What are the greatest difficulties for a Greek trying to build a career as an international business executive?
One of the greatest is a lack of experience. And that’s why multinational companies in Greece, either foreign or Greek, are few and small in size, complexity and specialization. On the other hand, our national economy is not competitive and businesses expand only when there is strong and forceful competition in the domestic market. Japan became the country of automaking because it has an incredible domestic market which improved its technologies and its procedures. Education in Greece may be good on a theoretical level, but it has not kept up with the changes that have affected the country in the domestic and international market. And thats why our executives are at a disadvantage and me along with them. We all begin with one disadvantage. You abandoned your academic career for the world of business. What was the decisive factor? It’s difficult to be both a university professor and the president of a large company. The time came when I had to choose, and the world of business satisfied
