SNAPSHOT:

The Manager: Kimberly Hartman
The Job: Country Director in Bulgaria for the Oxford Business Group (OBG). 
In Brief: Since joining OBG, Hartman has been posted in Malaysia, Bahrain and Romania.  Prior to joining OBG, Hartman was based in Argentina, where she was conducting research on the economy following the economic crisis of 2001.  
Hartman studied international relations and economics at University of Michigan and University of California, Berkeley. Having travelled extensively to 14 countries throughout South America, South East Asia and Eastern Europe, Hartman has a  sound knowledge of international current affairs, politics and economics and an ability to do business on a multicultural level.

When her parents gave Kimberly Hartman her first name, no one could have known how apposite it would prove to be. As country director for UK-based publishing, research and consultancy services organisation the Oxford Business Group, much of her role is to ensure that there is a prism opening the way to understanding, and in a relatively small team, effective management is very valued.

Nothing much of the hardness, though, unless one wants to push the analogy as far as saying that her firm is in the business of hard information.

All leaders in business have had their inspirations in experience and through people that they have known, and Hartman’s make an interesting list.

“I think that there have been many small events and different people along the way.

“Definitely being in Argentina following the economic crisis was very interesting and very dramatic, and so from that time I was inspired to continue studying and researching international economics and politics and the way that the world works in general, observing and absorbing different cultures and countries.”

The individuals that she names as having inspired her make up an eclectic list.

“I was very impressed by the governor of the central bank of Asia, Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz, a very dynamic and prominent woman, and I also have been very impressed by Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin. And my father, who is the chief executive of a payroll company in Ohio, where I’m from.  My father is a very fair, compassionate person and a good listener, and his management style has been the model for me – a style that is very open, communicative, with an emphasis on welcoming feedback and being approachable, and with team building in and outside the workplace every week. I don’t know how he finds the time for it,” Hartman smiles.

She has been in Bulgaria for three and a half months. The Oxford Business Group has an intense schedule of meetings with prominent people in public and business life, ahead of preparing its fourth and latest publication on the country, to be called The Report: Emerging Bulgaria 2007 and scheduled for publication within the first half of the year.

Building the right team is especially crucial in such a context, and in explaining the criteria set by the group for recruitment, Hartman reveals much of what is crucial about her role.

The Oxford Business Group, she explains, is an international company that has different requirements for different positions.

Regarding people for field operations, meaning analysts and editorial managers, the key requirements are to have English as a native language and to be highly educated, with qualifications from top universities, to have linguistic and travel experience, and also to have prior research or journalistic experience, particularly regional expertise, so as not only to be internationally trained but also to have a regional insight.

“For example, our team was previously in Romania, and we now that we have come here to Bulgaria, we can bring our regional knowledge to our work here as well. That is definitely an asset.”

She says that country directors should have all the above requirements, as well as leadership and management ability.

“In general, for the whole staff, we must have people who are open-minded, flexible, and dynamic.”

When it is put to her that these criteria would seem to make a young staff inevitable, she says that most of the team are in their 20s and 30s, but with expertise in a specific field being crucial, there is no limit on age and there are older members of the team.

The staff, Hartman says, are international, with many coming from the UK and elsewhere in Europe and from the US, but for example in the Gulf states, Arabic specialists being well represented.

Hartman acknowledges that a project such as the Oxford Business Group books must be able to be perceived as objective, and especially be without partisan political bias.

She says that each book opens with a chapter on the political life of the country being covered, but that this chapter is compiled from the point of view of being reliable and useful business analysis, without taking a specific political position.

“Our books are written as business analyses, particularly tailored to foreign investors and the international business community. We maintain an objective angle because we are writing business analysis and not fresh-off-the-press news. Of course, the information is fresh, but it’s factual and it is business analysis.”

Hartman says that the Oxford Business Group does not operate in a country without first seeking the consent and blessing of that country’s government.

However, such partnerships with government are non-monetary “so this also helps us maintain our objectivity”.

In Bulgaria, the group is working in co-operation with the Foreign Ministry.

She describes the ministry as “very helpful”, facilitating access to research materials and in making contacts and getting doors opened.

“We make sure that our presence is always welcome but we have no monetary obligations or specific obligations (to a government) to fulfil.”

In the time since her arrival in Bulgaria, she says that her meetings with prominent individuals across all sectors of the economy have given her insights into issues such as the workforce.

“I have learnt some very interesting information, for example, I have learnt that one of the strengths of Bulgaria is its IT sector, and that Bulgaria is not only an outsourcing hub now, but also has a high potential for innovation. Also, in the IT sector Bulgaria has an advantage over other countries in terms of quality, and from a European perspective has a time zone advantage as opposed to other countries such as Russia and China.”

Hartman says that in Bulgaria, there is a definite observable trend in management to move away from hierarchies, meaning that management is being “flattened” so that workplaces are becoming more consensual, with an emphasis of staff development and training and a move away from top-down management.

“Definitely, people are becoming more motivated. The situation is improving and you will see a further improvement in future, away from the communist-era mentality characterised by a lack of motivation and rigid hours.”

Hartman believs that there needs to be a shift away from rigid hours to more flexible working times, with improved compensation for performance and payment for overtime.

She holds that Bulgaria can look forward to a reverse brain drain, with people who have been working abroad returning to the country.

When it is put to her that in spite of  possible reverse brain drain, there is the potential problem of a continuing exodus of workforce because of Bulgaria’s EU accession, she says that it is important to take into consideration both movements of people.

It cannot be ignored, she says, that people are taking opportunities to work abroad, including in the UK where current projections have upwardly revised earlier estimates, but “you cannot ignore that people, especially if they have been abroad for a long time, will want to come back, to their roots. We are already seeing this in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia”.

Asked to evaluate the strengths and shortcomings of the labour markets of Bulgaria and South Eastern Europe in general, Hartman says that the strengths may be listed as including the relatively low wages for an educated European workforce, linguistic capabilities – particularly among the elite, an increasing culture of entrepreneurship and expertise, and as far as employees are concerned, fast wage growth is a strength.

“Also, as we touched on previously, the high standard of living for Bulgarians returning from working abroad, and more and more will be coming back – is a strength.”

As to shortcomings, she says that the country’s labour markets are very tight, especially in the capital city of Sofia and the urban areas along the Black Sea coast. In addition, a further shortcoming is that there is no clear immigration policy, given that immigration will be needed soon. She adds that the lack of highly skilled specialists in certain areas, from manual labour to skilled services such as the financial sector, is a definite shortcoming.

She reiterates that a shortcoming is the continuing practice of a fixed time schedule for employees and a mentality that is not used to flexible times, “and overtime compensation is not very popular”. To this list, she adds the high level of employment in black and grey economies.

Asked how she sees this country developing over the next five to 10 years, Hartman says that she sees it conforming increasingly to international standards.

“There will be more and more increased competition, breaking of monopolies and oligarchies in certain sectors, and we are also looking at diminishing SMEs, meaning that they will be bought by bigger companies in future years – and also the reverse brain drain that we discussed.”

She says that in the next five to 10 years, the government will have to ensure that it has a constructive pro-foreign direct investment policy as the rate of privatisation slows.

“Also, personally, I hope that there will be greater investment in education and training, in parallel with a constructive immigration policy.”

Hartman says that she foresees potentially higher overhead costs for businesses because of EU regulations and standardisation “and also with this, hopefully, there will be less bureaucracy involved in starting a business”.

As to her personal outlook and ambitions, she says: “I wouldn’t limit myself to working in countries that are in transition or that are per se emerging. Of course it is quite exciting to be in a country with such a dynamic economy as Bulgaria. Previously I was in Romania, which also has quite a dynamic economy, but I would not want to be limited just to transition countries. Rather I am interested in my work because I love to travel, but also importantly, I have the chance to spend six months of the year in a country, that enables me to understand that country that much more deeply.”

Hartman says that she wants to continue developing experience in the global economy, continuing to do research in various countries and developing a broader perspective on the world.

She says that she would be interested in working in the former Soviet Union and would be keen to go back to Latin America. In each of these two places, she has a brother, so there would be an opportunity for a personal dividend, she says. “And China fascinates me,” she adds.

“I would like at some point in the future to focus my efforts in the public sector, particularly in international development work. I am still just gaining experience and seeing where it takes me.”