1. THE FUTURE OF WORK
Team name: One Step Ahead
Selected EE countries: Slovenia, the Czech Republic
Team members: Josephine Kittner (team
leader), Bogdan Andrei
Nationality of
team members: Germany, Romania

2. THE EE MARKET AND ITS PERSPECTIVES
General situation
 EE countries are characterized by having different levels of
development, therefore they have high level of inequality
 The Russian Federation, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia,
Hungar y, Turkey & Ukraine are the most developed states, having
mostly positive growth rates which are characterized as high
developed countries by World Bank
 Developed EE countries are mainly concentrated in the textile industr y,
automobile production, agriculture and generally in manufacturing
 In some EE countries energy has an important place on the agenda,
especially due to the environmental challenges (ex: Ukraine)–
oppor tunity for future industr y vs. threat for population and economy
through high costs
 In genera, EE countries are heading towards greater division between
the emerging economies and those which are developing much slower

3. The chosen countries: WHY
Slovenia and the Czech Republic CHOOSE SL
AND CZ?
 Most companies small to medium-sized, / Major
role of SME sector in the economy
E x p er t is e
 Most impor tant industries: Ser vices, IT, automobile
manufacturing, telecommunications W i l l i n g n e s s to
 Slovenia and the Czech Republic have ver y high learn
number of mean year s of schooling  academic
elite/high per formance potential High
e d u c a t io n a l
 Slovenia‘s gross domestic expenditure on R&D is
l ev e l
above EU average (ranks 4th of EU in 2010, OECD
ranking)  high willingness to advance and
Good social
innovate s t r uc t ur e s
Ex: Slovenia won Most Innovative Brand 2012 award
for high quality and design High
 Both countries could recover quickly from the understanding
of CSR
economic crisis, Czech Republic (-0,3% GDP growth
rate in Q3 2012) could recover slightly better than
Slovenia (-0,6% in Q3 2012) H i g h p o te n t i a l

4. Online sur vey via Stellar Sur vey KEY
POINTS
 Participation of 70 persons from all over Europe AND
(Bachelor and Master students, Graduates) RESULTS
 Focus of questions: general trends of EE countries,
potential industries, classification of most 3 c o u n t r ie s w i t h
impor tant EE countries with regards to expected highest
development ex p e c t a t io n s to
grow:
 The majority of the inter viewees (37%) think that C z e c h Re p u b li c ,
the IT industr y will be the most impor tant in 2022 C r o a t i a & S l o ve n i a
 50% think that EE could become more competitive
than Western Europe and East Asia
3 most important
 40% consider “engineer” to be the most wanted pillars:
profession in 2022 Property rights,
freedom from
c o r r up t io n & f i s c al
The online sur vey confirmed our assumption of freedom
concentrating on the IT sector in the Czech
Republic
3 m o s t c o m p et i t iv e
It equally reflects the high impor tance of the industries in EE:
energy industr y which we mentioned before and S e r v i c e s & I T,
considered too vague E n e r g y, To u r is m

5. THE CHOSEN INDUSTRY: IT
Why choose the IT industr y?
1. Gain expor t strength and a competitive advantage compared to
other European countries through knowledge and expertise;
through higher expor ts foreign currencies flows into the economy
2. Facilitates job creation and the reduction of the unemployment
rate, especially for young people;
3. Builds itself on an already developed industr y, through the
exploitation of the high educational level in both countries
prevention of emigration of valuable human capital
4. Promotes Foreign Direct Investment which is the key to success
as it facilitates growth and expansion, makes firms more
competitive, and equally enhances the whole economy
5. High focus on ser vices and markets outside EU

6. CLUSTER BUILDING
 Via the realization of the new industr y (IT branch) in Slovenia
and the Czech Republic, the two countries will get closer
structure wise
 idea of following the same management style in the two
countries, having the same corporate structure and language
(English)
 Promote growth easily by creating a pool of ideas and talents
whilst following equal structures
 Strong cooperation as a cluster concept between them, that will
give the oppor tunity to share ser vices in weaker regions and
enhance regional competitiveness  high working together in
R&D depar tment as being essential

7. COMPANY PROFILE
General features:
 Size: medium-sized company with up to 250 employees in both
countries
 Company type: Slovenian Limited Liability Company (due to lower
corporate income taxes in Slovenia)
 Means of financing: venture capital and foreign investors (minimum
needed 7.500€ due to company type)
 Products: ser vices and IT products such as software, electronic
hardware, ser vice and planning systems, electronic of fices
 Most impor tant department: Finance due to constant need for
investments in innovation, research, technology, logistics and
marketing

8. A QUESTION OF ST YLE AND THE KEY TO
SUCCESS
Other company features:
 Use exper tise and investment in R&D to develop new products and
attract new clients, the CR and SL working closely together having
the same long-term goals
 English as corporate language to simplify access for foreign
employees (integration programs for employees, language courses)
 Strong CSR policy regime
 Application of Scandinavian management style:
 flat hierarchy and high transparency
 high employee motivation via paid vacations, secure contracts,
creation of long-term relationships with employees, special work
incentives and workshops, promotion options even on small
levels, integration of ever y employee in the working process

9. (INTERNATIONAL) NETWORK CREATION
1. phase: Creation of unified company image and understanding;
internal network between Slovenia and the Czech
Republic – overcome language barriers by special
teaching systems, deepen cluster
2. phase: high corporation with EU countries as soon as possible,
attracts EU companies to co-operate closely, intend to
attract foreign graduates by social management style
and English as corporate language, focus on export of
high quality IT products
3. phase: open up to international markets, create a brandmark
and customer awareness in a global sense