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Foreign business groups join forces

Expat Business Association teams up with competitor

By Claire Compton
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
August 20th, 2008 issue

MICHAEL HEITMANN/The Prague Post
Jo Weaver, center, spearheaded the formation of the International Business Association - a more elite foreign business forum.
Prague’s international business scene has a new player.
Eight months after defecting from the British Chamber of Commerce, the British Business Forum (BBF) is merging with the Expat Business Association (EBA) to form a selective new organization.
The foundation of the newly formed group — the International Business Association (IBF) — was spearheaded by BBF founder Jo Weaver, who announced the merger along with her fellow board members at an Aug. 13 conference.
Emerging from the mélange of Prague business organizations and chambers, the IBF aims to occupy a narrower niche in Prague’s increasingly crowded international business community by building a more discerning membership.
The fusion may strengthen the position of the eclectic EBA, which found its identity and purpose overlapped with those of its competitor-turned-partner.
“We saw that the BBF was growing, and we found that we were either going to compete or combine,” said Vodafone Czech Republic Director Graham Maher, a former board member of the EBA and now of the IBF. “It was a relatively quick process — something that was obvious to both organizations.”
The events leading to the IBF’s forming have been quick and decisive.
Late last year, a 10-member group splintered from the British Chamber to form the BBF during a single meeting. Its purpose, Weaver said, was to correct “what was lacking in the international business community.”
Pressed for time, the executives spent their holiday season putting their plan into action. “In the space of one day, we decided on the name,” said Weaver. “[We] prepared the Web site and did the legal work over Christmas. We launched Jan. 7 and by the end of the month already had 50 members.”
Although its membership has since swelled to more than 100, maintaining a small member base was one of the BBF’s top priorities and a significant motivator behind its creation. To provide serious networking opportunities, the IBF will therefore promote the BBF’s objective of a business organization for higher-level executives.
While most chambers tend to be open in their membership requirements, the IBF will selectively “target the bosses of companies,” Weaver said. “[Local chambers and business organizations] have all become very big, mixed and serving slightly different purposes. … They’re attractive to younger members, but [we] need to have an organization for people running those bigger companies. If it’s too big, it’s difficult to keep that going.”
The IBF’s second stated goal, ethical business practices, will also tighten membership requirements by letting members suss out the ethical reputations of other companies.
“Who should you do business with? Who should you not do business with? These are good questions and part of why the EBA started,” Maher said. “It gave us a way of dealing with a referral system.”
Although business organizations often serve their members best through networking, they can also act as an important referral service for companies navigating the business communities of new countries.
According to Maher, seven members were asked to leave because of questionable business practices during his time at the EBA. “I’m very proud of that,” he said.
Breaking the mold
With its pan-national focus and selective membership, the IBF does not intend to compete with the city’s array of foreign chambers of commerce.
A majority of the city’s foreign business organizations have strong links to their respective embassies. Many — including the British Chamber — name their ambassadors honorary chairs.
In an attempt to break down this structure, IBF leaders would like ambassadors to support them as “peers, not subordinates,” Maher said.
While several chamber members questioned the intentions of the BBF upon its founding, British Chamber of Commerce Chairwoman Eva Williams, the director of corporate and legal affairs at Tesco Czech Republic, said she was no longer concerned about possible competition between the two organizations.
“Now it’s back to normal. I think everyone feels that many associations and chambers can exist in the Czech Republic quite happily next to each other,” she said.
However, Williams’s tone changed when asked whether UK-based Tesco would seek membership with the IBF. “To be honest, no,” she replied.
Immediately after the formation of the BBF, the BCC became worried that the new organization would lure away some of its members, said Williams. These fears were promptly dissuaded by a January audit, which showed that British Chamber membership had only dipped slightly, to 312 members.
“We were a bit [concerned] that we would lose some [members], but were quite pleasantly surprised to see that we didn’t take a hit above our regular annual changes,” Williams said.
Meanwhile, the IBF is already pioneering new business projects.
Beyond networking, the nascent organization has already found success in a mentoring program between executives and younger professionals at various companies, a practice Weaver said she hasn’t observed elsewhere in the Czech Republic.
“I was surprised by how many people said yes. We definitely want that,” she said. “Employees don’t always want to talk to their direct bosses about [corporate] issues, so it’s a useful thing.”
Above all, Weaver wants the IBF to be member-driven in its agenda, activities and strategies. Although the organization doesn’t see itself as a lobbying body, the membership will be left to decide on that issue as well, she said.
Rather than lobbying, Maher suggested strengthening business ethics was a more effective goal for the organization. “It would be better if business people just behaved ethically instead of lobbying other people to behave ethically,” he said. “[Ethics] begin at home.”

Claire Compton can be reached at ccompton@praguepost.com


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