Final Word from Monday, September 24, 2007
Paul Bulcke, the newly anointed global CEO of Nestlé, became the valedictorian of the Czech school of management last week. What we mean is that he became the highest-ranking person in global business to have served a stint in the CR. He was Nestlé country manager in 1998-2000 and helped oversee the split of Čokoládovny into the Nestlé and Danone parts. Czech managers who are sent abroad get loads of attention, but the success of foreigners who learned the ropes in the bustling, highly competitive Czech environment are overlooked in the local media. James Stengel, Procter & Gamble's country manager in the mid-1990s, is now global marketing officer for that company, and Thomas Hübner, McDonald's local manager in the early 1990s, is CEO of Metro Cash & Carry Int., to mention just two more of many names. Too bad the CR isn't able to use this extensive alumni network better.[Czech Republic chief executive officer Makro Dannone P&G Huebner]