KANTOR ONE VOL.9 AUGUST 2013
Editorial 1Kantor’s Successes! 2Joining Kantor 5Resources @ KantorBooz & Co viewpoints 6A colleague suggests… 8A colleague suggests a destination 9Kantorian’s personal accomplishments!Kantor EventsKantor’s Masquè Party was a success!! 10Trainings @ Athens 11
INDEX
Dear colleagues, welcome to the Summer 2013 issue
of KANTOR ONE. One of my favourite BBC radio programmes is called ‘From our own Correspondent’, and this introduction is a view of our business from your very own ‘Brussels Correspondent’.
After some of the worst winter and spring weather on record, here in Belgium we are now basking in a heat-wave. While not an exact parallel, KantorQwentes has also been battling in a difficult climate, and is now enjoying better weather – if not quite yet ‘making hay while the sun shines’.
The Brussels office has recently undergone a restructuring and is now a much leaner organization compared to that which entered 2013. We expect that this reorganization will have benefits. It is often said that ‘only time will tell’, but this is too passive an attitude. I personally am confident that the KANTOR Team working together will bring to bear the best of our collective intelligence to chal-lenges we face.
But intelligence alone does not guarantee results and neither does hard work; enthusiasm and motivation are also required. My eldest son is about to start at university and throughout his time as an undergraduate he will be encouraged to undertake a ‘personal pur-suit’. The theory runs that doing something which one is personally committed to increases these vital ingredients. It is, I am assured, a ‘win-win’ situation, now backed up by plenty of empirical evidence.
So, as a long standing motorbike enthusiast and the Team leader of the Contact Point of the European Network for Rural Develop-ment, when I heard about a Motorcyclists-inspired rural network community, I decided to investigate. I am pleased to report that the idea does work, this network now has a new enthusiast, the ENRD will be expanding its communication and exchange channels to include us ‘bikers’ and I have a European motorcycling tour lining up for next spring! I would therefore encourage us all to make use of all of our enthusiasms and ideas – even when they might not seem obvious bed-fellows with our work at first glance.
KANTOR ONE tradition dictates that some recent project wins are mentioned. And I am pleased to report that July has been a good month for us. We have been successful in securing the fifth annual renewal of the ENRD Contact Point. This project remains the largest external contract of DG AGRI and the budget for our sixth year is 3.6 million Euro.
Securing this renewal was not ‘a given’. It has been the result of a lot of hard work by many colleagues, both those most visible to the client and also those, less visible but no less vital, ‘back office’ heroes and heroines.
The sixth year of the ENRD Contact Point is likely to be the last under the current framework. It is, therefore, not simply business as usual. A very challenging year faces the ‘CP’ Team with two priori-ties. The first is reinforcing practical support to all the stakeholders, across the 28 Member States, involved in the preparations for the new 2014-2020 EU Rural Development policy programming period. The second is to ‘capitalise’ all that the ENRD has achieved since 2008, to ensure its accessibility and usefulness into the future.
KantorQwentes has also just been awarded a project (value 160,000 Euro) to provide 3 web editors/online journalists to assist DG Enterprise to present its policies and initiatives to a broad spectrum of audiences and to develop well-targeted, attractive and innovative content. DG Enterprise’ remit encompasses such diverse policy areas as the single market, industrial policy, small and medium enterprises , tourism, space and satellite navigation: this first KantorQwentes project could therefore play a strategic role for future developments.
Part of the KANTOR strategy is to further integrate KantorQwentes’ operations, particularly practice development, with our Athens activities. Here in Brussels, we are much more than a ‘single-project’ Business Unit. Nevertheless, knowing that our largest current proj-ect is entering its final phase is certainly focusing our minds even more on practice development. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that the weather here in Brussels can be pleasant and that it’s a good place for either a business trip or a ‘personal pursuit’!
Wishing you all a great summer.
Mike Gregory
EDITORIAL
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Assessment of prospects for development of gas trade activities in Bulgaria by an international energy company
The aim of the project was to assess the attractiveness of the Bulgarian gas market for a new potential market player. The cur-rent and future situation of the market was examined (structure of the market, supply & demand, gas demand projections up to 2030, gas prices), the regula-tory framework was reviewed to identify potential barriers to entry, and the largest gas con-
sumers, covering about 85% of total consumption), were analyzed in terms of gas consumption, financial status and prospects of de-velopment.
Mainstreaming Climate Change into CSF-Funds 2014-2020
Kantor is providing expertise to DG CLIMA of the European Com-mission in a pan-European project that aims to mainstream climate change into Partnership Contracts and Programmes for the Com-mon Strategic Framework (CSF)-Funds 2014-2020. The project in-volves an initial analysis of the state of play in each EU country in relation to climate change. This will be used as a baseline when scru-tinizing and analyzing all programmes covering practically all the European Funds (Regional Development Fund, Cohesion Fund, Eu-ropean Social Fund, Euro-pean Fund for Agriculture and Rural Development and the European Mari-time and Fisheries Fund) in order to assess the extent to which the incorporate objectives, measures and specific actions that ad-dress the fight against cli-mate change.
Evaluation of Communication activities
Kantor is a member of a consortium in a framework contract for the technical and methodological assistance in the organisation and conduct of evaluations of communication activities for DG Communication of the European Commission. The framework con-tract involves ex ante, interim and ex-post evaluations and impact assessments for the policies, programmes, projects and initiatives of DG Communication. The work involves methodologi-cal and technical support, as-sistance with the design and/or follow-up phase of an eval-uation and evaluation syn-theses and meta-evaluations based on existing evaluation studies. The framework con-tract assignments provide the Commission with addi-tional assistance and capacity as well as with fully-fledged evaluation reports.
Development of new services for industrial and large customers of DEPA
Kantor is providing support to DEPA for the assessment potential for new services to be offered by DEPA to its large customers, taking into account international experience and potential demand in the market. Services examined include electronic billing and consump-tion monitoring, energy saving and ESCO services, installation and operation of CHP units, measurement of carbon footprint, supply of non-pipe gas, provision of training courses, development of new flexible gas contracts. Each service was analyzed with particular focus on examples and case studies, while opportunities, risks and requirements for implementation were identified.
Kantor’s Successes!
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Financial and technical advisor to the Hellenic Republic, in relation to the privatization of TRAINOSE S.A. (“TRAINOSE”) and the Rolling Stock Maintenance (“ROSCO”) business unit of OSE S.A. (“OSE”)
Kantor, in cooperation with Investment Bank of Greece S.A. and Louis Berger has been selected to act as financial and, technical advisers for the assessment of the best available options for a) the privatization of its equity stake in TRAINOSE and b) the separation in a Special Purpose Company of the ROSCO business unit of OSE and its subsequent privatization, as well, as to provide financial ad-visory services to the Hellenic Republic (HR) for the implementation and execution of the selected privatization option and the relevant transaction(s).
Support of Company Network in the field of supply chain
Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (HFE), after an open tender pro-cess, assigned Kantor, in cooperation with EEL (Greek Logistics As-sociation), the support of a network among companies in the field of supply chain.
The aim of the project is the active support of selected companies in the field of supply chain in order to exploit modern techniques in networking and cooperation in core areas of their business.
The support focus on:• Raisingawarenessofcom-
panies about the impact of networking in human resource management
• Support of selected com-panies in building up co-operation in key opera-tional functions
• Support of selected com-panies in the first steps of network and cluster devel-opment.
• Design and implementa-tion of workshops for exchange know- how in cooperation and networking with the participation of other European networks in the field of supply chain.
Independent Experts in the context of the JESSICA Initiative in Greece and Bulgaria (shortlisted)
JESSICA (‘Joint European support for sustainable investment in city areas’) is an initiative of the Eu-ropean Commission, sup-ported by the European Investment Bank (‘EIB’) and the Council of Europe Development Bank, designed to help Mem-ber States in using financial engineering mechanisms to support investments in sustainable urban development in the context of EU cohesion policy for the programming period 2007–2013. In the cases of Greece and Bulgaria, these investments are made by Urban Development Funds (UDFs), which evaluate several urban develop-ment projects and make sure that funds are provided to projects that would not have been sufficiently viable if financed on a purely commercial basis – thus making sure that the subsidy in the interest rate of UDF’s loan is compliant with the State Aid rules.
On this purpose, our company has been shortlisted as an Indepen-dent Expert in the context of the JESSICA Initiative both in Greece and Bulgaria, in order to provide an opinion to UDFs on the reason-ableness and appropriateness of the terms of investments proposed by UDF managers.
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TAP Potential Supplier Analysis, Phase D - Local Enterprise Capability Enhancement Plan
Since July 2012 and after a tough bidding process, Kantor assist E-ON and their international partners, the Swiss EGL and the Norwe-gian Statoil, in identifying, evaluating and developing a local sup-plier base for the development of the TAP (Trans Adriatic Pipeline) in three countries (Greece, Albania and Italy). Following the successful implementation of the three initial phases of the project and after an excellent workshop taken place in Switzerland in February 2013, we got the green light for Phase D - the Local Enterprise Capability Enhancement Plan.
In more detail, we have been asked to design a supplier develop-ment programme framework, identify the key “actors” that need to be activated to manage and deliver such a Programme, set-up and organize a PMO-type of office, estimate cost / budget and funding opportunities and develop a detailed programme implementation roadmap linked with TAP schedule. The extended engagement has duration of about 3-4 months with an additional budget of around €150k. This engagement is significant as it provides the opportunity to further develop our relationship with E-ON, opening new win-dows for business development outside the Greek market.
Support of the Greek National Rural Network
For the first time, the framework of the Rural Development Pro-gramme (RDP) foresees the development of a National Rural Net-work (NRN), with the participation of Chambers, Research Institutes, Environmental Organizations, LAGs etc. Members of the Network are also agencies of the Ministry for Agricultural Development and Food and the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climatic Change, which are responsible of the management and implementation of some measures of the RDP.
Kantor provides services in support of the Greek NRN to promote networking between organisations and administrations, active in the field of rural development. Our work also consists of the imple-mentation of specific actions, the provision of innovative ideas and suggestions in shaping strategy and the systematically strengthen-ing of the whole NRN structure.
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Joining Kantor!
Virginie Sarah Viaene (VJV)Position: Communication Expert
Previous work experience: Vir-ginie has worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for more than 4 years. Previously she worked for the Embassy of Iceland in Rome as a liaison officer. She has also worked as a human relations specialist for the University of California, Irvine and a mediator for the Orange County Human Relations Commission in the US.
Academic background: She studied in the United States where she earned her degree with high hon-ors (Magna Cum Laude) in International Relations and Conflict Management. She is also a professional me-diator. She is member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Iota Rho Honor Societies.
In her free time: She is a sommelier and enjoys wine tasting. She is a horse riding enthusiast and practices sport on a regular basis.
George J Gerardis (GJG)Position: Senior Manager @ MCS
Previous work experience: George is a highly experienced consulting professional, with over 12 years of senior-level in-volvement in multiple projects for multinational and Greek corporations across several different sectors and sizes. George recently returned to Kantor as a Senior Manager after 8 years in the FMCG industry where he has focused on providing action-able strategic advice to leading corporations, including manag-ing and evaluating entry strategies to international markets.
Academic background: George holds an MBA from Boston College, USA and a BSc in Management and Organizational Be-haviour from the American College of Greece, Deree College.
In his free time: He enjoys travelling
Miltos Andriopoulos (MAN)Position: Intern @ MCS
Previous work experience: Prior to Kantor’s intern-ship, Miltos has worked as an internal consultant for P&G Hellas towards the company’s business process reengi-neering during a 6 month project.
Academic background: He holds a BSc in Management Science & Technology (Distinction) from Athens University of Economics and Business, together with a Certificate in International Studies (Distinction) from Grenoble’s Gradu-ate School of Management.
In his free time: Miltos loves team sports, scientific experi-ments and human interaction.
Preslav Petkov (PEP)Position: Policy Analyst
Previous work experience: Preslav has extensive experience in working with the Rural De-velopment and Operational programmes in Bulgaria. Further to that, he extended his practical experience in working with the European institutions, policies and programmes by completing in-service trainings with the European Commission (DG Agriculture and Rural development) and the Permanent Representa-tion of Bulgaria to the EU.
Academic Background: Preslav holds Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Agricultural economy from the University of National and World Economy in Bulgar-ia. In addition to that, he completed training courses on European standards, preparing legislative acts in the EC and drafting contractual documentation in English.
In his free time: Preslav enjoys sports, travelling, ca-noeing, every other kind of outdoor activities and cooking.
Christos Raptis (CRA)Position: Intern@MCS
Previous work experience: Prior to Kan-tor’s Internship, Christos has completed a one year internship as a Business Analyst for AlfaSolutions S.A. in Greece with exposure in con-struction and analysis of financial statements.
Academic background: He holds a BSc in Economics (Dis-tinction- Top 1% of his class) from Athens University of Eco-nomic and Business and a MSc in Economics(Distinction- Top 10% of his class) from University of Warwick. He is currently studying towards ACCA( Association of Chartered Certified Accountants)
In his free time: Christos loves travelling, cinema and sports.
Ô Building a Digital Culture: How to Meet the Challenge of Multichannel Digitization
by Ashley Harshak, Benedikt Schmaus, and Diana Dimitrova
Many traditional retailers and other customer-facing businesses have installed new digitally enabled organizations, processes, and systems. This approach, however, is not enough in itself to win in the digital age. Even well-designed systems can be undermined by a company’s established culture—for example, when employees balk at the new practices required by the new technologies.
The sooner a company acts to develop a digital corporate culture, the more quickly it will be in a position to compete in this fast-paced, digitized, multichannel world. Senior management can take practical steps. These include influencing formal levers of change— leadership policies, role definitions, and people processes—along with informal levers—key behaviors, role models, and networks—that help employees start thinking, feeling, and behaving in new ways. Using these formal and informal levers in an integrated fashion can help people adapt to new ways of doing business and enable companies to deliver the multichannel experience that customers want.
Ô Benefiting from Big Data: A New Approach for the Telecom Industry
by Olaf Acker, Adrian Blockus, and Florian Pötscher
Operators seeking to make initial inroads with big data are advised to avoid the usual top-down approach, which sets up a business problem to be solved and then seeks out the data that might solve it. This method does have benefits, but it is unlikely to lead to any serendipitous and surprising results—and it is difficult to execute until a company has demonstrated mastery in its use of data. Instead, operators should begin with the data itself, experimenting with what they have on hand to see what kinds of connections and correlations it reveals.
Ô The Digital Future of Creative U.K.: The Economic Impact of Digitization and the Internet on the Creative Sector in the U.K. and Europe
by Thomas Künstner, Matthew Le Merle, Hannes Gmelin, and Christian Dietsche
Among the sectors most profoundly affected by digitization is the creative sector, which, by the definition of this study, encompasses the industries of book publishing, print publishing, film and televi-sion, music, and gaming. The objective of this report is to provide a comprehensive view of the impact digitization has had on the creative sector as a whole, with analyses of its effect on consumers, creators, distributors, and publishers in the U.K. and Europe.
Ô Media Workflow and Content Management in a Digital Era: Unlock the Value from Your Investments
by Tom Casey, Harry Hawkes, Raj Parande, and Will Cotter
The media industry is evolving. As consumers increasingly turn to digital channels, traditional media companies are struggling to adapt their workflow, technology, and content management capa-bilities. They face a wide array of hardware and software choices, and they lack a road map that would show them how to enable their organizations to reap the full potential of these investments. To bridge this gap, media companies should adopt a series of best practices. These practices often involve differentiation of some activities and integration of others. They will enable business leaders to achieve their near-term objectives while creating a flexible infra-structure that can adapt to market demands.
RESOURCES @ Kantor
Booz & Co. Viewpoints
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Ô Transform Your Bank’s Operations Model: A Best Practices Discussion
by Daniel O’Keefe and Ashish Jain
Your approach to transforming your bank’s operations model depends on your goal – to improve customer experience, streamline processes, or reduce back-office costs. We suggest five best prac-tices: Customer-back process transformation, Product and service simplification, Aggressive digitization, Governance and performance management transparency, and Delivery model optimization. Along with aligning your operation’s performance goals to your business priorities, these will meet your objectives.
Ô Pricing Is Not Only about Price: How Retailers Can Improve Their Price Image
by Nicholas Hodson, Marco Kesteloo, and Marc Hoogenberg
Most retailers manage their price strategies without adequately factoring in nonmonetary costs and other elements of value that customers are consciously and subconsciously considering all the time, such as selection, promotions and quality of experience. This approach is no longer adequate. Companies need a new strategic model, one that expands the pricing strategy beyond the traditional pricing function to include several other partners within the enter-prise. Based on our experiences with clients, a retailer that adopts a cross-functional and actionable “price+value” strategy can improve near-term earnings by as much as 4 percent and put the company on a much firmer competitive footing.
Ô Customer-Centricity and Selective Capillarity: A Multichannel Strategy for Telecom Operators
by Nuno Gomes, Carlos Severino, and Alvaro Tomás
Telecom operators have developed sophisticated products and services, but they have not evolved their commercial footprint or distribution at the same pace. To increase revenues and boost sub-scriber profitability, operators must develop new online, mobile, and independent sales channels—capillaries, instead of the large-scale “arteries” of their existing commercial circulatory system.
Ô A Fit for GrowthSM Framework for Telecom Operators: Aligning Capabilities, Costs, and Structure
by Martin Reitenspiess, Christine Rupp, Hannes Gmelin, and Chady Smayra
The Fit for GrowthSM approach developed by Booz & Company offers telecom operators a path to growth and profitability. The overall goal is for operators to focus their resources so they can lead from their strengths—whether that means network operations, service platforms, or customer experience. Those that do can eliminate as much as 25 percent of their overall operating costs.
For more information, please follow the link: http://www.booz.com/global/home/what_we_think/reports_and_white_papers
RESOURCES @ Kantor
Booz & Co. Viewpoints
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Listening to complainers is bad for your brain, by Minda Zetlin
“Here is a very interesting article I read, which suggests that exposure to non-stop negativity actually impairs brain function and it is proposing ways on how you can defend yourself. This idea is presented in a book by Trevor Blake, a serial entrepreneur and author, titled “Three Simple Steps: A Map to Success in Business and Life”. In the book, he describes how neuroscientists have learned to measure brain activity when faced with various stimuli, including a long
gripe session.” Costas Kastrinakis
What makes us feel good about our work? by Dan Ariely
“This presentation, filmed at TEDx Rio de la Plata, is touching the subject of moti-vation and enjoyment at work. What motivates us to work? Contrary to conven-tional wisdom, it isn’t just money. But it’s not exactly joy either. It seems that most of us thrive by making constant progress and feeling a sense of purpose. Behav-ioral economist Dan Ariely presents two eye-opening experiments that reveal our unexpected and nuanced attitudes toward meaning in our work. An interesting
way to spend 10 minutes of your free time!” Olia Efkarpidou
Closely observed trains by Bohumil Hrabal
“Closely observed trains” is a book written by the Czech author Bohumil Hrabal which has as main character, Milos Hrma, a young apprentice signalman in a Czech village during World War II. It is a wonderful story about life and heroism of common people with small doses of romance, longing, vanity, absurdity, and hilarious deviance. I found re-ally impressive how the author manages to majestically com-bine a tragic situation with an incredible earthy humor, may-be that’s what makes the tale so touching and realistic. It is, perhaps, one of the most sensi-tive stories I have read lately.
Oana Guth
A colleague suggests
http://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/listening-to- complainers-is-bad-for-your-brain.html?nav=pop
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_what_makes_us_feel_good_about_our_work.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TEDTalks_video+%28TEDTalks+Main+%28SD%29+-+Site%29
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
“The book is a seemingly simple and uneventful sto-ry, but it also tells a much deeper message. It’s the sto-ry about the indomitable spirit of a man, Santiago. He stands as a symbol of an attitude toward life: re-spect, tenacity, and dreams fuel a man in his quest to thrive in the face of strug-gle. While challenges and setbacks can strip a man of all outward signs of success, still his spirit can re-main undefeated. The old man, Santiago, never gave up and kept on trying. A great lesson can be learned in these challenging times. Hemingway wrote: “A man can be destroyed but not defeated”.
Virginie Viaene
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A colleague suggests ….a destination!
During a mission to Cairo for the World Bank project “Transparency & Social Accountability in Egypt’s power sector”, colleagues George and Costas had a short, but interesting visit to the Pyramids. In this photo, you can see them enjoy the sun and sand under the Sphinx!
I spent one week in Malta in early May. I enjoyed the wild rocky landscape of the South, the turquoise clear
waters in the North, as well as the lovely sunsets in the city of Valetta and the mysterious light of dawn in Mdina. I also liked the fresh seafood, the famous
traditional sweets-mqarat, the Maltese “pastizzi”, the warmth of people and their “joie de vivre”.
Oana
I visited Cuba about 1 ½ year ago, during the spring break. Cuba is a source of inspiration, one of the richest cultures in the world. A place, where wild nature meets beautiful colonial architecture. The country seems to be lost in time, somewhere in the 1950’s. Cuban people love life, which is reflected in their music and food. Living in a communist country means that Cubans go without the luxury items that Westerners take for granted. Despite this, they are hospitable and warm people. Interesting fact: Hitchhiking is an interesting peculiarity of Cuban culture. Nowadays, hitchhiking is not advisable. But in Cuba it’s a way of life. Hitchhiking is safe, efficient and free. In fact, even the government encourages hitchhiking as a method of dealing with the shortage of cars and public trans-port means. In cities and larger towns, there are designated hitchhiking spots on roads where people gather in order to find a ride, called punto amarillo!
Virginie
Kantorian’s personal accomplishments!
Periklis recently received an Offshore Skipper Certificate, after an intense 2-month course, which comprised of 32 hours theory and 8 days practical experi-ence on a sailing boat. Congratulations!
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Kantor Events
Kantor’s Masquè Party was a success!!
It was an idea, which started as a joke, at first! To organise a dancing party between us, where everyone can get dressed,
bring a friend and have fun, during Greece’s “Apokries” sea-son, which is something like Halloween (without the pumpkins’ theme)! Everyone loved the idea and attended the event, wear-ing extraordinary & authentic costumes From devils to priests,
kittens and IceAge protagonists, cowgirls and Mexicans, witches and witches all enjoyed a true carnival feast ! ! ! !
Design by Kantor Qwentes S.A.
Special thanks to Oana Guth and Ryoko Abe for making KANTOR ONE newsletter possible!
Kantor ONE is a quarterly internal newsletter, aiming to enhance information and knowledge sharing among all offices and build a strong community between all employees. To provide input for the newsletter, please contact your office correspondent or Olia Efkarpidou [email protected].
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Trainings @ AthensBehavioural Leadership training programmeA training course has been organized for the managers and senior staff in the Athens office, focusing on the behav-ioural aspect of leadership. Leadership is an asset and skill that consultants have to possess at all ranks of hierarchy, as it is the key to gain trust from our clients.
Is leadership a talent or can it be developed? It is both. Part of it lies within each one of those who choose consulting to be their professional arena. But the rest of that part has to and can be developed. Leading by example, understanding behaviours, active listening, coaching and developing one’s colleagues are issues that are ad-dressed in this training course.
The program is designed by Krauthammer and delivered by a local team with long standing and successful expertise in supporting leadership development and talent management.
Excel trainingsEarlier this year, two internal trainings were organised on Excel and Advanced Excel. Nearly 60% of the Athens employees participated in either of those trainings. Thanos Vassilopoulos delivered the trainings, based on a curriculum tailor-made to our pro-fessional and administration staff!
