Starting the week with breakfast with William Barnett, Professor of Business Leadership, Strategy and Organizations at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He visited Lviv for the first time at the invitation of Olena Vovk and Enkelejd Zotaj.
UCU Business School community, partners, CEOs, and business owners shared with Prof.Barnett about the impact of the war on their activities, what it means to run business in a war environment and what does it mean to be a leader nowadays. Professor Barnett also shared some important global learnings.
«We cannot predict the course of events, but in retrospect, these are incredible things» – Professor Barnett shares his thoughts.
«War is the driver of innovation. During this time, Ukrainians learned flexibility and adaptability. You learn how to live with drone attacks, missile attacks, and blackouts. We are not just surviving, we are not victims, we are not poor. We do it consciously, we don’t leave, we continue to work» – comments Olga Rudneva, СЕО of Superhumans Center.
The professor asked the participants which narratives about Ukraine should be spread abroad. What is important for Ukrainian businesses.
«Not only Ukrainian but also global businesses are at war now. Foreign businesses must understand their impact on the war because they are also part of the global economy and they can influence the outcome of this war, e.g. by working or not working with russia, delivering goods and electronics there or not, so they all are actors in one way or another. In different prerogatives, in different perceptions and scale, but they have their negative or positive impact», – Dmytro Berdnik, CTO of B-Next.
«Don’t be sorry for Ukraine and Ukrainian business – be useful» – Enkelejd Zotaj, CTDO of Raiffeisen Ukraine.
«We continue to work, we need to do something and not just wait for the next alarm» – Rostyslav Vovk, owner and CEO of Kormotech LLC.
«As a country at war, we need help, including weapons and especially weapons since our soldiers cannot fight empty-handed. But as businesses, we are reliable partners who do not need pity but need partnerships», – Sophia Opatska, Vice-rector of UCU and Founding Dean of UCU Business School.
Professor Barnett noted that the voice of Ukrainian business will be heard in his new study and wished us strength in the fight.
Both UCU Business School as well as our guests have ideas and thoughts about future collaboration. And we are grateful to Olena Vovk and Enkelejd Zotaj for organizing this visit to UCU.
