The most remarkable managerial changes of the third quarter of 2021 according to Bubenik Partners
The most interesting managerial changes in the third quarter of 2021, according to Bubenik Partners, include the arrival of new heads to the management of the Czech branches of the world leader in digital payments and the world’s leading manufacturer of rolling stock. New managers were also appointed to the largest digitization project of the Czech banking sector, the largest Czech private foundation, the leading media house, home divisions of Europe’s largest price comparator, and an ambitious online supermarket expanding in Europe. The ten changes listed in Bubenik Partners’ regular, prestigious quarterly selection „Movers and shakers at the forefront of Czech business” include the acceptance of new reinforcements to the management of a leading telecommunications operator and the appointment of a new IT manager at the largest Czech bank.
The selection for the third quarter of 2021 represents an aggregate view of market events through the eyes of Bubenik Partners, a renowned consulting company with 20 years of experience working daily amongst top managers in the Czech Republic. It is a representative overview of the most important events that occurred at the highest levels of Czech business in the given period.
Activity at the top of the corporate pyramids has been quite busy since this spring. Changes in top positions in major Czech companies and domestic branches of international corporations increased again in the third quarter compared to the previous trimester. Already in the second quarter, the number of recorded changes doubled compared to the first – and in the third quarter it increased even further, to four dozen recorded top management changes.
„Since the spring easing of coronavirus restrictions, we have seen a gradual recovery in management recruitment. We’ve observed a growing appetite in our clients to supplement or strengthen the competencies of management teams, whether in an effort to expand business, or diversify their production and sales portfolio. The opening and development of new, usually digital, sales channels and overall technologization are also constantly continuing and accelerating,“ said Jan Bubeník, founder and managing partner of Bubenik Partners.
„However, uncertainty about the economic outlook – due not only to the deteriorating epidemiological situation, but also the sharp increase in energy prices, a number of raw materials, and other production inputs – has led a good few companies to be quite conservative when filling key leadership positions and to proceed rather cautiously. At the same time, this naturally increases the need for many clients to strengthen supply chain and purchasing management – and to transform this originally internal service into a truly strategic role,“ he added.
Economic uncertainty is reflected in the fact that firms tend to give preference to internal candidates, whom they know and are in some way a „safe bet“, to external candidates, who may enrich the company with new impetus and experience, but whose integration can bring some risks. There is most likely pressure to save in an environment of general growth in consumer and producer prices, if companies try to avoid the additional costs associated with incentivizing and „onboarding“ external candidates.
In the third quarter, among the managerial changes recorded by Bubenik Partners, the share of transfers and promotions within a single company increased significantly, to the detriment of transfers between companies. The preference for internal candidates is also shown by the fact that more top management positions in local branches of multinational companies were filled in the third quarter by foreign managers moving within the global structure of the corporation.
„Movers and Shakers at the Top of Czech Business“ in the third quarter of 2021
(in alphabetical order)
Petr Brunclík – In September, he became the new Vice President for Information Technology at one of the major players in the field of telecommunications, the Vodafone Group (he joins the company from the banking sector, where he worked at the Slovenian NLB Group as Chief Operations Officer. He has previous work experience with companies such as Home Credit and GE Money).
Lenka Černá – In September, she became the new CEO of the leading publishing house Economia (she has been with Economia since October 2019, when she took up the position of non-executive vice chairman of the board of directors; she previously headed the advertising publishing house Annonce, managing the process of its digitization and subsequent integration into the media house Vltava Labe Media).
Zbyněk Kovář – In September, he became the new CEO of the branch of the international concern, The Coca-Cola Company Czech &Slovakia (during his almost twenty years of experience he worked primarily at Pivovary Staropramen, where during his 16-year tenure he held a number of managerial positions, including the position of Managing Director for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which he held for eight years).
Dan Kurucz – In September, he became General Manager for the Czech and Slovak Republics of the major engineering company Alstom (during his more than twenty years of experience, he worked, among other roles, as Chairman of the Board for KOVOSVIT MAS, as CEO of Vítkovice Heavy Machinery and as director of Czech Railways).
Jan Mayer – In September, he became the new CEO of the comparator Heureka in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and was formerly CEO of Dataweps (this change is part of the process of integrating Dataweps, which he founded, into Heureka’s portfolio after the acquisition in March 2021).
Olin Novák – In September, he became the new CEO of the leading Czech online food importer Rohlík. In Rohlík, he held the position of Group Chief Commercial Officer, from which he also participated in the development of the Hungarian (Kifli.hu), Austrian (Gurkerl.at) and German team (Knuspr.de); he previously worked for seven years at Tesco, where he managed marketing for the whole of Central Europe.
Ivana Plechatá – In September, she became director of the Vlčková Family Foundation building, a children’s hospice and palliative care centre in the Cibulka homestead in Prague (in the 1990s she held a parliamentary position; she later headed the Sue Ryder Home and Sue Ryder International, where she worked on projects in Europe and Africa).
Petr Polák – In September, he became the new Country Manager for the Czech Republic of the leading international company VISA (he brings more than ten years of experience in financial services and banking; in his previous work he was involved in the management of the company’s major business transformations at the international level).
Marek Růžička – In September he became the new CEO of Bankovní identita (for the past three years, he has been developing the Czech technology company Datasys in his role as CEO. He also worked as a consultant at Accenture, a global consulting firm, and the consulting division of Hewlett-Packard; he led the O2 Business division and subsequently the Network and IT division as chief operating officer).
Denisa Škantová – In August, she became the new Information Technology Director at the leading financial institution ČSOB (she has been working for 18 years in senior positions in banking and insurance, including as Executive Director of Operations and Purchasing at ČSOB and in the field of operations processing and digitization at Generali/Česká pojišťovna).
Movers and Shakers at the Top of Czech Business in the Third Quarter of 2021
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The most remarkable managerial changes of the third quarter of 2021 according to Bubenik Partners
The most interesting managerial changes in the third quarter of 2021, according to Bubenik Partners, include the arrival of new heads to the management of the Czech branches of the world leader in digital payments and the world’s leading manufacturer of rolling stock. New managers were also appointed to the largest digitization project of the Czech banking sector, the largest Czech private foundation, the leading media house, home divisions of Europe’s largest price comparator, and an ambitious online supermarket expanding in Europe. The ten changes listed in Bubenik Partners’ regular, prestigious quarterly selection „Movers and shakers at the forefront of Czech business” include the acceptance of new reinforcements to the management of a leading telecommunications operator and the appointment of a new IT manager at the largest Czech bank.
The selection for the third quarter of 2021 represents an aggregate view of market events through the eyes of Bubenik Partners, a renowned consulting company with 20 years of experience working daily amongst top managers in the Czech Republic. It is a representative overview of the most important events that occurred at the highest levels of Czech business in the given period.
Activity at the top of the corporate pyramids has been quite busy since this spring. Changes in top positions in major Czech companies and domestic branches of international corporations increased again in the third quarter compared to the previous trimester. Already in the second quarter, the number of recorded changes doubled compared to the first – and in the third quarter it increased even further, to four dozen recorded top management changes.
„Since the spring easing of coronavirus restrictions, we have seen a gradual recovery in management recruitment. We’ve observed a growing appetite in our clients to supplement or strengthen the competencies of management teams, whether in an effort to expand business, or diversify their production and sales portfolio. The opening and development of new, usually digital, sales channels and overall technologization are also constantly continuing and accelerating,“ said Jan Bubeník, founder and managing partner of Bubenik Partners.
„However, uncertainty about the economic outlook – due not only to the deteriorating epidemiological situation, but also the sharp increase in energy prices, a number of raw materials, and other production inputs – has led a good few companies to be quite conservative when filling key leadership positions and to proceed rather cautiously. At the same time, this naturally increases the need for many clients to strengthen supply chain and purchasing management – and to transform this originally internal service into a truly strategic role,“ he added.
Economic uncertainty is reflected in the fact that firms tend to give preference to internal candidates, whom they know and are in some way a „safe bet“, to external candidates, who may enrich the company with new impetus and experience, but whose integration can bring some risks. There is most likely pressure to save in an environment of general growth in consumer and producer prices, if companies try to avoid the additional costs associated with incentivizing and „onboarding“ external candidates.
In the third quarter, among the managerial changes recorded by Bubenik Partners, the share of transfers and promotions within a single company increased significantly, to the detriment of transfers between companies. The preference for internal candidates is also shown by the fact that more top management positions in local branches of multinational companies were filled in the third quarter by foreign managers moving within the global structure of the corporation.
„Movers and Shakers at the Top of Czech Business“ in the third quarter of 2021
(in alphabetical order)
Petr Brunclík – In September, he became the new Vice President for Information Technology at one of the major players in the field of telecommunications, the Vodafone Group (he joins the company from the banking sector, where he worked at the Slovenian NLB Group as Chief Operations Officer. He has previous work experience with companies such as Home Credit and GE Money).
Lenka Černá – In September, she became the new CEO of the leading publishing house Economia (she has been with Economia since October 2019, when she took up the position of non-executive vice chairman of the board of directors; she previously headed the advertising publishing house Annonce, managing the process of its digitization and subsequent integration into the media house Vltava Labe Media).
Zbyněk Kovář – In September, he became the new CEO of the branch of the international concern, The Coca-Cola Company Czech &Slovakia (during his almost twenty years of experience he worked primarily at Pivovary Staropramen, where during his 16-year tenure he held a number of managerial positions, including the position of Managing Director for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which he held for eight years).
Dan Kurucz – In September, he became General Manager for the Czech and Slovak Republics of the major engineering company Alstom (during his more than twenty years of experience, he worked, among other roles, as Chairman of the Board for KOVOSVIT MAS, as CEO of Vítkovice Heavy Machinery and as director of Czech Railways).
Jan Mayer – In September, he became the new CEO of the comparator Heureka in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and was formerly CEO of Dataweps (this change is part of the process of integrating Dataweps, which he founded, into Heureka’s portfolio after the acquisition in March 2021).
Olin Novák – In September, he became the new CEO of the leading Czech online food importer Rohlík. In Rohlík, he held the position of Group Chief Commercial Officer, from which he also participated in the development of the Hungarian (Kifli.hu), Austrian (Gurkerl.at) and German team (Knuspr.de); he previously worked for seven years at Tesco, where he managed marketing for the whole of Central Europe.
Ivana Plechatá – In September, she became director of the Vlčková Family Foundation building, a children’s hospice and palliative care centre in the Cibulka homestead in Prague (in the 1990s she held a parliamentary position; she later headed the Sue Ryder Home and Sue Ryder International, where she worked on projects in Europe and Africa).
Petr Polák – In September, he became the new Country Manager for the Czech Republic of the leading international company VISA (he brings more than ten years of experience in financial services and banking; in his previous work he was involved in the management of the company’s major business transformations at the international level).
Marek Růžička – In September he became the new CEO of Bankovní identita (for the past three years, he has been developing the Czech technology company Datasys in his role as CEO. He also worked as a consultant at Accenture, a global consulting firm, and the consulting division of Hewlett-Packard; he led the O2 Business division and subsequently the Network and IT division as chief operating officer).
Denisa Škantová – In August, she became the new Information Technology Director at the leading financial institution ČSOB (she has been working for 18 years in senior positions in banking and insurance, including as Executive Director of Operations and Purchasing at ČSOB and in the field of operations processing and digitization at Generali/Česká pojišťovna).