PRIMUS award ceremony was held in Zagreb's Westin Hotel on May 27th 2010, organized by the magazine Business Adviser and the Association of Management Consultants with the aim of promoting excellence in business consulting.
PRIMUS prize was awarded to the best of consulting projects by business consultants, or individuals that lead projects in 2009, and are also members of the Croatian expert and professional associations in the field of their activity.
PRIMUS was awarded in 5 regular categories and 1 special prize.

A winner in each category is:
• Tajana Barančić for Management and Consulting
• Mladen Jančić for Human resources, education and training
• Zrinko Ergotić for Strategic planning and organizational development
• Zdravko Krakar recieved Award for special contributions to business consulting in the Republic of Croatia

PRIMUS committee is composed of:
mr. sc. Anton Florian Barisic, CMC, MCSE, EEA
mr. Sandra Mihelcic, B. Sc. Econ.
Ivana Bandovic Ozegovic, BSc. Soc. worker
Igor Milinovic, B. Sc. Econ.

Conference on Professional Certification: Opportunity or Need?

In Bari, Italia, the Conference on Professional Certification was held on May 6, 2010 was organized by the "University of Bari", the "Southern Italy Chapter of the Project Management Institute" (PMI-SIC) and the "Associazione Professionale Italiana dei Consulenti di direzione e Organizzazione" (APCO).

They have invited some of the most qualified and leading national and international experts from Institutions, Public Administrations and private organizations. At the conference as a speaker participated Mr Anton Florijan Barisic, CMC, CEO of CHRONOS Info and President of Croatian Asociation of Management Consultanmts (AMC).

The increasing role of professional competences in all knowledge economy sectors does not correspond to the same awareness, on behalf of the users of professional services, concerning how to choose, how to make the difference, what to ask and how to evaluate the results of professionals´ work.

In this context, the objective of the conference was to give an answer on about „can professional certification be considered as an opportunity for the market and the economy as a whole? Can it produce benefits for the entire society? Or, can we talk about needs that the demand must consider in redefining its own approach, by adopting new rules, and purchasing professional service processes?

The themes discussed were;

•  Certified Management Consultant (CMC) - Value of certification to the Profession & Professionals

•  CMC Value of certification to the Clients and the Economy

•  Project Management as a Strategic Competency

•  Certification Value in the Evaluation of Skills for Public Contracts

•  Professional skills in ISO-CEN and UNI regulations

TRAINING ON CONSULTING IN EXPORT PROMOTION

In Podgorica, Montenegro, in Small and Medium Enterprises Development Directorate of Montenegro premisess, on 13th of April 2010, was held an one day training on consulting in export promotion. The training is a part of regional education programme within the SEE Consultancy network project funded by German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ). The trining was organized and delivered by Chronos Info consulting company, and consucted by Mr Anton Florijan Barišić, CMC, certified management consultant from Croatia.

The topics that have been presented are of the big importance of export promotion, principles of consulting, advisory types, basics of export management and key success factors, the role of consultants in the management of export, practical models, etc.

The main goal of the trainig was to create and promote knowledge and skills for export activities which as the final target have the export promotion and support of SME's, as well as strengthening the capacities of the local consultants oriented to export, members of the SEE Consultancy network.

REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Croatian Association of Management Consultants and Consulting Network South East Europe organized on 4th and 5 March 2010, in the Hotel Regent Esplanade in Zagreb Regional Conference on consultancy in export promotion called "Export Marketing and Promotion - trends and challenges in export consultancy in Southeast Europe“.

The conference was held as the final event for the project "Building a regional supply of advisory services and markets for export-oriented enterprise" within the open regional fund for Southeast Europe (ORF) - Fund for Foreign Trade, which the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany in six countries of Southeast Europe implemented by German Society for Technical Cooperation (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit-GTZ).

Partners in Croatia are the Association of Management Consultants ( www.ups-amc.org ) and the Agency for Export and Investment Promotion ( www.apiu.hr ).

The project aims at building a regional network of export-oriented business consultants to increase the export capabilities of SMEs in the region of Southeast Europe, and the intention of this conference is to show how far have this branch succeeded and what has to be done to achieve the objectives of export strategies.

This conference is of particular importance as a major professional regional consultative forum to promote exports, identified as a gathering place for scientists and practitioners from countries in the region of Southeast Europe. The conference was attended by over 100 participants from countries in the region as it gave the context of a regional gathering of professionals from the consulting profession in the field of development, preparation and promotion of exports.

Topics of the conference are:
• Marketing consulting services in the region - key challenges and opportunities with the workshop on the future development of the SEE Network of Consultants
• EU funds and opportunities for consultants with a workshop on how to become a consultant to the EU - the risks, challenges and benefits
• Regional cooperation and competition with a workshop on new business models - strategies and tools for success.

At the conference Chronos Info representative attended as a speaker, workshop leader and moderator.

More information on www.see-consultancy.net

Workshop for creating projects within the CIP - Eco-innovation

On the occasion of launching of call for proposal under the CIP Eco-innovation Community, organized by the European business network, on 20th and 21 April the Info day was held and workshops with the participation of representatives from 105 companies in Croatian Chamber of Commerce premisses.

Project workshop was held by Mr. Anton Flori j an Barisic from CHRONOS Info Company specialized in providing consulting services and training for IPA funds and programs of the community (Community Programmes).

Program CIP Eco-innovation is designed for small and medium sized companies and provides significant opportunities for co-financing projects in the field of innovative environmental and recycling, construction and building, food and beverage sector and green business.

For the period from 2008. to 2013. is planned 200 million euros for innovative projects in the fields of ecology, and this year there is 35 million euro secured a for financing about 45-50 projects rthat will be rated as successful . Thru education and participation in this program, opportunity to increase competitiveness and respond to market demands is beeing ofered to Croatian companies.

Call for Proposals, and withdrawal from the program is opened from April 13th and lasts until September 9th. I mplementation of first projects starts in April 2011th , and 50 percent of total costs is beeing co-financed. The maximum duration of the contract is three years.

During the interactive workshop for making the proposals, participants will recieve important information about how to apply for the Call for 2010, and learn how to find the best partners to identify project ideas step by step, and successfully undergo the process of planning and proposal writing, how to overcome possible difficulties in project management etc. with a representative of the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation ( EACI).

In early April, Towns and Vrbovec and Zabok will begin with a series of anti-corruption workshops led by trainers from Chronos Info consulting firm. The project entitled "Identifying the organization's vulnerability to corruption and creating and implementing a strategic plan for the prevention of corruption in local government using participatory methods of approach" is funded by LGI's (Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative). Participating in the project cities and Vrbovec Zabok will become a kind of pilot cities and incubators of knowledge and innovative approaches to preventing and curing corruption.

Direct work with local authorities will be implemented through a series of interactive workshops in which the mayor and responsible public servants and officials in local authorities will attend in order to provide better insight into the mechanics, dynamics and processes of corruption and in order to transfer the knowledge required to continue working with local governments. All training and workshops will be brought from experts experienced in working with local authorities.

We will use participatory and interactive approach (a combination of theoretical explanations and experiential learning tailored principles of adult learning). Using this approach, a safe working environment, motivation and active participation of all participants we will provide and efficiently acquire knowledge and skills necessary for dealing with such sensitive areas such as raising awareness of the harmfulness of corruption and the need for prevention.

Implementation of project activities and implementation of the project, which is in line with the national anti-corruption program of the Croatian Government, is intended to contribute to the reduction and eventual elimination of dangerous practices of corruption in Croatia . The results of the pilot project will prepare the community to prevent or deal with corruption, which undermines the economy from within the company inside and violates the fundamental values of social relations in a democratic and civil society. In this way public perception of city government is changing, transparency of its work is increasing and trust of citizens is returned.

http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=172894606506&view=user#!/group.php?v=photos&gid=172894606506

We bring you an article on business consultants written by Anton Florijan Barišić published in LIDER magazine on March 15 th 2010:

The biggest advantage of business consultants is they come externally and can objectively and independently evaluate the company and the environment in which it operates and can easily find most appropriate approaches, methods and solutions to problems. But choosing a good business consultant is not an easy task.

PRIMUS - Award for the best projects of Croatian management consultants in 2009. with the aim of promoting excellence in business counseling

PRIMUS award is beeing awarded for the best business projects to professional business consultants (physical persons) who led the project, and who are also members of the Croatian expert and professional associations in the field of their activity. PRIMUS prize will be awarded in 5 regular categories and 1 special prize.

Award-winning categories are:
- Management and Consulting
- Human resources, education and training
- Information Technology
- Strategic planning and organizational development
- Marketing
- Award for special contributions to business consulting in the Republic of Croatia

PRIMUS-a committee is composed of:
-mr. sc. Anton Florian Barisic, CMC, MCSE, EEA
-mr. Sandra Mihelcic, B. Sc. Econ.
-Ivana Bandovic Ozegovic, BSc. Soc. worker
-Igor Milinovic, B. Sc. Econ.

Balcan trust for democracy approved grant of for anticorruption project

Balcan turst for democracy, grantmaking initiative that supports democracy, good governance, and Euroatlantic integration in Southeastern Europe , approved grant to Center for development exelency (CEDEX/CIR) together with partner Chronos Info for implementation of anticorruption project aiming to train new anticrruption practitioners.

Grant approved for „Implementation of the new curicula“ project

The grant for implementing „Implementation of the new curicula“ project was approved to Organization for Economic Policy and Regional Development   (EPRD) Poland, for the needs of Agency for vocational education. Chronos info is a partner on this project beeing financed by IPA European Union fund.

Performance management

In-house seminar „Performance management“ was organized for CHRONOS Info employees. Trainer Silvana Tomić Rotim spent two days in Chronos office guiding us through the matter of Performance Management, getting us aquainted with effects of actions and principles of performance management . Under the skillful guidance we developed a performance management system, determined business objectives of the firm and developed our own personal goals, passed through phases of planning, monitoring and consulting at the end evluation. We decided to be committed and implement the performance management system over the next two weeks within the firm with the aim of further improvment of our efficiency and effectiveness.

Anticorruption project starts in Vrbovec and Zabok

International conference of Slovenian and Croatian Non-Governmental Organizations „Without borders“,  Podčetrtek, Slovenia, November 27-29 2009-11-30

CHRONOS info's representative attended International conference of Slovenian and Croatian Non-Governmental Organizations „Without borders“ (Brez meja – Bez granica). Participants discused various topics regarding  NGO sector and Financial crises, National development strategies, Civil dialogue, Economic activity and Social enterpreneurship, Protection of environment, Human rights, Volunteer work and Inter-geneational cooperation, Youth work, Humanitarian work and panel discusion on Corporate social reponsibility that was moderated by Chronos info consultant.

PROGRAM FOR ANTICORRUPTION PRACTITIONERS (PAP),
FOLLOW UP MEETING
November 27 – 28, 2009, Istanbul Turkey

Chronos Info's two anticorruption practitioners attended PAP follow up meeting in Istanbul organized by NGO FPDL (Ro), in collaboration with World bank Institute, together with our colleagues from Albania, Armenia, Belgium, BiH, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia and Slovakia.
Each country team shared information about the 2010 anticorruption projects on curing and preventing corruption in local governments through interesting and demanding exercise of presenting every project in only 3 minutes. Teams shared experience on obstacles in implementing anticorruption interventions and solutions to overcome them. We also identified and agreed on how to define anticorruption interventions success and how to measure it.
Except from strengthening relations and identifying opportunities for collaboration it was a great opportunity to celebrate 15th anniversary of our partner and friend organization FPDL from Romania on the evening Bosporus cruise.
Find out more about FPDL here: www.fpdl.ro  

REGIONAL PROGRAM “WORKING TOGETHER”
PROGRAM FOR ANTICORRUPTION PRACTITIONERS - PAP
FOLLOW UP MEETING
November 27-28, 2009, Nipon Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey

"Consulting Skills" in Association of Management Consultants

Association of Management Consultants together with trainer and coach Anton Florijan Barišić, CMC leading consultant in CHRONOS Info, organized seminar-workshop "Consulting Skills" on 24th November in Zagreb, which is intended for those who are engaged or wish to engage in business consulting. Seminar is a dynamic and intensive course designed to increase the professionalism of consultants, structured in in a away to define the process of consultant work and the logical way to follow the steps in approaching customers and work with them.

Besides consultants, seminar is designed for all busines persons that want to gain knowledge form topics that seminar offers:

• Development of business consulting practice
• How to attract the attention of business audiences
• Implementation of the consultant task
• Team development, characteristics of teams
• Change Management

The seminar was attended by 8 participants. The seminar is evaluated with very high scores (4, 7) where the trainer got the highest mark (5)

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE "CONNECTING EDUCATION AND ECONOMY"
The conference will be held 03. and 04th December in the European Commission building in Brussels, and is organized by the European Training Foundation (Agency for Education for countries that are not EU members). During the conference there will be the exchange of experiences in collaboration with the education sector presented by a company from Split, SGM, and Efka Heder temporary Director of the Regional Center for entrepreneurial competencies for the countries of South Eastern Europe will present the activities of the Center. The founders of the Regional Center are the Ministry of Economy, Labor and Entrepreneurship and the Croatian Chamber of Commerce.
You can find out  more about the conference here:
http://www.etf.europa.eu/web.nsf/pages/Education_and_Business_Cooperation_EN

Conference "Financing and encouraging small and medium enterprises in Croatia"

Croatian Chamber of Commerce - Enterprise Europe Network is organizing a one-day conference, which is intended to present all the institutions, bodies, agencies and foreign, who work in encouraging and financing businesses in Croatia.
The conference will be held on 1st December 2009. The premises of the Croatian Chamber of Economy, Roosveltov trg 2, Zagreb, City Hall, first floor.
The conference is designed in two parts: in the morning main topic will be possibilities of financing from domestic resources while in the afternoon topic will be current and future opportunities within the EU funds.
During first part the topic will be the credits and initiatives of the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development, incentives and guarantees of the Croatian Agency for Small Business and the programs of Business Innovation Center BICRO.

In the second part Central State Office for Strategy and Coordination of EU funds will make review of current and future funding opportunities for SMEs from the EU funds. Croatian Institute of Technology will present the opportunities within the EU Seventh Framework Program for Research and Development, and the Agency for Mobility and programs through educational opportunities entrepreneurs program for lifelong learning. The conference will close HBOR with lecture on "HBOR and EU funds“.

Application and information:
Kristina Cappucci
kcappucci@hgk.hr

Prijavnica Financiranje SMEa 1 12 2009.doc (396,50 kb)
Program Financiranje SMEa 1 12 2009.doc (1,11 mb)

Seminar "Export marketing and sales strategy“ in Belgrade and Sarajevo

Within the project "Building a regional offers of advisory services and markets for export-oriented enterprises" within the regional program of consultants education for consultants and the business community, seminars "Export marketing and sales strategies", were held 5 / 6 November in Belgrade and 19 November in Sarajevo. The project is financed from the funds of the Open Regional Fund for Southeast Europe, and education was accomplished by lecturers-members of the Association of Management Consultants from Zagreb in cooperation with the GTZ offices in Serbia and Bosnia.

Belgrade seminar was attended by 16 participants and seminar in Sarajevo by 24 participants.  Both seminar were rated by participants with very high grades, considering it a very high quality, well managed and productive. Lecturer Anton Florian Barisic, CMC, (CHRONOS Info), who was a speaker at these seminars, received the highest grade 5 in Belgrade, and in Sarajevo high 4.83 points and was rated as an excellent lecturer who has a special skill to transfer knowledge.

Echoes from the seminar are best expressed by compliments addressed to the teacher:

"The best part was, obviously, a wonderful established communication between lecturers and participants." (Sanja Nikolin, Belgrade)

"... Congratulations for the presentation on the seminar in Sarajevo. I felt confortable and that is probably the result of a relaxed atmosphere during the seminar ...", (Amir Međić, Sarajevo)

"It was great. More such seminars are needed for our businessmen. The atmosphere in the group was constructive, team focused and productive " (Fuad Strik, Sarajevo)

One of the participants of the seminar in Belgrade, wrote a review which you can read at
http://www.facebook.com/l/00416;www.sasajovanovic.com/2009/11/11/izvozne-marketing-strategije/

Održana godišnja konferencija američke udruge poslovnih savjetnika

Prije mjesec dana 23-27. Listopada 2009. u Renou, Nevada, USA, održana je godišnja konferencija američkog instituta za management konzalting (IMC USA) pod naslovom „Ovladavanje umjetnošću savjetovanja: kako uspjeti u turbulentnom vremenu“ (Mastering the Art of Consulting: Thriving in Turbulent Times)

Teme konferencije pokrivale su razna područja savjetovanja

• Promjena pravila i uspjeh u današnjoj ekonomiji
• Kako postaviti politiku cijena i naplaćivati usluge
• Jesmo li vrijedan resurs ili žrtva ekonomije
• Definiranje novih modela poslovanja savjetnika
• Uspješan konzalting za globalne klijente

te mnogo više o konferenciji može se naći na adresi http://www.confabusa.org/

Twentieth Conference KOM2009

KOM2009- Conference on electronic communication technologies and standards in informatics is being held in Opatija from 23.11. to 25.11.2009. in Opatija. The conference is organized by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, Primorsko-Gorska County and firm CASE
Conference topics:
• Network (fixed, wireless), COMPONENT - with special emphasis on equipment, standards, network applications, concepts (eg, fast networks, wireless networks, examples of network performance and network connectivity, etc.).
• COMMUNICATION AND INTERNET SERVICES (Fixed, Mobile, IP TV) - the norms and protocols for interconnecting computers and other equipment (virtualization, digital home) and their impact on information systems and business ...
• INTERNET AND NETWORK SECURITY - trends and risks of the web, setting up the system of integral protection, installed security checks (eg, penetration tests), hacker attacks, protection equipment, etc.

Conference includes includes:
• Lectures
• Presentations
• Workshops
• Round Table - the current "hot" topics in the field of communication
• Organization of seminars
• Exhibitions
look more about the conference program on page www.case.hr/kom2009

CHRONOS Info sponsor of the FEACO European Conference on Management Consulting

CHRONOS Info has signed the sponsorship contract with Association of Management Consultants Croatia about sponsoring the FEACO European Annual Conference under the title „Competitiveness, innovation, business excellence and consulting in CSE Europe“ which will be held on October 23-24, 2008, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Features of the Conference include plenary sessions with addresses of invited speakers, referred paper sessions, panels, and other special invited sessions. Challenging themes as

• the New markets in SEE,
• Governance, local development and consulting services
• ICT, information society, and consulting
• Investment projects, finance and management“,
• Human resource development in the consulting industry

Standardization, Qualification framework and consulting practice, are planned to be discussed giving look into prospectives for future development of consulting services in Europe,

Besides its undoubted professional importance as a European consultancy forum, the Conference has been recognized as a meeting place of scholars and practitioners from different countries, cultures and backgrounds. More about the conference under www.feaco2008.com.hr

Distribution and license agreement with SANAKO Corporation

CHRONOS Info has signed the distribution and license agreement with SANAKO Corporation, Finland, about partnership and cooperation on promotion, marketing and distribution of educational equipment, e-learning solutions, advanced learning solutions as well as cooperation on EU funded projects about development of educational system in Croatia and Region

Our clients are in private and public -educational sectors, such as: in Universities, High Schools, Secondary schools and business –sector.

SANAKO, formerly Tandberg Educational, is a learning technology company developing language teaching solutions, teaching and classroom management software, virtual learning and professional development solutions, as well as supplying customer services. Sanako is the world leader in live language learning technology.

More about SANAKO under www.sanako.com

Contract with Chamber of Commerce of Macedonia about education on EU Funding

CHRONOS Info has signed the contract with Chamber of Commerce of Macedonia about education on EC Funding Opportunities and Developing a Project Proposal; Intensive Training Course for Project Managers designed for business community

The training programme is designed to introduce all strategic aspects of developing project proposals eligible to be financed by EU funding by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of participation in EU financed programmes from the viewpoints of different types of organizations and to assist organizations who are preparing or who want to prepare projects to participate in these EU financed programmes.

The programme and consulting service are strongly recommended for those who wish to submit EU proposals and plan to take an active part in the development of future projects in Europe.

The target group slightly varies according to the type of needs, but in principle the programme and consulting service is foreseen for those of companies, institutions, universities from EU Associated Countries and South East Europe countries who have either participated in EU Community Programmes before or intend to submit an EU funded project proposal.

More about the assignment under the www.mchamber.org.mk

Cooperation with EBRD TAM BAS programme in providing education in Macedonia and Bosnia & Herzegovina

CHRONOS Info has arranged cooperation with EBRD TAM BAS programme on providing education and training for consultants and business sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia. For Chamber of Commerce Banja Luka, BiH, there will be organized training and seminar about Konsulting excellences, and for needs of TAM BAS program in Macedonia there willl be organized several seminars and trainigs on EU funding and Project cycle management.

More about EBRD TAM BAS Programme under www.ebrd.com