Together, the SIJ Group and the UMco publishing company have published five world-renowned books on business and personal growth in the past two years

Ljubljana, Friday, 28 October 2016 – Together, the SIJ Group and the UMco publishing company have published five world-renowned books on business and personal growth in the past two years

At today's round table held at the SIJ RSC production plant, the SIJ Group and the Umco publishing company presented their sustainable model for publishing business literature. In two years they have published five world-renowned  books in Slovenian on business and personal growth. Distinguished speakers at the round table emphasized the value that this project creates for the publishing company as well as for the employees of the SIJ Group and for the wider Slovenian business community and the general public. 

At today's round table discussing the application of books to work and everyday life, which was held at SIJ Ravne Steel Center’s production plant, the SIJ Group and UMco presented their sustainable model for cooperation in publishing. This is an innovative and winning response to the situation in the literary and publishing industry, which has been shaken in the past decade – especially in small markets like Slovenia – by the economic crisis, digitalization, modified shopping habits, the decrease in the number of independent book shops and other factors.

 "We are cooperating with the SIJ Group in a long-term project that extremely thoughtfully builds on the scope of books that would not otherwise be published in Slovenian. Due to the weak publishing sector in Slovenia, publishers are being forced to adapt their business models, which frequently means that there are less and less of certain types of book titles or quality books on the market," said the Director and Editor of the Umco publishing company and round table speaker, Dr. Samo Rugelj.

At the SIJ Group we are aware that in the industry, in Slovenia and elsewhere, soft skills such as management, which is one of the main topics of issued books, have been neglected in the past. A manager who manages even up to 200 people in production plants may be the best expert in a specific field, but if she or he does not master soft management skills, the production plant will not be as successful as it could be. Dr. Denis Mancevič, Corporate Communications Director at the SIJ Group, one of the key people in establishing cooperation with UMco and a participant at today's round table, emphasized: "The needs of the SIJ Group for soft content in the education process, which are not apparently directly related to business, and the current difficult conditions in the publishing market motivated the emergence of a long-term cooperation between the SIJ Group and UMco, which has led to the publication of five books with a high application value to work and everyday life. We are also planning to publish new books." In the past year, five world-renowned books have enriched the Slovenian book market: ‘The Power of Habit’ by C. Duhigg; ‘Influence’ by R. Cialdini; ‘How We Learn’ by B. Carey; ‘Change’ by P. Watzlawick et al; and a new book by C. Duhigg, which was presented at today's round table: ‘Smarter, Faster, Better’. These books are dedicated to the progress of people at work and in everyday life. They emphasize that besides intelligence, a successful business and private life is achieved by building a mental, emotional and physical orientation, which is accompanied by creativity, the modification of negative habits, impacting others based on one’s own model, positive thinking and so on.

In today's rapidly changing everyday life, and with a lot of pressure in the business world, people must know how to react. This will enable them to achieve long-term success without becoming ‘burnt-out corpses’, as was emphasized by a round table speaker, Dr. Aleksander Zadel, the Director of the C.A.R. Personal Development Institute, who also added: "A book is a tool for contemplation. Time for reading is the time for oneself. Psychological safety is very important in today's life. A good book can help us indirectly acquire experience, lived by other people or other cultures with a long-term business tradition."

The books published so far carry important stories that will remain with us for a long period of time or forever. "And a good story is the story that motivates writers. If a writer or journalist has no story, then they have nothing," said Petra Lesjak Tušek, MSc, the President of the Slovenian Association of Journalists, also a round table speaker. She also added: "Books, culture and publishing have been neglected throughout history, so we must always be on the lookout for new models. Journalists who are currently also looking for a balanced modus operandi  are very important in the process of media positioning of books. And quite often, the (lack of) success of an individual published book depends on media positioning."

Umco provides the employees at the SIJ Group with the use of e-books and the publication of their own book editions, which can be borrowed by SIJ Group employees from two internal libraries. "This partnership creates value for the publishing company and for the professional and personal growth of employees at the SIJ Group, as well as for the wider Slovenian business community and the general public," said Dr. Denis Mancevič who emphasized and described the multiple benefits and importance of the sustainable publishing model for business literature and the cooperation between SIJ Group and UMco.

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The SIJ Group is the largest Slovenian vertically integrated metallurgist group, ranked among the top market positions in the European and world niche steel markets. In addition to metallurgy (the basic activity), the SIJ Group is also involved in the food industry (investment in Perutnina Ptuj) and employs a total of some 7,000 people in Slovenia and abroad. In the first half of 2016 the SIJ Group generated EUR 413.9 million in revenues, with an EBITDA of EUR 60.1 million and a net profit of EUR 24.6 million. With products available on over 80 markets worldwide, the SIJ Group is one of Slovenia's largest exporters.

 

More info:

Dr. Denis Mancevič, Director of Corporate Communications

Email: denis.mancevic@sij.si