Polish Market No. 2 (268) 2018

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BUSINESSWOMAN

PU B LISHED SIncE 199 6 No. 268 /2018 :: www.polishmarket.com.pl

SPECIAL EDITION

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anna kolisz Vice-President of the Board of ankol

The Polish Parliament has declared 2018 as the year of Women’s Rights

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POWE R F U L

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CONTENTS

4. TERESA CZERWIŃSKA, MINISTER OF FINANCE and JADWIGA EMILEWICZ, MINISTER OF ENTERPRISE AND TECHNOLOGY NEW WOMEN IN THE CABINET

22. BEATA DRZAZGA, President of BetaMed: SETTING

5. ANDŻELIKA MOŻDŻANOWSKA - SECRETARY OF STATE AT THE MINISTRY

Activity Council of the City of Toruń and the European Union of Women, branch in Toruń, and Women Entrepreneurship Ambassador in Poland since 2012: PARTNERSHIP IS CRUCIAL IN BOTH BUSINESS AND LIFE

OF INVESTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT

6. WOMEN IN A FREE POLAND

Women with Pearls 10. HONORARY PEARLS FOR OUTSTANDING WOMEN 11. ULA DUDZIAK SINGS WITH JOY

NEW STANDARDS IN CARE FOR THE ELDERLY

23. ALEKSANDRA ŁUKOMSKA SMULSKA, President of the Public Benefit

24. 21ST CENTURY WOMEN ARE MODERN, ACTIVE AND WISE

27. BLAZING TRAILS IN INTERMODAL TRANSPORT SERVICES AND LOGISTICS

12. MAŁGORZATA WALEWSKA: I ALWAYS USE REAL EMOTIONS

30. MOKATE SUPPORTS WOMEN

13. PROF. MAGDALENA WYRWICKA, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering

32. ILONA ADAMSKA, the owner of I.D.Media Agencja

Management, Poznan University of Technology: “ORGANIC WORK” STILL APPRECIATED IN THE WIELKOPOLSKA REGION

14. PROF. ELŻBIETA MĄCZYŃSKA, SGH Warsaw School of Economics and

Wydawniczo-Promocyjna: I HAVE A LUST FOR LIFE!

33. MACIEJ PROLIŃSKI: WHEN A DIRECTOR CARRIES SOMETHING IN HER HEART

President of the Polish Economic Society, winner of the Polish Market Honorary Pearl in the science category: GOOD COLLABORATION BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN OPTIMISES RISK

34. KRYSTYNA BOCZKOWSKA, President of the Management Board of

Powerful Businesswoman

35. MARIA CZWOJDRAK, President of Średzka Spółdzielnia Mleczarska Jana:

17. IWONA DAWID, Associate Partner at Dawid & Partnerzy –

Adwokaci i Radcowie Prawni: BUILDING A STRONG RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CLIENT IS THE KEY

18. AGNIESZKA KŁOS, Country Manager Poland Provident: WOMEN MUST BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES

20. URSZULA CIOŁESZYŃSKA, Founder & President of the International

Network of Women Entrepreneurship Ambassadors Federation of Associations, Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Ambassador in Poland : ENTERPRISING WAY OF THINKING IS ABOUT CREATIVITY AND RESPONSIBILITY

SPECIAL EDITION

President: Krystyna Woźniak-Trzosek

Writers/Editors: Maciej Proliński, Jan Sosna, Janusz Korzeń, Jerzy Bojanowicz, Janusz Turakiewicz,

Vice - Presidents: Błażej Grabowski, Grażyna Jaskuła

Translation: Sylwia Wesołowska-Betkier, Rafał Kiepuszewski, Agit

Address: ul. Elektoralna 13, 00-137 Warszawa, Poland Phone (+48 22) 620 31 42, 652 95 77 Fax (+48 22) 620 31 37 E-mail: info@polishmarket.com.pl

Contributors: Agnieszka Turakiewicz

Publisher: Oficyna Wydawnicza RYNEK POLSKI Sp. z o.o.

(RYNEK POLSKI Publishers Co. Ltd.)

Editor-in-Chief: Krystyna Woźniak-Trzosek Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Ewelina Janczylik-Foryś redakcja@polishmarket.com.pl Marcin Haber m.haber@polishmarket.com.pl

Graphic design: Godai Studio Agnieszka Andrzejczak, Joanna Wiktoria Grabowska Sales: Phone (+48 22) 620 38 34, 654 95 77 Marketing Manager: Magdalena Koprowicz m.koprowicz@polishmarket.com.pl

Robert Bosch Sp. z o.o.: WOMEN STILL NEED TO MAKE MORE EFFORT TO PROVE THEIR WORTH EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED, EXCEPT FOR THE MILK PLANT ADDRESS

36. MONIKA ZDZIARSKA-ALICKA, Owner, Essence Beauty Clinic:

APART FROM AESTHETIC MEDICINE ONE NEEDS THE RIGHT LIFESTYLE

37. HALINA ZUBRZYCKA, MD, owner, Wellness Centre Raj Villa and Villa Aurelia Hotel & Spa: RAJ VILLA ELEGANT AND ROMANTIC PLACE IN THE VERY HEART OF NAŁĘCZÓW

38. MAGDALENA PIASECKA-LUDWIN, owner of Kliczków castle

Cover: Anna Kolisz, Vice-President of the Board of Ankol Photos on issue: www.shutterstock.com

DTP: Godai Studio www.godai.pl Printing: Zakłady Graficzne TAURUS – Roszkowscy Sp. z o. o., www.drukarniataurus.pl

Oficyna Wydawnicza RYNEK POLSKI Sp. z o.o.

Nr KRS 0000080385, Sąd Rejonowy dla m.st.

Warszawy XII Wydział Gospodarczy Kapitał zakładowy 80.000,- zł.

REGON 011915685, NIP 526-11-62-572 Published articles represent the authors’ personal views only. The Editor and Publisher disclaim any responsibility or liability for their contents. Unso-licited material will not be returned. The editors reserve the right to edit the material for length and content. The editors accept no responsibility what-soever for the content of advertising material.

Reproduction of any material from this magazine requires prior written permission from the Publisher.

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100 YEARS OF WOMEN’S VOTING RIGHTS

THE POLISH PARLIAMENT HAS DECLARED 2018 AS THE YEAR OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS. THIS IS TO MARK THE CENTENARY OF THE GRANTING OF FULL VOTING RIGHTS TO POLISH WOMEN IN A REBORN POLAND. IN FACT, POLAND WAS AMONG EUROPE AND THE WORLD’S FIRST COUNTRIES TO DO SO. An act like that was of utmost importance in any country. It symbolically marked the end of the struggle for women’s place in public life, which started following the execution in revolutionary France in 1793 of Olympe de Gouges for her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen. The Napoleonic Code, which was introduced in most European countries, placed women under their fathers’ and husbands’ supervision. It was not until the mid-19th century that women were allowed to study at universities. The first university lecturer was Polish scientist and Nobel Prize winner Maria Skłodowska-Curie. She gave her first lectures at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1906.

Of course, the fact that women won the right to vote did not necessarily mean that they enjoyed an equal legal status in society. In the first Polish parliamentary elections in 1919, just eight women were elected MPs, less than 2% of the entire body of deputies. In subsequent years there was little progress. A decade had elapsed before the first woman became a judge in Poland. A 20% representation of women in Parliament only came about in the 21st century. However, the influence of women on shaping the national community was far greater than statistics indicate. Polish women won voting and other civic rights not so much through campaigning by women’s lib activists but as a result of society’s recognition of their role in the regaining of independence by Poland. During the First World War, the Polish Women’s League was established in the three occupation zones – ruled respectively by Russia, Prussia and Austria. Crossing many divides caused by differences of opinion among „male patriots” and political differences, the League prepared a material and logistical base for the clandestine Polish Military Organisation. Then, after Poland won independence, the League again proved vital in helping to defend the new state against a Bolshevik invasion. Between the two world wars, the predominantly conservative

Polish society did not undergo major changes. Thus it is not easy to list those women who became leaders of opinion or women’s lib activists. Admittedly, the proportion of female artists did increase.

Some women scored spectacular successes as film stars and athletes.

One of the latter was discus thrower and sports activist Halina Konopacka who became the first Polish gold medallist. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, as a lorry driver she helped her husband move the gold of the Polish National Bank to France to finance the Polish government-in-exile. The collapse of communism meant that Polish society again opened up to the outside world, which prompted dynamic social changes. One was better access to university education, which Polish women were very keen to pursue. Year by year, proof of the growing position of women in Poland could be found in the results of international studies. In its annual Glass Ceiling Index, an overview of labour market equality, The Economist lists Poland as the world’s fifth friendliest country for women in gainful employment. Although Polish women do not yet enjoy as much equality at work as Scandinavian women do, they appear to fare better than their French, Danish, Belgian, German and US counterparts. Grant and Thornton’s Women in Business 2017 report shows that Poland is one of the world leaders in terms of the percentage of women in managerial positions in business (department heads and board members.)

Poland ranks third among the 36 listed countries at 40%, compared to the world average of 25%. A woman sitting on a company board is a norm in Poland, while in Japan and Germany this happens far less often. This is confirmed by a 2016 Eurostat study, according to which women in the EU occupy just one third of managerial posts and earn a quarter less than men in corresponding positions. In Poland the overall gap between men’s and women’s wages is one of the lowest in Europe at 7.7%. PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ Women in Work Index 2017 suggests that this gap could be filled by 2021.

So are things finally what they should be? Well, statistics do not always seem to reflect social realities. In a number of areas, problems stemming from discrimination against women in the work place and in the family environment are yet to be resolved.

Krystyna Woźniak-Trzosek Editor-in-Chief President of Rynek Polski Publishers Co. Ltd.

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MINISTER OF FINANCE TERESA CZERWIŃSKA Teresa Czerwińska is a University of Warsaw economics professor specialising in finance. Before her appointment as Minister of Finance, since June last year she served as Undersecretary of State at what was then the Ministry of Economic Development and Finance. She was responsible for drafting and implementing the state budget and for the use of European Union structural funding.

“I am very familiar with the foundations and details of the 2018 budget because I drafted it together with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki [who served as Minister of Economic Development and Finance at the time -ed.] The budget rests on two pillars. One is society’s participation in benefits stemming from economic growth.

I would call it a socially responsible budget. The other pillar is development-oriented spending, which will constitute a very stable foundation for the development of the Polish economy,” Teresa Czerwińska told a news conference in Warsaw late last year.

Born in Daugavpils in what is now Latvia, Teresa Czerwińska is a graduate of the

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Faculty of Social Sciences (1997) and the Faculty of Management (1998). She has experience both as an academic lecturer and as a financier. She has written a number of publicatons and compiled numerous analyses in the field of financial and risk management, especially as regards insurance markets. She also specialises in socially responsible investment.

Czerwińska is a co-author of textbooks on macroeconomics, insurance and managament of financial institutions.

Between December 2015 and June 2017 she served as Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, where she was responsible for drafting and implementing of a new mechanism of distribution of state grants for public universities and the streamlining of the higher education financing process.

Teresa Czerwińska has also served as an expert of major international organisations, including the Insurance & Reinsurance Stakeholder Group attached to the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) in Frankfurt (2015-2018) and as a financial regulation co-ordinator at the Centre for Antitrust and Regulatory Studies (CARS) (2014-2015).

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MINISTER OF ENTERPRISE AND TECHNOLOGY JADWIGA EMILEWICZ Jadw iga Em i lew icz is described as a close associate of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Since 2015 she served as Undersecretary of State at the then Ministry of Economic Development and Finance. Her responsibilities included the implementation of EU funding, innovation and competitiveness in the Polish economy and suport instruments for small and medium-sized enterprises.

But Jadwiga Emilewicz is perhaps best known for having introduced the topic of Poland’s mounting smog problem to public debate and championing the adoption of strict standards for coal-fired heaters. “The quality of the air we breathe has no political tinge” she is quoted as saying.

According to observers, at the ministry she succeeded in bringing together experts committeed to the cause, but

working on a non-partisan basis. She also campaigned for regulations to prevent the sales of sub-standard coal, which is known to be responsible for most of Poland’s pollution.

Jadwiga Emilewicz notes that she will regard her mission as a success if the cabinet adopts a complete package of anti-smong regulations proposed by her and her experts.

Between 1999 and 2002 she worked at the Foreign Relations Department of the Polish Prime Minister’s office. In 2009 she became director of a museum in Kraków devoted to Poland’s communist past.

Jadwiga Emilewicz is a graduate of the Institute of Political Sciences of the Jag iel lonia n Universit y in Kraków. She received fellowships from Oxford University and the American Council on Germany Dräger Foundation, ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius.

Since 2003 she has been a lecturer at the Tischner European University. She is a public activist and author of a numer of publications. She served as President of the Better Poland Foundation. •

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SECRETARY OF STATE AT THE MINISTRY OF INVESTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT, ANDŻELIKA MOŻDŻANOWSKA On 8 February 2018, Andżelika Możdżanowska was appointed Secretary of State at the Ministry of Investment and Development. Her duties as a central-level politician started in 2011, when she became a Senator. In 2015, Możdżanowska was elected an MP for the Lower House of the Polish parliament and became Secretary of State at the Office of the Prime Minister.

Before becoming a parliamentarian, she worked as a journalist, a secondary-school teacher, and a university lecturer.

She ran the Business Assistance Centre, offering services such as consultancy in the acquisition of EU funds, and founded the “Po prostu pomagam” Association, as well as was the organiser of community and charity campaigns for sick children, and the “Kropla życia” blood donations for hospitals in the Wielkopolska region.

On 23 January 2018, a meeting was held between Polish businesswomen and Andżelika Możdżanowska. The meeting was important for two reasons. First, it served to demonstrate the willingness of administrative bodies to cooperate with businesses, but also highlighted the women entrepreneurs’ role in the economy.

The event resulted in the establishing of the Women’s Economic Council for Entrepreneurship and Development, based on an idea by deputy Minister Możdżanowska and comprising women with local and international business experience. The Council’s main focus will be to offer advice and consultancy with a team that can help incorporate into the Polish economic system solutions which have proven effective abroad. The Council will also work as a body voicing women’s needs and the barriers they encounter in business.

During the Pearls of the Polish Economy Gala, which took place in November 2017 at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Andżelika

Możdżanowska stressed how important it was to instil a sense of security and stability among business people.

“The Polish government offers solutions which are meant to make entrepreneurs feel proud and secure, as well as allowing them to implement their strategies geared toward development.

The Strategy for Responsible Development drafted by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economic Development Mateusz Morawiecki [now prime minister -ed.], in conjunction with the entire government, provides the foundation necessary for Polish enterprise to thrive. It will enable the Polish economy to grow even further. It will help entrepreneurs to build their companies at home, to expand beyond Poland’s borders and to significantly boost exports.”

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Meeting between Women Entrepreneurship Ambassadors and Andżelika Możdżanowska.

From left: Elżbieta Marszalec, Krystyna Woźniak-Trzosek, Halina Langowska, Andżelika Możdżanowska, Beata Drzazga, Urszula Ciołeszyńska

WOMEN in a free Poland

This year we highlight the significance of the breakthrough year of 1918 when Poland returned to the political map of Europe as an independent country. Throughout 2018, „Polish Market” carries a series devoted to the history of Polish statehood, the history and present day of Polish culture and selected events organised as part of the government „Niepodległa” [Independent Poland- ed.] Programme. In this special edition, which solely focuses on Polish women, we spotlight their role in building a free and independent Poland.

Maciej Proliński

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ulture was definitely a factor which helped Poles living in the three parts of Poland, respectively ruled by Russia, Prussia and Austria, maintain their identity and keep a bond with their compatriots in the other occupation zones. This despite the decades of life under very different political and economic systems imposed by the occupiers.

Polish culture during what is known as the “partition period”, produced a great many prominent figures. They may not have won worldwide

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acclaim, but artistically their work had plenty to offer. It is not always easy to divide works of art into those with a feminine or masculine tinge, and does it really matter? What does matter is whether they bring people together or divide opinion, whether they appeal to imagination or whether they are capable of making a difference. At the end of the day, linguistically the Polish word “sztuka”, which means art, is of feminine gender.

Romantic poetry and what is known as “Positivist humanism” – meaning building a pragmatic

model of society during the period when Poland was under foreign rule – lay at the root of work by the greatest lyrical talent of the epoch MARIA KONOPNICKA (1842-1910). She wrote the lyrics of the patriotic anthem “The Oath”, and a numer of timeless novels and children’s books, many of which are based on motifs taken from traditional fables. “The Oath”, which was written during the writer’s stay in the Cieszyn region of Silesia to the music of Feliks Nowowiejski in 1908, is regarded as a gem among Polish national songs. It was first performed on July

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15,1910 by several hundred members of choirs coming from the three partition zones during the unveiling ceremony of a monument in Kraków commemorating the 500th anniversary of Poland’s victory over the Teutonic Knights in the battle of Grunwald in 1410.

ELŻBIETA PAWŁOWSKA, later to be known as ELIZA ORZESZKOWA (1841-1910), married to Piotr Orzeszko, was another woman novelist who led an unconventional lifestyle, and not just in 19th century terms. She made a lasting contribution to Polish literature dealing with the nation’s struggle for independence and the preservation of its national traits and values with her best-known novel entitled “On the Niemen”.

The work paints an appealing picture of life in the Grodno region of eastern Poland in the aftermath of the abortive rising against Russia in 1863. Orzeszkowa shows how convoluted a person’s and family’s life can be by tracing the history of several families: Benedykt and Marta Korczyński, Jan and Anzelm Bohatyrowicz, as well as individual characters such as Pani Andrzejowa. Each of them deals with the troubles life throws at them. They take on all challenges as they come, cherishing their Grodno homeland, as well as national Polish values which they hand down to younger generations. In 1904 Orzeszkowa’s name came up among those shortlisted for the Nobel literary prize. Having read her novels, members of the Nobel Prize Committee noted that she was just as worthy of the distinction as the actual Polish prize winner, Henryk Sienkiewicz. In one of the committee’s documents you could read that “While in Sienkiewicz’s writing beats the noble Polish heart, in Eliza Orzeszkowa’s works beats a human heart.”

Another major writer of the epoch - MARIA DĄBROWSKA (1889-1965) – is best-known for her epic work “Nights and Days,” featuring the Niechcic family saga. It is about the life of an impoverished family of noblemen in the period between the fall of the 1863 rising against Russia and the outbreak of the First World War. The work is a social panorama which portrays the protagonists in a constantly changing world, as they attempt to introduce some kind of order to their lives. Throughout her work, starting from “The Smile of Childhood” to “The Adventures of a Thinking Man”, Dąbrowska steadily developed this theme. In her view, life was not about being a rebel, searching for something new (as avantgarde artists do), fighting the absurd in life (as existentialists do) or striving toward a religious, or other ideal. According to Dąbrowska, life is a spontaneous gesture of acceptance of reality for the sake of being part of it, given that one’s existence is active and one is aware of one’s purpose.

This is clearly why Dąbrowska’s world still proves Maria Konopnicka, source: Archiwum Akt Nowych

Eliza Orzeszkowa, source: www.bn.org.pl

captivating for readers, for the writer motivates them to make an effort.

For a nation deprived of its statehood - one which the occupiers wished to erase from the map - every time a Polish person won recognition abroad it meant a lot. That is why a very important role was played by female ambassadors of Polish culture on the international scene.

Novelist MARIA SZELIGA (1854-1927), who lived in Paris, may now be forgotten. But in her day she was an activist who struggled against Russification and Germanisation efforts by the respective occupiers. In 1889 she delivered a report at the International Pedagogical Congress in Paris on the repressive system of education in the Russian empire and the Russification drive. Twelve years later she drafted a letter of protest in defence of Polish students subjected to reprisals for using the Polish language at their school in the town of Września in the Prussian occupation zone. In 1896 Szeliga took part in the formation of the Ligue des Femmes pour le Désarmement International (the League of Women for International Disarmament), of which she became the deputy president.

Singer JÓZEFINA RESZKE-KRONENBERG (1855-1891) took the European opera circuit by storm. She donated her royalties to patriotic causes at home.

At the time when Poland had vanished from the world map, the acclaimed actress HELENA MODRZEJEWSKA (1840-1909) reminded international theatre audiences about her homeland and its plight. In one of her letters she wrote: “They took away our freedom, but they cannot take away our talent. We become famous abroad without asking for their permission.”

Modrzejewska was the first Pole to become a star in the US and Europe. Her parts in plays

by Shakespeare have been entered in theatre history books. In America she came to be known as Helena Modjeska, and one hundred years after her death, her name still rings a bell among theatre afficionados. “That’s how God’s chosen few love, those who have the power to creatively use their imagination - those whose heart yearns for their homeland, even if they live beyond seven seas, they can still see it clearly as if they were standing right in front of it. They can see the bell towers of their home towns, the snows of their mountains, the swaying fields of rye and the flowers dotting their meadows. They can hear the religious hymns and shepherds’ blowpipes. They can hear all the sounds of their homeland. The more those sounds resemble weeping, the more they long for their motherland, and the more they love it. That’s how Helena Modrzejewska loved her country,’ one of her greatest friends writer polish market

Maria Dąbrowska, Photo: Marian Fuks (1884-1935)

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Henryk Sienkiewicz wrote (Kurjer Warszawski; No. 194/1909.)

One of the areas where the struggle to maintain the national identity was intense was clandestine teaching in the Polish language. In 1879 journalist and public activist JÓZEFA BOJANOWSKA (1873-1945) set up an underground educational library for women. This was one of the first ventures of its kind. On the initiative of educationalist and public activist JADWIGA SZCZAWIŃSKA-DAWIDOWA (1864-1910), a clandestine university for women was set up.

It came to be known as the Flying University, because it kept changing venues. One of its students was the future winner of two Nobel prizes MARIA CURIE-SKŁODOWSKA (1867-1934.) She was honoured with the first prize in physics in 1903 jointly with her husband Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel for studies on the phenomenon of radioactivity discovered by the latter. Then she won another Nobel prize in 1911 on her own for her discovery of polonium and radium, the obtaining of pure radium and the study of chemical properties of radioactive elements. Skłodowska-Curie is the only woman to have been buried at the Paris Pantheon in recognition of her services to science.

It is not often remembered that Poland owes its independence not just to the efforts of men in uniform but also to courageous women who did not hesitate to join the struggle or fight for the values they held dear. Considerable support to Józef Piłsudski’s WWI Polish Legions, which fought alongside the Austrians against Russia, was provided by the League of Polish Women, which was known under different names in the three partition zones. Novelist Maria Dąbrowska, who took part in its founding meeting in 1913, wrote in her memoirs that “this organisation brings credit to women because the League is neither gossipy nor careless, and it is probably the only underground organisation under the Russian occupation not to have compromised its clandestine status.” Accordng to her, the daily taking care of the family and local community, which is usually invisible, was what mattered the most.

In fact, there would be no free, independent and democratic Polish state if equal rights had not been granted to all its citizens regardless of gender. For a great many Polish women, the memorable year 1918 marked a double victory. Not only did Poland regain her independence but Polish women were recognised as full-fledged citizens as well. On November 28, 1918 Marshal Józef Piłsudski signed a decree confirming that “all citizens, regardless of sex, enjoy the right to vote.” Poland was one of Europe’s pioneering countries in terms of granting voting rights to women. The first country in the world to do so was New Zealand (in 1893.) Polish women won full voting rights ahead of British women (1928) and French women (1944.) After Poland won

Józefina Reszke-Kronenberg , source: www.cantabile-subito.de

Helena Modrzejewska, source: www.polona.pl

8 polish marketspecial edition 2018 Maria Skłodowska-Curie

independence in 1918, the situation of Polish women started to change radically, also in terms of civil law. Until then women did not enjoy the right to sign a will and needed to ask their husbands for permission to pursue a numer of activities, while widows were unable to bring up children on their own or decide about their future.

Within the long-term government programme marking the independence anniversary, toward the end of last year an exhibition entitled “Extraodrinary Women of the Opole Region of Silesia” was unveiled. The exhibition, whose opening night was held in the seat of the province governor, will also be shown in local schools. In the spring it will be mounted at the Houses of Parliament in Warsaw. The show features 34 women who made a name for themselves in the history of the Opole region. Among them are both activists of the Polish national movement, nuns, scientists, as well as ladies whose claim to fame is less noble in nature.

The first of the featured ladies is duchess Wiola of Opole, wife of the city’s founder Casimir I. Her position was strong enough for her to have her own royal seal. In 1251 the famous chronicler Jan Długosz wrote “Duchess Wiola of Opole, of Bulgarian origin, is dead.” A famous Silesian scientist featured at the exhibition is Maria Cunitia, an 17th-century astronomer of Świdnica. Because of her education she was known as the Silesian Pallas and was compared to the Alexandrine philosopher and astronomer Hypatia.

Among the ladies featured in the exhibition is also scandalist Polixena von Puckler who lived in Niemodlin castle in the 16th century. She was known to accept expensive gifts for promises of marriage – which she never kept. At the show the story is also told of 19th-century midwife and serial arsonist Charlotta Malig who confessed to 35 such acts. Her victims included both foes and people she was friends with. She claimed to hear voices which told her to set houses ablaze. Sentenced to death on the executioner’s block, she committed suicide.

Another woman portrayed at the show was Nysa-born Maria Luiza Merkert, beatified in 2007, founder of the Convent of Saint Elizabeth’s Sisters. 90 convents and 12 hospitals were set up under her supervision. Sister Merkert is described by historians as the Great Silesian Woman of the 19th century, as well as the Silesian Samaritan. “She helped everyone. She was loved not just

by Catholics but also Protestants and Jews” archbishop Alfons Nossol wrote about her.

The show is complete with a biographical sketch of Polish national activist Maria Liguda-Pawletowa involved in campaigning on behalf of Poland during the post-WWI plebiscite which was to decide which parts of Silesia would be given to Poland by the allies, and which would remain in Germany. Despite persecution, she remained with her family in the German part of Silesia where she was involved in work for the benefit of local Poles.

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HONORARY PEARLS FOR OUTSTANDING WOMEN For the twelfth time, Polish Market Honorary Pearls were presented at a ceremony at the Royal Castle in Warsaw on 24 November 2017. The awards, which were first granted in 2006 go to the most merited personalities, organisations and institutions for their outstanding achievements in the following categories: the economy, science, culture, the promotion of patriotic and social values.

As of last year, an Honorary Pearl for merited sportsmen and sportswomen is also granted. The Honorary Pearls are awarded alongside the Pearls of the Polish Economy which – on the basis of a ranking compiled by experts at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics - go to those companies which prove the most effective in using resources at their disposal. Over the past twelve years women have figured prominently among those who received Polish Market Honorary Pearls.

18 WOMEN RECEIVED THE HONORARY PEARL DICTINCTION BETWEEN 2006 AND 2017: Urszula Dudziak, the first lady of Polish jazz.

Małgorzata Walewska, one of the most renowned mezzos of our times.

Anna Maria Jopek, the acclaimed pop and jazz singer.

Krystyna Janda, film star of award-winning Polish and foreign movies.

Maryla Rodowicz, an iconic figure of Polish pop.

Prof. Czesława Frejlich, designer of exhibitions and author of publications on design.

Ewa Gołębiowska, founder of the Silesia Castle of Art and Enterprise in Cieszyn.

Prof. Alicja Chybicka, merited children’s cancer specialist.

Prof. Maria Siemionow, world-famous surgeon and transplantologist.

Prof. Elżbieta Mączyńska, President of the Polish Economic Society.

Janina Ochojska, founder of the Polish Humanitarian Action.

Bożena Kazanowska, socio-therapist at the Centre for Blind and Sight-impaired Children Bożena Walter, founder of the TVN Foundation You are not alone.

Małgorzata Żak who set up the Polsat Foundation.

Irena Koźmińska, the originator of the ABCXXI ‒ All of Poland Reads to Kids Foundation.

Beata Drzazga, founder and President of BetaMed. Ewa Ewart, renowned documentary filmmaker.

Natalia Partyka, table tennis player and a four-time Paralympic Games champion.

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From left: Janusz Steinhoff, Bożena Walter (TVN Nie Jesteś Sam Foundation), Agata Łapińska (Polpharma Scientific Foundation), Małgorzata Walewska, Prof. Norman Davies, Prof. Jan Lubiński

The Academic Choir of Adam Mickiewicz University with the conductor Beata Bielska

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BUSINESSWOMAN

ULA DUDZIAK SINGS WITH JOY URSZULA DUDZIAK is one of the greatest jazz singers in the world. She has cooperated with such prominent figures as Krzysztof Komeda, Bobby McFerrin, Michał Urbaniak, Herbie Hancock, and Gil Evans. Maciej Proliński describes the laureate of our „Polish Market’s” 2007 Honorary Pearl in Culture.

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he first lady of Polish jazz vocalism has always brought that unique quality to the collective work of any band she would cooperate with - and she has worked both in studios and on stage with many big names.

She has recorded nearly 50 albums. When she first appeared on stage, people said she sang as if she was always happy. This has continued to be the trademark of her presence on stage to this day.

Just like with Mozart, everything in her music and singing is clear. What is more, the pre-eminence of melody helps you to quickly remember the song, and within a few minutes you can also recognize the sheer joy of this art, in its final, yet so wonderfully improvised, form.

Her music can be described as “precision married to swinging freedom”! Or as beautiful unisons and compositions, arranged in an imaginative way and with an immediately perceptible “space”.

When in 2007 I asked her about this characteristic joy she exuded on stage, she responded: “I believe this is one of the nicest compliments not only a musician, but an artist in general, can receive...

I’m trying to have this ‘good energy’ with me right from the first artistic attempts, from the first tones.

The stage is a sacred place for me. Before I go on stage, there is this great moment of anticipation.

I know that I am charged with ‘positive energy’, a good vibe, if you will... I am aware of this. People feel it and they approach me after my concerts to say that they are feeling better. This provides me with real fulfilment. But I’m getting all this back!

And perhaps this energy and joy are a by-product of my rather happy life”. She also mentioned Krzysztof Komeda, one of the greatest Polish jazz musicians, a composer and a pianist, father of some world-famous jazz standards and film scores.

“I made my debut with Krzysztof. And I owe him a great deal. Music aside, you could learn humility, modesty and warmth from him. And besides, I felt he liked what I was doing. At the beginning, this was extremely important to me. He would say ‘Ula, you must sing as much as you can - and be afraid of nothing’. He felt that I was a little scared, clenching, cringing in fear. In a way, he was like Miles ...

Miles would tell musicians ‘I am taking you in not because of the way you play, but because of the way I know you can play’. And with Krzysztof, it was similar, I’m sure. He simply set me up very well”.

In 2012, Kayax published her autobiography entitled “Wyśpiewam wam wszystko” (a play on words meaning “I will sing anything for you/I will tell you everything” - translator’s note). It is a collection of stories written down on the basis of journals she has written since a very young age. These stories feature some extraordinary personages, among others, Jerzy Kosiński, Janusz Głowacki, Miles Davis and Sting. Urszula Dudziak has her fans (but not only enthusiasts of her improvised music, I think) in for a very nice and important surprise in the form of a good handful of memories, which not only provides a glimpse into her true portrait, but also provides anecdotes about the world of music as a timeless phenomenon. Dudziak also writes boldly about

her childhood, her stormy youth, her relationships with Michał Urbaniak and Jerzy Kosiński, and other, platonic, loves. And while the title of the autobiography could suggest that all secrets are being revealed, not everything is on sale in this book... The author allows readers to have a peek into her private life, but does not lay all its aspects bare. And so, like on stage, in her book Dudziak strikes a positive note to express positive thinking and a message of the same kind.

In late 2017, the vocalist launched her own YouTube channel, where she talks about such things as dealing with various experiences (<https://www. youtube.com/channel/UCPtnPX6lH3I5REqPb028oVQ>) “Life is all about surprises. One moment you are on cloud nine, only to be stunned by some terrible news in the next. One second you are surrounded with deathly silence, and the next everything around you seems to play, vibrate, sing, float, soothe your nerves and cure. In America, when people ask you ‘How are you?’, you are expected to say ‘I am fine’. Here, in Poland, people will usually answer in a more pessimistic way.

I am changing this, because I believe, and this has proven right hundreds of times, that it pays off immensely to have an optimistic attitude to life. When you open your heart, ears and eyes to everything that’s going on around you, and you approach life with a smile on your face and you tell yourself that everything is OK, you win the day. And who doesn’t like winning?”, Ms Dudziak unwaveringly explains.

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I ALWAYS USE REAL EMOTIONS

MAŁGORZATA WALEWSKA – one of the most recognized Polish mezzos of our times, “Polish Market’s” 2008 Honoraty Pearl in Culture, talks about her career to Maciej Proliński.

You must have been asked this time and again, but what does music mean to you? Is it something magical, as they say something the most abstract - in between melody, harmony and rhythm? And what does singing mean to you, both of classical and lighter pieces?

It is a very common question, hence I keep analyzing the answer every time a bit deeper. For me not just music in general, but singing is something hard to live without, which I have often repeated in interviews. Singing is the best and most precise way to express emotions. Every performed piece of music is addressed to a specific recipient. In concerts, I address some works to acquaintances or strangers in the audience, who seem to appreciate the performance. Sometimes I address my singing to God or people dear to me, who have already passed away. I always use real emotions.

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What I find jarring in modern opera productions is that everything seems to be turned upside down. Settings are changed and the plot is moved to different times. How do you feel about it?

The most important thing is for the director’s general idea to be logical and consistent. I don’t mind contemporising, using symbols and shifting the plot to different periods of time. But when it comes to an opera which is about real events featuring real historical figures such as ‘Macbeth’, ‘Un ballo in maschera’, ‘Don Carlos’ and ‘Anna Bolena’, I’m against it. Yet there are a number of titles where it does work. One such example was the production of ‘Carmen’ by Robert Skolmowski in Wrocław in 2005, where I had the pleasure of singing the title role. The storyline was an allusion to the time of general Franco’s dictatorship.

Carmen was a revolutionary who seduced Don Jose to get out of jail where she was held from the beginning of the opera. Firearms were smuggled PM

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across the mountains for the revolutionaries and Escamillo helped to organise an attempt on the dictator’s life. Love for Carmen proved a convenient cover for his real intentions. This production cast a different light on my part, showing Carmen as a person with a mission.

For the second season now we can admire you in the part of the widow in Władysław Żeleński’s ‘Goplana’, produced by Janusz Wiśniewski at Warsaw’s National Opera. Following ‘Halka’ (2011) and ‘The Haunted Manor’ (2015), it is another National Opera production of a prominent work by a Polish composer. Don’t you think that we, Poles tend to regard our music as hermetic and we forget that we actually have plenty of music which appeals to foreign audiences?

This is slowly changing. At the Moniuszko International Vocal Competition you could hear Moniuszko’s songs performed in German. Truth be told, before I realised I was listening to his ‘The Little, Field Rose,’ I thought it was one of Schubert’s songs. This season Polish National Opera has staged Ludomir Różycki’s ‘Eros and Psyche’.

Szymanowski’s ‘King Roger’ is more and more frequently performed abroad, much to the credit of our outstanding baritone Mariusz Kwiecień.

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Since 2014 you have been the artistic director of the Ada Sari International Festival and Competition of Vocal Music. What’s its message to the outside world?

“Its message to the outside world” was sent through web streaming which made the last Competition’s edition available worldwide. It’s wonderful that participants from all over the world could be cheered on by their family and friends.

Live webcasting offers additional transparency.

We really enjoy the positive feedback from the PM

participants about organisation and all the facilities we are able to provide thanks to the grant from the Ministry of Culture. Organisation of the festival is taken care of by the team of MCK Sokół in Nowy Sącz. As a manager, Liliana Olech looks after everything. Our managing director and guardian angel is Antoni Malczak. The jurors praise the atmosphere and the possibility to explore beautiful surroundings dotted with unique historical landmarks. On hearing Ada Sari’s archive recordings, our foreign guests open their eyes (and ears) in disbelief to find out about this real treasure we had. This makes me very proud.

It’s a wonderful feeling.

Of late, a lot of attention is paid to the creative use of women’s potential and their role in the economy and culture. Would you say it makes any sense to make the distinction between men’s and women’s contribution in life? At the end of the day, in Polish both words ‘sztuka’ and ‘wrażliwość’ (art and sensitivity) are of a feminine gender…

In Polish sensitivity, love, beauty... are all feminine. But the word ‘wojna’ (for war) is feminine as well. Now seriously, in culture I believe that there is a relative parity between the sexes. Of course, I mean among artists, I’m not sure what it’s like in managerial posts. I reckon competence is all that should count.

I’m a woman who has never had to fight for her independence. I’ve never been discriminated against for any reason. But when I became an adult, I realised that this is something of an exception rather than the rule. I truly believe that if women had more say in everything, the world would be a better place. It would be harder to send your own son off to the war, having gone through all the birth pains and having nursed him with • your own breast.

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„Goplana” - Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera Photo: Krzysztof Bieliński

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BUSINESSWOMAN

“ORGANIC WORK”

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BUSINESSWOMAN

STILL APPRECIATED IN THE WIELKOPOLSKA REGION PROF. MAGDALENA WYRWICKA, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Management, Poznan University of Technology

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he notion of “organic work” was born in the early 20th century to denote human activity geared toward keeping the Polish economy in good shape at a time when foreign capital was dominant in the three occupation zones, the country was divided into by neighbouring Russia, Prussia and Austria.

The term assumed a special dimension following the regaining of independence by Poland in 1918 when the time came to rebuild the state and trigger its economic development.

Today “organic work” refers to all those whose activities serve the promotion of public respect for creative, constructive and effective work, as well as the strengthening of values that stem from tradition and the heritage handed down by past generations.

The aim of the Hipolit Cegielski Society based in Poznań since 2002 is to promote prominent figures from Poland’s public life, economy and science who can be held up as models for others to follow.

In recognition of their services in the field of ‘organic work’, these personalities are honoured with the Labor Omnia Vincit Silver Medal or the title of the Leader of Organic Work. A distinction awarded by the jury is the Honorary Hipolit Statuette accompanied by a diploma. This distinction, which has been granted to a number of personalities (including the late John Paul II), has gained a lot of prestige among society’s elite because it testifies to a person’s high moral standing, their adherence to patriotic values and commitment to public causes.

In 2017 among six winners of the Leader of Organic Work distinction, the only woman was Assoc. Prof. Magdalena Wyrwicka, D.Sc., Eng. and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Management of Poznan University of Technology. She is the winner of the 2016 Labor Omnia Vincit Medal and of the 2017 Kurt Hegner medal awarded for her special services over 25 years of collaboration with REFA Bundesverband e.V. of Germany in the promotion of know-how in company management.

Born and educated in Poznań, Magdalena Wyrwicka holds a major in management from the Faculty of Machines and Transport at Poznan

Assoc. Prof. Magdalena Wyrwicka, D.Sc., Eng. and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Management of Poznan University of Technology collecting the Honorary Hipolit statuette from President of the Hipolit Cegielski Society Ph.D. Marian Król in the company of Prof. Tomasz Łodygowski, D.Sc., Eng., Rector of Poznan University of Technology

University of Technology. She started work in industry, taking an active part in the automation of production processes and the implementation of IT support. Her experience gained during practical work prompted her interest in pursuing studies on the role of management in company development, the creation of economic networks and foresight studies regarding regional development.

Longstanding experience in the practical application of academic research, emphasis on the quality of education provided to students and commitment to transferring the latest scientific advancements into the economy are the hallmarks of activities of the Faculty of Engineering Management of Poznan University of Technology which Magdalena Wyrwicka has been managing since 2014.

Logistics, Engineering Management and Safety Engineering are among the most popular fields of study among those applying for studies at Poznan University of Technology. The Faculty’s students are perceived as very active and creative people who are volunteers, organisers of conferences (e.g.

Logistical Forum) who successfully work together with industry (their designs are showcased during the Logistics Gala) and are active within international organisations (such as ESTIM and IAESTE).

The Faculty’s academic staff pursue wide-ranging collaboration work at home and in foreign countries on the basis of 86 agreements.

Various post-graduate courses are available at the Faculty of Engineering Management. Some of them are now into their thirtieth year.

Last year Poland’s first edition of the ICPR – International Conference of Production Research was held at Poznan University of Technology on the initiative of the Faculty of Engineering Management. The next 25th edition of the conference will be held in Chicago in 2019. Other regular conferences which took place last year included the 30th Seminar of Ergonomics, the 12th Economy and Effectiveness Conference and the 5th International Conference “Social Security Systems In The Light Of Demographic, Economic And Technological Challenges.”

The consistent organic work carried out in synergy with the students’ youthful enthusiasm, academic tutors’ aspirations and passionate work pursued by research workers are the driving force behind the further development of the Faculty, University, region and the whole country.

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BUSINESSWOMAN

GOOD COLLABORATION BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN OPTIMISES RISK PROF. ELŻBIETA MĄCZYŃSKA, SGH Warsaw School of Economics and President of the Polish Economic Society, winner of the “Polish Market” Honorary Pearl in the science category, talks to Marcin Haber about the role of women in the economy.

You have often said that the human factor is key in the economy and that the economy cannot exist without empathy. Does it mean that women, who tend to show more empathy, are perfect economists?

I have stressed on a number of occasions that economics is a social science about people in the process of managing resources. Contrary to popular opinion, economics is not about chrematistics, which means the art of making money. Due to the social nature of economics, a woman’s point of view is essential. Women are empathetic, effective in decision-making, they draw on their sensitivity and intuition. The late Prof. Józef Pajestka used to use the term “well-informed intuition”.

But to make sound decisions based on intuition you also need a considerable amount of knowledge. Increasingly, there are more women than men among university graduates.

When it comes to women in economics, the number of female students at schools of economics has been growing steadily for many years now.

Regrettably, this is not translated into the number of women in high company management positions. Well-educated women become stuck at lower levels, they pick different career paths, or their life dictates otherwise. There are a number of reasons. Data show that even better educated women rarely occupy prominent posts and that they tend to earn less than men. Men definitely prevail both in boards of directors and supervisory boards of major companies. Thus it cannot be excluded that some decisions taken by these PM

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companies would be different if women were more involved in the decision-making process. First of all, women are less likely to take high risks. Good collaboration between men and women in company management thus minimises risk. Taking risks is part and parcel of business activity. But the risk cannot be too high. On the other hand, not taking risks can slow down the company’s growth. Managing the economy is like driving a car. Don’t rev up the engine too fast and don’t hit the brakes. To avoid either you need rational management and risk optimisation.

The share of women in management in Poland should be increased. But this is a complex issue. It needs to be stressed that the fact that there are few women on company boards is not the result of deliberate discrimination. It stems from a number of interrelated factors, including social factors. After all, women give birth, which marks a necessary natural break in their professional careers. Since nature abhors a vacuum, men are often hired in their place. This career break also translates into the fact that they do not take part in training, conferences and other undertakings meant to further your career. As a result, they are less likely to be promoted. That is why women should be supported to make better use of their professional capabilities.

It is not by accident that some countries apply special solutions to offer equal opportunities to men and women. In some Scandinavian countries, a principle of parity is applied in the composition of boards of directors and supervisory

boards, which need to include equal numbers of men and women. At one time they ended up frantically searching for women capable of filling those positions. In my view, such artificial regulations are not justified because persons lacking the right qualifications could be hired, thus heightening risks. This might compromise what essentially is a just method of selection. To arrive at a parity situation, conditions should be created for women to increase their professional activity. What I mean is what I call an effective infrastructure of running a family should be created for women to be able to reconcile their professional responsibilities with their family life. It is important for developed paediatric care to be available along with an efficient network of nurseries and kindergartens. Unfortunately, in Poland there are still plenty of shortcomings in this respect. Parents need to join long waiting lists for a place at a nursery or kindergarten. Paediatric care is one of the most underinvested sectors of the national health service. Moreover, employers frequently tend to frown on solutions like flexible working hours and are reluctant to adopt modern management methods which digital technologies make easy to apply. Nine-to-five (or in Polish conditions eight-to-four) jobs are the norm. It is important to streamline social and educational policies. Good access to nurseries, kindergartens and proper health care should not be treated as a privilege or a goodwill gesture on the part of the authorities but as a norm, a natural part of the state’s responsibility to invest in social institutions. Companies

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themselves also have a major role to play in making it easier for their female employers to develop professionally and embark on careers in management. They should support the development of the infrastructure in which families can function and invest in it. The fact that this is not happening can be down to the relatively low number of women in high management positions. A vicious circle thus emerges: unfavourable conditions prevent women from being promoted to senior management positions, which in turn is the reason why there is no-one to fight for better conditions for women in gainful employment.

Women are asked to join company boards at times of crisis when restructuring is badly needed…

They say, when in fear God is dear. In this case, a woman is dear. I know of one western bank which, faced with the need to fire several hundred workers, appointed a woman to do the job.

She needed to undertake the unenviable task of talking to those who were being made redundant and to conduct mediation. The rationale was that a woman would do it well in a more empathetic way. That’s indeed what happened. But it’s a shame it hadn’t occured to them to put the woman on the board of directors much earlier. Maybe it would have been noticed at earlier stages that changes and a new management system were necessary, which would have prevented such large-scale layoffs, or at least would have spread the process out over a longer period of time, without creating so much stress for the staff.

The role of women in the economy is changing. Women become prime ministers more often. Citizens are usually in favour of it because they appreciate their ability to combine their family life with work. They also reckon that a woman will run the country well by being more humane and by pursuing more socially-aware policies.

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What other features make women good managers?

Women take a broad view of the decision-making process.

Given their multiple social roles, including their role within a family – giving birth and bringing up children – they are good at combining a number of responsibilities. Thus women usually take a holistic approach, which is invaluable in management.

There is now a relatively new trend in management known as teal management, a concept developed by Frederic Laloux.

He distinguishes five management models assigning a symbolic colour to each of them: from the most authoritarian model (red) to the most democratic model, placing “evolutionary teal” right at the end as the highest level of democratic management involving high worker participation. Professor Andrzej Blikle has written a book about it under the telling title “Quality Doctrine.

About Teal Self-Organisation.” Teal management is fundamentally different from authoritarian (red) management. In the former, broad worker participation in management and decisionmaking is combined with full responsibility for the consequences.

Studies in the field of behavioural economics, psycho-economics and psychology indicate that a person who takes independent decisions is more aware of the responsibility they entail. This helps the worker identify with the company and feel responsible for the way it operates. Women in key management positions tend to opt for the teal approach.

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Coming back to the Scandinavian example. What if women do not feel like sitting on company boards?

One should not think about it in terms of stereotypes or social doctrines. Naturally, not all women seek power and see themselves in management. Many find fulfilment in middle management PM

BUSINESSWOMAN

TAKING RISKS IS PART AND PARCEL OF BUSINESS ACTIVITY. BUT THE RISK CANNOT BE TOO high. or lower positions, others feel great as housewives, or household managers. Many women appreciate their family and social roles and treat them as an alternative to management roles.

Last year’s Nobel Prize in economics went to Richard Thaler, who wrote a book entitled “Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness.” He quotes the example of a woman who runs a network of school canteens. She noticed that children increasingly buy products they should not eat too often, which makes them give up truly nutritious meals. I am quoting this example because the woman arranged the products in such a way as to attract children’s attention to health foods. She did it because she is empathetic and she is a mother herself. One wonders what a man would have done in her place.

There seems to be one more reason why there should be more women sitting on company boards. The economy is becoming increasingly digitised, which often means that everything is stripped of emotions…

Already in 1946, in a letter to Otto Juliusburger, Albert Einstein wrote : “I believe that the horrifying deterioration in the ethical conduct of people today stems primarily from the mechanization and dehumanization of our lives – a disastrous by-product of the development of the scientific and technical mentality. Nostra Culpa”. Indeed we, intellectuals are to blame. In my opinion, it is wrong that women are far too rarely involved at various levels of management. Now, under the influence of new technologies, the system becomes more and more dehumanised. We replace social interaction with online chat rooms. People spend entire days in front of their computer screens, chatting on social media, which limits their need for genuine, and not just virtual, relations with another human being. Add to that the expansion of market relations into spheres of life where they should not be tolerated. For according to prominent sociologists Michael J. Sandel and Richard Sennet, putting a value on the good things in life can turn everything wrong. Sociologists warn that “a society of relations” is being replaced by “a society of transactions,’”where everything is for sale. This holds true not just for economic life but also family life, as Michael J. Sandel points out in his book “What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets.” Sandel warns against too many things being turned into commodities. According to him, the risk also concerns family relations. Paying children for good marks at school or for reading a book, destroys higher values such as social and public responsibility, altruism and empathy. Turned into commodities they become warped and degraded. We are unable to fully comprehend the consequences of such an approach. The fact that women are intuitive, emotional and empathetic can be very helpful in counteracting these negative • processes.

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BUSINESSWOMAN

BUILDING A STRONG RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CLIENT IS THE KEY

How did you become interested in law and why as a legal advisor?

Law lets us learn about the rules which systematise nearly all areas of human activity – it puts reality in order. At the same time, the better you know these rules, the more freedom you enjoy as a person. You know your way around the complex world of orders and prohibitions.

After all, is there anything more important to us than freedom?…

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So how did you come up with the idea for a law firm providing services to large businesses in the times when legal assistance is largely offered by international corporations?

We, that is my husband and I, made our first steps on the legal market back in the early 1990s.

As the years went by, it became more and more evident that our firm, in order to grow, must expand its team of expert lawyers who will live up to the high standards set by ourselves and by our clients. This, sort of naturally, attracted those larger businesses. We also spotted a market niche when it comes to “customised” legal services – usually, these are fairly standardised and not tailored to one’s specific needs. Backed by our expertise, commitment and a case-by-case approach, we could effectively aid businesses which have grown into leaders in their sectors, enjoying successes both in Poland and internationally.

PM

How do you plan on standing up to much bigger competitors?

The key, in my view, is to develop a lasting relationship with the client, one which will allow us insight into their expectations. While delivering

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Photo: Piotr Dłubak

IWONA DAWID, Associate Partner at Dawid & Partnerzy – Adwokaci i Radcowie Prawni, one of Silesia’s biggest law firms, talks to “Polish Market”. the best service around, we respond to the clients’ needs immediately and make sure that they feel secure and their interests are catered for in all possible respects. Our clients understand this and appreciate working with us.

It is through perseverance and courage that this success has been possible. How would you define such a unique approach to the client?

As I have already stressed, we do not follow the regular, run-of-the-mill path to offering our services. An important, though often disregarded, fact is that we strictly abide by ethical standards and values, and take pride in guaranteeing absolute discretion. Each case we take on is handled by top-class experts in their respective fields.

By analysing a specific issue, they try to take the broadest possible perspective in order to choose the most effective and efficient strategy. At the same time, taking a case to court is always the last resort for us and we always try to mediate towards a solution.

I must say that many clients turn to us in emergency situations that are nothing short of hopeless. Still, building on our best knowledge and experience, we always try to help them out and more often than not are successful at that.

PM

But can you really prevent such emergencies?

Of course you can. Sadly, the lack of legal awareness is to be found universally. Many of these situations could have been avoided if the client had turned for help to a professional attorney. You could compare it to firefighting – it is better to prevent than to put out a fire. That’s PM

why we make efforts to raise this awareness by organising various community initiatives, especially addressed to the young generation.

Is there a place for young people at Dawid & Partnerzy?

Absolutely. We engage in a number of youthoriented projects such as the “Od mundurka do togi” (“From school uniform to judge robe”) competition for high-school students. Its winner who chooses to major in law will receive mentoring from our lawyers and will be admitted for work placement at D&P right from the first year at university. Furthermore, we support students’ science clubs by helping them in the organisation of symposia, conferences and panel discussions.

D&P always welcomes ambitious, creative people who are willing to commit to work. The young generation has a totally different perception of the world, so their views and opinions should never be disregarded.

PM

What goals have you set for yourself when it comes to expanding your business in the coming years?

Since our decision, made together with the associate partners, was to keep up with the times, we place much emphasis on the firm’s technological development. Early into the year, we finished working on our own management software for the firm, and now we are planning to develop a mobile app for the clients to have round-theclock control of their matters processed by D&P. Following the extension of our branch in Częstochowa, D&P is now expanding its Warsaw office opened last year.

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BUSINESSWOMAN

Women must believe in themselves AGNIESZKA KŁOS, Country Manager Poland Provident, talks to “Polish Market”.

Early into the year, you were appointed the Country Manager of Provident Polska.

Are you satisfied to have earned such trust?

A promotion is a source of satisfaction because it serves as recognition for one’s hard work and professionalism. It’s also a powerful expression of trust and appreciation for what has been achieved so far. So I do feel satisfaction whenever I’m entrusted not only to take on new roles, but also new projects. This last promotion is special in that no woman has held this post in the 140 years of the entire International Personal Finance group, a member of which is Provident Polska. This is also important in view of the fact that Provident Polska will, for the first time ever, be headed by a Polish manager.

PM

The promotion caps your decade-long engagement with the company. What did your career look like here?

I joined Provident Polska in 2007 and for the first seven years served as its CFO. Over the next two years, I received three promotions, being appointed member of the Management Board as the Director of Business Development. In this role, my responsibilities were to develop the brokerage channel, strengthen relations and broaden cooperation with third-party partners, seek out takeover opportunities, and implement strategic benefits. Next, as I moved on to the position of Director of Sales and Customer Service, my duties expanded to include the management of the sales network and customer-assistance processes, the creation of a sales strategy, and the deployment of high quality customer service standards.

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This looks like a carefully planned career.

Was it so?

Ever since my time at university, I have always set clear career goals for myself and have worked to achieve them. At each stage, I was making informed choices as to how my career should progress and never ceased to acquire new skills. At times, I did find it challenging to stick to my plans, especially since I pursued a career which our culture saw as belonging to the male domain. I graduated from the AGH University of Science and Technology, where the majority of students are men. Afterwards, I worked at a consulting firm at which out of its 106-member staff who started work that year there were only 6 women. Over 10 years ago, my career shifted to the world of finance, where, from the very beginning, I held executive positions and now, as one of the few women in Poland to do so, I preside over a large financial institution.

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And did you immediately feel that this was the right place for you?

Oh yes, I did. I’m pretty certain that I wouldn’t have felt that without being sure that I had taken the right path, or without having determination and perseverance, but, most importantly, if the positions which I held hadn’t brought about some tangible successes. The loan market in Poland has and continues to be difficult, which does pose an extra challenge. At the same time, however, it is increasingly regulated, a factor of much importance from both the customer’s and the company’s perspective. Having been present on the market for more than 20 PM

years, Provident has always been open and understanding. We adjust to changes in Polish law and to the requirements of the regulatory agencies. We have also proven our ability to keep up with the clients, respond to their needs and expectations, and finally to care about their financial security and offer them reliable loan products.

As a female president, did you make any changes to the company’s strategy and objectives?

Having sat on the Management Board for 3 years, I do have a say in what the strategy and the introduced solutions should look like, just as do other female members. So I didn’t feel the need for any difference in this respect. The Polish loan market has changed dramatically over the 20 years of Provident’s presence in Poland.

Regulation-wise, the last two years have been especially important. Today, the loan sector is a market subject to stringent regulations and one which guarantees protection to consumers under an extensive body of legislation. In pursuing our strategic objectives, we place primary focus on responsible lending, as well as on clear and transparent agreements. These are our golden rules which we live by both in our everyday work and when making new business decisions.

In 2016, we announced our long-term strategy which we are consistently implementing.

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Which business goals do you find most important?

The top priority is responsible lending. Our strategy is built around a multichannel and

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BUSINESSWOMAN

I, FOR ONE, AM A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE SIMPLE TRUTH THAT ONCE YOU SET AND PUSH AHEAD WITH A GOAL, YOU CAN

achieve it.

multi-product model, along with a skilful combination of web tools and face-to-face contact.

Provident believes that the future of the loan market lies in a broad selection of products available via diverse channels. By employing hybrid-based operating methods, the company can reach the broadest possible audience with a specifically tailored product range. Also of key importance for us is everything regulation related. Not only must the law be duly enforced, but measures must be introduced to raise the financial and legal awareness of Poles. This entails the need to continuously improve knowledge on consumer rights and on how to tell whether a loan institution acts in an ethical and legal manner.

Our workers and co-workers are just as important. Provident Polska is a major employer, with a regular workforce of nearly 2000 and with over 5500 customer advisors.

For many years, there has been a recurring debate on female executives. But if we look at the financial sector in Poland today, we will find women in many top positions. Would you say that this is still a relevant subject?

Female members of management and supervisory boards are still a rare sight, despite the continued efforts to boost gender diversity in corporate decision-making bodies. Many reports and studies show that, globally, women hold a mere 15% share of all executive positions, even though the trend has been upward. Poland exhibits a similar trend, with women’s membership in supervisory and management boards estimated at 15.2 and 6.2%, respectively. This also applies to the PM

finance sector which has very few women in the executive branch. They make up for only 10% of all presidents of management boards and financial institutions. Still, successful women in this industry are to be found, and this should make us a tad more optimistic.

Do you believe this could change for the better?

First of all, women must believe in themselves and understand that managerial posts are not exclusive to men. I, for one, am a good example of the simple truth that once you set and push ahead with a goal, you can achieve it. One of the key criteria determining the company’s success is diversity, and this is what businesses should aim at, not forgetting about professional skills. Provident Polska was one of the first in Poland to sign the Diversity Charter. I’m not fond of generalisations so I won’t jump to conclusions by saying that women are “X” and men are “Y”.

What really counts in business is courage, creativity, accurate risk assessment and the ability to predict, but these qualities are not exclusively gender-dependent. I have always showed much support to the women I met on my career path.

I believe women’s contribution to any business are empathy and readiness to build lasting relationships, which is why at Provident we engage in actions that are to make it easier for female staff to fulfil themselves in various spheres of private and professional life.

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In your opinion, what makes a woman a good manager?

The qualities determining success in business are displayed by both men and women. As I have already stressed, a company’s success is largely based on the diversity of both sexes and views. Women definitely have the upper hand when it comes to empathy and ability to recognise emotions. It’s crucial that varied management styles complement each other, so that we could, within the same team or company, learn from our experiences and inspire one another. A challenge which might turn out particularly difficult for a woman manager is to reconcile her career with being a mother. But this is what makes women so well organised and productive at the workplace. Women should understand that they don’t need to be perfect in every field and to do it all so as to prove their capacity as mothers and managers.

How do you manage to maintain the worklife balance?

Personally, I take pride in being able to reconcile personal development with my family life.

For me, my role as a mother and my involvement with the upbringing and life of my daughter take absolute precedence. It takes a great deal of self-discipline to pin these two roles together, without harming anyone. Besides my work and family, I find the time for some sports and charity work, for example by cooperating with the Zaczytani.org Foundation, which runs fairy-tale therapy sessions in hospitals. I’m also an Ambassador of the Warsaw Business Run and have recently become an Ambassador of the Provident • Run. PM

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ENTERPRISING WAY OF THINKING IS ABOUT CREATIVITY AND RESPONSIBILITY URSZULA CIOŁESZYŃSKA, Founder & President of the International Network of Women Entrepreneurship Ambassadors Federation of Associations, Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Ambassador in Poland, discusses the reasons behind the establishment of the Women’s Economic Council for Enterprise and Development. She also talks to “Polish Market” about the idea of entrepreneurship.

The Women’s Economic Council for Enterprise and Development has been set up in Poland. What’s its guiding idea?

The basic goals are counselling and consultations involving women who are experienced in being entrepreneurs. These women have experienced the hard way what hinders their development, what can be improved or changed. We want to be a team of professionals who are involved in practice, who know how to make the economy more efficient, also drawing on experiences gained in foreign countries. The Council brings together winners of the Women Entrepreneurship Ambassador title – women who serve as an inspiration for others in line with our motto “You can be successful – be a role-model and an inspiration for others.” The women involved have long run a business of their own in the US, Germany, Demark and Finland.

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What does entrepreneurship mean to you?

It is an important question because the term “entrepreneurship” is often misunderstood in Poland. It is thought that if one runs a business, they are qualified to talk about entrepreneurship. Those who think so are wrong. In English there are two different notions. Owning a business and being a businessperson is not the same as being an entrepreneur. The enterprising way of thinking is primarily about creativity and responsibility. This is the entrepreneurship culture which we want to nurture. The point is not to encourage everyone to set up a business of their own. I’m also talking about women. But being a woman, a mother who raises children, if you are an enterprising person, you seek opportunities to develop, to find solutions for the time when the children reach an age when you have more time to spare. We want women to be fulfilled PM

and not to be frustrated. If they are, they are neither good role-models for their kids, nor are they good partners. If mothers are motivated to act, they pursue their passions, they become perfect role-models for their children.

What conclusions can be drawn from the experiences gained by enterprising Polish women in foreign countries?

They often say that entrepreneurship education in those countries is already conducted when children are in pre-school age. In Poland it is a shame how much potential is wasted because no such education is provided.

Another dimension is the ability to perceive art as a sector of the economy. In Poland we have a great many amazing artists who constantly need to seek sponsorship. In Denmark, art has become a branch of the economy. Danish people PM

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WE WANT TO SHOW THAT WOMEN HAVE THEIR OWN VISION OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP, WHICH DOES NOT MEAN THAT IT IS A BETTER ONE. WE DO NOT WISH TO COMPETE WITH MEN, QUITE TO THE

excel in this respect on the world scale. One of our members, Anna Uzarska, has spent many years organising art galleries and has gained a vast amount of knowledge about that. She is trying to introduce this model in Poland. In Denmark, thanks to legal regulations, it pays to purchase works from artists. It works to the benefit of both sides.

We want to show that women have their own vision of entrepreneurship, which does not mean that it is a better one. We do not wish to compete with men, quite to the contrary. We do need men a lot because we complement each other. Women are more emotional, which does not mean that they are less professional. I reckon that in a world which is increasingly veering into virtual reality, emotions matter more and more. I believe that there is something we can describe as a female management style. In family-run firms, men are often responsible for the technical side and women make sure that products are attractively packaged and that all necessary procedures are followed. They look after quality. Partners thus do not tread on each other’s toes, they complement each other thus creating a complete product.

In crisis situations corporations often rely on women to lead them through lean times…

This has been proved very clearly based on US studies.

Faced by a crisis, women turn out to be good managers because they are less keen to take risks, while showing more empathy, which means that they are able to listen to what their associates have to say…

contrary.

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Women are also said to be less keen to fire workers…

Precisely. Also look at the places where women constitute most of the work force: accounts and administration. Women are more thorough and they are good at management.

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You have mentioned the idea of enterprise education from an early age. What’s wrong with the current Polish education system when it comes to entrepreneurship?

It proves difficult for Polish school leavers and university graduates to find their feet in the labour market. Our Council’s aim is also to promote entrepreneurship culture. But not all of us should venture into business. The point is to develop an enterprising way of thinking. We want people to consciously take up nine-to-five jobs in corporations. The employer then knows that the person has made a well-informed choice by picking their firm. This applicant is ready to meet often very tough recruitment criteria and will be a dedicated worker.

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You talk about values that appear universal. Why has the Women’s Council decided to take up these issues?

Women are very good at spotting absurdities. It stems from their experience of running a business and deciding to become a mother. Legal regulations for a female business owner and her employees are very different in Poland. As a Council, we want to focus on practical solutions which have been developed in foreign countries and which our members are familiar with.

In the US, a very important legal solution has been developed, one that can be applied in Polish courts. Before a case ends PM

up in court, mandatory mediation must first take place. Mediators in a given city or state, and representing a particular speciality, can be found using web search engines. Our council includes a professional mediator who works with Polish women who are legal experts in the US and who have excellent ideas as to how this mechanism can be applied in Poland.

What international undertakings is your Council involved in?

This year for the fifth time November 19 will mark the World Women’s Entrepreneurship Day. This initiative was born in New York, where the UN headquarters is based and where the main ceremonies marking the day are held. In each country the Americans appoint an ambassador of this idea. In Poland, this role has been assigned to me. My responsibility is to promote the idea in this country. The point is not just to celebrate on this particular day but to publicise the idea and to focus the thinking of people worldwide. November 19 offers an opportunity to honour exceptional, prominent women. By holding up those figures we want to inspire others to follow suit. A public campaign we run in the US is held under the 3xT motto: Time, Talent or Treasure. The message of the appeal is simple: share your time with others if you can, be a mentor and inspire others (Talent) and if you cannot do any of the two, let others develop by offering them financial backing (Treasure.) We want to introduce the idea to Poland. Last year we honoured “Polish Market” President and Editor-in-Chief Krystyna WoźniakTrzosek who is doing fantastic things. She was unable to collect her prize herself but she did something which perfectly fit our narrative on the nature of men and their support for our successes. She asked her husband to collect the statuette on her behalf.

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SETTING NEW STANDARDS IN CARE FOR THE ELDERLY BEATA DRZAZGA, President of BetaMed, is a winner of the 2017 Polish Market Honorary Pearl in the promotion of social values category. She is the owner of Poland’s biggest medical firm offering nursing services. Having worked as a national health service nurse, she founded her own company, which currently employs some 3,000 workers and looks after some 5,000 patients.

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etaMed operates one clinic in the city of Chorzów and it also has some 90 home care branches in 11 provinces working under contract with the National Health Fund. “At my clinic I employ specialist doctors because my patients require treatment, especially those on a ventilator. Everything we do is done with the elderly in mind. We want our seniors to be active. We adjust the exercises to their abilities. Believe me, they are so proud of themselves when they overcome their weaknesses. Elderly people should not be isolated from social life and the family should not be ashamed of placing them in nursing and care homes,” Beata Drzazga explains.

She admits she owes her success to determination, self-discipline and passion. “My recipe for success is as follows: build your own, smaller and larger things, do not complain and create something step by step. By establishing BetaMed, I wanted to show what caring for the sick and elderly may look like. I and all BetaMed employees have always worked to improve our standards and the quality of our services. And we are succeeding.”

Beata Drzazga is the winner of numerous prestigious awards and distinctions. She was nominated for the Polish Business Leader Golden Statuette, the Golden Laurel of Skill and Competence in the Social and Business Leader category, the Health Care Market Manager, Polish Business Queen and Polish Businesswoman award in the Prominent Personality category. Yet another Pearl of Europe distinction was granted for her effective use of EU funding.

BetaMed is the first Polish company to launch a branch in Las Vegas.

Its owner was the first in the world to receive the title of the Nevada Business Ambassador for her services in the fields of co-operation and promotion. “I wonder whether to focus on home care, social services, medical care, nursing, rehabilitation or maybe all of these at once,” Beata Drzazga says.

Beata Drzazga is also the director of the American Polish Chamber of Commerce in Las Vegas and of the Polish American Chamber of Commerce of Nevada in Poland. She helps companies from Poland and other countries to establish links with companies in the US state. “I’m very happy. I was waiting for this moment for Nevada to see what I do here in Poland and what BetaMed – the first small fruit of my mission – looks like.

That’s what I intend to do in Nevada in the future,” she says with conviction.

As a businesswoman, Beata Drzazga is known for her committment to the idea of corporate social responsibility and for building social solidarity, something she has won several prestigious awards for, including “Polish Market’s” 2017 Honorary Pearl for the promotion of social values. “It is giving, not receiving, that brings the greatest joy. And giving to those who are somewhat less fortunate or who experience hardships in life is our duty. I just think that, since I have achieved material status, which is, let’s say, above the national average, I simply must share it with others. Help must be provided extremely subtly, delicately, without any fuss about it.

I and my employees help in this way, purely from the kindness of heart.”

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And what does Beata Drzazga think about tapping the creative potential of women and their role in the economy and culture? “Nowadays, women are a professionally and socially strong group in Poland, and surely have a tremendous impact on the development of this country. The way I see it, competences and skills are the most important criteria of professional evaluation. It is, however, true that women usually have it harder, especially as regards reconciling their private and professional lives. I think that I feel very well with being a propagator of a new attitude towards femininity in business. I consider myself a woman of work.”

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PARTNERSHIP IS CRUCIAL IN BOTH BUSINESS AND LIFE ALEKSANDRA ŁUKOMSKA SMULSKA – President of the Public Benefit Activity Council of the City of Toruń and the European Union of Women, branch in Toruń, and Women Entrepreneurship Ambassador in Poland since 2012.

Recognised for her social activities in areas other than business carried out for 27 years for the benefit of women from Toruń, the Region and the whole of Poland, and also for many NGOs operating in Poland. A mentor in programmes motivating women to start their own businesses and promoting entrepreneurship. Awarded for her social activities by two Presidents of Poland – received the Silver and Gold Cross of Merit and the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. Distinguished by the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province for “Building a Civil Society”. One of 20 Poles, and the only one living in Toruń, who have been recognised by Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Organisation at the UN. Toruń’s personality of the year 2017 in the category “Social and Charitable Activity” in the popularity contest held by “Gazeta Pomorska” daily.

Let us start on a slightly controversial note. Do you think that in business, the manager’s gender should still be emphasised. Do you think it’s important whether a company’s president is a man or a woman?

I think it’s not. I’ve always stressed that in business, just as in life in general, it is not your gender that counts, but your knowledge and skills. I am a proponent of equal treatment and I’m not in favour of overemphasising the gender aspect. Women and men should be partners in marriage and at work. Based on my years-long experience with the European Union of Women I can say that the atmosphere of gender equality has been present in the European Union for a long time. It can be observed that, for many years, women and men have been treated equally within the EU. Gender struggle is a notion which I associate with highly underdeveloped countries. In our cultural circle this has become an outdated concept.

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You mentioned your European experience.

How does the situation look like on the Polish labour market?

Unfortunately, there are still certain inequalities. The prevailing group are open-minded, very well educated people with international work experience, which gives them a much broader perspective. For this group, a certain perception of selected aspects of social life is extremely obvious. It is also worth mentioning the people from the young generation. They have excellent foreign language skills, thanks to which they have access to international literature and media. This translates into a different, international perception of equal treatment. Unfortunately, in some sectors of the economy, there are still a few individuals who like to PM

emphasise gender differences. These people, however, are deeply entrenched in the past. In my opinion, this is their conscious decision not to develop but rather purposefully remain in the past. I have the great honour to be among the Women Entrepreneurship Ambassadors in Poland. These are more than 300 women whose experience in business makes them advocates of women’s entrepreneurship. These are often managers of large corporations, thriving companies or family businesses… …who have been noticed recently also in the advisory context…

Exactly. These women also play the role of advisers. It is a great pleasure for me to be among the twenty uniquely open-minded, smart, enterprising and positively motivated women who have created the Women’s Economic Council for Enterprise and Development. Women very often PM

display a pro-social way of thinking that differs from the strictly entrepreneurial approach – they have achieved success, so they are willing to share their experience with others.

Today the word “success” is being overused.

Success was when Maria Skłodowska-Curie discovered radium and polonium and got the Nobel Prize for that, or when Nicolaus Copernicus presented his heliocentric vision of the universe.

Today, we can speak of achievements. They often require years of hard work. I am very glad that as a small entrepreneur with some achievements, I again found myself among the Women Entrepreneurship Ambassadors in Poland. I am also very happy that in my life I’ve had a chance to meet people whose mindset and behaviour are similar to mine. Meetings with other Ambassadors are very inspiring to me.

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21ST CENTURY WOMEN ARE MODERN, ACTIVE AND WISE

BUSINESSWOMAN

Ankol, based in Mielec in south-eastern Poland, is a familyowned company managed collaboratively by Anna, Czesław, Eryk and Karolina Kolisz. It has operated in the aviation industry on the domestic and international market since 1991. It is a leading, private supplier of goods for military and civil aviation. Vice-President ANNA KOLISZ, talks to “Polish Market” about her company’s many successes.

There has been talk about women’s entrepreneurship for many years now but of late the media have focused on it quite a lot. Do you believe that women should still be motivated? Does it really matter in business nowadays whether you are a man or a woman?

Being in charge of my own business, I’m pleased that women rise to important positions. I can see great potential in women because they are able to play a number of social roles at the same time. Their managerial and leadership capabilities are just as high as men’s capabilities.

They build their success on trust, rallying others around a common goal, team work and mutual respect. I reckon that in business, gender no longer matters. What matters are competences, personality, self-discipline, courage and ethics. My company operates in an area where you won’t find many women. ANKOL is a supplier of products and services for the air force and civil aviation at home and abroad. Although the aviation industry is dominated by men, ANKOL has been breaking the mould in this respect for many years. Among ANKOL workers, women prevail. They do very well in senior and mid-level managerial posts, while also taking care of their families. They efficiently manage complex trade processes. They are ambitious, creative and they want to be successful. I believe that women in the 21st century are modern, active and wise. They are able to work effectively and they are great at team work. Their strengths are the ability to act in a conciliatory manner, being open to new experiences and their desire to learn more. In business, women prove to be more flexible and to do several jobs at a time. They are also good at mediation as a way of solving problems.

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Second Diamond to the Polish Business 24 polish marketspecial edition 2018 Leader Golden Statuette

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BUSINESSWOMAN The Women’s Economic Council for Enterprise and Development has recently been set up. You are one of its members. Do you think it is a sign that women’s voice in business will be noticed more?

In January, at the invitation of Andżelika Możdżanowska, I took part in a meeting of Women’s Enterprise Ambassadors at the Ministry of Enterprise and Technology in Warsaw. As a result of this meeting, the Women’s Economic Council for Enterprise and Development was set up. The idea is to strengthen and support entrepreneurship among Polish women. We intend to give women courage to take up business challenges. At a time when unemployment is still a problem, this is the way to pursue your own path of career development and to achieve self-fulfilment. Conditions should be created for women to pursue successful careers, to be happy and fulfilled. We bring together successful businesswomen. Through our own activities, we want to show that it is possible to make your dreams come true, to pursue your passions and to become fulfilled as a businesswoman at the same time. The aim of the initiative is also for us to share with others our knowledge and experience of running a business. I truly believe that a happy woman means a happy family and a happy society.

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Ankol is a supplier of goods and services to civil and military aviation. It is a very specialised sector where international competition is very high. How do you manage to successfully operate in this difficult market? What gives your company the edge over your competitors?

We’ve been around for more than twenty five years. We implement orders based on tenders organised by procurement departments of the Polish Ministry of Defence and other countries’ ministries of defence, as well as for some 55 foreign partners.

Taking part in public tenders is subject to necessary permits from the Polish government, as well as the governments of NATO countries and the US administration. ANKOL provides equipment, services and maintenance for civil and military aircraft such as the F-16, C-295M, Mig, Su and Mi and SH2G helicopters. We are authorised by western partners to distribute products to aviation plants in Eastern Europe, which enables import and export operations. In this way the latest products such as PM

US-made maintenance-free bearings are supplied for the newest civil aircraft assembled in Russian and Ukrainian aviation plants. The company also exports innovative Polish solutions developed for the MI-17 by the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Since the start of our business activities, I set very ambitious goals to build a strong brand which would be recognisable on global markets. Successful co-operation, reliability, observing the law and principles of business ethics make our company a credible one. Meeting high expectations of partners in the aviation industry is possible by strictly observing a set of procedures which stem from our management systems based on Polish and international standards. Quality criteria for supplies to aviation companies and air forces are rigorously observed to guarantee safe flights. Quality-oriented measures guarantee that the highest standards are maintained. They also ensure successful transactions and contribute to the company’s growth.

Especially in this sector, you simply cannot afford to stand still. You need to be constantly on the lookout for commercial opportunities. You need to update your knowledge and analyse market needs.

Our capital is our know-how, good grasp of individual markets and an experienced and professional team of workers who deal with the respective foreign markets. A competent, motivated team which is aware of common goals is the basis for success.

That is why I constantly invest in education, raising standards and infrastructure.

In search of new development avenues we conduct intensive marketing operations to win new clients. We take part in the world’s most important aerospace industry events such as trade fairs and air shows, as well as conferences and economic forums. As an aviation industry supplier, our company is registered with ASA (Aviation Suppliers Association). Our reputation and transparency is confirmed by membership of the US anti-corruption organisation TRACE International. One of the company’s strengths which enables it to win new foreign customers is its brand image and the trust it enjoys among its partners abroad.

However, it is not always easy to implement business goals. The economic slowdown directly affects the size of orders and budgets earmarked for purchases of aviation equipment, also for military and police use. The political situation connected with the imposition of an embargo on the Russian market, with which the company has many links, has led us to adopt a set of measures to minimise threats.

As a result of market analysis and a thorough appraisal of company operations, we have had to adjust our strategy to new economic circumstances.

Searching for new markets, product diversification and restructuring helped us maintain a stable position. The status we have achieved spurs us on to constantly seek perfection, to keep being recognised as a modern and trustworthy brand. Proof of our successes are the many awards and distinctions we have won for the growth of our comapany,

I’M ALL FOR DEVELOPMENT, SELFIMPROVEMENT, SEEKING KNOWLEDGE AND INTRODUCING OF new technologies.

Business Personality 2017 VIP Award

exports growth, innovation, leadership and high quality standards. These confirm our high position, they build trust and our spotless reputation.

ANKOL is the winner of many national and international competitions. Numerous trophies occupy a prominent place in our headquarters. In 2017 we won distinctions in national competitions such as Reliable Firm, Ambassador of the Polish Economy, European Medal and Export Eagle. In January I received another Diamond to the Polish Business Leader Golden Statuette granted by the Business Centre Club for the company’s high standing. The ceremony was held at the National Opera house in Warsaw. For a number of years we have also won prestigious awards in the international arena. Last year in Frankfurt we received an Arch of Europe statuette for Quality and Technology. At a ceremony in Dubai where we were polish market

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Czesław and Anna Kolisz, winners of the Superwiktoria award in the Married Couple of 25 Years of Market Transformations in Poland category.

granted The BIZZ –TRIUMPH award along with the titles of World Business Leader and Inspirational Company. Distinctions we win in foreign countries create a positive image of the Polish entrepreneur and of the Polish economy. That is why we accept them with growing pride. My husband and I also greatly appreciate personal distinctions we have won for quality-oriented approach to business, our vision, leadership and successes. Some of them include: VIP award for Business Personality, Superwiktoria award for Business Couple of 25 Years of Market Transformations in Poland, and many other distinctions we have won abroad. The most prestigious of them is the International Socrates Award and the Queen Victoria Commemorative Medal accompanied by a ten-year licence, both granted by the European Business Association in Oxford in recognition of business achievements, values and courage. These awards give us wings. That’s why we are happy to accept nominations for this year’s national competitions such as the Well-Managed Company and Reliable Company. At a convention held in Prague in May we will be accepting the highest Pinnacle Award 2018 granted by the US Houston-based association WORLDCOB. These prizes awarded by teams of renowned experts show us that the business path we adopted years ago was a correct one, and at the same time, they strengthen our market advantage.

What role does innovation play in your activities?

I’m all for development, self-improvement, seeking knowledge and introducing of new technologies. At a time of rapid change, to keep up with the times only professional cadres and innovation allow you to promptly react to market changes and to improve your competitive edge. Being open to improvement in all spheres of operation has prompted many innovative solutions in our management processes. We have implemented, among others, a set of ten management systems based on national and international quality standards. These systems provide for constant streamlining and upgrading of processes and operations conducted by the company.

Management based on procedures stemming from quality, service and supply management systems is supported by advanced IT solutions. Investing in innovative systems has increased the efficiency of supplies, information management and information security. Our telecommunications and IT solutions cut the time needed for data search, they facilitate e-marketing and making new business contacts. They also make it easier to process complex national and foreign orders, taking account of the dynamic changes and growing demands on the Polish and world markets.

Using modern IT technologies we have compiled a vast Product Data Base for aircraft and helicopters. This unique base, conducted in six languages: Polish, English, Spanish, French, Russian (in Cyrillic script) and Arabic is a great help in preparing offers, processing orders and drafting contracts. The base contains over 400,000 entries, PM

The BIZZ –TRIUMPH Award received in Dubai

Anna Kolisz with the Queen Victoria Commemorative Medal

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including product details, market prices, information on repairs and maintenance services. Its aim is fast and efficient handling of multilingual business transactions.

A meeting with a group of Ukrainian women invited to ANKOL’s headquarters

The fact that we are authorised by western partners to conduct operations in Eastern Europe, and our ever-growing range of products and services, have enabled us to build a bridge for the exchange of new technologies between the East and West. One example are supplies of spare parts and maintenance services based on Russian technology for western partners. ANKOL is also a supplier of parts for F16s and other aircraft and helicopters manufactured in the West. It is the exclusive supplier to Eastern Europe of specialist maintenance-free bearings manufactured by an American company. This is why we are able to implement a long-term contract for the supplies of bearings for the production of Russian SUPERJET 100 and MC-21 aircraft. The advanced bearings require no maintenance throughout their life, ensuring the safety of aircraft they are fitted in.

Exports in this field are also facilitated by certificates of conformity with Russian Federation and Ukrainian quality standards we have obtained for our products. We are really satisfied that our company takes part in the latest aviation projects and that it has its share in strengthening global economic co-operation. It’s our success in the personal and business dimension. At its roots lie our commitment and ambitions. It is proof that we have picked the right ideas and modes of operation. I would like to stress the role of women in business, who are able not just to combine the tough rules of the economy with effectiveness and success, but they also build the right image of their own brand. That is why I make new long-term plans with passion and a sense of responsibility to ensure a successful future for the company and to offer job stability to our team of workers.

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BUSINESSWOMAN

Blazing trails in intermodal transport services and logistics One of the most dynamically developing Polish companies in the transport and logistical services market is Langowski Shipping based in the Baltic port city of Gdynia and founded by HALINA LANGOWSKA. Last year it recorded as much as 70% of revenue growth up on 2016, chiefly thanks to the development of rail cargo transport to and from China. In conversation with Rafał Kiepuszewski, the owner of the family-run firm talks about her development strategy, challenges for coming years and about her role as a Women’s Enterprise Ambassador.

You have been present in the market since 2004. You keep developing and expanding the scope of your shipment operations. Langowski Shipping offers maritime, air, road and rail transport. You also specialise in customs services. Which of these areas are the most important to you?

We started out with customs services because at the time this was an area I was the most experienced in. Apart from our customs agency, right from the start we also placed emphasis on sea transport. In the meantime, as the company grew, we took every opportunity to venture into new areas to provide comprehensive services to our clients. That is why for several years now we have been developing warehouse logistical services. The possibilities of choosing air, sea and overland transport, including rail transport, are mutually complementary. Clients need various kinds of services depending on their needs. If a client who usually uses sea transport wishes to deliver their goods faster, they can use air transport.

In the past four to five years rail transport services to and from China have been growing by leaps and bounds. My son, Tomasz Langowski, is behind this project at our firm. Interest in this service is very high. Chinese government moves aimed at promoting this type of shipment on the Chinese side, including subsidies, and the fact that they are part of the New Silk Road project, are causing a lot of entities interested in the development of this service to be set up in China. Competition is thus growing and prices keep falling, all to the benefit of our clients. A number of parallel services have emerged along the way which we can also offer to Chinese partners. We currently act as an agent for a sizeable group of Chinese operators and forwarding companies. We transport containers which arrive at the Małaszewicze terminal, having crossed the Polish border from the east, to their final destination or to a warehouse in Warsaw. Apart from our warehouse, which we are opening in March, we also work with PM

six other warehouses in the Polish capital operated by our partners. As we transport containers to warehouses we carry out deconsolidation and customs clearance and we also have the option of using the services of Polish forwarding companies. We make use of places where empty containers are stored, which is important for the Chinese side. Containers undergo testing and repairs, and are also repositioned if necessary. This year, and in the near future, we will be placing particular emphasis on the development of Polish and European exports to China by rail. Once Chinese goods and commodities are delivered to Europe, our Chinese partners are very interested to see China-bound export traffic from Europe, including Poland of course, rolling down the track in their direction. Our new branches in Warsaw, as well as Poznań and Katowice, which we are about to open, are to serve the development of such exports.

How long does it actually take for cargo to reach China from Poland by rail?

Twelve to sixteen days. It is a perfect alternative, or a complementary service, to air transport. The cost is far lower, which is very good news for Polish exporters and importers.

PM

Langowski Shipping has just opened a branch in Warsaw which is going to focus on the development of air transport...

The need for comprehensive services offered to clients, of whom we already have several hundred in our portfolio, has prompted me to take a closer look at this form of shipment. This service has a vast potential. We are launching an air transport department, a sales department and an operations department. In March we are opening a customs agency at our new warehouse in the Warsaw suburb of Pruszków. Our pace of growth will determine at which moment we will be launching individual services.

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Of late you have also been offering containers for sale and for hire. Is this a promising area of operations?

This new kind of service was introduced on the wave of the Silk Road project. It has met with considerable interest among our Chinese partners because it enables them to unload their containers which cannot be filled with export cargo from Poland, and whose storage at Polish terminals costs money. We thus meet their needs. On the part of our Polish clients we also observe demand for this kind of services. Our clients are forwarding companies, exporters and individual clients who want to make use of containers.

PM

Containers can be used to carry all kinds of cargo. Langowski Shipping is known for having transported tanks to foreign historical exhibitions across the Atlantic. You can also fit a helicopter inside one of your containers. What kind of unusual cargo do you transport as part of your services?

We have a special department which deals with the shipment of oversized cargo that cannot fit inside a container. We have access to the right kind of technologies. We can offer flatrack, open top and platform trailers with low chassis.

A challenging order was the shipment of oversized cargo from Italy to Uzbekistan using multimodal transport, including road and sea transport.

PM

You have introduced a new LSH Connect system which allows clients to track their cargo at any given moment in time. How important is it for your company to introduce such innovative solutions?

We place a lot of emphasis on the development of IT. We want the firm to be run in the most upto-date manner in terms of management and operations. This is where a lot of work has been done by my younger son Łukasz Langowski. He had the idea to develop and implement the LSH Connect system thanks to which the client is able to follow their shipment around the globe. This has proved a very good idea because the system is very popular among our clients.

PM

Your customer service operates in a number of languages. It employs specialists who are able to communicate with partners in countries of Eastern and Western Europe as well as Asia, including China, in their own language. Does it mean that English is not enough?

In the sales department, which now numbers over a dozen team members in the city of Gdynia alone – and we intend to also develop our departments in Warsaw, Poznań and Katowice – we have staff who are Chinese, German, English, Russian, Ukrainian, Italian and Spanish speakers. It proves very useful in winning new clients and in analysing their needs in greater detail. For seven years we have been developing PM

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Halina Langowska with her sons Tomasz and Łukasz Langowscy

Ukrainian market services in the most intensive way. Our sales and operations departments employ a team of Ukrainians. This year we intend to focus on the development of the Belarusian and Russian markets.

What’s the idea behind your new Warsaw warehouse?

The point is not just to maintain and develop the Chinese market but also to make Warsaw a hub for the handling of a flow of goods and commodities from Western Europe to Eastern Europe. We are watching the market closely and we are aware that neighbouring Russian-speaking countries can be very interested in this kind of service. We have already appointed a business development manager who will be in charge of this project. We will start with Ukraine. Other Russian-speaking countries - Russia and Belarus - will also be in the focus of our attention.

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PM

To successfully function on the international shipping market, you need to have a very good network of contacts with other firms operating in this field. You are members of various international organisations

IN THE PAST FOUR TO FIVE YEARS, RAIL TRANSPORT SERVICES TO AND FROM CHINA HAVE BEEN GROWING

BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS. INTEREST IN THIS SERVICE IS VERY HIGH.

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BUSINESSWOMAN

THE POINT IS TO MAKE WARSAW A HUB FOR THE HANDLING OF A FLOW OF GOODS AND COMMODITIES FROM WESTERN EUROPE TO EASTERN EUROPE. RUSSIANSPEAKING COUNTRIES CAN BE VERY INTERESTED IN THIS KIND OF SERVICE.

which bring together such operators. Can you name some of them?

Langowski Shipping was built from scratch.

First, it was my son and I. We encountered a number of helpful people along the way who suggested certain modes of operation. Partners all over the world indeed play a very important part in our ability to offer services to our clients. We decided that we will not be opening our own offices in foreign countries. From my point of view, you then partly lose control of your own business.

We decided to use a different formula: membership of organisations that bring together international shipping operators. We are now members of GLA and Lognet Global, the exclusive part of the WCA network. We greatly appreciate the ability to work with them because it has enabled us to take on a number of very exciting orders.

It is definitely easier to develop the company if you are involved in this form of co-operation.

You are a Women Entrepreneurship Ambassador. What is the role of successful women like you in showing other women the way to become active in business?

When I was invited by Ms Urszula Ciołeszyńska to join the project, I started wondering whether to accept it. I looked back on my professional career and I decided that I do have what it takes to become such an ambassador.

I became involved in offering support to a young woman who now runs a very successful business.

She owns two private kindergartens known as The Island of Explorers (www.wyspaodkrywcow. pl). I am sure that they will grow into an entire network, and not just in the city of Gdynia. When I met her, she had arrived from a small village in central Poland. She was lost in the big city and she could not find a purpose in life. She did not believe she could make something of herself. The help I offered her at that time, and the courage I kept giving her, have now born fruit. She has become a very successful entrepreneur. Agnieszka Płocha is an excellent teacher. She is very well educated. She has five university degrees. She is winning the recognition of Gdynia’s local community. When I go on Facebook, I am proud to see so many positive posts about her and her work. You would like to see many others like her.

It really motivates me to spot other people who are intriguing, who have a talent, whose spark can be nurtured to become a mighty flame. In my company I now have a young graphic artist, Adam Kabat, whose talent I have spotted.

I want to help him develop his career as a painter.

I was inspired by one of the Women’s Enterprise Ambassadors who is an art merchant and who looks after a number of artists. I feel that now is a time in my life when I need to help another person develop. If I succeed, I will be very happy.

PM

You run a family firm. How did you encourage your sons not to take up other career paths but to become involved in the development of Langowski Shipping?

Before I set up a company of my own, for fifteen years I actively worked as a customs agent at various levels – from a customs agent to coordinator to customs director. Having acquired plenty of experience, at one stage I was invited to become a partner in a customs and forwarding agency. I accepted the offer. I was there for five years. Then one of my clients Mr Aditya Kumar Dutt, a great friend of my family, said “It’s time Halina to set up a business of your own.”

I throught it was indeed a good time to think about it. During the time of my work at the customs agency, I worked together with my son Tomasz. I asked him if he would like to join me in setting up a firm of our own. He agreed. I reckon that I would not have decided to go ahead with it if he had not. My sons have built the company’s successes together with me. I am extremely happy that I work with them in a firm which now employs over one hundred workers. They have never let me down. They have my complete trust. To me, it is a great personal success as a mother and as an entrepreneur.

PM

Your company’s successes are tangible. Small wonder then that you are winners of a number of awards such as a Forbes Diamond 2014 for a company with the highest year-on-year revenue growth and Business Gazelle 2015 for being one of the most dynamically developing SMEs. You have also received a Golden Certificate of Business Trustworthiness.

What makes you the proudest?

I am the proudest that I have managed to bring together a team which makes these successes possible. Each of these distinctions is significant in its own way. I trust that in the coming years our position and growth will be reflected in rankings. Yearon-year, in 2017 we achieved a 70% increase in revenue. The development of rail transport lies at the roots of our success. We have crossed what to us was a magic threshold of PLN 50 million in sales revenue. When it comes to the amount of cargo we carry, a major success is that we have exceeded the 25,000 TEU mark (TEU corresponds to a twenty-foot container.) We still wish to develop at this rate. We want to focus on what matters to us the most. We do not intend to venture into too many fields. We want to concentrate on sea, air and rail transport, also with a focus on warehouse logistics.

These are the challenges for the future.

PM

What CSR activities are you involved in?

Key areas of competence at Langowski Shipping include sharing knowledge with others and being innovative, which fits in very well with one of the goals I set myself when I was founding the company: to employ people who would be ready to share their knowledge with the younger generation.

Young people account for 90% of our team. They learn very fast, they are very bright. We largely owe our rapid growth to them. For seven years now we have been working together with prestigious higher learning institutions such as the Lazarski University in Warsaw, the Gdynia Maritime University, the University of Gdańsk, the Gdańsk University of Technology, WSB Universities and the University of Business and Administration in Gdynia.

Their graduates undergo training at our firm and start their professional careers there. They enjoy great career prospects at our company. They have excellent qualifications, they develop very rapidly, they have a very clear career path. It is very important for me to invite the younger generation to come and work for us, to gain experience in a professional setting, to help them develop professionally. They are really very knowledgeable but we help them to make use of their knowledge and skills in a professional environment. We show them what knowledge and skills are necessary for a customs agent or a sales representative. They gain overall knowledge about the company and services. This is how we shape the future. The younger generation is something we must never forget about.

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BUSINESSWOMAN

MOKATE SUPPORTS WOMEN SYLWIA MOKRYSZ, Mokate SA Proxy.

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okate has been supporting women for years, both as an employer and a champion of initiatives undertaken by women both on the local and international level. In November 17, 2017 Mokate Proxy Sylwia Mokrysz took part in national events marking the World Women’s Entrepreneurship Day as Women’s Entrepreneurship Ambassador and co-author of the book “Business Inspirations of Polish Women in the World.”

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Women’s Entrepreneurship Day marks the crowning of a year-long campaign in support of women. The WED Initiative is a social movement geared toward supporting and strengthening the position of enterprising women all over the world.

Women are more than half of the world’s population but they account for just one third of the entrepreneurs. This means that women constitute a major share of the untapped potential of entrepreneurship.

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BUSINESSWOMAN

In Poland the official representative of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day is the Federation of Associations International Network of Women Entrepreneurship Ambassadors, which organised the World Entrepreneurship Day celebrations in Poland on November 17, 2017. The event was attended by women from more than twenty countries including Japan, China, India, Peru, Zambia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany and Sweden.

The opening event was the Women’s Economic Forum, which was held at the Ministry of Economic Development in Warsaw.

Apart from a series of presentations concerning digital networking, communication and mediation, twenty successful Polish women living in different countries discussed their jointly written book “Business Inspirations of Polish Women in the World” published in Polish and English.

One of the authors of the book is Sylwia Mokrysz, Proxy at Mokate, who said: “For a number of years, my personal experience has given me the conviction that in business, women could do much more than now. This conviction about the untapped opportunities is very motivating. I believe that you should take every opportunity to change this state of affairs, to tap the vast potential of women. One such opportunity has been the book “Business Inspirations of Polish Women in the World”. It allows us to share our experiences with all those who need support for their entrepreneurship. Perhaps it has also allowed us to give some courage to those women who are only thinking about taking a plunge into the world of business. For me these were sufficient reasons to accept the kind invitation to become a co-editor of this useful publication.”

The book “Business Inspirations of Polish Women in the World” is a unique collection of previously unpublished inspiring lessons in entrepreneurship based on real-life experiences. The originators of the idea of this publishing project were Urszula Ciołeszyńska, President of the International Network of Women’s Entrepreneurship on the Polish side and Kinga Langley, President of the PREMIER International Business Club (United Kingdom/United States).

In the evening the organisers prepared a gala ceremony at the Sofitel Victoria Hotel, which was attended by more than 500 guests from the world of business, media, diplomacy and science. The honorary patron of the Women’s Entrepreneurship Gala was Poland’s First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda.

During the ceremony, a group of forty enterprising Polish women were honoured with a prestigious statuette of the

Women’s Entrepreneurship Ambassador 2017. These women score successes both in professional work and in public activities. They serve as an inspiration and role-models for others.

Among the recipients of the award was Sylwia Mokrysz, who said: “I intend to persist in the role of women’s entrepreneurship ambassador at all available forums, both at home and internationally. I will also try to publicise the need to do away with barriers encountered by women who wish to find fulfilment in business.

I do realise that entrepreneurship is one of the ways of ensuring women their rightful position in society. But I also know that for many of them, it is the most important and the most success• ful way.’

FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE HAS GIVEN ME THE CONVICTION THAT IN BUSINESS, WOMEN COULD DO MUCH MORE THAN NOW. THIS CONVICTION ABOUT THE UNTAPPED OPPORTUNITIES IS VERY MOTIVATING. I BELIEVE THAT YOU SHOULD TAKE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE THIS STATE OF AFFAIRS, TO TAP THE VAST POTENTIAL OF

women.

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I HAVE A LUST FOR LIFE!

Photo: Dorota Czoch

“Perseverance, humility, empathy, orderliness and reliability are important traits in today’s world of business. What is most important, however, is self-confidence and honesty – these help you cope in a highly competitive environment”, ILONA ADAMSKA, the owner of I.D.Media Agencja Wydawniczo-Promocyjna, a publishing and promotional agency, talks to Elżbieta Stankowiak about her experiences and success story.

You said in an interview that you used to be into basketball. That’s a far cry from modelling, so how did you become a model?

I trained in basketball for more than 10 years, starting from the fifth grade at primary school. I devoted all my adolescent life to it. I wasn’t into dating guys.

The hoop, the court and the ball – they were my dates. I’d come home right after school, do my homework in an hour, and rush to the court to play with the guys. I didn’t play with the girls. I thought they were too weak. My guy-mates on the court helped me become a tough player. They’d never treat me like a woman on the court. This paid off – I was chosen the MVP at almost all tournaments I played at. At home, I had an impressive collection of balls which I got as prizes. My mates were always envious of them. To this day, my room is full of posters with pictures of NBA players. In the fourth grade at secondary school, I secretly sent an application to one of Warsaw’s modelling agencies, which had announced a casting for new faces. I found their ad in the Cogito magazine. But I really wasn’t expecting that they would get back to me. To my surprise, shortly before my school-leaving exams, I got a phone call saying that the agency’s director would like to see me live. So, I went to Warsaw with my mom.

Encouraged by the success of the first casting, I went for a casting at a Kraków ad agency, and they hired me on the spot. Three days after the interview, I was sent for my first session. I was thrown in at the deep end, having no idea how to walk on heels, since the only footwear I used up until then were my sports shoes. Still, after a couple of days of training with the ex-Miss Polonia, I could stride the catwalk like Naomi Campbell. At fashion shows, I felt like a fish in a pond. This world sucked me in for the next 10 years.

PM

When did you first come up with the idea of starting your own business?

It was exactly 12 years ago. Together with my then partner, I decided to publish “Planeta Kobiet” (“The Planet of Women”), a free women’s monthly magazine available in the Podkarpacie and Małopolska regions. I was only in my second year of university, but I already had a feeling that I wanted to start a business and become self-reliant. I always had a lust for life, a desire to go my own way. Things did not go as expected, though. The problem was that the business was registered in my boyfriend’s name, so when we fell out of love, I fell out of PM

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business. After two years, I got the short end of the stick. He took my title, the whole business, even the equipment we’d managed to buy at that point. Having learnt a lesson, I now know that love and business don’t go together well.

It’s a rule of thumb. My previous relationships had taught me that men don’t like it when women are intellectually superior to them and successful in business. Competition between partners on a professional level can bear down on their relationship, and it is really hard to rebuild it. The most challenging task in a relationship is to give the other person the space and strength they need to advance professionally, while also nurturing and building companionship.

Today, I’m lucky to be with a man that rather than criticising my choices, provides me with constructive suggestions on what can be done better - or differently. Instead of holding me back, he provides inspiration and is always encouraging me to keep developing.

Did you create the “Imperium Kobiet” (“Women’s Imperium”) magazine with women in mind and with a message for them?

I created “Imperium Kobiet” with ambitious, well-educated, self-confident women in mind who are fed up with magazines that are brimming with ads.

It’s an outlet for women who are not afraid to ask themselves and others questions about the meaning of life. Today, after seven years, “Imperium Kobiet” is a robust web portal. I also publish a printed magazine – “Law Business Quality” – for success-minded people.

PM

You also organise women empowerment campaigns and serve as the Ambassador of Women’s Entrepreneurship. Are you committed to supporting and motivating women in their development?

For more than three years, I‘ve been a regular speaker at numerous conferences, congresses and meetings that bring together entrepreneurial women. My task is to motivate women to be unflinching in the pursuit of their passions and dreams. I think I have an air of authenticity about me, since my path of professional career is a case in point that if you’re driven enough you can become successful – even if you don’t have any connections in business. Perseverance, humility, empathy, orderliness and reliability are important traits in today’s world of business. What is most important, however, is self-confidence and honesty.

These help you to cope while in a highly competitive environment. Don’t be afraid to fail. As Aneta Podyma, CEO of Pramerica Życie TUiR S.A. since 2015, said – “Failure is part of success and the best lesson in self-discovery. The most important thing is realising that you have the right to fail. […] Sometimes you have to go one step back to go two steps forward.”

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WHEN A DIRECTOR

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BUSINESSWOMAN

CARRIES SOMETHING IN HER

HEART

DOROTA KOBIELA, the Academy Award-nominated director of “Loving Vincent”, is one of the most well-known Polish artists. Her animated feature follows the life of Vincent van Gogh as seen through his art. It depicts his passions, misery and his mysterious death. This feature is a result of the hard work of countless people, however, undoubtedly, central to its creation are the efforts of Dorota Kobiela and her husband, Hugh Welchman – who both share passion and love for one another and for the fascinating genius that was Vincent van Gogh. “Loving Vincent” has already won a European Film Award (European equivalent of an Oscar) and scored Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. The 2018 Oscars will be held on 4 March. I am keeping my fingers crossed for “Loving Vincent” because I can still vividly remember how much watching it has moved me...

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Maciej Proliński Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman both wrote and directed the film. At first, it was shot as a live-action film with actors on set against a green screen. After the film material was edited, every frame shot was then painted by the specially trained painters who worked in studios in Poland and Greece. Each painting was then photographed to be animated later. A second of the film oftentimes took a whole week of work!

“Ten years ago I was a painter and a novice director, a nobody in the filmmaking industry. It was right then when I conceived the idea of making a 7-minute short film about Vincent as told through his paintings. Today, it is a 90-minute animated feature film inspired by van Gogh’s paintings, created using 65,000 frames, painted by 120 painters from 20 different countries, and distributed in 135 territories. It would have never happened if I, ‘the nobody’, hadn’t had the support of many wonderful people and countless sources of inspiration. I humbly present to you my film, hoping that it will make you love Vincent as much as I do, and I firmly believe that the following words taken from the letter he wrote to his brother apply to him, me and each and everyone of you: ‘Through my work, I would like to show you the things that this nobody carries in the heart’,” these were the words of Dorota Kobiela during the Warsaw première of the film on 6 November 2017. NEXT FILM is the Polish distributor of the film which has been seen thus far by 376 thousand Poles. The film is still being shown in cinemas. It is the first Oscar nomination in the animated feature category for a Polish film. “I am exceptionally proud that our film is the first Polish animated feature nominated for an Academy Award.

I am also proud that I am one of two female directors

nominated in this category, where out of 72 filmmakers, there were only 4 females. Perhaps, this year we will be able to balance it out a little. However, I am most proud of my painters (of which 60% were women) and my cast and crew,” – emphasised the director. Thus far, Poland’s animated filmmakers have won Academy Awards only twice before: Zbigniew Rybczyński’s “Tango” (1983) won in the best animated short film category, and the Polish-British “Peter and the Wolf” (2008), directed by Suzie Templeton, won in the same category. Interestingly, Hugh Welchman served as the producer on “Peter and the Wolf”.

•

Photos and graphic materials by courtesy of: NEXT FILM

orota Kobiela was born in the southern Polish city of Bytom. She graduated from the Secondary School of Visual Arts in Katowice. Her adult life, however, is firmly connected to Warsaw, where she attended the Warsaw Film School under Maciej Ślesicki and Bogusław Linda, and the Academy of Fine Arts. She directed one live-action short film “The Hart in Hand” (2006) and five animated shorts: “The Letter” (2004), “Love me” (2004), “Mr. Bear” (2005), “Chopin’s Drawings” (2011) and “Little Postman” (2011). “Little Postman” was the world’s first, and to her knowledge still only, 3D painting animation film, and won Best Short Film at the LA 3D Film Festival, 3D Stereo Media (Liege), as well as at the 3D Film & Music Fest (Barcelona). For her sixth animated short, “Loving Vincent”, she aimed to combine her passion for painting and film. At first, she intended to paint the entire film herself. However, once the project expanded into a feature film, the task of writing and directing was such that she had to content herself with supervising the 120 painters! Still, she managed to paint a few frames used in the film herself.

The film follows the turbulent life and tragic death of van Gogh. The story is told through his paintings and narrated by the acquaintances of the great artist – the subjects of his painting. The main focus of the film is the mystery surrounding the circumstances of his death. A son of his friend – Armand Roulin – attempts to deliver van Gogh’s letter to his family, and by finding Vincent’s acquaintances, he learns more about his death... The story of his life was reconstructed on the basis of 800 letters that he had written.

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WOMEN

STILL NEED TO MAKE MORE EFFORT TO PROVE THEIR

KRYSTYNA BOCZKOWSKA, President of the Management Board of Robert Bosch Sp. z o.o. and representative of the Bosch Group in Poland, talks to “Polish Market.”

“Women are discriminated against on the Polish employment market, their wages are lower, and they face a glass ceiling” – such are the results of a recent SGH report. Why haven’t the changes observed in Poland since 1989 provide women with equal opportunities? In what way can the activities of women business leaders such as yourself improve the situation?

The quoted research results confirm that stereotypes about women in our society remain strong – this is also true for business. The education system, which propagates the traditional role of women, is where such stereotypes are reinforced. The damage done at the early stages of education is reflected in the results of surveys in which young girls are asked whether they would rather be a girl or a boy.

Some of the girls in primary-schools say that the status of boys is more appealing. Most boys, when asked the same question, reply that they are satisfied with being boys.

In adult life, the trend is perpetuated. Women who decide to pursue professional careers still need to make more effort to prove their worth, and only few will succeed on the difficult path to the top. The stereotypes are reproduced by all companies which do not have women in their management boards, as it is hard to imagine that in large organisations there are no women with managerial talents. Such women can be found only at level –1 – inferior to the management level – and out of the indolence, fear and ignorance of decision-makers, they remain there. This deprives the enterprise of the possibility of using the potential of female leadership, which is really needed and without which it would not be possible to achieve progress in the times of the 4th industrial revolution.

This is why, as a leader, I support quotas and indices which compel conservative management boards to hire women, and I encourage decision-makers to show confidence in women by promoting them to management board positions. This is not only a way to meet the condition of diversity, which is a guarantee of success in a modern company, but also a profit PM

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WORTH

for the management board, which gains a dedicated employee who identifies with the company.

One of the effective ways to support women is mentoring. Thus, I participate in mentoring programmes for women and I can observe first-hand how smart, conscious and friendly counselling helps them become modern and strong future leaders. I encourage my friends who manage large companies to join such programmes. It is also worth drawing the attention of HR departments to the need to maintain gender balance and equal pay for women and men.

In my opinion, raising employer awareness, encouraging women to pursue their careers and creating infrastructure supporting childcare and modern education are remedies to the absence of women in the spheres of life crucial for the economy.

On the global scale, despite scientific research showing that diversity has a positive impact on work performance, the changes professional roles performed by women are taking place very slowly. What measures are taken by the Bosch Group to increase diversity and what are their results?

Bosch perceives diversity as an asset and a success factor. In modern times, diversity has been one of our basic corporate values. Indeed, we provide employment to more than 400 thousand people of various nationalities, ethnic origin, age and religion.

Such variety is the key to the company’s success, as we’ve found that mixed teams create more creative and innovative solutions, which helps us achieve better financial results. In order to support the idea of all-round diversification, the group has introduced quotas for women at each management level. For many years now, Bosch in Poland has been exceeding all the ratios of women in the company’s management: one in three managers is now a woman – which is one of the highest rates in the Bosch group in global terms.

PM

PM

You are not only actively involved in business activities, but you also support a number of

initiatives related to the corporate social responsibility mission of the Bosch Group. What is the most involving of your projects?

The most important social subject I deal with is recreating technical education at the secondary school level and promoting state-of-the-art vocational education in Poland. Without this element of education – so crucial for the economy – it is impossible to build Industry 4.0. The whole education system in Poland needs a qualitative change, ranging from primary schools, to higher education institutions – because, currently, it is unable to respond to the needs of the economy. We, as employers, are trying to communicate to the relevant ministries the deficits of the education system and the consequences of workforce shortages in many areas of the contemporary economy. In implementing the idea of best Polish technical education, Bosch has taken active measures in this respect by conducting dual education programmes in its brakes factory in Wrocław and hands-on educational programmes for lower-secondary students (“Akademia Wynalazców im.Roberta Boscha –The Robert Bosch Academy of Inventors”) and for technical school students “Junkers szkoli (Junkers training”), and also co-funding the “Car Technology Contest”. Furthermore, we have managed to create, in collaboration with the subsequent ministries of education, a dialogue platform between the Ministry of Education and people from the field of industry, business and technical schools, who jointly work towards improving the quality of Poland’s technical education.

I also take active measures to support women’s entrepreneurship. I have been associated with the Congress of Women, the Women Leadership in Business Foundation and the Perspektywy Education Foundation. For a few years now, I have also been a mentor for young women managers and students who are entering the labour market and want to become leaders. It is extremely satisfying and motivating to share one’s experience and see how enthusiastic young women are about their career development.

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special edition

BUSINESSWOMAN

EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED, EXCEPT FOR THE

MILK PLANT ADDRESS Changes at every production stage

MARIA CZWOJDRAK, President of Średzka Spółdzielnia Mleczarska Jana

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n the last 25 years virtually everything has changed, except for the address of the ŚSM Jana milk-processing plant. At the beginning of the 1990s, effective measures were taken to introduce a professional raw milk quality approach, providing for milk cooling immediately after the milking process, and the progressive closure of procurement points and production facilities. Dairies have been replaced by direct collection, and the production process has been concentrated in the main plant. Moreover, we have left other milk plants behind when it comes to the quality of raw milk, owing to its gradual improvement. Aiming at adjusting to EU requirements, a number of measures have been implemented ‒ from infrastructure modifications and techniques and technologies, to an increase in production capacity and performance. The volume of milk processing has seen a three-fold rise in the last 25 years, with an array of commercial contracts being established, including export-related agreements. The plant has also been using a new logo to distinguish its products. A number of changes have been introduced as regards production technique and technology, while preserving the traditional taste of products. The products’ shelf life has been extended, with frequent modifications to packaging forms and sizes. For 25 years the number of suppliers has decreased, despite the significant overall increase in milk production. This implies that the amount of milk received from each supplier has grown materially, and so • has the average productivity per cow.

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APART FROM AESTHETIC MEDICINE ONE NEEDS THE RIGHT LIFESTYLE

MONIKA ZDZIARSKA-ALICKA, Owner, Essence Beauty Clinic, talks to "Polish Market".

Aesthetic medicine clinics are usually set up by physicians who want to work on their own account. You have a degree in economics, so the model in your case is slightly different. Please tell us about it.

I have decided to open a clinic offering a wide range of services. They are not limited to aesthetic medicine, although it constitutes the foundation. We also provide cosmetology and additional services such as hair styling, manicure and pedicure.

We advertise the fact that at our clinic customers can attend to their beauty and relax from head to toe.

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Customers come to you with the knowledge that they can get everything they need in one place…

Yes, we are here to solve their problems. One must remember that the people who visit aesthetic medicine clinics come with some specified problem. We are not focused on selling a service or product, but on meeting the customer's expectations. Our services are very individualized. We can prepare a bespoke programme of repair and care for virtually every customer. For example, we have introduced a solution which we call a prescription. Every customer who uses a procedure, receives a precisely written out plan of treatments, with a home care plan. This means that our customers feel our care, not only when they come to us, but also at home.

They know what to look for, how to eat. We emphasize the importance of physical activity, sleep and PM

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relaxation. We have a very skilled team that constantly improves their competences. We take a holistic approach to the customer. I have always stressed that when someone is dissatisfied with her appearance, simply coming to the clinic will not help if the treatments are not backed by an appropriate lifestyle adjusted to our biological clock.

You speak of a rather novel approach to the customer, which distinguishes you from other clinics. With so much competition, it definitely works in your favour. What else do you need to do today to win customers in such a demanding market?

Our clinic is in a great location, right in the centre of Warsaw. Our customers are people who live here, work or travel in the area. We also focus on a very selective approach to brands, with which we work. These are the best and very professional cosmetics, which offer not only the material used at the clinic, but also products for home care. We do not select brands that have products exclusively for clinical us. We act according to the aforementioned philosophy - the customers must also be able to take care of themselves at home after the treatment. We try to convince patients that they should use the cream recommended by our cosmetologist. The approach to the customer and the atmosphere in the company is also very important. I must admit that I really enjoy all the positive comments that we receive in PM

customer satisfaction surveys. We pay great attention to making customers feel as they should feel at such a place.

You also have an interesting approach to booking appointments. You use a mobile application designed for this purpose…

We use the Versum system that allows us to efficiently manage the clinic. This is a very good software, which allows us to analyze various very important indicators, such as returning customers. In addition, we use the aforesaid Booksy application.

I assume that at this time, the customer is very demanding and has various habits. Some customers use the application, some the Lavito Internet portal.

Appointments may also be booked through our website and by phone. Lately Versum has also opened moment.pl where customers can make appointments.

So everyone can find a method that is suitable for th em.

• PM

www.klinikaessence.pl

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RAJ VILLA

ELEGANT AND ROMANTIC PLACE IN THE VERY HEART OF NAŁĘCZÓW HALINA ZUBRZYCKA, MD, owner of the Wellness Centre Raj Villa and Villa Aurelia Hotel & Spa

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hat one can say about Nałęczów is that it is one of Poland’s most picturesque garden cities, located between the city of Lublin and Kazimierz Dolny on the Vistula river. Surrounded by two rivers, Bystra and Bochotniczanka, the spa town is famous for its unique microclimate, Spa Park, palace island and nice 18th and 19th- century architecture. Nałęczów – beautiful, quiet and atmospheric, an ideal place where one can recuperate after months of stressful life - welcomes families and individuals looking for a relaxing and calm spot. Twenty five years ago, a beauty and spa centre was set up in Raj Villa on Lipowa Street, an elegant and romantic place in the very heart of Nałęczów. People relaxing there have an opportunity to use a wide range of manual massages, cosmetic treatments, both traditional ones and those relying on state-of-the-art devices, and the full range of aesthetic medicine therapies complemented by laser treatment. By merging the centre with the adjacent three-star Hotel & Spa Villa Aurelia, we have managed to create an excellent place for both treatment and great relaxation. The excellently equipped spa zone, with a swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna, fitness room and body-building gym, provides an ideal place for relaxation, a place where one can recuperate after months of stressful work and big-city life. We have created this unique place thinking of people who want more from their lives than others, want to take care of themselves and feel great at • any age.

Phone: 508-250-242, 81 501-41-46, www.villaaurelia.pl polish market

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KLICZKÓW Castle

KLICZKÓW CASTLE, located in Lower Silesia, 120 km from Wrocław, at the junction of two motorways near Bolesławiec, and in the Lower Silesian Forest, is one of the largest conference and recreation centres in Poland, situated in a historic residential complex whose origins date back to the 12th century.

Combining the VITAL BUSINESS functions of the Castle with the careful and diligent preservation of its historical values and enduring traditions constitutes a major challenge.

The ever-growing awareness of the crucial human values, such as family life, tradition, healthy food and a healthy lifestyle, have brought a sea of opportunities to Kliczków Castle, connected with creating ATTRACTIVE HIGH-QUALITY RESOURCES for a large number of customers from diverse regions, including both individual and corporate guests.

We have recently launched a beauty treatment line in the CASTLE SPA to meet the expectations of our clients. It is entirely based on an innovative and natural range of products by Illua, dedicated to Kliczków Castle.

THE NOVEL COLLECTION OF COSMETICS PRODUCTS

MAGDALENA PIASECKA-LUDWIN, an art historian, has for several years been involved in the process of transforming the historic Kliczków Castle into an accommodation, conference and recreation facility, with the option of launching new products in order to meet the increasingly growing expectations of the services market.

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features carefully selected active ingredients, combined with essential oils and plant extracts, which make their composition truly unique and inimitable.

The currently PREVAILING TREND towards nature and a healthy lifestyle is consistent with the objectives we have set, promoted and shared with our guests from the beginning of our activities, focusing on a natural and clean environment. Kliczków is situated within the Natura 2000 area, close to the clean Kwisa River, surrounded by an impressive forest complex with a huge moorland, picturesque lakes,

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BUSINESSWOMAN and waterholes hidden among trees and meadows, and the habitats of rare species of birds and many other animals.

We are continually using this wonderful gift by establishing, jointly with local institutions, foundations and other organisations, a unique tourist infrastructure, based on a network of thematic routes, including pedestrian, cycling, horse-riding, water, culinary, historic and nature-exploring routes.

Such a potential can hardly be overestimated, and can be further developed to diversify the portfolio of services we offer to all tourists and guests who are keen to spend their time with us in an active and interesting way.

The support for LOCAL ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT and the acquisition of funds for this purpose have provided an incentive for us, as Kliczków Castle, to actively engage in the establishing of regional organisations: the Lower Silesian Forest Foundation (Polish: Fundacja Bory Dolnośląskie) and the Lower Silesian Forest Association (Stowarzyszenie Bory Dolnośląskie), jointly with local-government bodies and non-governmental organisations in the Lower Silesia and Lubuskie provinces. For over 10 years of our active involvement in these organisations, we have derived much satisfaction and pride from their achievements.

THE FOUNDATION AND ASSOCIATION have jointly succeeded

in obtaining over PLN20 million for the benefit of local communities and undertakings aimed at tourist development and local attractions, coupled with the establishing and development of small family-owned businesses throughout the entire area of the Lower Silesian Forest.

from the very beginning. The reason is simple ‒ the Castle has preserved its 19th century design with virtually no changes, which makes it look as if time stopped here a long time ago. The Castle interior features a wide array of unmodified and original decorations representing various historic styles and periods, starting with mediaeval times, through to the 19th century. This is why the Castle is the seat of the contemporary Syrokomla Brotherhood of Knights, and the local guides wearing historic dresses impress the Castle guests and tourists with stories relating the long and diversified history of this unique place, also during specially arranged and night-time sightseeing tours.

The Kliczków Castle BUSINESS VENTURE, a limited liability company, its structure, organisation, finances, administration, budget and staff, is only one part of the entire initiative.

The second part comprises the never-ending search, creativeness and discourse with the market for tourist, CONFERENCE AND RECREATION SERVICES, continually expecting new products, and also with the history which lies within the Castle walls.

There are no well-developed solutions which can be taken for granted, but there is a constant need to create new solutions and use the impressive ideas put forward by our guests, specialists and ourselves as part of “new product” creations. And this is what is beautiful.

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The funds acquired have also served the purpose of cultivating LOCAL TRADITIONS, including the diverse and most cherished culinary traditions of the various ethnic groups active in this area. This has given rise to the creation of a culinary route and the “Ale Pasztet!” culinary festival, which is held annually in Kliczków Castle.

The funds have been also used to DESIGN AND CONSTRUCT TOURIST ROUTES which now cover a large part of the Lower Silesian Forest. These comprise over 700 km of horse-riding routes, which is creating a huge development potential for this form of tourism.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TOURIST-ROUTE NETWORK and the need to embrace family and group visitors, including young people, provided an inspiration for us a few years ago to reconstruct the historic Manor complex situated next to the Castle and to transform it into an additional accommodation and catering base. The facility now offers traditional rural dishes, both local and all-Polish, made from locally grown products, including vegetables and herbs from our own garden. The Manor, just like the Castle, is a wonderful place for all those who seek to explore the local routes and practise horse-riding, with the stable and horses available on the premises.

THE OPPORTUNITIES TO GO HORSE-RIDING have been

invariably connected with Kliczków Castle, starting with major events, such as the Equestrian Gala, to family events, including the Knights Picnic and the Wołodyjowski Weekend. These regular events, which are held annually, have diversified the Castle portfolio, providing the public with a great chance to explore history, not only as spectators, but also as active participants, owing to the skilful recreation of the historic reality by a number of historical re-enactment groups.

The magic of Kliczków Castle, along with the surrounding complex of the MANOR BUILDINGS, THE HISTORIC LANDSCAPE park and the neighbouring village, has been considered an undoubted asset polish market

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