We need to move forward and combine tradition with the contemporary trends…
Faculty of Economics University of Ljubljana was hosting on Monday, 14th March 2016 at the course Learning and Knowledge Management as a guest lecturer from practice – Mr Lucian Perger from family owned company Perger, Gingerbread and Candle making, d.o.o, Alumni of the Faculty of economics. The lecture was focused on knowledge gaining and distribution among already the 9th generation (http://perger1757.si/en/about-us/). Tradition is the competitive advantage at the global market. Authentic Slovene craftsmanship and contemporary trends form the competitive advantage and stories of ancestors’ dedication are part of home-made products. Lucian Perger stressed the challenge that succession represents for every family-run company and expressed the need to really love what you do in order to make succession successful. One needs to hand over the tasks and responsibilities soon enough and carefully choose the right person for the right post.
Based on his extensive experiences in leading internationalization of family business activities our guest speaker shared with us several valuable advice for international management and as well as coordination among departments within a learning organization in a family-run business. Lucian Perger decided to promote their products on a competitive global market, therefore needed first to convince his family to listen to him and also to convince the demanding buyers on a global market, such as German department store KaDeWe, which has the reputation to be “the German Harrods”. Knowledge management and investment costs are the mayor components one needs to pay attention when entering the global market. One needs to differentiate from other players in the market. A good manager needs to incorporate knowledge sharing in every part of the organizational structure. In family-run businesses routine can present a challenge as people are often rigid or afraid of changes. Companies that have implemented knowledge management are more resilient. Lucian Perger emphasized the need for every employee to know the mission of their company as this is the only way they can provide a product of high quality as his father Hrabroslav always likes to say “Work from the heart for thousands of hearts”. They are dedicated to innovation in product development and they have many products that demonstrate that, such as Energy candle, honey perfume or eco gingerbread. At the same time the procedure for making gingerbread managed to stay the same secret from 1757. Their exclusive production enables them the entrance to demanding foreign markets, among the most recent ones being Israel, China, Australia, and Dubai.
Mr Perger shared with our students his thoughts on the meaning of success. For him success is if you like doing what you are doing every day. He learns from elders and from his own mistakes. He also believes the the only way to learn is through making decisions, gaining experiences and learning from the wrong decisions. Fear of failure is the major limitation in one’s life and in doing business. One needs to look forward to new challenges and advance. His father Hrabroslav adviced him: “Lucian, work with love, do not pay too much attention on the money.” Studying provided Lucian with theoretical frameworks; that is why today he feels more confident to confront practical challenges. He thinks that without a proper education it is harder to gain valuable experiences you can reflect upon and learn from them. He thinks that in the future of management values, feelings and care for other human beings will be even more important than today.
Full Professor Vlado Dimovski, PhD, Judita Peterlin, PhD, and Aleša Saša Sitar, PhD, wish to thank our valuable guest lecturer for his inspiring lecture and demonstration of what dedication, vision, hard work, passion and family values can produce.
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