firms maintain ‘drop box’ offices and claim to be regional, but Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele has attorneys who are employed on a full-time basis in each office and each community. These attorneys are experts in the state law of their respective fields, rather than simply attorneys who have taken a second bar exam. The firm’s Knoxville, TN office has over 20 attorneys, handling everything from insurance defense to corporate transactions.

In December 2008, Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele’s Marietta office relocated to Emerson Overlook, a newly constructed seven story building in the heart of Marietta. This new location was constructed with the firm in mind and is equipped to handle any growth within the firm for many years to come.

Over a number of years, many ‘national’ law firms have moved to Atlanta or absorbed smaller practices is the Southeast. . Owing to the fact Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele is a regional firm, the partners of the firm are confident that their clients recognize that they have the resources and expertise to continue to meet

60 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

their needs in numerous locations. Though the main office is in a northern suburb of Atlanta, the firm maintains a strong presence throughout the greater metropolitan Atlanta area, while also representing clients throughout the country.

With the law firm’s location in the suburbs, Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele’s cost of doing business is much lower than the ‘big’ firms who perhaps focus too much on the materiality of their premises.

As Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele has a lower overhead, they do not pass on expenses such as parking, postage and copying charges to their clients.

Likewise, they are able to offer the same or better legal expertise at significantly discounted hourly rates.

At Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele, a strong mentoring program is provided for all of their associates. The firm’s senior attorneys take great pride in making sure that newer attorneys understand the importance of client confidentiality, while ethically advocating on their behalf. Their attorneys understand that while their job is to zealously represent the interests of clients, this must be done without compromising the firm’s professional responsibilities to the bar and their opposition.

Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele has recently launched

g

Above all, Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele is committed to representing their clients in the most professional manner possible and is dedicated to providing individualized legal services to each client.

Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele’s competencies include: • Captive Insurance Companies • Conservation Easements • Civil and Commercial Litigation • Commercial Real Estate, Zoning and Land Use • Construction Law and Litigation • Corporate Law • Employment Law • Intellectual Property Law • Environmental Law • Estate Planning • Family and Criminal Law • Insurance Defense • Probate Litigation • Taxation • Workers’ Compensation Defense.

Company: Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele, LLP Email: helpdesk@mijs.com Web Address: www.mijs.com Address: Emerson Overlook 326 Roswell Street Marietta, GA 30060 Telephone: 770-429-1499

##

a newly designed websiteand a Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter page. The site features an educational video library, an uncluttered design and now includes updated social media links.

Excellence in Law Since 1984

1701CV87

,

Adding Expertise to Industry The Rawlings Law Firm is a boutique law firm based in North Carolina and Founded by experienced Attorney and Neurosurgeon Charles E. Rawlings. We invited Charles, Attorney of the Year 2017 for North Carolina, to discuss how his experience in the medical industry has helped him to create a practice which prides itself on achieving the best possible outcome for its clients.

“Prior to founding the Rawlings Law Firm, I was an actively practicing neurosurgeon who was Board-certified in 1991. I graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law in

2002 and passed the North Carolina and New Jersey Bars that same year. I subsequently passed the South Carolina Bar and have also been admitted into both Pennsylvania and the Texas Bars. I represent injured clients from across the state of North Carolina as well across the United States. I have even represented several foreign clients. In addition, I have acted as an expert witness in a multitude of states as well as for the U.S. Army. We meet with approximately five to seven new clients per week and file multiple cases per year. We actively practice litigation.

“Since founding the practice, we have expanded into almost all types of litigation as well as mediation. I personally mediate one to two cases per month. Our clients are almost always significantly injured persons or those who have been a victim of corporate or domestic negligence, and we aim to support them to the best of our ability through what is often a challenging time. As a plaintiff’s firm, we do not maintain neutrality with regard to our clients; instead we represent them zealously. Confidentially is strictly maintained with regard to their records and cases based on our ethical obligations. Moreover, we thoroughly discuss both the positive and negative aspects of the case with our clients. Our strict degree of honesty with all our clients is central to our client

62 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

service and we pride ourselves on supporting them to the very best of our ability.”

As one of less than ten neurosurgeons in the United States who practice law and only one of a few JD-MD’s in the state of North Carolina, Charles is highly sought after and his practice is considered unique.

Moreover, Charles is the only attorney in North Carolina who is a member of the ABPLA in medical malpractice, ensuring that he is able to offer clients the very highest standard of service. Despite this his firm still faces many challenges, but Charles views these more as opportunities than issues.

“The main challenge we face in medical negligence litigation or in any litigation for that matter, is to be honest with the client especially with regard to a cost-benefit analysis of their case. In addition, continually

staying current with the changing legislative and case law landscape requires our constant effort, learning of and monitoring the new court decisions. All of these affect and will continue to affect our law firm in the future, but we are committed to remaining vigilant and maintaining our strong focus on supporting our clients.”

In his concluding comments Charles outlines his future ambitions for his practice and how it will work hard to continue offering clients the very highest level of service and support.

“Moving forward, I anticipate that the Rawlings Law Firm will continue to grow and maintain its high level of integrity and honesty with regard to its clients. Our job is to obtain compensation in a cost-effective manner for these injured by the actions of others, and this will remain our ongoing focus.”

K

Founded in 2007, the Rawlings Law Firm has built an outstanding reputation for legal excellence, dedicated client service and high ethical standards. Established as a boutique law practice, the firm aims to emphasize litigation, particularly medical malpractice cases, business litigation, contract disputes, catastrophic injury cases, wrongful death cases, as well as family law litigation. Charles, a BoardCertified neurosurgeon, discusses his background and how he came to form the practice.

Company: The Rawlings Law Firm Name: Charles E. Rawlings, MD, JD Email: rawlings@rawlingslawfirm.com Website: www.rawlingslawfirm.com Address: 426 Old Salem Rd. Winston-Salem, NC 27101 Phone: 336-725-6444

1701CV38

,

Deeply Rooted in the Community Onder, Shelton, O’Leary & Peterson, LLC is a legal firm from St. Louis in the USA. In this profile piece, we take a look at the career of James G. Onder, managing partner at the firm to see how his contributions have helped the firm maintain its success.

The Onder Law Firm is a local firm with deep roots in the St. Louis community. Each of the firm’s attorneys, paralegals, and staff were born and raised in the St. Louis Metropolitan area, giving the firm a “home field” advantage. Although deeply entrenched in the St. Louis legal community, the firm is equally at home out of state.

Firms throughout the nation seek the firm’s experience and expertise on complex litigation in specialty areas, such as medical malpractice, product liability claims and cases involving window covering products.

For James, his first steps into the industry were in 1985 when he obtained a degree in Accounting from Washington University, St. Louis. Three years later, he graduated from the St. Louis University School of Law where he was a member of the Order of the Woolsack Academic Society, the St. Louis University Law Journal, and the St. Louis University Public Law Review.

Throughout his career at Onder, Shelton, O’Leary & Peterson, LLC, James is commonly recognized as a national authority on window covering litigation, having represented families whose children have strangled on mini-blind cords in more than 30 states. Alongside this recognition, James has won many awards which have helped to enhance the reputation of Onder Law. These awards include The National Litigator Award, The Rue Ratings’ and “Best Attorneys in America” Award. In addition to this, he is a National Trial Lawyers’ Top 100 Trial Lawyer. Mr. Onder was a finalist for the 2016 Public Justice “Trial Lawyer of the Year” for his role in the Fox v. Johnson & Johnson $72 million Talcum Powder Ovarian Cancer verdict.

The law firm itself has extensive experience handling complex litigation. The firm served as co-liaison Counsel and co-chair of the Law Briefing Committee for the Plaintiffs’ Leadership Counsel in the multi-district proceeding In Re: Pradaxa (Dabigatran Etexilate) Products Liability Litigation, 3:12-md-02385-DRHSCW, United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. The firm served as co-lead counsel and co-chair of the Law Briefing Committee for the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the multi-district proceeding In Re: Yasmin and Yaz (Drospierenone) Marketing, Sales Practices, and Relevant Products Liability Litigation, 3:09-md-02100-DRH-PMF, United States District Court for

the Southern District of Illinois.

The firm also served on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in the multi-district class action, In Re: Bayer Corp. Combination Aspirin Products Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, 09md-2023, United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Currently, Onder Law is involved in over 200 cases pending in the Circuit Court of Cole County, and the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, Missouri arising out of allegations that the anti-depressant medication Lexapro has caused the minor Plaintiffs to suffer substantial birth defects. The firm is also coordinating and running the Talcum Powder Ovarian Cancer Litigation in the City of St. Louis, Missouri, responsible for administering the claims of nearly two thousand Talcum Powder victims pending in that jurisdiction. The firm also has been or is currently involved in a number of other large scale class actions and multi-district pharmaceutical litigations.

The St. Louis community has certainly benefited from a law firm that deeply cares about the people in it. Onder Law has ensured that it is deeply rooted in the community through its medical contacts. Essential to the effective presentation of evidence in any injury or death claim is the medical testimony presented. The firm’s ties to the St. Louis medical community are second to none.

The great grandfather of one of our attorneys is a former chief of staff at a major St. Louis medical centre; another attorney’s father is past president of the Missouri Association of Osteopathic Physicians and head of the Department of Family Practice at another medical centre.

These longstanding roots in the St. Louis legal and medical communities place the firm in a unique and enviable position. This quality has been recognized by its peers, as evidence by its AV rating in the Martindale-Hubbell directory.

With the recognition that Onder Law has received, along with James’s continued dedication, the firm can look forward to a bright and prosperous future.

K

As the managing partner and founder of Onder, Shelton, O’Leary & Peterson LLC, James G. Onder has extensive experience in the legal industry. He was admitted to the Missouri Bar in 1988 and the Illinois Bar in 1989. Since that time, Mr. Onder has had a successful career in complex litigation, having represented clients across the United States in both single event and mass tort claims.

Company: Onder, Shelton, O’Leary & Peterson, LLC Name: James G. Onder Web Address: www.onderlaw.com Address: 110 East Lockwood, St. Louis, Missouri 63119 Telephone: 314.963.9000

1701CV66

,

Leading the Way in Lead Generation The Lead Generation Company specialises in end-to-end lead generation and strategic client management. We invited Founder and Australian CEO of the Year 2016, Edward Sedgley to talk us through the firm and the range of services it provides.

“At Lead Generation, the strategy over the past few years has been to work with my management team to diversify the business to become an end to end lead generation provider for all clients. We identified three key areas in which we needed to add resources to assist our clients: social media and new technologies; access to highly accurate B2B and B2C target data; and adding external phone contact capabilities to assist our existing Australia team.

“This has seen us add internal lead generation expertise in Facebook, LinkedIn and Marketing Automation; acquire and build very strong opt-in business and consumer data and to develop a call centre in South Africa.

“The strong growth and diversification of the business saw Lead Generation Company acquired by The Marketing Group (TMG) in June 2016. This has been a highly successful acquisition as being part of TMG provides us access to a much broader, global client base as well as giving us a much bigger balance sheet to go after some of the larger deals which would traditionally go to global agencies. In addition, the TMG agglomeration model is based on allowing me and the management team the flexibility and resources to continue with our growth strategy without some of the hindrances of traditional acquisitions.”

Central to the firm’s success over recent years has been its dedication to staying ahead of the latest market developments, which is a challenge Edward personally feels responsible for as CEO. “One of the most important challenges for Lead Generation Company has been to keep

64 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

evolving with new lead generation techniques and technologies to stay ahead of our competition. In my role, this means giving my management team the support to investigate new ways of generating leads, whether this means providing budget to set-up a call centre in South Africa or hiring a Facebook specialist to integrate with our other services. In 2016, this meant supporting my team with business as usual and our growth strategy whilst finalising the TMG acquisition and then working to ensure we can get the most out of being part of a global marketing company.

Looking ahead, the firm’s new position within TMG has provided it with many exciting opportunities for growth and expansion, as Edward concludes.

“In order to build upon our current success Lead Generation have a two-sided strategy for the future; the first part is the existing growth strategy prior to the acquisition by TMG which is now complemented by the growth opportunities via being part of the group. With projects such as our data division and South African operation we have plenty of projects to keep things interesting moving forward.

“Additionally, being part of TMG also provides the ability and incentives for Lead Generation Company to grow through acquiring complimentary businesses. This is incorporated into our longer term plans and is something which I look forward to driving with the support of my team.”

K

Founded in 2004 in response to a market need for professional Business to Business (B2B) appointment setting services, Lead Generation has since grown to assisting all types of businesses in many industries with a core component of growth; new customer acquisition. This is achieved through a combination of data profiling, direct mail, outbound contact, email marketing, social media marketing and marketing automation, with the approach being dependant on the client’s target market and the most effective strategy to drive new business at the best Cost Per Acquisition. Edward discusses the approach he and his team have devised over the year and how this has helped the firm to achieve its impressive growth and success.

Company: Lead Generation Company Pty Ltd Name: Edward Sedgley Email: esedgley@leadgeneration.com.au Web Address: www.leadgeneration.com.au Address: Level 11, 600 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne, VIC 3004 Australia Telephone: 1300 LEADGEN (1300 53 23 43)

1701CV37

,

Universal IT Knowledge, Simplified for Your Business Country Consulting was founded in 2001, initially from a business opportunity to represent two worldwide renowned IT security companies in the Australasia market. Marcel Vogt, Australian CEO of the Year 2016, speaks to us about the fundamental values of the business.

“With the experience of running IT businesses in Europe, Country Consulting developed a culture based around developing strong and ongoing relationships with clients and staff. We believe developing and maintaining these personal relationships is the key to success in our business. It is important for us to treat the clients’ business as if it were our own business.

This strategy is proven by our continued relationships with businesses which we have supported for 10-16 years.

“Developing and implementing work processes that provide simple to use and simple to

understand tools for the day to day business tasks is important.

If the tool requires extensive training to learn, it is often not the right tool for the job. Simple and logical processes improve the productiveness of staff and get rid of any frustration. The best judgement is when a new staff member makes comments like ‘this is really simple to use’.

Another key to run a business is to share knowledge. Knowledge empowers employees and trusting them with responsibility and authority improves overall productivity.”

Marcel believes that core values come from the top of the company and that Integrity, honesty, and being open with staff and clients, are valued attributes that are most important in company culture. Marcel describes how he has kept himself motivated and positive, whilst also telling us about the main challenge he has faced as a CEO. “A great motivation for me is when staff members are proud of what they are doing and what they have achieved. This is acknowledgement that I’m on the right track. This enthusiasm is like a fever. It spreads and affects our clients in a good way. Being proud of what we are doing and the things we achieve for our clients delivers success for us.

“For me the biggest challenge was taking myself away from direct hands on involvement in

the day to day tasks to focus on the more traditional role of a CEO. It is a challenge, but also extremely rewarding to find and nurture the future leaders of my business, allowing them control of the function and operation of the business that I have grown from nothing.”

Country Consulting is involved in a fast paced industry. Marcel explains how the market has changed over the years and how this has affected the growth of the business.

“The ITC industry is one of the fastest changing industry environments. To be successful you must be adaptable and flexible. A good vison helps to guide the path for a business to show a business the way forward. It is important to see trends and to adapt to them quickly, but not without careful consideration. The Industry once used to be more thoughtful and developments have been planned over longer periods.

Today lesser time is available and implementations have to be done in the shortest time period so the business can keep up to date. This is a challenge as one should not compromise on quality and security.”

Marcel concludes the interview by telling us his ambitions for the future and where he sees his career heading.

“Country Consulting is a growing business. Strong relationships with clients and the booming technology sector is allowing us to continue this growth. In five years’ time, I hope to be sharing my experience and knowledge as a CEO with emerging talent in the industry. I would like to nurture and support a group of talented young professionals to allow me to bring any business forward. Transforming my business from a CEO role to a Board of Directors would utilize my technology and business skills.”

K

Country Consulting is an information technology service provider which operates from its head office in Brisbane, Australia. Their business involves planning, implementing and maintaining complete or partial ITC infrastructure to assist organisations in growing their business. Country Consulting is not limited to any particular industry. With clients from the retail industries, hospitality, conference and function centres, manufacturing, legal and accounting, they provide the right tailored solution for small to medium sized businesses anywhere. Marcel Vogt tells us what the firm provides to clients and how they approach their work in order to develop their company effectively.

Name: Marcel Vogt Email: Marcel.Vogt@countryconsulting.com.au Web Address: www.CountryConsulting.com.au Address: 15 Maud Street, Newstead, 4006 Queensland, Australia Telephone: +61 7 3852 2221

1701CV64

,

Very Positive Adventure InterVideo was officially born in June 1990, after CEO Gabriele Riva had personal experience working for Canon Camera’s Italian distributor, Prora, as a technician in the after sales service department. Following this initial position, he then worked in the advertising and sponsoring area. We spoke to Gabriele to find out more about how this experience has helped to shape his own business.

“At this firm I worked as purchasing director, where I was responsible for contacting suppliers and creating new products proposals. In this position, I had opportunity to visit lot of exhibitions all over the world, giving me a large amount of experience, new contacts and a new approach to product creation. After a number of years at Audiomatic, I had chance to learn more about rental activities and this led to start a new adventure named “InterVideo”.

“I founded InterVideo with the purpose of learning from my past experience, and offering rental services (audio-video) in the business, corporate, and political sectors. We have also been working in the sales of AV products such as LCD video projector screens, and Document Cameras. Initially we found that rentals were our main business, owing to specific activities that required specific products that Intervideo had in abundance.

“Whilst rental was important at the foundation of the business, quick technological advancement and growing competition sounded alarm bells. This meant that our strategy had to move in different direction; thanks to the success of our rental activities, InterVideo was in the position

to build a good profit, which offered the perfect opportunity to improve the business.

“I decided to organise a sales rep chain all over the Italy, as in early 2000 computer connections were still very limited, and under this plan I made agreements with Regional Sales Reps, who were able to contact local dealers and offer our products to well-known brands. InterVideo’s strategy was simply to be a real distributor, not direct sales, but only through dealers, and thanks to this guide, Intervideo has begun to be seen as a serious partner.”

Gabriele explains that his purpose in founding InterVideo was to create something really innovative in the industry; in this, he found he had the chance to be in contact with Microtouch and their innovative interactive whiteboard technology.

“Following this, I had the chance to be in contact with SMART Technology, the real inventor of the interactive board, and in 2002 we closed on an agreement where InterVideo became their official distributor. This was a totally new field, almost unknown, and as such it required a lot of local presentations and exhibitions to be understood! The result was, and remains, quite positive, with shares over 50% in our market.

“Our market is mainly in the educational sector, which means that the majority of our sales are through public tenders, and that although theoretically there is a lot of money available, there

66 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

are also a number of problems associated with these tenders.

We note that technology is increasingly important, particularly in the education sector, however we have noted that this is not always used effectively.

“As the years are passing, the market is forever evolving, technology is moving ahead so market is becoming less ‘profitable’ owing to competition over the same products. I am looking for new roads which are able to offer the necessary profit for the company. InterVideo is respected by our suppliers because we respect them. I have two sons who are now working in the company, and they are prepared and experienced enough to look into new strategies.

“As a CEO I do not believe it is special attributes that have contributed to the success of this firm; I believe that a sense of curiosity and a respect for my clients and my work are the most important elements for me. The dealers are our customers, and our strategies are addressed to

satisfy and respect this channel. I believe that very few competitors are using this very clear strategy, which I think has contributed to the success of InterVideo.”

Looking to the future, Gabriele notes that it is not always easy to predict the direction of the firm, as advancing technology is offering new alternatives daily.

However, he recognises that it is important to have the correct approach, and even if this new technology cannot be translated advantageously, InterVideo will explore the options and always offer a reliable partnering solution, offering quality and support to its clients.

“Our ideal is to always be a point of reference for innovation and I am now exploring new opportunities to maintain this level. My two sons, Alberto and Riccardo, are strongly supporting the company along this road of innovation. It is difficult to say where I will be in the next five years, but InterVideo has been, and remains, a very positive adventure, and I hope this continues in the future.”

K

Gabriele details how after ten years with Prora he moved to Audiomatic, located in Milano and with offices in Verona, where he was based. This company was focused on rental and corporate sales.

Company: InterVideo srl Name: Gabriele Riva Email: Gabriele@intervideosrl.com Web Address: www.Intervideosrl.com Address: via E.Fermi 24-37026 Settimo di Pescantina (Verona) Telephone: +39 045 8900022

1611CV01

Recruitment

Every business has intellectual property (IP).

To gain commercial success through IP, is another matter.

Griffith Hack’s awardwinning IP Economics team helps businesses do this.

Whether you are an innovator, startup or established business, we can help your business with: • IP protection, creation and enforcement; • commercial opportunities for your business using the IP landscape; • planning your next steps to commercialise your innovation; and • understanding your competitors through the lens of IP.

It is what we do.

Contact our IP Economics team to find out how to maximise your IP for practical commercial success. www.griffithhack.com | +61 2 9925 5919 | +61 405 121 820 31 l Corporate Vision November 2016

1701CV48

,

Tube and Pipe Fabrication Solutions T-DRILL is the world-class supplier of tube and pipe fabrication solutions. T-DRILL machinery consists of both industrial solutions for several customer segments as well as portable solutions for mechanical contractors and plumbers. CEO Anne Hanka describes the services they offer, along with how they have adapted to changes in the industry.

T-DRILL is one of the world’s most versatile and successful suppliers in the tube and pipe fabrication niche. The company offers solutions for challenging tasks, including collaring, cutting, flanging and end-forming performed in various applications.

T-DRILL solutions cater for a versatile market, and the company now exports to more than 50 countries. Anne explains their business strategy and more about what the firm offers.

“Our applications are found in the HVAC, shipbuilding and equipment manufacturing sectors, as well as in automotive and water treatment, food and dairy, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Since we supply fabrication machines both to industry and plumbers, our product range encompasses solutions from portable on-site hand tools to flexible customized, fully automated production lines of the size of a detached house.

“T-DRILL emphasises good customer service and aims to create long-term and reliable customer relationships. We have built up an extensive customeroriented service chain for our products and work closely with our customers. They are involved in the process and together we build up the best solutions. As a company we do it with decades of experience and in a flexible and

productive way, the customer’ needs in focus.

T-DRILL also makes a considerable input into product development, allocating ten per cent of turnover into this activity.

We want to ensure that the machines meet customer needs better, more efficiently and with longer machine life than ever.”

In order to offer the best possible client service, T-DRILL ensures every aspect of the company is up to scratch. Anne explains that T-DRILL adheres to several key principles when working with a client.

“Every part of the company needs to be developed equally and we want to have a good understanding of customer needs and, aided by our own, vigorous R&D, to be able to offer the best solutions in the market – not only for today’s needs, but to also response the future needs.

Our company cornerstones are to focus on the customer, ensure everyone is in customer service, have the will to win, have professional pride, assume responsibility, have enthusiasm, be daring and work together as a team.”

As an example of this kind of working is a recent project with a Boston-based company, J.C. Cannistraro LLC, a real estate contractor of currently 800 employees following

68 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

vigorous organic growth. When the company found that it was having trouble keeping up with its many construction schedules, a dedicated Cannistraro development team took the challenge and studied how higher productivity could be reached.

Through analysis they spotted a nasty bottleneck in tube cutting and branching. The process was slow and the skilled professionals had to spend time in relatively simple and routinely monotonous operations.

The solution was found in the flexible T-DRILL technology, customized to meet the ambitious company objectives. T-DRILL has the suitable machines for both cutting and branching applications – TCC-50 RL, a chipless cutting system and S-54 tube branching system – but to combine these machines, and to work up an entire new system and the software to support it, was challenging in many ways.

It was something T-DRILL hadn’t done before and the company had to start the project with a blank sheet of paper.

After several months of dedication, planning and hard work, T-DRILL delivered a totally customized, combined cuttingand-collaring-machine with automation equipment as well as new-generation software.

Thanks to this flexible T-DRILL manufacturing, the change in Cannistraros production strategy

and especially in productivity is dramatic. The company is now able to work about six times faster compared to the previous method and specialist employees can use their real professional skills.

As well as high quality customer service, the help and the support that are always available, T-DRILL ensures it is fully aware of the latest changes in the industry. Recognising these changes, along with noticing regular updates in technology only ensures T-DRILL is aiming to be the best they can be.

“The pace of change in the industry is getting faster still. New materials and new solutions for fabricating them are on their way, corporate structures will become more and more international, the labour market will change, there will be even more automation, etc. To keep up with all this changes, we have to react quickly and be awake.

“Technology is bread and butter to us. We make sure to have latest technology in every step.

R&D uses the latest 3D CAM software to create state-of-the-art technology and the machines of tomorrow. Production invests in production machinery for superb precision. We are also using the LEAN principles and a new CRM system is to be introduced for better utilization of the latest marketing techniques and we will continue training our personnel.”

g Tube and Pipe Fabrication Solutions

When discussing the role of women, Anne gives some advice for businesswomen who are looking to succeed within the industry. “Firstly, enjoy learning and be hungry for new ideas. Have confidence in yourself. Never give up. Be positive, and build good network with your co-workers and customers.�

With regards to the future, T-DRILL aims to continue their development of in-house activities and cooperation with the network. With a successful CEO such as Anne at the helm, T-DRILL can look forward to a successful future.

##

Company: T-Drill Oy Name: Anne Hanka Email: sales@t-drill.fi Web Address: www.t-drill.fi Address: PL 20, 66401 LAIHIA, FINLAND Telephone: +358 6 4753 333

1701CV02

,

Air Care Dr. Péter Túri, General Manager and Partner, established TrustAir Aviation in 2015 with the goal of starting a Hungary based medical air transport service as a private provider. Peter explains how his experience has contributed to the firm’s success.

TrustAir Aviation Ltd. is a new enterprise, established in February 2015 in the field of medical aviation. The company was formed to provide air ambulance service from a CE European home base all across Europe, yet focusing on the CEE market. Dr. Péter Túri tells us more about what the company does.

“We are coming from the medical aviation, from its non-profit, national, primary rescue part, the HEMS business. After almost a decade spent in the helicopter emergency medical service, we decided to launch a new medical service in the fixed-wing sector, flying international repatriations, all kind of medical missions from paediatric cases until adult ICU or even transplant flights.

Main clients are governmental organisations, like MoH, and forprofit insurance and assistance companies.

“Several years ago, we realised that the aero-medical repatriations that are parts of the everyday life in Western Europe have limited resources in the CEE region. As our special knowledge in the field of medical aviation was already significant and internationally recognised, we decided to enter this niche market. It took several years to further enhance the skills and experience of the medical team, to prepare us for the new start-up, but we believe that all the efforts are paid off. It was hard to find a balance between international benchmarks, best practices and the specialties of the CEE traditions and local practices.

“We decided that we don’t want to compete with the big names in the industry, but rather provide a service that means additional resources even for them. Just one example: we chose turboprop aircrafts instead of widely used jets, as all the competitors mainly fly them, however there are several benefits of our aircrafts (e.g. shorter runway requirements, utilisation of smaller regional airports, etc.) that could mean a better chance for us to enter this matured market.”

Péter explains how the firm have excelled in client satisfaction.

This has been accomplished thanks to a key principle which Peter brought to the company when he became a new CEO. “We are proud of our medical team and our colleagues,” says Peter. “This is the biggest asset we have. We’ve been

70 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

working together for more than ten years. Several thousands of primary helicopter missions, hundreds of secondary fixedwing repatriations give the roots of our success. A motivated and very experienced medical team is hard to find. Everything else is just a matter of commitment, money and hard work.

“Our key principles are credibility, competence and visions that keep us moving. There is a sentence I brought when I joined as a new CEO of the Hungarian HEMS company. It was told by an old Austrian helicopter pilot, who came to me and gave this advice: ‘In selection no corruption’.

Always try to find the best, the most talented and motivated colleagues. They should be treated well as my colleagues are part of my personal success.

Even if they were young, we gave them opportunities, opened the window to the world to something new that was earlier not available in our/their neighbourhood.

Without them we could not reach our current position.”

To be where he is today, Péter had to study business and economics. He informs us what he had to do to become a successful CEO. “It was really challenging to learn all the aspects of being a responsible CEO. I was only a medical doctor, but I had to study law, read HR strategies, understand economics, go into details of aviation regulations, aircraft maintenance issues, operational questions, later sales and marketing. Today, I can say I have a general overview

and experience in all of these specialties that gives me a chance to ask proper questions to my expert colleagues.”

The success of TrustAir Aviation looks bright. Péter outlines the big plans the company has for the future.

“We want to become a significant service provider in the CEE region standing on stable feet.

We believe that we are only at the beginning of our journey, many more sleepless nights and 18 hour working days wait for us in the near future until we can say, this is where we always wanted to be. We have planned additional aircrafts during the next few years to be added to the fleet, providing extended service.”

On a personal level, Péter hopes that the TrustAir name will be an equal partner for all of their competitors, and perhaps, with a strategic partner they can further plan their next steps for the future.

“Our key principles are credibility, competence and visions that keep us moving.

g

##

Company: TrustAir Aviation Ltd. Name: Dr. Peter TURI, CEO Email: ops@trustair.hu Web Address: www.trustair.hu Address: H-9099 Pér, Petőfi str. 1, Hungary, Homebase: LHPR airport Telephone: +36 20 471 44 71

Air Care

1701CV04

,

Transforming Quality of Life Aeon Astron B.V. is dedicated to global sales and marketing for high value added and novel medical devices, as well as research and development of biomaterial and regenerative medicine for ophthalmological applications. These devices include ologen® Collagen Matrix, BioCornea, and BioSclera, which are designed not only for eye tissue repair and vision improvement but also for improving the quality of life. CEO Michael Lai tells us more.

Aeon Astron have become a truly global company. Their products are marketed through their subsidiaries and distributors to clinical professionals in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, the US, India, Brazil and 40+ other countries around the world.

Michael explains how they have achieved great success and considers the factors that have made them an award winning firm.

“In the business of regenerative medicine, we have developed ologen® Collagen Matrix for eye tissue repair, ologen® Biocornea as a cornea substitute, and ologen® Biosclera as a corneal patch graft. Additionally, aongen®Collagen Matrix for gum augmentation and Collagen Membrane for GBR/GTR (guided bone regeneration/guided tissue regeneration) are developed for dental treatment.

“The Biocornea derived from fish scale (Taiwan Tilapia) is the outstanding product which make us award winning. This is an innovative and creative invention, and also a journey that no one ever has been through. After nine years’ efforts in research, the first Biocornea clinical trial has been started at the Department of Ophthalmology, Cologne University Hospital, in Germany and is actively recruiting patients.

The first patient enrolled has been treated with 100% success.

“The core competence is that we utilize the fish scale as starting material and convert it to ologen® Biocornea, ologen® Biosclera and aongen® Bone Filler (bone regeneration). As the first company in the world that utilizes fish scales as the starting biomaterial, being ‘the one and the only’ is our motto in business.

“Our clients are all professional clinicians – ophthalmologists and dentists – with whom we work closely with the aim to continually improve our products to ensure more effective and successful treatments.”

“Patent protection and branding strategy sets us apart from other companies. The safety and efficacy of ologen® Collagen Matrix has been documented amongst different races and ages, which values us, and distinguishes ourselves in the medical industry.

Also, our dedication to bioscaffold development from novel, innovative biomaterials, sets us apart.”

Another factor which sets Aeon apart from others in their sector is their commitment to technology as Michael outlines.

72 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

“To secure the exclusive technology of transforming fish scales and relevant biomaterials, we have our own patents filed in most major markets. These patents and technologies are novel and unique which enables us to maintain the highest standards.

These biomaterials could become the new ‘Golden Standard’ amongst the bioscaffolds, which are essential to the developing field of tissue engineering.”

Aeon has managed to maintain its success, not only through its use of technology, but also through ensuring the products they have developed are completely safe and have been tested thoroughly.

“Proving the safety and efficacy of the product by cross-border cooperation is crucial to us.

We’ve established the research teams in Taiwan, the operational team in the Netherlands and have cooperated with medical and clinical scientists from Germany, Denmark, Belgium, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

This global placement ensures the thoughtful and deep coverage in business scope.”

As an innovative and creative company, Aeon Astron have ambitious and challenging goals for the future as Michael explains.

“Not only the platform converted from fish scale, but also the development of new, patent pending material both belong to our capabilities. Our key vision is to continue to be experts in providing novel, innovative solutions to unmet problems in eye tissue repair and regeneration. We are also devoted to the dental gum regeneration and biobone. We hope these efforts may benefit patients by diminishing their medical needs.

“In 2018, the biocornea will be heading to the penetrating keratoplasty (PK)human clinical trial. We could become the world first company in supplying cornea substitutes for PK in treating corneal blindness if everything goes as planned.”

K

The activities of Aeon Astron Europe B.V. (AAE) are dedicated to research, development and marketing of biological scaffolds in the fields of eye and dental tissue repair facilitating physiological tissue reorganization. CEO, Michael Lai, explains how they operate and what they do to fully engage with clients.

Company: Aeon Astron Europe BV Name: Michael HJ Lai Email: info@aeonastron.com Web Address: www.aeonastron.com Address: J.H. Oortweg 19, 2333 CH Leiden, The Netherlands Telephone: +31 71 3322280

1701CV63

,

Energizing the Healthcare Market Quantum-Touch is a method of natural healing that works with the life force energy of the body to promote optimal wellness. CEO Jennifer Taylor talks us through this innovative approach to health and how her firm is driving this niche sector to success.

“Here at Quantum-Touch our key principles are love, integrity, simplicity and consistency.

“Integrity is vitally important to long term growth. Never sacrifice your integrity as a business; always do the right thing, as this will pay off in the long run.

To grow a company, you need to ensure that the product or service is consistent in all languages and all countries. I believe this is the secret ingredient to the successful expansion of companies such as Starbucks. You know that you will receive the same quality of coffee at a Starbucks in Hong Kong as you do at a Starbucks in Texas.

“Fundamentally, it is the solution that people are buying and we truly believe in our unique method of healing. Energy healing is the application of love to where it hurts and we all know that love is the best medicine.”

Technology is vital to any business and Jennifer is a firm believer that being up to date with the latest digitals trends is crucial to staying at the forefront of the energy healing market.

“In my opinion, technology is important in all industries at this point in time. Having an online presence is crucial. Websites can be used to help streamline any business by moving away from physical paperwork by taking advantage of online applications.

Also, we now have the technology such as Zoom to hold virtual meetings anywhere in the world; the physical office is being replaced by a virtual workplace.”

Within the wider healthcare industry, there is greater openness to alternative therapies such as energy medicine.

Jennifer believes that this trend will continue and the field of alternative healing will continue to expand in the future, and as such she is keen to grow Quantum-Touch in order to facilitate this market expansion.

“The biggest challenge that we see with the field of energy medicine is that many people

are sceptical about it. However, I have seen people become more and more open to alternative medicine over the last 14 years of running my business. I believe this trend will continue for many years going forward.

“As such looking towards our own future, we intend to continue our international expansion. QuantumTouch is growing worldwide. I would love to see Energy Medicine become more mainstream and I believe we are a part of the worldwide movement toward “the medicine of the future.”

“Ultimately, I see the world becoming a more loving place where we have compassion for others and the environment.

Energy medicine is based on connecting with our love and so I believe that the growth of energy medicine will create a more compassionate world in the future and I am exciting for this potential development.”

K

Quantum-Touch is a modality of energy medicine.

With proven results across pain relief, PTSD, cancer, scoliosis, and many other health and wellness issues, Quantum-Touch works with people who have health or emotional challenges to help them find the root cause of their condition. Jennifer discusses the firm and how she has worked hard to help it grow and develop into the company it is today.

Company: Quantum-Touch, Inc Name: Jennifer Taylor Email: jennifer@quantumtouch.com Web Address: www.quantumtouch.com Address: PO Box 791720, Paia, HI 96779 Telephone: Toll Free: 1-888-424-0041 International: +001 310-984-6899

1701CV84

,

Leading Light in Life Sciences Around 19 years ago, Yvonne Zar was offered the opportunity to acquire a part of Nordic BioSite AB, which she had been involved in starting. She knew the business well and saw that there was a great potential for the firm’s products and services on the Nordic market. We spoke to Yvonne to find out more about her experience of working in this business and about the future for Nordic Biosite.

Based on Yvonne’s belief that the business could be exploited further, she was sure that she wanted to continue working with Nordic Biosite. Yvonne points out that she began her career in sales, and for several years she worked at Amersham and AMS Biotechnology.

“I am still a salesperson at heart, sales is what I do and I am convinced that my background within sales has helped me to expand Nordic Biosite. The ambition and the strategy for this firm has been to build a modern and high quality life science company that can demonstrate strong and stable growth. In order to do this, we have had to back up our ideas with an efficient product/logistic flow, direct from the firm’s headquarters in Stockholm to the end user. We have implemented a modern website which showcases our high quality products and services, and combine distribution with our own services to diversify the business area.

“Our number one asset is our people. All members of our sales force have experience in laboratory work, and educational backgrounds ranging from Masters of Science to Ph.Ds. This gives them a unique understanding of our clients’

needs and the ability to offer qualified, relevant help.

Information and knowledge is commonly shared within the company and this helps to sustain quality and improvement.

We are confident that we can find the product that is right for your research - at the best possible price. Our product range contains products with high quality applications in most research areas, such as Neuroscience, Stem Cell and Cancer Research.

“Having been in the business for 20 years, Nordic BioSite is recognized as a leader in the supply of products for research and diagnostic Immunology and Molecular Biology, as well as Pharmaceutical, Biotech, and Diagnostics to academic researchers. Nordic BioSite continuously introduces many unique products as a result of the research and development we undertake with our partners and the feedback we receive from our customers. Through the development, manufacturing, marketing and distribution of our products, our aim is to facilitate your research.”

BioSiteHisto optimize and finetune antibodies for the needs of the clinical IHC laboratory. Only antibodies that fulfil the criteria of optimal staining pattern are incorporated in our premium

74 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

product portfolio - Optibodies™.

This product line will assist pathologists worldwide with optimal staining resulting in an important diagnostic tool.

Optibodies™ is a set of carefully optimized and fine-tuned diagnostically important monoclonal antibodies. The collection is a creation of BioSiteHisto’s immunohistochemistry experts.

They are tested and optimized using NordiQC recommendations of control tissues and staining criteria. Only antibodies that reach excellent results in testing protocol and appropriate control tissues are approved as a part of the collection Nordic BioSite, together with its laboratory facility, BioSiteHisto, offers a wide range of custom services. Yvonne explains that these services are fully compliant with international Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) standards and that their mission is to provide services of the highest possible standard to their clients throughout the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, including research and diagnostic facilities.

“Thanks to our skilled personnel, and because we continue to set high standards for our suppliers, we are able to offer high quality products and services to our clients. We offer a broad

range of services and over 2,000,000 products worldwide; whenever and wherever. The products are established within their applications, and we are honoured to say that we help people towards a diagnosis and receiving proper care.

“As the CEO, I have been very careful to apply a long-term perspective to our operations, where I look three to five years ahead, as opposed to one year ahead, as I used to as a salesperson. Furthermore, I have been very careful in my search for employees; I recognised early on that the key to a successful business is to have employees with the right skills to drive the company forward and at the same time make them feel valued and satisfied at work. My advice to others in my position is to believe in yourself and your own ideas, to utilise the support of a mentor and to never give up.

“The biotechnology industry has become increasingly computerised, like most businesses these days. However, this does not mean that we do not have to be in close contact with our customers, quite the opposite; this is perhaps now even more crucial than prior to the enhancement of technology.

“We have established established BioSite offices in Sweden, Finland, Denmark,

g Leading Light in Life Sciences

Norway and the USA. Alongside the acquisition of the laboratory in 2012, with our own production in Finland, these developments show great potential for the company. Our plan is to expand further into the USA and into other market through joint ventures, and we would like to establish a BioSite distributor.

Alongside this, we would like to increase our resources in the laboratory and enhance our range of services. The laboratory market shows great potential with regard to both profitability and growth.

“I, alongside my colleagues, have been on a journey with this firm. It has taken time and energy, and we are looking forward to continued growth and success. We are looking forward to continuing the development of our Optibodies™, the antibodies that are optimised at our lab in Finland called BioSiteHisto. I feel that I know this business very well, and I am excited to continue developing here.”

##

Company: Nordic BioSite AB Name: Yvonne Zar Email: yvonne.zar@nordicbiosite.com Web Address: www.nordicbiosite.com Finnish Lab: www.biositehisto.com Address: Propellervägen 4 A, 183 62 TÄBY, SWEDEN Telephone: +46 8 5444 3340

1701CV13

,

Champions of Responsible Software Danny Singer founded Noetica in 1997. The company develops software for contact centres. In this interview, Danny explains how they engage with clients and about the current state of the industry.

Noetica is a software development company specialising in the delivery of advanced technology to companies that operate contact centres. The company has been in existence for just under 20 years, is headquartered in London with further offices in Durham. Their product range consists of three separate yet tightly integrated modules: • Synthesys™: our user friendly contact centre productivity suite aimed at non-technical users • SmartBound™: patented outbound technology designed to promote responsible and considerate yet super-efficient dialling.

• NVP™: highly cost effective telephony platform dedicated solely to the contact centre.

These products are deployed across most verticals with particular focus on blue chip clients within market segments such as contact centre BPOs, insurance, media, fundraising and many others.

Noetica ensure that they take a clear approach to customer service. Danny points out what makes the firm stand out from their competitors.

“As a technology company, we have taken the unusual step of creating a client services department manned entirely by staff who had decades of experience of managing contact

centre operations. Although they understand our product range in depth, they are not technology specialists but experts in the utilisation of our technology in contexts similar to our clients.

All new Noetica projects are managed and delivered by this relatively new client services department. In 2016 alone, we delivered over 15 brand new highly successful installations of our product range in a variety of industries.

“The contact centre technology market has traditionally been dominated by vendors whose roots are in telephony products and services. These providers were forced to evolve over time to rather reluctantly accommodate casual forays into applications.

Noetica is different, as our starting point and our strength has always been in contact centre applications (call scripting, CRM, campaign management, diallers and so on) and our approach to telephony is to simply see it as a commodity. The rise of SIP and cloud telephony have simply served to validate our approach. Being ahead of the curve on this front is a major differentiator. Furthermore, the launch of our new SmartBound™ initiative is positioning Noetica as leaders in the outbound field as champions of responsible, legal and considerate dialling without compromising on performance.”

Danny gives us his view on the industry at the moment and what changes he foresees in the

76 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

market which may affect future business growth for Noetica.

“The ongoing move to SIP and cloud telephony is changing the contact centre industry in front of our very eyes. The existing large scale deployments of on premise telephony systems are being ripped out everywhere in favour of highly scalable & dramatically more cost effective voice platforms in the public or private cloud. If we add to this the unstoppable growth in non-voice channels such as chat, social, IM and many others mainly accessed via mobile devices the contact centre of the next five to ten years will be a completely different place from the one we recognise now. Technology will need to adapt and evolve as will adoption of new ways of interacting with customers.

“The contact centre industry will undoubtedly expand to include new channels of communication.

In the main these will tend to be non-voice channels. As the millennial generation moves into the mainstream, we will see the keyboard replacing the headset more and more. Contact centres will become quieter places where discreet keyboard clicks will replace the racket of verbal conversation. On the consumer side, the tapping will be increasingly taking place on glass rather than keyboards. However, the business processes guiding the conversations will remain largely unchanged.”

Danny ends the interview by telling us all about Noetica’s plans for 2017 and beyond.

“Last year, we opened our first satellite offices in Durham, in the North East of England. This geographical expansion allows us to be close to many of our large customers in the North as well as opening new possibilities for exploiting a new pool of talent in a new area. Most of our technical support functions as well as some of our client services are moving to the new offices. We are hoping to build on this and expand our presence geographically.

“From a technology perspective, 2017 will be the year when we will be strongly promoting the SmartBound™ initiative and continue to lead the market with new innovations. We are currently researching areas such as social customer service, chat bot technologies and many others.

“With the recent addition of our Client Services department we are now in an ideal position to provide a unique combination of technical and operational skills which elevate the company from our deeply technical roots to a much more solution driven approach.”

g Champions of Responsible Software

##

Company: Noetica Limited Name: Danny Singer Email: Danny.Singer@noetica.com Web Address: www.noetica.com Address: The Hop Exchange, 24 Southwark Street, London SE1 1TY Telephone: 0845 0181 070

1701CV67

,

Secrets to Success Buskop Law Group is an intellectual property law firm handling issues in various technology areas including mechanical devices, software patents, internet business methods, medical devices, chemical inventions, sub-sea matters, vessels, rigs and publishing issues. We invited Wendy Buskop, Managing Patent Attorney at the firm to try and tell us the secrets to the firm’s success.

“Even though I was in house counsel through the 1980’s with Dow Chemical, Shell Oil and Lyondell Petrochemical, I felt the need for my own practice. It was 25 years ago when I started the private practice and I even have the same executive director since opening doors in August 1992.

Unlike most patent attorneys who generally only issue 400 or so patents in a 25-year period, I have originally drafted and successfully issued over 1,000 US patents, some in as little as four months from filing to issuance. I have a few secrets up my sleeve to pull this off!

“Patents are about inventions.

Patents enable clients to fulfil their dreams of a new process that stops death, a new machine that stops toxic spills or software that prevents fires and explosions by reducing risk of copying of that invention, and

providing a marketing tool and an asset to the business.”

Most of the law firm’s clients have between 30 and 300 employees and some are publically traded companies.

Wendy explains what the Buskop Law Group does to ensure they have an innovative approach to client service.

“We write cases for clients all over the world. We use Skype and other innovative technologies to make sure our clients understand the entire filing and all the parts, including each element in each figure so that our clients can say they understood the document and that the document correctly represented their invention.

“With the US patent office, we use WEBEX interviews as the senior examiners are no longer located in the patent offices, but operate from their homes. The interviews are the easy way to talk to an examiner to explain a case and get the case allowed so the patent will issue.

“I believe in looking at inventions.

Because of that I fly a lot. Being based in Houston makes it easy to provide in person meetings to look at inventions anywhere in the US serviced by an airport. I also find it easy to go to Europe, Canada or Argentina for a quick trip to look at a big invention.”

In addition to their innovative client approach, Wendy

78 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

describes what other aspects of Buskop Law Group’s work helps them to stand out from their competitors.

“We issue our cases, as well as issuing software cases. A lot of patent attorneys have given up writing software cases but we still succeed.

“Also, we are quick. We can draft and file a case in one week if the inventor team cooperates.

Most patent attorneys take three months to draft and file a case.

We use only six hours of inventor time per case. We minimize the interruption to a client’s business to draft and file cases. Most patent attorneys require between 20-30 hours of interaction with the client.

“Education is key in our law firm.

We provide over 15 different educational programs to our clients. We provide 20 FAQ videos on a YouTube channel and we provide many brochures, charts and graphs that explain the government process and

options. By systematically issuing the patents we file ensures our client satisfaction.”

Lastly, Wendy ends our interview by describing the company’s future plans in 2017.

“We plan to open new offices in the south and southwest.

Currently, we are looking at Louisiana as a new location since we have an attorney licensed in that state. We are looking at New Mexico too.”

“Also, we are quick. We can draft and file a case in one week if the inventor team cooperates.”

K

Buskop Law Group, PC drafts, files, and issues US and foreign patents for clients in 20 states and 11 foreign countries. The firm’s clients are mostly privately held companies that manufacture equipment or produce software in the medical area, oil and natural gas, automation, ship building, and transportation industries.

Wendy talked about her legal experience and expertise, as well as explaining how the firm ensures it maintains neutrality, confidentiality and fairness in their cases.

Company: Buskop Law Group, PC Name: Wendy Buskop Email: Wendy.Buskop@Buskoplaw.com Web Address: www.Buskoplaw.com Address: 4511 Dacoma Street, Houston, Texas 77092 Telephone: 713-275-3400

1701CV69

,

Leaving a Lasting Legacy in Litigation Berger & Montague is a full-spectrum civil litigation firm, with nationally known attorneys highly sought after for their legal skills. We spoke to Managing Principal Sherrie Savett to learn more about how she has worked to drive the firm to the success it is today.

Sherrie, has been with the practice for over four decades, details her role and how she has worked diligently to ensure the company’s overall success.

“Personally I undertake complex commercial litigation in many areas, with my core focuses being securities litigation, False Claims Act litigation (also known as whistle blower or qui tam litigation) and consumer fraud litigation.

As a firm Berger & Montague usually represent victims of fraud, breaches of contract and fiduciary duty and in the case of whistle blower litigation, relators on behalf

of the United States or the States who have been defrauded. We are usually the plaintiffs trying to redress a major wrong such as fraud. We are normally pitted against major corporations, often bringing cases with common wrongs as class actions, which is stimulating and helps us to constantly grow our knowledge and expertise.

and sheer determination to win my cases. I possess an extremely positive attitude and I enjoy almost every day at work. I love teamwork and work with a dozen highly talented lawyers in my firm. I often partner with excellent lawyers in other firms as well, forming close partnerships with those I work with in order to learn from them.”

“Overall our mission is to bring justice to victims of wrongdoing.

Our credo is excellence and hard work.”

Looking to the future Sherrie is keen to continue to build upon her current portfolio and offer clients the very best service possible, whilst also passing on her knowledge in order to create a legacy that will last for many years to come.

In order to provide her clients with the very best service Sherries strives to continually win her cases through applying a wide variety of skills, as she is keen to emphasise.

“When representing my clients, I apply a combination of intellect, common sense, perceptiveness,

“Going forward, my future goals are to continue to right the wrongs presented to me by my clients and to pass on any wisdom I have obtained over the past 40 years of practicing law.”

K

Over forty-five years ago, Berger & Montague pioneered the use of class actions in antitrust and securities litigation, and since then, has expanded the use of class actions in the fields of consumer, employment, environmental and insurance litigation, as well as in the areas of civil and human rights. Now in its fifth decade representing investors, businesses, consumers, employees and property owners, the firm’s team of over 50 lawyers continue to grow and move into new areas.

Company: Berger & Montague, PC Name: Sherrie Savett Email: ssavett@bm.net

1701CV03

,

Tenacity in Technical Services PKF Malta is a fast growing, progressive firm dedicated to meeting its clients’ technical expectations. We spoke to Danielle Hermansen, Insurance Specialist at PKF Malta, to find out more about this innovative firm and the range of solutions it provides.

As a member of PKF International, the firm provides services to a list of prestigious clients and have always enjoyed an excellent reputation which stems from its dedication, professionalism and enthusiasm to serve its users. The firm provides an array of professional services to its clientele and is dedicated to continually improve proficiency and the effectiveness and quality of the services provided. This is achieved through a commitment to a supportive and collaborative corporate culture, as Danielle emphasises.

“Here at PKF Malta we believe in giving teams the same encouragement as the individuals within them. We pursue a philosophy of shared responsibility and shared success. We encourage exceptional talented individuals, but really and truly it is exceptional teamwork is what makes us stand out. Our culture of mutual support creates the positive atmosphere that clients experience when they work with us. It also means that the quality

of our work does not depend on a handful of key individuals and strengthens over time.

“Team leaders and staff are familiar with the objectives and specific requirements of every task that is undertaken to ensure that deadlines are met.

We understand that rigorous risk assessment is at the heart of our methodology and is reflected in how we plan and conduct the fieldwork. This lead to in instance, to assurance and business advisory which are fully and transparently corroborated with evidence and capable of withstanding challenge from auditees or external authorities.

We deliver in a way that causes minimal disruption, so that the client can continue to focus on their regular activities.

“Overall, timely delivery is our primary objective. Whatever project we undertake, we try to avoid or mitigate delays wherever it is in our power to do so.”

Ultimately, the firm’s focus is on providing a wide range of services to meet the varying needs of the PKF’s vast clientele, as Danielle concludes.

“In order to provide our clients with the services they need, here at PKF we offer a wide variety of services. Assurance and business advisory is the core activity of the Firm and includes company financial audits and tax compliance; such projects comprise also the formation

80 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

of corporate structures. We also provide full nominee and fiduciary work via our licensed company PKF Fiduciary International Limited. The Firm assists the client in everyday operations providing updates of law changes, as well as advice in the IFRS and GAPSME area. The repertoire includes international tax compliance, formation of International Trading Companies & International Holding Companies, specialising in International Betting Operations, and applying for Aviation AOC Licences.

“PKF Malta also includes a sister company providing specialised insurance and assurance services to the industry. Licensed by the MFSA as an approved auditor in carrying out external audits to Insurance Companies and Insurance Intermediary Companies. It works closely with specialised service providers within the local industry to cater for client’s needs including set-up arrangements. Being

a family member firm of PKF International, it also works closely with foreign offices to deliver specialised technical solutions to the local insurance industry.

“The firm has also furnished a number of feasibility studies and Cost Benefit Analysis to different government entities and has also undertaken research out of its own initiative. Examples of consultancy services provided through feasibility studies, include reports issued for the Ministry for Home Affairs and National Security, Ministry for Tourism, Transport Malta, Karen Grech Hospital, VAT on accommodation etc.

“Fundamentally, this vast and not exclusive range of services ensures that we offer our clients a one stop shop for all their business needs. Moving forward we will continue to hone our expertise and build our knowledge and understanding in order to maintain the level of service our clients have come to expect.”

K

Founded in 1995, PKF Malta is equipped to tackle the particular characteristics, scale and complexity of any assignment. When clients engage PKF Malta, they can be confident that the work will be carried out by dedicated and experienced professionals.

Company: PKF Malta Address: 35, Mannarino Road, Birkirkara, BKR 9080, Malta Email: info@pkfmalta.com Phone: (+356) 21 484373 Website: www.pkfmalta.com

1701CV23

,

Animating the Industry Rodeo FX is the largest independent visual effects company in Canada; the firm fully conceives and executes visual effects, from concepts in development, previsualization in preproduction, on-set supervision during live action filming and everything from layout to compositing in post-production. We invited Sebastien Moreau to tell us more.

Sebastien notes that there are lots of steps and stages in the process of bringing worlds and characters alive, and it requires dedication from Rodeo FX’s team to realise the potential of these ideas.

“We have been doing this for over ten years, and have expanded globally with an outstanding team of over four hundred visual effects artists working at our facilities in Los Angeles, Montreal and Quebec City. We are building a creative studio and fostering an imaginative culture that inspires our talented artists to create outstanding world-class visual effects for films, TV series, commercials and beyond.

“Our approach is to hire the best, build a studio that is artist friendly, and harbour a spirit of collaboration and teamwork to solicit opinions and ideas from all staff, from the PAs to the President. A key value of our company is excellence, and we increase efficiency through

transparent communication. This approach allows us to deliver on budget and on-time without ever compromising on quality.

“Here at Rodeo FX, we recognise that at the heart of every project is the story. From the biggest blockbuster to the smallest independent film, it is the story that matters most. Our job in visual effects is to support every director’s vision and to bring that vision to life. We are very proud that ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ and ‘Arrival’ are on the shortlist for VFX Effect at the Oscars.”

It is the mission of Rodeo FX to consistently exceed their clients’ expectations; Sebastien explains that the first thing the firm ensure is that they have cast the right team of talent for the right project.

“We begin communication with the client as early as possible and constantly check in to ensure things are progressing well. This company is built on and driven by creativity, and we are young, nimble, flexible and ready to try anything that might serve the shot. We want each frame to look amazing and beautiful, and we put the time and money into ensuring this outcome.

“The industry has grown incredibly well in Quebec over the past three years. Prior to this, Montreal became one of the top three places in the world to complete VFX; Montreal offer a great environment for artists and MTL is a creative city, offering a great school for VFX, a low cost

of living and great tax credits.

Recently, we have noticed that talent has become both harder and easier to find, in accordance with the influx of resources in Montreal. We expanded into Quebec City in an effort to be where our competitors are not, and in order to stake a claim to being a truly independent Quebec studio.”

“We keep a watchful eye on all of our productions, from a global perspective and are well equipped to make changes quickly to ensure that the client is fully satisfied. The projects that we work on and the fact that we do not work our employees to an unreasonable extent has built us a great reputation within our industry. We uphold and maintain a fun workplace culture that inspires our artists to flourish.

On every project there is a team of producers, coordinators, PA’s and supervisors to support the talented work that comes out of this company, and we believe that you just need to step into one of our facilities to feel inspired.”

Rodeo FX recognises that quality content creation has never been more important, and as such the need for visual effects is constantly growing. Sebastien explains that Amazon and Netflix insist on 4K deliveries, so the additional resolutions associated with this brings the need for more time and further resources.

“We have also noted that VR deliveries are becoming more commonplace, and as these encompass near-360-degree CG environments, higher resolution and more time are required on these projects. Owing to these developments, it is a very exciting time for our industry. Our creature work is finally getting released, through ‘Fantastic Beasts’ and ‘Tarzan’, which is opening people’s eyes to how much more we can do; we are now being asked to handle on-set supervision from pre to post production, which gives us even more creative direction in the projects we work on. Due to advances in technology, the most remarkable creatures, characters and environments can now become realized, and the limits of what we can create are limits of the imagination.”

K

Clients of Rodeo FX are amongst the biggest film studios in the world, including 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, MGM, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. The firm have worked on over 80 films, including last year’s Oscar Winner for Best Picture ‘Birdman’, ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’, ‘Arrival’, and ‘Fast and Furious 7’, as well as receiving an Emmy award for the popular, television show ‘Game of Thrones’.

Company: Rodeo FX Name: Sebastien Moreau Email: sebastien@rodeofx.com Web Address: www.rodeofx.com Address: 90 Queen St. second floor, Montreal, QC, Canada, H3C 6X4 Telephone: 1 514 397 9999

1701CV01

,

Better Way to Treat Diabetes Cellnovo Group is a medical technologies company in Wales, specialising in diabetes. Sophie Baratte (CEO) chats to us about their innovative connected product and how this product has benefitted patients with type 1 diabetes.

Cellnovo has developed and markets the first mobile, connected, all-in-one diabetes management system that helps make life easier for patients.

Compact, tubeless, intuitive and entirely connected, Cellnovo’s insulin pump comprises a mobile touchscreen controller with an integrated blood-glucose meter. This unique device allows optimal management of insulin delivery whilst ensuring extensive freedom of movement and peace of mind for patients and their families. Thanks to the automatic transmission of data, it also allows the patient’s condition to be continually monitored by family members and healthcare professionals in real time.

Sophie Baratte, CEO of the company talks to us about what differentiates Cellnovo from their competitors and what helps them to stand out from other players in the insulin pump industry.

“The Cellnovo System is the world’s first and only mobile diabetes management system, which includes an insulin patch pump, activity monitor, cellularenabled wireless touchscreen handset with integrated blood glucose meter and automatic connectivity to an online platform via secure servers. No other diabetes management system offers this type of mobile health management system based on three parts: a patch pump, a touchscreen handset and

connectivity in real time to an online platform.

“The Cellnovo System is a game changer for insulin pump technology. As proven in a recent article published in European Endocrinology, the Cellnovo System has demonstrated superior levels of accuracy and precision in insulin delivery.

“The core technology of the Cellnovo System is a paraffin wax micro-actuator; technology that is used in NASA satellites, which was developed by our founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Julian Shapley. The expansion of heated paraffin wax serves as a mechanism to push a piston against a membrane, thereby creating a pumping mechanism that allows for the technology’s accuracy and precision in insulin delivery. No other insulin pump on the market uses this type of stateof-the-art technology.

“Today, the demand for our product by far outstrips our ability to deliver. There are waiting lists of patients for the Cellnovo System because of our limited production capacity which is only semi-automated and therefore time-consuming and costly. A key project since our IPO in July 2015 has been the industrialisation of the production process to enable us to meet this demand.

We are currently working on the transfer of our manufacturing to Flex (formerly known as Flextronics), an industry leader in mass manufacturing. This

82 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

Flex production line will allow an exponentially growth in production capacity which will also be fully scalable, with the potential to meet customer demand this year and beyond.”

Building a team of people who understand each other and the company’s goals is key to any business. Sophie explains what the firms approach is to attracting the right staff.

Sophie goes on to describe the company’s latest projects and how this has helped them to stay ahead of any emerging developments in an innovative sector.

“Cellnovo is a creative and innovative company. We are willing to be quick, agile and more risk-facing than our bigger, more established counterparts in the medical device industry.

Furthermore, we are part of an industry that is in constant flux and change with a device that has real impact on people’s lives.

So this great potential for growth in the industry combined with a dynamic company culture helps us to attract the best talent in the industry.”

“Cellnovo is the system of choice for artificial pancreas projects and has been selected for three major initatives: Diabeloop, Type Zero and PEPPER. Diabeloop is a French Artificial Pancreas Project in partnership with CERITD, CEA and 10 major teaching hospitals in France. The project is based on remote surveillance through a connected management system.

Type Zero is a US based project with $12,7M of funding from the NIH. The project includes many renowned centres of excellence including Harvard University, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Stanford University, and University of Montpellier, France. PEPPER is part of Horizon 2020, and benefits from an EU innovation fund, which includes a consortium of European partners, including Imperial College of London, Oxford Brooks University, University of Girona and Romsoft - Romania. The project is based on Artificial Intelligence for predictive and personalized decision support.”

The company culture is dynamic, driven and inherently multinational, as the firm is based in Wales and France. Cellnovo brings together professionals who have extensive experience in their respective fields. Above all, Cellnovo staff work together toward a shared mission and desire to make life easier for those with type 1 diabetes. This is what motivates Cellnovo day-today and will continually to do so in the future.

g Better Way to Treat Diabetes

“Today, the demand for our product by far outstrips our ability to deliver.

##

Company: Cellnovo Group SA Name: Sophie Baratte Web Address : www.cellnovo.com Address : 13, rue de Londres 75009 Paris France / Pencoed Technology Centre, Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan, Wales, CF35 5HZ, UK

ACE16020

,

Travelling in Style Travel Data Nigeria Ltd is a Nigerian travel agency offering a wide range of services.

We profile the firm (Winner of ‘Best for Corporate Management Consulting – Nigeria) and explore the range of solutions it offers.

Travel Data Nigeria is a reputable Travel Agency based in the ancient city of Kano Northern Nigeria.

The company’s mission is to take travel industry to higher level such as creating new platform, GDS. Recent worldwide upheavals, combined with Nigeria’s reduced power have provided challenges for the firm, however despite these it has worked hard to succeed and provide clients with the highest level of service possible.

One aspect of the business which has never struggled is recruitment, as Travel Data Nigeria understand the importance of its staff and as such have developed an internal culture which allows for independent work, allowing staff to feel trusted and supported.

Staff are encouraged to undergo periodic training and attending seminars in order to develop themselves personally. Due to this focus on staff development and the firm’s superior packages it is able to obtain and retain the very best staff in the industry, who in turn provide its clients with the very best support and service.

Technology is another key aspect to the travel market, therefore Travel Data Nigeria uses the most up to date computers and equipment in order to ensure it is able to offer the most digitally cutting edge solutions possible.

Looking to the future, Travel Data Nigeria is seeking to develop into a fully operational airline offering worldwide services. This is an exciting time for the firm and it is looking forward to taking advantages of the opportunities this ambitious plan will afford it.

K Company: Travel Data Nigeria LTD Name: Usman Haladu Idris Email: traveldatanigeria@yahoo.com Address: 47 Ibrahim Taiwo Road Kano Nigeria Telephone: +2348063627608

84 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

1701CV06

,

Feature Rich, Yet Affordable FileHold Systems Inc. (Small Cap Top Fifty winner) is the designer and developer of enterprise grade Electronic Document and Records Management software for medium sized companies, departments and large organizations. We spoke to Larry Oliver who told us more about the firm.

“FileHold software is sold primarily as a secure on premise solution allowing users access to documents via a rich desktop application, through Microsoft Office or any internet browser including via mobile devices.

“The company has deployments in cloud services such as MS Azure, Amazon and RackSpace.

We have a full SaaS model hosted by one of our partners.

We sell both directly and through a small community of re-

“being aware of emerging developments is a must for a company such as FileHold”

sellers. One of our customers is deploying FileHold to over 1,300 of their employees in both China and Hong Kong to streamline and eliminate paper based processes.

“We go to market via the web and do all of our marketing, sales, implementation and support using well developed web based services. Our software is sold as an ‘out of the box’ product with fast deployment. We market our software as ‘Enterprise grade, feature rich yet affordable’. We have just introduced ‘Courier’ a feature that we believe brings a new capability to this category of software – the ability to give secure access to documents within the FileHold repository to anyone who has an email address.”

“Because of our web based marketing, deployment and support we have been able to keep our operational costs relatively low which allows us to keep our software affordable, yet at the same time, it is enterprise grade and feature rich. Our prospective customers are often surprised at the value we present to them.”

Operating in a competitive market, Larry give us his thoughts on how the industry has changed and the challenges the company faces.

“It is financially challenging and risky to start a software business with only an idea about the final product and build it from a clean sheet of paper. It took us 18 months to produce the first version of FileHold and it was hard to find our first customers.

Now that we have a proven customer base and nice cash flow, our business is well situated for continued growth.

“Customers are starting to become confident about buying Enterprise grade software over the web. As e-commerce continues to become popular it has made the idea of buying a complex software product through the internet much more mainstream. FileHold strategy has always been to go to market, sell, deploy and support via the web so this industry change has helped us.”

Following this, being aware of emerging developments is a must for a company such as FileHold as Larry explains.

“We listen to our customers.

Our product road map and technology innovations are developed based on what our prospects and customers tell us. FileHold has some of the most security and technology sophisticated customers in the world. They demand we stay current with technology and they direct our software development.”

Looking to the future, FileHold will continue to grow their product capabilities in the direction of more web based and mobile capabilities. The firm also recognizes the need to make their products more capable in Business Process Automation (BPA) so that clients can benefit from document automation in the review and approval process.

K

For ten years, FileHold has designed, manufactured, sold and supported enterprise grade document and records management software, deploying their software in all possible vertical markets in many parts of the world. Larry Oliver explains the work they do and their ongoing business strategy.

Company: FileHold Systems Inc. Name: Larry Oliver Email: larry.oliver@filehold.com Web Address: www.filehold.com Address: 4664 Lougheed Hwy, Burnaby, BC, Canada, V5C5T5 Telephone: 604-734-5653

1701CV22

,

RegTech Transforming Regulatory Pain into Results How can you drive solid growth and increased margins in a market that is complex, strongly regulated and highly competitive? How can you stop regulation restricting innovation? How can you develop an agile business that can out-shine the new market disruptors? How can you cut back growing compliance costs and better inform decision makers? A growing number of business leaders are turning to Solutions4Strategy to resolve these issues and they are seeing the results.

Solutions4Strategy is a fast growing global RegTech (Regulatory Innovation) business.

They are leading the market with new innovation to tackle the regulatory burden faced by financial institutions.

Banks alone spend $70 billion a year globally on compliance, and the banking sector will spend $200 billion on regulatory innovation to contain this cost.

Solutions4Strategy is breaking down the barriers created by compliance, not only cutting costs and streamlining compliance, but also helping to kick-start growth and increase margins. They are able to overcome the complexity, costs and restrictions caused by regulation. For instance, they helped a client in Australia to grow 100% organically within a year. As a bank, this client faced considerable regulatory pressures restricting such growth.

Solutions4Strategy assisted them to demonstrate to regulators and to the board that such growth could be achieved through manageable risk.

Solutions4Strategy differentiates themselves from other service providers by integrating strategy, regulation and innovation. When others are charging premium pricing for what is just check box compliance, Solutions4Strategy is focused on helping businesses to grow and prosper within

compliance boundaries. It is an approach that is guaranteeing success for their clients whilst other businesses struggle with flat growth and squeezed margins.

David Jordan, the Global CEO, points out that businesses can no longer afford software that just automates compliance. It has to do more than just shrink bureaucracy to deliver a ROI. It has to add value to the business and help the business to grow.

David quoted what the head of Market Risk at a Hong Kong bank complained about, “We spent $2M on just automating reporting for regulators. As part of that process, we failed to deliver better information for the board and decision makers. We needed to provide better support to decision makers for them to grow the business and margins in a highly competitive and regulated market.”

Like many business leaders, you would be considering innovation as key to driving growth and increasing margins. However, there is no point investing in innovation, if: 1. The board and decision makers are unable to satisfactorily assess the risks and thereby are reluctant to take on the new opportunities 2. The compliance bureaucracy creates obstacles and delays whilst compounding cost.

86 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

These are the dilemmas that lead to 80% of innovation projects failing to deliver expected results.

For instance, how does a business challenge the status quo, when compliance is conservative about change? How do you grow business, when the only areas growing are compliance, regulation and risk? Why despite investing more on risk, are boards even less prepared to take on risk? How does the business progress, when finance and compliance are distracted most of the time compiling reports? How do you increase margins and grow when decision makers don’t feel they are informed enough to support new strategies? These are some of the issues that have to be resolved for the business to flourish in challenging times.

Solutions4Strategy provides the answer with an enterprise solution that combines integrated reporting, strategy, regulatory reporting and financial reporting together. They create an environment of one truth, through removing duplication.

By moving to this enterprise solution, businesses are able to dismantle their risky and complex spreadsheet empire. The system quickly pays for itself in resolving delays and avoiding the costly errors that have occurred in the past.

However, it is the ability of the system to allow businesses to model the impact of innovations that is of great interest. For instance, one client was facing digital disruption from an internet savings product. They ran through several simulations using Solutions4Strategy’s software to work out the best way to compete with this product. At the end of that year, they were awarded the best internet banking product of the year. They were able to test the product before they even put the marketing collateral and software solution together.

It is not just about technology; it is about understanding the customer’s problems. There are many innovation experts and compliance experts, but there are few that understand both well.

David Jordan, the CEO, is the author of ‘The CEO Innovation Blueprint’. He wrote the book in response to the high failure rate of innovation projects. In his book, David referred to the compliance bureaucracy as one of the key issues stopping innovation and growth. Whilst a business cannot just kick out its policies and procedures, those policies and procedures are stopping innovation. Innovation leaders need to look at how to navigate this challenge.

g RegTech Transforming Regulatory Pain into Results

David’s strategy at Solutions4Strategy is to enable the CEO to take back control of the business and to stop innovation and business growth being held hostage by compliance and regulation. To enable the CEO to drive down regulatory cost, to better inform decision makers of risk and to create an agile business. Solutions4Strategy is providing innovation to support the growth businesses of the future.

Company: Solutions4Strategy Name: David Jordan Email: davidj@Solutions4Strategy.com Web Address: www.Solutions4Strategy.com Australia Suite 18, 12 Tryon Rd, Lindfield, NSW 2070, Australia Phone: +61 1300 320 486 United States 18100 Von Karman Avenue, Suite 850, Irvine, CA 92612, USA Phone: +1 (949) 537 2936 United Kingdom Level 18 Canary Wharf, 40 Bank Street, London E14 5NR, UK Phone: +44 (20) 3769 3815

##

CO160024

,

Towering Over the Competition Conning Towers Ltd is an exclusive, global boutique style Human Value Optimisation organisation working with a range of cross sector clients. Owner and Human Resources Specialist Susan Popoola talks us through the range of services her firm offers and how it works to provide the highest standard of human resource services on the market.

Conning Towers operates on the basis that organisations are best able to support the clients they aim to serve when they recognise, develop and make the optimal use of the skills and talents of the people available to work in and support their own organisations.

Drawing on the recognition that organisations do not think, act or behave; people do, Conning Towers supports the development of maximum productivity and harmonised workplaces by identifying strategic solutions to the people related areas of business that managers caught up in the day to day running of business may not readily see or have the tools or time to resolve. Susan outlines the firm’s approach and how this provides clients with the solutions they need.

“When I first start work with a client my starting point is always to gain an understanding of their needs and to determine how best to help them.

“Whilst we have a number of programmes on offer, I always begin with an in-depth interview or review that both provides the organisation with intelligence and an understanding of best approach. This will lead to the delivery of a programme or project that best meets the specific needs of the client. With

the aid of milestones and both formal and informal reviews, I always work to make sure that the client’s needs are being met.”

As a company Conning Towers typically works with organisations through four stages to enable them to fully leverage the value of the people working with them.

The starting point all depends on where an organisation is at the point of engagement.

The initial, Foundation Stage works with organisations to ensure that that they have the basic foundational systems and structures in place. At the Performance stage, the company works with organisations to develop more enhanced systems, and clear frameworks around competency and performance.

The transformational stage is where true transformation takes place through business intelligence, talent management and engagement Finally, the optimisation stage is focused around bespoke strategies that fully optimisation potential and capacity in line with an organisation’s visions and values.

Susan, whose expertise and strong industry knowledge has helped the firm to develop, hone and implement this approach, discusses her expertise and experience and how she has worked to ensure her firm offers

88 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

the very best possible solutions to its clients.

“Personally, I have always been a curious, highly analytical Systems Thinker with a keen interest in understanding how things work and how they can be made to work better throughout my career. Against this background when I was employed as an administrator over 20 years ago and was asked to implement an HR System and realised that the organisation had not done any work to understand the business needs before purchasing the system, I instinctively knew what to do. In the end I conducted a full organisation review, organisation design and systems implementation. Providing the organisation with an HR System that served as a key strategic tool to effectively manage and develop the people areas of the business.

“Coupled with the qualifications that I gained over the years, this led me to be known by the top HR Interim and Recruitment agencies as a rare breed of HR person with a good understanding and interest in how technology can be used both operationally and strategically to aid Transformation and Talent Management. As a result, I have worked cross sector in projects in organisations such as Arups, WorleyParsons, Department of Health, London Fire Service and the Royal Festival Hall;

developing a broad and in-depth experience which I now use in my consultancy work with my clients.”

Moving forward, Susan’s focus will remain on development as she seeks to build upon the current success of Conning Towers.

“Looking ahead, Conning Towers will remain committed to building on our current success with an additional focus on working with organisations using the Mosaic Model. This is an innovative approach which is all about transformative through effective inclusion, engagement and talent management. I believe this is key in the current environment in the UK as we work through the implications of Brexit and globally as the workplace evolves as a result of Automation and development of robotics coupled with the continued struggle to find and engage the people with the right skills and capabilities to meet organisational needs.

“Overall our aim is to continually support clients with the complexities that they face within the workplace within ever evolving wider environments.”

g Towering Over the Competition

##

Company: Conning Towers Ltd Name: Susan Popoola Email: Susan.Popoola@ConningTowers.org Web Address: www.ConningTowers.org Address: Wood View House, 2 Darwin Close, Medbourne Park, Milton Keynes MK5 6FF Telephone: 01908 504806; 07957 743022

TI16188

,

Learning Made Simple Virtual College is the UKs leading full service online training partner, offering a third generation learning management system, an extensive online off-the-shelf course library and bespoke elearning development. We invited Peter Hilliard from the firm to tell us more.

“Here at Virtual College, our number one aim is to make sure we help our customers make a real, measurable difference to their organisations performance.

We work very hard to make sure that we deliver learning and development services that will make a real difference to our customer’s organisations.

“Every member of our team delivers this by living our five company values – customer focus, collaboration, innovation, integrity and passion. These encourage us to really understand our customers and their business with the aim of forming mutually beneficial partnerships.”

Throughout the elearning market, whether an organisation is looking to deploy a Learning Management System (LMS), roll out off the shelf training or

develop a completely bespoke training solution, understanding their goals and challenges are key. As such communication and dedication to excellence are vital, and Peter believes that the key to achieving these is having a strong team of dedicated staff.

“At the heart of our success is our people; their combination of collaborative account and project management, passionate customer service and our key values of integrity and innovation, means we never stop trying to exceed expectations of customers and learners alike.”

In his concluding comments Peter outlines the exciting plans his firm has to grow and expand in order to build upon its current success.

“Moving forward, we are aiming to achieve the target of 20 million learners accessing training via our Learning Management System, Enable, by 2020. We have a three major strategic themes to help us achieve this.

We want to promote lifelong learning by offering a free ‘personal learning vault’, expand our effective overseas network through strategic partnerships and become the UK’s number one online provider in our chosen vocational areas.”

90 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

K

For the last twenty years Virtual College has been at the forefront of developing collaborative, customer focused e-learning, supplying over 5000 organisations across the UK, from the NHS to local sandwich shops.

Ensuring clients receive the solutions they need is the firm’s top priority, as Peter explains.

Company: Virtual College Name: Peter Hilliard Email: peter.hilliard@virtual-college.co.uk Web Address: www.virtual-college.co.uk Telephone: 01943 60 976

EEB16031

,

Driving Through Success Cromodora Wheels, winner of ‘Best International Alloy Wheels Manufacturer - Czech Republic’, has been producing forged and cast magnesium alloy wheels for competitions for over 50 years. Managing Director, Rene Hilscher spoke to us about their accomplishments.

The leadership in wheel production have awarded Cromodora Wheels with the certification of official supplier to the world’s most prestigious car manufacturers such as: BMW, Jaguar-Land Rover, Daimler (Including AMG and Smart), Porsche, AUDI, Volkswagen, Skoda, and FIAT. Currently, Cromodora has two plants. The first located in Ghedi (BS), Italy, also includes the headquarters and the R&D centre of the Group. It mainly produces large size and flow formed wheels. The second located in Mošnov,

Czech Republic, has operated since 2008. Through such manufacturing facilities, the firm satisfies its customers’ cost competitiveness requirements.

face some limits of this growth especially related to the labour resources. Rene explains what the benefits are of being based in Eastern Europe.

Furthermore, we expect our staff to lead and motivate our employees to be satisfied with the company, their own work and their life.”

Cromodora’s mission is to become the best producer of aluminium wheels fulfilling the expectation of their customers, employees and shareholders through the continuous improvement of processes and people. In addition to the company’s unique mission, Rene describes what else makes them stand out from their competitors.

“In most of the countries in Eastern Europe, there is relatively good infrastructure and educated people with reasonable experience in industry field.

This gives this region together with the lower cost base the competitive advantage.”

Rene outlines the latest developments in the industry and also highlights the firms’ plans for the future.

“Our company always concentrate on our customer needs to provide them with maximum flexibility, competitive price, high quality and services with the respect to satisfy also our employees and shareholders expectations.”

The automotive industry in the Eastern Europe region is still growing through new facilities or the extensions of existing ones.

As this process started 20 years ago, the industry is starting to

Cromodora ensures it hires staff that adheres to the company’s ethos and ensures they are all working towards a common goal as Rene explains.

“We work with our employees in a way to fulfil their and company expectations as much as possible, using all kind of motivation tools including continuous training to comply with and exceed if possible the customer requirements.

“We expect our people to be loyal, active in process improvements keeping in mind all company and customer standards to reach the company mission and objectives.

“We just finished in Mosnov the next step of our expansion so we now need to concentrate on the process optimization. As for future plans, they depend on the market situation and if there is a continued, positive trend from the last several years, we may realize the further capacity increase in our plant.

“The automotive industry is changing very fast so it is not easy to express shortly the particular developments in this field. The main trends as the digitalization, automation, robotization including autonomous robots, mobility connection and last but not least electric cars mean for us the further challenges for the future development in our company on which we of course work already now to be in line with this trends.”

K

Since 1962, Cromodora Wheels was one of the first producers of forged and cast magnesium alloy wheels for competition use as well as being the technological innovator in the process of low pressure casting heat treated aluminium alloy wheels. In the recent past, Cromodora has successfully introduced the flow forming technology which enables to obtain lighter wheels.

Company: CROMODORA WHEELS s.r.o.

Name: Rene Hilscher Email: info@cromodorawheels.cz Web Address: www.cromodorawheels.it Address: Prumyslova 369, Mosnov, Czech Republic Telephone: 00420 556 414 811

CO160031

,

Sarah Gould: Certified Commercial Consultancy Sarah Gould has been a long upstanding senior staff member at Murchie Consulting (Vic) Pty Ltd, having commenced employment as the Accountant/Payroll Officer within the opening year of operations. We spoke to Sarah to find out more about how her past experience has led her to success, and her ambitions for the future.

Sarah explains that she is an Accountant by trade, who has participated in the CPA Program and fully embraced the engineering consultancy industry after working with her first significant employer, Meinhardt Australia Pty Ltd, where she was privileged to have worked alongside Mr. Bill Meinhardt, the founding member of the now 50-year-old global group.

“Here I learned the practicalities of Business Accounting Functions within the National Consolidated Group, including general ledger and asset management, compliance reporting and annual audit processes and I applied for government Export Grant Funds to assist in setup of the London office. I then felt the need to approach a greater challenge and worked for a very short time with a subsidiary of the AWB, which convinced me to return to the engineering industry. I was very fortunate that a Director who I had previously worked with at Meinhardt had started his own consultancy firm eight months prior, and was now in need of a fulltime bookkeeper as the company was growing fast.

“In this role I began my dream job, which offered me the opportunity to grow with the company; exactly as I did with Murchie Consulting (VIC) Pty Ltd. In the first three years, the company grew from eight

employees to over 50 employees.

Due to the increased workload, my role which had previously included all financial and payroll requirements, was split into two separate positions. We recruited a ‘Financial Accountant’ and I chose the ‘Management Accountant’ role, in which I could focus on project performance and improving the profitability of the business through systems improvements.

“Over the course of my 11 years with the company, I worked closely with the Director to maintain and improve the business. This company has been a highly successful building services engineering consultancy and is held in high esteem by the local industry, having survived the GFC, beaten its direct competitors and developed a niche skill set with regards to high-rise developments and high-profile government projects, including the City West Police Complex and the Bunurong Memorial Park.”

Unfortunately, as Sarah explains, the company has also experienced difficult times, particularly in the lead up to its acquisition by the owners of the global Meinhardt Group.

“The discussions surrounding this acquisition began in late 2014 and took effect in April 2016.

During this time, the Director was diagnosed with terminal cancer, hence the succession planning

92 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

which resulted in the acquisition, as well as a formal Voluntary Administration process. These circumstances increased my workload and job-related stress over the course of this 24-month period, but was necessary in order to secure the desired result and future employment for all staff within Murchie Consulting (Vic) Pty Ltd. During this period, I performed surrogate Director duties between September 2014 and April 2016, as well as having responsibility for all financial processes of the business; I played a pivotal role in developing both current and future business sectors, along with three other senior executives as part of the Leadership Group for the company.

“Throughout my career I have achieved many things, but one of my proudest achievements was the development of a business information system which garnered ISO9001 Accreditation for Quality Assurance. I have also been trusted to provide the legal assessment of company terms and conditions, provided reassurance that experience with contract negotiations and management was as satisfactory as their qualified opinion. I am also incredibly proud that the company was afforded the honour of presenting a White Paper about Engineering International Standards for High-Rise Developments at the “Council for Tall Buildings & Urban Habitat” in New York 2015.

“The beginning of my business career as an accountant, including business analysis and financial management, system design and deployment, project and business systems management, has given me a leading edge and a distinct advantage in understanding the complexities of business sectors, their functions, systems and the knowledge required. I have specific experience with identifying risk and weaknesses within business frameworks.

“My personal values make me an extremely honest employee, and I am respectful of professional relationships and confidential information and knowledge, and I am able to relate with ease to all levels of stakeholders, both internal and external to the firm, as well as developing and sustaining key relationships with those stakeholders.

“I am currently seeking new opportunities; I like to think outside the box and as such would love the opportunity to write the screenplay for an animated movie which I would like to be involved in making, and for this I would be willing to sacrifice a lot. I am currently looking for the next opportunity to embrace as my future direction, and am open to a number of possibilities; if you believe that you can offer me this opportunity, please get in touch!”

g Sarah Gould: Certified Commercial Consultancy

##

Company: Previously of Murchie Consulting (VIC) Pty Ltd Name: Sarah Carly Gould Email: sarahgould2@dodo.com.au Web Address: https://au.linkedin.com/in/sarah-gould-4271b346 Address: Unit 3, 6 Roslyn Street, Strathmore.

3041. Melbourne. Victoria. AUSTRALIA Telephone: +61 0431 528 096.

EEB16027

,

Always Offering More Based in Prague, 1Year & More Productions design and develop a variety of tailor-made solutions, including TV and radio commercials, corporate videos, music videos, indoor and outdoor events. We invited Martin Vyhnánek, Head of Activation Projects, to tell us more.

Agency 1Year & More Production, s.r.o has been operating in the Czech and Slovak market since 1997. Originally AV Production, the company gradually turned into a fullservice communication agency.

During the existence of the company, they created dozens

of TV and radio commercials, corporate videos, music videos, indoor and outdoor events, consumer competitions and comprehensive ATL and BTL campaigns. With the development of the market in their region, 1 Year & More have expanded their services to digital marketing and activation activities.

Martin tells us about the firm’s mission: “Our mission is to find and reach the target groups that the mass media is not reaching, and our motto is: ‘let your customers feel your brand/ product’.

This year was a very successful one for us, we became members of the section of activation agencies of AKA. This section is a member of IMCC, EACA and POPAI. Martin tells us what helps 1Year & More stand out from their competitors: “Enthusiasm, ideas, originality, and a highly experienced team with strong know-how are key to giving the company a strong position in the industry. As well as this, the importance of Eastern Europe cannot be ignored.”

“Every region of the world is influenced by history, culture, politics, religion, etc. and the Eastern European region is no exception. Generally, we can see the growth of a business corresponding to the business growth of the whole market.”

Finally, Martin explains the internal culture of the firm and the main way of ensuring staff are prepared to provide the best possible service for clients.

“The main thing is to keep people working as a team, they must be proud of the company they work for and they have to believe in the work they do. We have great experience with a combination of “older” highly experienced professionals and young enthusiasts.”

K Company: 1Year & More Production, s.r.o.

Name: Martin Vyhnánek, Head Of Activation Projects Email: martin@1year.cz Web Address: www.1year.cz Address: Sabinova 707/7, 130 00 Praha 3 Telephone: + 420 721 561 535

94 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

MP160028

,

Engineering Excellence A.W. Chesterton Company works with industrial companies around the globe to provide fluid sealing solutions and equipment wear protection solutions that help plant processes run more reliably, efficiently, and sustainably. We caught up with Brand Management Manager Sharon Raymond to find out more.

Drawing on over 133 years’ experience in the market, the firm is known across a wide range of industries for applications expertise and knowledgeable hands-on local service. Sharon

describes the firm’s mission and the techniques it employs to achieve this.

“At Chesterton, our mission is to provide customers with innovative and tailored solutions for fluid sealing, equipment protection, and lubrication and make the world a cleaner place.”

“This is achieved by working with each customer to find the best solution for their sealing or equipment protection challenge.

We stay close to our customers to understand their daily challenges and the time constraints they are facing.”

One of the firm’s recent successful campaigns was a five-part Water & Wastewater Webinar Series designed to

help reliability engineers and maintenance supervisors working in those industries. Chesterton presented best practices in pump sealing to save water and energy, increase pump efficiency, and reduce equipment wear and tear from abrasive forces.

The sessions also showcased their ability to work closely with customers and provide solutions tailored to their needs. Sharon outlines how they support end users.

“Our customers fall into two distinct groups: Distributors around the globe who sell to end users, and end users themselves.

We aim to meet their specific needs with quality products delivered on time.

“To support customers, our sales specialists work to get a good understanding of the major sealing challenges faces by the customer, based on the types of material being sealed, the age and type of equipment, the manpower/maintenance constraints, production goals, and more.”

Operating in such an evolving market A.W. Chesterton Company has to work hard to remain at the cutting edge of new developments. Sharon concludes by discussing the latest innovations the firm has introduced and how the company will continue to adapt and build its product portfolio around the needs of its clients.

“Recently we introduced Chesterton DualPac™ 2211, which is an innovative braided packing technology. This new solution represents a significant advancement in braiding technology that will lead to better performance and longer life for pumps dealing with severe slurries, which can be extremely abrasive and difficult on equipment. Our engineers continuously research new technologies to help our end users save time and increase equipment performance.

We have many exciting new developments in the pipeline to continue to offer our customers the very best solutions to meet their ever-evolving needs.”

K

Established in 1884

by Arthur “A.W.” Chesterton, this company started as “Chesterton Company,” a purveyor of steamboat and engineering supplies, on the Boston, Massachusetts waterfront.

The firm has since grown into a world leader that helps industrial companies as well as manufacturers improve the sealing reliability of pumps, valves, cylinders, presses and other equipment that seal fluid or gases.

Company: A.W. Chesterton Company Name: Sharon Raymond - Brand Management Manager Email: Sharon.raymond@chesterton.com Web Address: Chesterton.com Address: 860 Salem Street, Groveland, MA 01834 Telephone: 978-649-6240

BW160063

,

Transforming Talent Acquisition Schneider Electric is the global leader in sustainable energy management and industrial automation. We invited the award winning North America Director of Talent Acquisition and Mobility LaDonna Tucker to tell us more about the firm and her role in its success.

LaDonna, who has been with the firm for over eight years, discusses her role and how she has worked with the firm to help it acquire the staff to operate, despite the myriad of skills shortages that the industry constantly faces.

“Personally, my role here at Schneider Electric is North America Director of Talent Acquisition and Mobility, and I am responsible for the strategic planning, design, implementation, maintenance, regulatory compliance, communication and administration of all Schneider Electric Talent Acquisition in Canada, the United States and Mexico. This includes all white collar Professional Recruitment, University Recruiting & Relations, Internal Mobility, Employer Branding, Pipeline Development, Pre-Onboarding, Domestic Relocation and Program Oversite for the Contingent Labor program.

“My career with this dynamic and innovative firm began in June 2008, when I entered the company as a Senior Recruiter under our TAC brand. I served as a Senior Recruiter until September 2009 at which time I transitioned to a Talent Acquisition & Mobility Manager role which I held until February 2013 when I transitioned into my current role. Before joining Schneider Electric, I spent 6.5 years working for the nation’s largest physician recruitment and consulting firm. Prior to building my career in the talent acquisition space, I held roles in the areas of human resources, marketing and account management. As such I am able to use this vast expertise to provide my current firm with the very best talent sourcing solutions.”

The technologies space can be tough for women, and the challenges they face in the industry certainly influence the talent management sector in this market. LaDonna describes the challenges she has previously faced in the market and the advice she would give anyone looking to succeed in this sector.

“One challenge I have faced as a woman in the corporate environment is the perception of my experience. Often women feel that they have to prove themselves and their experience

96 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

in order to be respected and trusted. Overcoming this challenge is ongoing.

“In order to overcome these challenges I would recommend other women to be authentic, express your needs and don’t be apologetic/use that it as a strength. Allow yourself to feed all parts of who you are, creating what success looks like to you.”

Moving forward, the Talent Acquisition space is transforming, and Schneider Electric are challenged to transform with it, with a specific focus on transforming its technological offering in order to ensure it remains at the forefront of the latest industry innovations. As such, LaDonna is keen to continue adapting and growing, both individually and departmentally, in order to ensure that she Schneider Electric remains a leader in its industry.

“Looking to the future, my ambition is to be an innovator in the Talent Acquisition space to help move the function forward.

I am working on achieving these goals by influencing some of the vendors that we work with to help them identify and solve challenges before they or their customers recognize it. I have partnerships where I am influencing our vendor roadmaps for technology and helping them to think about their tools in ways they have not thought about yet, or other customers have not seen as a challenge yet.”

“The technologies space can be tough for women”

K

Schneider Electric develops connected technologies and solutions to manage energy and process in ways that are safe, reliable, efficient and sustainable. The Group invests in R&D in order to sustain innovation and differentiation, with a strong commitment to sustainable development.

Company: Schneider Electric Name: LaDonna Tucker Email: ladonna.tucker@schneider-electric.com Web Address: www.schneider-electric.us/careers Address: 1650 West Crosby Road, Carrollton, Texas 75006 Telephone: (972) 323-4809

EEB16032

,

Plastic Fantastic NAFIGATE Corporation connects experts from the world of science and builds a global center of excellence which aims to transfer hi-tech products and innovative technologies. We caught up with Lenka Mynarova to learn more about the firm and the products it has provided to become ‘Best Biotech Solutions Company - Czech Republic’.

“Here at NAFIGATE we specialise in development of PHA Biotechnology called

Hydal Biotech. Hydal is one of the first biotechnologies in the world for industrial production of PHA from waste cooking oil.

Our technologies create new segment of bioplastics and new high-added value nano materials. We have a dedicated team of researchers that try to push the boundaries of what is currently achievable. Unlike our competition, the technology we create does not use crops or other feedstock which requires agricultural fields. For example, our feedstock is cooking oil of any quality which has no further use and it usually ends as waste. “The overall objective of our project is to introduce

innovative biotechnology to solve global problems such as the pollution of environment by synthetic plastic materials.

This has already been partially accomplished as we have already introduced application know-how for bioplastics and bio solutions to the world market. To further achieve this goal, we are keen to connect experts from the fields of science and build global projects in the area of nano and bio technologies.”

As a small team everyone has to work hard to ensure the success of the firm, as Lenka is keen to emphasise.

“Every member of our team decides about future success of NAFIGATE. We are a small team of very motivated individuals and just an idea that we are creating revolutionary technology motivates us to go further. Alongside our onsite team, we have excellent team of researchers thanks to historical roots of chemistry in our universities and we have strong

support from our governments, which allows us to operate all over the world.

“When seeking new staff, we look for people who wants to change the world using innovations. They have to believe in our case and be ready to travel all over the world.”

Looking ahead, Lenka describes the future plans for her firm and how it aims to build upon its current success.

“Moving forward we are planning to introduce more than 30 high added value materials in bioplastics which can be used for productions of all kinds of plastics. Plastics are a key focus for our company, and in the future we have a number of great opportunities as the Czech Republic is currently improving legislation regarding protection of the environment, and this will drastically affect the market and provide us with a chance to showcase our innovative products.”

K

The company has been founded in 2011 with the main objective to accelerate the final journey of nanofibres applications and other high-tech to the world market. NAFIGATE remains a small company, currently employing only nine people but with sales of approximately 1 million euros. Lenka discusses the firm’s work in more detail, providing us with a fascinating insight into the vital developments the company makes.

Company: NAFIGATE Corporation a.s.

Name: Lenka Mynarova Email: Lenka.mynarova@nafigate.com Web Address: www.nafigate.com Address: Prosek Point Praque Telephone: + 420603412555

TI16187

,

Connecting Your Contacts ConnectiD (Most Disruptive Software Development Company – UK) is an early stage technology start-up founded in London. Allison Wightman talks us through how this innovative firm is changing the software market for the better.

ConnectiD has a vision to organise the worlds contact information by providing a patented service to help people and businesses access up to date contact details. Allison describes the problem its clients face and the solution that her firm has created.

“The problem of maintaining accurate contact details is universal. You maintain everyone else’s contact details and so your phone book or database quickly gets out of date. When you change your details, it requires much effort to communicate it to everyone, and requires all of them to accurately track your updates and nobody has the time.

“As such ConnectiD has developed an app for people and businesses to access, share and automatically update contact information and is the simplest and most intuitive way to manage your contacts and their access to your most up to date information in today’s digital world. The product has patented technology to keep contact information up to date and enables people to update their details in one place and then share it with all the people and companies that hold the information they are updating. We have developed two products suitable for both B2C and B2B markets.”

Looking ahead, the speed and complexity of how the software and technology industry is changing and the massive move to mobile sees us in a great position for the future. Consumers have less patience than ever and are looking for smart technology to address their pain points and challenge

K Company: ConnectiD Ltd Email: contact@connectid.me Web Address: www.connectid.me

98 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

traditional ways of doing things. As such ConnectiD is keen to build upon its current success and adapt its solution to meet clients’ needs, as Allison concludes.

“Ultimately, our ethos is focused around giving people back control of their own information so we would never sell or take advantage of our customers’ information as so often happens in the dirty world of personal data. We have acquired a patent for our technology and intend to build the business slowly and take on board the needs of businesses to develop a real alternative to GAFA controlling everything online. GAFA is an acronym for Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon- the four most powerful American technology companies. By working with them we will be able to create a product which will truly meet our clients’ needs and become a market leader.”

TI16189

,

Sensing Success Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (IDT) develops system-level, market leading solutions that optimize its customers’ applications. Director of Technical Marketing Lonny Trahan tells us more about how they won ‘Best for Mixed-Signal Semiconductor Solutions - North America’.

“Over the years, IDT has evolved its product offerings to support our customers as they develop innovative, new electronic products. One of our current areas of focus is wireless power transfer used to wirelessly charge portable devices. It’s an area where we have established a strong leadership role. We have also developed a portfolio of environmental sensors, and

some of our unique offerings, like our gas sensors, are quickly gaining traction. Finally, many of our solutions are optimized and qualified for automotive use. In fact, we recently enhanced our automotive capabilities to meet demand by achieving TS 16949 certification at a second automotive test and production facility.

“We work closely with our customers and partners to ensure we are developing technology that delivers value to our target markets, and this goes on throughout the development process to ensure we stay on track. In many cases, we work hand in hand with our customers to customize our solutions in a way that meets their very unique end-product needs.

Most importantly of all, we aren’t simply looking to sell a narrowly focused product; rather, we look at an overall system solution that enables our customers to reduce cycle time.”

According to Lonny this collaborative approach is key to IDT’s success in driving new technologies that enable exciting new products.

“At IDT we collaborate with our customers. We engage to understand their goals and then determine what role we can play in helping them reach those goals. Additionally, we are deeply involved with industry associations that set standards and we are proud of our role in driving and influencing the standards that new technologies are built around to ensure they meet our customers’ needs.

“To ensure the company develops solutions that move innovation forward, IDT works to establish good communication within its own walls. “Fundamentally, good communication is key to success.

We’ve worked hard, and have made progress, in removing departmental barriers which has encouraged a more collaborative and open environment. We have witnessed first hand that, when barriers are reduced, synergy increases, leading to our teams

devising more innovative ways to bring value to our customers.”

Looking to the future, IDT expects the automotive industry to be a huge growth area for some time to come, with cars increasingly becoming more intelligent and connected to the environment around them. Also, sensors will continue to play a significant role in connecting the latest devices around the car and home. This area will continue to grow, and IDT has one of the broadest sensor portfolios to address it. Combine that with its leading-edge wireless power and power management products, and the company believes it will be a leader in the next phase of this rapidly growing market.

“In an increasingly connected world, sensors are playing a key role, and as a thought leader in this market, IDT is preparing for this inflection point. As such we will continue to focus on sensors along with other innovative product offerings such as wireless power to maintain our position as a leader in the dynamic and evolving markets that we serve.”

K

Founded in in 1980, IDT develops a wide array of marketleading mixed-signal semiconductors for use in the communications, computing, consumer, automotive and industrial markets. Lonny Trahan, Director of Technical Marketing discusses the areas the company is focused on and how it has drawn on its 37 years of industry expertise to create a dynamic product offering that meets the needs of its customers.

Company: Integrated Device Technology (IDT) Name: Lonny Trahan, Director of Technical Marketing Email: Lonny.Trahan@idt.com Web Address: www.IDT.com Address: 6024 Silver Creek Valley Road, San Jose, CA 95134 Telephone: 408-284-8200

SB160060

,

Giving the Gift of Excellence TheGiftCardCentre offers clients a vast array of gift card options from some of the world’s most popular brands. We invited Caroline Watson to tell us more about the firm and how it works to provide the very best service and selection to clients.

Established in launched in 2008 as the first Gift Card only website in the UK, the TheGiftCardCentre now supplies a wide range of clients who include consumers wishing to send gift cards to friends or relatives, and corporate customers wanting a one stop solution with one invoice selecting from one of the largest portfolios of brands for their clients or staff.

One of the firm’s latest innovations is its e code called The Wish Code. This has proved hugely popular as an instant e

gift for consumers and corporate clients to give as a present, leaving it to the recipient to choose what they really want to have posted to them. It is this dedication to innovation and the firm’s reputation for such that differentiates itself from the competition, as Caroline explains.

“Here at TheGiftCardCentre we react very quickly to issues and you can actually speak to one of our team without call queuing software during our office hours.

Our corporate customers enjoy a one to one relationship with their account manager, and do not have to wait long for answers

to their questions. We are also very flexible, and we do not make ourselves work to a set routine, which ensures that we work to our clients’ specifications.”

Technology is a vital aspect of the firm’s service offering, and therefore Caroline is keen to highlight the firm’s commitment to utilising the very best solutions and remaining at the forefront of the latest innovations.

“TheGiftCardCentre prides itself on offering uncomplicated solutions, which we have specifically designed to ensure our customers get the best service they can from us when they email or call. We use an established Web design company who have a huge portfolio of clients, to ensure that our website is running at the best that it can. Additionally, we also use Filemaker Pro in-house, a fantastic database software solution that can find a customer

in seconds, ensuring efficiency and effectiveness throughout our business.”

Moving forward, the industry’s focus on digital gifts will remain at the forefront of the firm’s focus as it seeks to build upon its current success, as Caroline emphasises.

“Within the wider gift card market we are seeing an increasing focus on digital sales, and as such we will be evolving our online presence. Currently we do not work with digital for our consumer sales but we do for our corporate sales, and we have seen a fantastic growth for our corporate customers enjoying a great portfolio of e codes, and as such we are keen to develop this offering for our consumer business. Overall the focus remains on growth and expansion in order to continue to offer our clients the very best selection of gift options.”

K Company: TheGiftCardCentre Ltd Name: Caroline Watson Email: caroline.watson@thegiftcardcentre.co.uk Web Address: www.thegiftcardcentre.co.uk Address: 76 Cressex Enterprise Centre, Lincoln Road, High Wycombe, Bucks HP12 3RL Telephone: 0333 222 9122

100 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

TI16188

,

A Safer and Cleaner Workplace With more than 130,000 employees worldwide, Honeywell Building Solutions has more than 115 years’ experience in creating and operating optimized buildings. Here, we profile what the firm has done in the technology industry to become ‘Best Global Clean Energy Solutions Company’.

From their worldwide network of local branch offices, Honeywell delivers customized building solutions of the highest quality, including: • HVAC and Building Management Systems • Building Automation & Building Optimization/Service Solutions • Integrated Security Solutions • Energy Management Services (including Performance Contracting) • Mechanical Maintenance, Upgrades, and Retrofits • Fire Detection and Life Safety Solutions • Emergency Communications including PA/VA Solutions • Building Networks & Convergence Solutions Honeywell Building Solutions is part of Honeywell Homes and Building Technology (HBT), a global business with more than 44,000 employees worldwide. HBT creates products, software and technologies found in more than 150 million homes and 10 million

buildings worldwide. Honeywell is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes, and industry; turbochargers; and performance materials.

A recent example of Honeywell’s innovation is the announcement in November 2016 of their mobile software application, which enables building occupants to tap into Internet of Things capabilities to address common building issues, such as temperature settings and access control. Honeywell developed this app to combat and overcome these pitfalls.

The Honeywell Vector Occupant App combines the convenience of today’s mobile devices with connected building features to give users more control over their comfort levels and ability to securely move about the workplace. The new software is the latest example of Honeywell’s leadership in the Internet of Things around connected buildings.

The new app provides digital identification and integrates with core building functions, including access and comfort control, to enhance building occupants’ experience with the touch of a screen. The app’s access control capability eliminates the need for physical cards or fobs and gives users secure access via their smart phones. In addition, occupants can quickly and easily communicate temperature discomfort to prompt real-time

adjustments instead of the more time-consuming process of seeking out a facility manager.

Facility managers benefit from immediate insight into where and how comfortable occupants are so they can make adjustments more quickly and easily. And the app’s digital identification and access control capabilities make it easier to manage occupant credentials, eliminating the need to keep track of and replace misplaced access cards.

The app features: • Digital Identification – Eliminates the need for plastic badges or temporary tags and solves the issue of outdated photo IDs by providing an up-to-date photograph.

• Convenient Access Control – Builds on the app’s digital identification feature, offering mobile-based access control that can easily be managed by a facility and eliminate the need to track and replace cards or fobs. Occupants have one less item to carry and can open doors from greater distances than traditional key cards and fobs.

• One-Click Hot/Cold Calls – Provides a quick and direct way for occupants

to indicate when their work areas are too hot or too cold, and to receive confirmation that their issues are being addressed. Facility managers are alerted to occupants’ discomfort right away and can view the location of the call, identify patterns, and quickly make adjustments to satisfy occupants.

The Honeywell Vector Occupant App is part of Honeywell’s approach to connected services, which leverages the connectivity of buildings to improve how they operate and the experiences they offer for those who visit and work within them. The app is also the latest addition to Honeywell’s mobile software strategy, a significant part of the company’s efforts to provide the latest technology innovations to help keep facilities safe, secure, comfortable, productive and energy efficient. Future enhancements and capabilities are planned for the app that will take advantage of building connectivity.

With innovations such as the Vector Occupant App, Honeywell has displayed its commitment to innovation and in the future, plans to strive for further technology improvements to client workplaces.

K

Honeywell installs and maintains the systems that help keep customer workplaces safer, energy efficient, sustainable and productive. The firm works in a wide range of buildings and mission critical facilities around the world, including commercial offices, landmark buildings, airports, ports, rail stations, stadia, large retail facilities, hospitals, schools, universities, government buildings, museums, casinos, hotels, data centers and pharmaceutical facilities.

Company: Honeywell Building Solutions Web Address: buildingsolutions.honeywell.com

Winner’s Directory

g

The Award Winners are... ## 102 CORPORATE VISION / January 2017

,

Finest Healthcare Consultant - the UK 2016 Company: Wensleydale Dental Practice Name: Patrik and Marina Zachrisson Email: info@wensleydaledental.co.uk Web Address: www.wensleydaledental.co.uk Address: 11 George Street, Huntingdon, PE29 3BD Telephone: 01480-453003 Patent Attorney of the Year 2017 - Florida Company: Daniel Law Offices, P.A. Name: Jason T. Daniel, Esq. Email: jason@danielpatents.com Web Address: www.danielpatents.com Address: 605 E. Robinson Street, Suite 100, Orlando, FL 32801 Telephone: 407-841-8375 Attorney of the Year 2017 - Louisiana Company: Law Office of John Redmann, LLC Name: Edward Moreno Email: emoreno@redmannlaw.com Web Address: www.redmannlaw.com Address: 1101 Westbank Expressway, Gretna, LA 70053 Telephone: 504-433-5550 x 103 Attorney of the Year - Wyoming Company: Lubnau Law Office, PC Name: DaNece Day Email: danece@etseq.com Web Address: www.etseq.com Address: 300 South Gillette Avenue, Suite 2000, Gillette, WY 82716 Telephone: 307-682-1313 Attorney of the Year - New York Company: Law Offices of Eldon L. Looby Name: Eldon L. Looby, Esq. Email: elooby@loobylaw.com Web Address: www.loobylaw.com Address: 5 Penn Plaza, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10001-1738 Telephone: 646-626-5252 Fax: 646-626-5254 Attorney of the Year 2017 - Washington Company: Stewart MacNichols Harmell, LLC., P.S. Name: David Iannotti Email: david@sbmhlaw.com Web Address: www.sbmhlaw.com Address: 655 West Smith Street, Kent, WA 98032 Telephone: 253-859-8840 Fax: 253-859-2213

Subscribe to CV

Subscribe here www.corp-vis.com/subscribe