Friday, July 6, 2012

European CEO's speak out on European competitiveness

Thierry Breton, Chairman and CEO, Atos
Jim Hagemann Snabe - Co-CEO, SAP
Jon Fredrik Baksaas - President and CEO, Telenor Group

Moderator:
Bruno Lanvin – Executive Director of INSEAD eLab

Thierry Breton: The Next Decade will be the Most Difficult....


"The next decade will be the most difficult for Europe," said Thierry Breton... currently global head of consulting company Atos, former French Finance Minister and former head of France Telecom/Orange.

He is seriously concerned about debt levels because it puts France at great risk to market gyrations. France has doubled its public debt in the past decade and is still increasing borrowing. Real financial stability will come from reducing pubic debt and therefore market exposure and by forming close alliance with Germany on economic matters.

He agrees with Jean-Francois Copé's support of the decision taken last week by European leaders to support European banks and further consolidate the EU's financial systems.

Breton believes that one way or another "we will reform our continent." And he reminded the audience that the three leading consulting companies in the world are European: Accenture, Cap Gemini and Atos.


Jim Hagemann Snabe - CO-CEO SAP

"With the demographic challenges we face today, it's insane that youth unemployment is so high," said Jim Hagemann Snabe, CEO of German business software maker SAP. "Businessmen cannot wait for politicians and government to fix the problem..so what are we doing? At SAP we are doing two things...

1. We looked at our company and said we need to drive an agenda of innovation because it enables opportunities for young people to get jobs and it enables the development of innovation. We are driving our own capabilities to innovate, to do that speedily and to develop new technologies. Thus far we have had 9 quarters of double-digit growth and this shows that if you focus on innovation - you can also have growth.

2. We have a huge commitment to what we call "the power of small" because it is with the SME's that innovation comes. In Europe every second job created is within a SME and they don't need headcount growth to grow revenues.

Innovation therefore can be fundamental to the growth of an ecosystem of small and medium-sized businesses."


Jon Fredrik Baksaas - President & CEO, Telenor Group

Scandinavia is just beginning to grow and develop together, but it also has shifting governments, said the President and CEO of Swedish telecomms operator Telenor Jon Fredrik Baksaas. "But we are able to come together on how to spend the richness of North Sea oil profits."   He pointed out that it is only since after the Second World War that Scandinavian countries have been able to develop both alone and in parallel while continental Europe has had this ability for centuries. He cited the region's unified response to terrorist shootings in Norway a year ago as an example of collaboration within Scandinavia.

"The Swedish economy is about manufacturing, worldwide looking with strong brands, while the Norwegian economy is more about natural resources. The Finnish economy broke down essentially after the collapse of the Soviet system in 1989-90 but regrouped, joined the Euro and has rebuilt itself. These are all open economies and are all dependent on international trade agreements to create value and to participate in global growth.

He adds: "and they don't pose a military threat to anyone..."

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