Change accompanies us at every step. It is part of our lives. Those who fail to adapt to them seriously risk losing their competitiveness. These are, in brief, the main highlights of the GREMO Development Conference, where we, together with our members and management expert Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva, concluded that change is not a punishment.
In her inspiring speeches, Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva emphasizes that individuals and companies must constantly change and adapt due to constant change. She calls this process reinvention. It is particularly important in the modern world, as it is not just a change, but a fundamental shift in the way we think and act. Dr. Zhexembayeva therefore emphasizes that we must be able to predict what will happen in a timely manner, see what the megatrends will be, and take action as soon as we detect disruption.
Using examples from various well-known global companies, she showed that changes are also necessary in systems that are already functioning. The external environment is constantly changing, and everything has its own life cycle, i.e., growth, peak, and decline. Therefore, we must always seek new solutions, products, management systems, and the like. However, we must begin reinvention at just the right moment, not too early and not too late, when the system is already in decline. She also presented an analysis according to which most global companies make changes, reinvent themselves, every two to three years on average. While companies in ACS usually do this every four to five years, two percent of them change and adapt every year.
Dr. Zhexembajeva concluded by emphasizing that reinvention is a strategy that requires consistency and is a continuous, rather than a one-time, process. She is convinced that humans are born and taught to adapt and change, as there is no stability in nature, which is why humans have always had to and known how to adapt to a wide variety of situations and circumstances throughout history. In her opinion, there is no such thing as stability. Change will always exist; it is part of everyday life. We just need to know how to take advantage of it and capitalize on it in order to strengthen our functioning in the modern, constantly changing world.
Her thoughts were then backed up by success stories from companies, our members, who faced challenges in business, tech, development, and social areas while going through changes in this changing environment. Speakers from Siliko, Emsis, Qlector, Elaphe, Iolar, SIJ Acroni, and Unior agreed, among other things, that change is constant in all areas, and that the challenge for managers is how to prepare employees so that they do not feel the effects of change and act counterproductively as a result.
Konferenco smo zaključili s spletno predstavitvijo entuziastičnega črnogorskega zagonskega podjetja Evom Mobility, ki razvija električna vozila in namerava biti prvi proizvajalec avtomobilov v Črni gori ter podelitvijo ACS-ovega peresa. Tega prejmejo posamezniki, ki s svojim znanjem, predanostjo in povezovalnim pristopom pomembno prispevajo k razvoju ACS-a. Dobil ga je prof. dr. Tomaž Katrašnik, profesor na Fakulteti za strojništvo Univerze v Ljubljani, kjer vodi laboratorij za motorje z notranjem zgorevanjem in elektromobilnost, ter predsednik strokovnega sveta ACS-a.
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Additional information: SRIP ACS+, Erik Blatnik, 01/ 236 17 35, erik.blatnik@acs-giz.si
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The automotive industry in Slovenia generates approximately 10% of the GDP and almost 25% of Slovenian exports (source: SPIRIT Slovenia). All members of SRIP ACS+, including all areas of mobility, contribute more than 17% to Slovenian GDP. Our members generate more than 8 billion euros in annual revenue, most of them operating as tier 1 and 2 suppliers to global vehicle manufacturers. Annually, SRIP ACS+ members receive more than 25% of all awarded innovations of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia originating from the automotive industry.