January 13th, 2015 – Riga/Tallinn – Pedersen & Partners, a leading international Executive Search firm with 53 wholly owned offices in 50 countries, is pleased to announce the addition of Pasi Harttunen to the Estonian team and Kaspars Kauliņš to the Latvian team, both joining as Principals.

Mr. Harttunen has built his career in the leadership and recruitment services sector since 2004. During that period, he held key roles including Managing Director and Chairman of the Board within well-known consultancy firms in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Before that, he developed a strong background in Financial Services with Sampo Group, most notably as the Regional Vice President with Sampo-Leonia (Finland) and the Development Director & Board Member with If P&C Insurance Company in Estonia. Additionally, Mr. Harttunen is the Chairman of the Board at the Finnish-Lithuanian Chamber of Commerce in Vilnius.

Mr. Kauliņš brings over 20 years of solid expertise in executive search, HR and strategic business consulting. During his career, Mr. Kauliņš has held various senior positions within the Consumer Products (FMCG), Financial Services, Professional Advisory, and the IT & Telecommunications industries, notably, as Managing Director & Chairman of the Supervisory Board with Fontes a regionaly focused executive search firm based in Latvia. He has also held senior HR positions with Hansabank, Swedbank Group, and SPI Group.

“The addition of Pasi and Kaspars is an important step in our ongoing efforts to expand our already strong presence in the Baltics. They are both experienced professionals with a solid track record of results within the region. Pasi brings strong relationship management skills, thoughtful strategic insights, and profound knowledge of the Financial Services and Management Consultancy, while Kaspars has proven results as the Managing Director & Chairman with a well known regional executive search firm and has worked across various sectors that are highly developed in the Baltics. Both represent added value to our clients and I am confident they will contribute to the high standards we provide to our clients,” says Evita Lune, Partner & Country Manager for Latvia.

Pedersen & Partners is a leading international Executive Search firm. We operate 53 wholly owned offices in 50 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia & the Americas. Our values Trust, Relationship and Professionalism apply to our interaction with clients as well as executives. More information about Pedersen & Partners is available at www.pedersenandpartners.com

If you would like to conduct an interview with a representative of Pedersen & Partners, or have other media-related requests, please contact: Mark Anderson, Marketing & Communications Manager at: mark.anderson@pedersenandpartners.com

Riga, Latvia - Evita Lune, Partner at Pedersen & Partners talks to ”Ir Nauda” about the practical value of an MBA from the view point of an executive search expert.

Latvia can boast a large number of managers and specialists with higher degrees. However, the requirements are low in many Latvian universities, and an MBA could be a business genius or a wealthy housewife.

Do employers in Latvia appreciate an MBA degree?  In general, the education obtained from the most prestigious universities in Latvia and abroad (mostly from Western Universities) is highly appreciated by highly-educated employers, provided that the company is sufficiently large and complex to afford such an educated manager or specialist.

During the Executive Search process, most of the focus is on experience, which is more important than education in Latvia. Indeed, the experience gained in some companies could be more valuable than an MBA degree from an average university.

Riga, Latvia - Global trends in Human Resource Management set the tone for Latvian enterprises. The responsibilities and competences of Human Resource Managers are increasing.

”A high-level Human Resource Manager must be able to act as a Business Advisor. In Latvia, the search process for HR Manager is based on this factor. Nowadays the HR Manager is no longer limited to handling the functions of the personnel department.

A Human Resource Manager must be able to think as an entrepreneur, understand the company’s business model and analyze the financial results.

Global experience shows that HR Managers are also Business Partners, mostly for specific business segments such as production, procurement and wholesale. According to the statistics for every 70 employees it pays off for a company to hire an HR Manager.

Nowadays companies are looking for leaders who inspire an innate sense of respect. Leadership is the most advanced level of management, based on personal example, inspiration and motivation.

In Latvia most leaders are men, while women (who are now about 90% of HR Managers in Latvia) still perform more support functions. Women must improve their business knowledge if they are to succeed as HR Business Partners,” says Evita Lune, Partner, the Country Manager for Latvia and Head of the Retail Practice group at Pedersen & Partners.
 

Evita Lune, Partner & Country Manager for Latvia at Pedersen & Partners was the Keynote Speaker at the Women's Entrepreneurship Day (WED) which took place in Riga, Latvia on November 19th, 2014.

Ms. Lune’s speech “Take Responsibility, Break Stereotypes, Free your mind” gave her personal insights and experience about collaborating as a woman with business women globally as well as highlighting the opportunities and disadvantages offered by a corporate career vs a start-up for a woman. During her speech, Ms Lune commented, ”It does not matter if you are a man or a woman; it does not matter where you are coming from. The only limit is your mind. You can be as great and as free as your mind allows you to be."

Evita Lune is a Partner with Pedersen & Partners responsible for managing the operations in the Baltics as well as Poland for the firm. Ms. Lune achieved Partner status after successful business and team development both globally and in the Baltics. She has delivered successful executive search projects throughout Europe as well as globally in Colombia, Mexico and Brazil. In October, 2014 Forbes Latvia included Ms. Lune in the top 25 most successful business women in Latvia.

Evita Lune is a Partner with Pedersen & Partners.  She joined the company in 2005 and earned her partnership in 2009. Ms. Lune achieved Partner status after successful business and team development both globally and in the Baltics.

October 24th, 2014 – Riga, Latvia – On 16 October 2014, the international executive search company “Pedersen & Partners” and the pan-Baltic law firm LAWIN hosted “Investors’ Voice” in Riga – a business forum for the purpose of discussing investment in Latvia through the analysis of sources of foreign direct investments (FDI) and their allocation between Latvian industries. The forum was attended by 80 high-level executives from multi-national companies operating in Latvia. During the course of the forum, the focus turned towards Latvia’s prospects for attracting investments, taking into account the current geopolitical situation and recent trends in European and global financial markets.

Latvian Finance Minister Andris Vilks and Prudentia partner Girts Rungainis spoke before the forum as experts. Investors were represented by Seymour Ferreira, CEO of the Baltic Business Unit of SPI Group, Oliver Bramwell, Chairman of the Management Board of Norvik Banka, Asmund Skar (Åsmund Skår), President of DNB bank, and Kaspars Rokens, Executive Manager of Schneider Electric Latvija.

Vilks emphasizes that the ability to attract investment is a key requirement for facilitating growth in Latvia. During the last 20 years Latvia has been able to develop an attractive environment for investments due to both its geographical location and the fact that it had demonstrated the ability to overcome a serious economic crisis and shown growth and stability in recent years – crucial factors for investors. The Minister points out Latvia’s good growth potential for the upcoming years. The Baltic States are currently in a competitive position globally, and Latvia is projected to improve on this next year.

The volume of foreign direct investments (FDI) tends to fluctuate with general trends in the economy. FDI in Latvia peaked in the wake of the 2006-2007 crisis. During the 2009 recession, the volume of FDI in Latvia shrank considerably, but the indices have stabilized in recent years. The volume of FDI has been low over the first half of 2014, but as Vilks stressed, this year’s low rates are a problem throughout the Eurozone, and this can be explained by geopolitical factors. The Eurozone will lose its competitiveness unless politicians become actively involved on a global scale, but Vilks hopes that the new European Commission will take a pragmatic approach and effect positive changes.

“Trust, stability and predictability are fundamental elements. We do not like surprises,” says DNB President Asmund Skar. He points out deficiencies in Latvia’s administrative and legislative system, while concurrently emphasizing the country’s good standing as a key factor for investment. In terms of investment, Skar says that Latvia has benefited from geographical proximity, and also historical and cultural similarities. DNB is interested in the Baltics as both a market and a successful environment for developing DNB Group’s business operations, utilizing local advantages such as low labour costs and the availability of highly-qualified professionals.

Oliver Bramwell, Chairman of the Management Board of Norvik Banka, is of a similar opinion. According to Bramwell, Norvik Banka’s shareholder believes that its investment in Latvia will yield healthy future return on investments. During the post-crisis period, Latvia’s gross domestic product and other financial indices showed strong prospects of future stability and growth, which motivated the decision to invest.

One decisive factor for investment is high efficiency of labour.  Kaspars Rokens, Executive Manager of Schneider Electric Latvija, notes that Schneider Electric’s performance in Latvia has been very successful, considerably exceeding the average industry performance. The company is currently continuing to invest long-term in Latvia. Rokens appreciates the high employee productivity levels in Latvia, but also notes a shortage of qualified labour, especially in the regions.   He points out the need for the government to improve flexibility by providing infrastructure and reducing bureaucracy.

Production and export volumes are crucial factors for long-term investments by one of Latvia’s leading exporters – AS Latvijas Balzams. Seymour Ferreira, CEO of SPI Group’s Baltic Business Unit, notes that more than 100 years of the company’s history in Latvia is proof of the country’s stability and attractive motivation for further investments. Latvia’s geographical position is favorable for exports, and added value comes from the culture of Latvia and the multilingual skills of its employees.

Investors and experts agree that capital can be identified with nationality, and this can affect corporate governance. Prudentia partner Girts Rungainis notes that before the crisis, it was usually presumed that capital has no nationality, but it is now absolutely clear that the origin of capital affects business culture. Within Scandinavia alone, for example, differences between Finnish, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic companies become obvious on close examination – and of course, even more cultural differences surface when German, French, Russian and Japanese enterprises are compared.

The main issues encountered by investors in Latvia are bureaucracy, corruption, insufficient development of infrastructure and existing resources and a lack of educated and qualified labour. One of the challenges for the new government will be to address immigration policy and education issues.
To conclude, the panel of experts and investors and the participants of the event expressed genuine support for the continued future organization of such events. Dialogue among government officials, investors and executives of companies, and experts is crucial to attract future investment in Latvia and overall prosperity.

About LAWIN:

LAWIN is the largest specialised legal team in the Baltics, with a portfolio of cross-border experience comprising the most significant international projects and landmark local deals in the region since the beginning of the 1990s. With over 145 legal professionals and the widest variety of practice areas, LAWIN is ideally positioned to provide each client with top expertise and in-depth specialized legal services, both domestically (in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and on a pan-Baltic scale. 

About Pedersen & Partners:

Pedersen & Partners is a leading international Executive Search firm. We operate 52 wholly owned offices in 50 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia & the Americas. Our values Trust, Relationship and Professionalism apply to our interaction with clients as well as executives. More information about Pedersen & Partners is available at www.pedersenandpartners.com

If you would like to conduct an interview with a representative of Pedersen & Partners, or have other media-related requests, please contact: Mark Anderson, Marketing & Communications Manager at: mark.anderson@pedersenandpartners.com
 

March 26th, 2014 - Riga, Latvia - Pedersen & Partners are ranked as the leading Executive Search firm on the Latvian Market by Dienas Bizness.

April, 2013 - Riga, Latvia - Evita Lune, Partner & Country Manager for Latvia at Pedersen & Partners, was recently interviewed by “Biznesa Psihologija,” where she engaged in an in-depth conversation on executive salaries.

April 24th, 2013 - Riga, Latvia - Indrai Noji (Indra Nooyi), Megai Vitmenai (Meg Whitman), Irēnei Rozenfeldai (Irene Rosenfeld), Elenai Kulmanai (Ellen Kullman) un Patrīcijai Vertcai (Patricia Woertz) ir kas kopīgs. Viņas ir monumentālu, daudznacionālu un gigantisku amerikāņu korporāciju vadītājas, sievietes, mātes, kuras turklāt ir iekļautas žurnāla Forbesietekmīgāko sieviešu Top 10. Vai tas nozīmē, ka sievietes tikai ASV var būt ietekmīgas? Kā ar Eiropu? Dienvidameriku? Es vēlos pastāstīt par stiprām un veiksmīgām sievietēm ārpus ASV, kā arī par viņu apņēmību, neatlaidību un centību gan mājās, gan darbā. Šis būs mēģinājums izcelt to sieviešu izcilību, kas mazāk taisnīgās situācijās spēj sasniegt virsotnes un gūt panākumus, neraugoties uz tādiem sociāli kulturālajiem apstākļiem, kuru dēļ karjeras veidošana ir daudz sarežģītāka.

April 22nd 2013 - Riga, Latvia - Indra Nooyi, Meg Whitman, Irene Rosenfeld, Ellen Kullman, Patricia Woertz have a few things in common, they are CEO’s of monumental, multinational, giant corporations; they are American corporations, they are women, they are mothers and they are listed in Forbes top 10 most powerful women.  Does that mean that only powerful woman can exist in the United States? What about Europe?  South America?  I wanted to write a piece that recognizes the power and the strength successful woman outside the US have and the determination, persistence and dedication to succeed both at home and in the workplace. It is an attempt to underscore the shining brilliance of women in less equitable situations who rise to the top and succeed despite the sociocultural conditions that make their climb so much harder.