Contract signed between Podravka d.d. and the Faculty of Economics

A contract on the establishment of Podravka’s Management Academy was signed at the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb between Podravka d.d. and the Faculty of Economics. The contract was signed by Prof. Ivan Lovrinović, DSc, and Darko Marinac, President of the Management Board of Podravka d.d. The establishment of this Academy is another step towards developing the management knowledge and skills of the staff of Podravka, which will allow for the more successful achievement of the company’s business goals.

The implementation of the FBA (Fundamentals of Business Administration) programme has been assigned to Prof. Darko Tipurić, DSc, who will lead the project on the side of the Faculty of Economics, and to the Executive Director of Human Resources, Branko Kučan, on the side of Podravka. The teaching will be done by expert lecturers, such as Prof. Tipurić DSc, Prof. Velimir Srića, DSc, Ass. Prof. Ljubo Jurčić, DSc, Prof. Ivan Lovrinović, DSc, and many others.

The management training programme, which will be delivered under the title of Podravka’s Management Academy – POMAK, will start in February 2003 and will consist of two basic modules: FBA and LIDER.

The FBA (Fundamentals of Business Administration) module, which has been drawn up in cooperation with the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb, will cover “hard” management skills, and will consist of a number of submodules: general management, management accounting and financial management, marketing management, strategic management and global management.

The second basic module, called LIDER, has been developed with the aim of improving “soft” management knowledge and skills, and consists of the following submodules: leadership, motivation and rewards, management through goals, communication, organisational skills, delegating, problem solving, negotiating, decision-making and teamwork.

Within its strategy, Podravka has defined knowledge and people as the key sources of competitive advantage. Consequently, as part of the continuous development of professional and management skills, the fifth generation of Podravka’s employees have already completed the educational development programme in cooperation with IECD – Bled School of Management.