The meeting was part of the project Entrepreneurship - Leszek Czarnecki’s Initiative. The Initiative’s originator is ranked third on the list of the richest Poles, the creator and owner of companies such as Getin Bank, Open Finance and Home Broker. Other guests who appeared in the lecture theatre of the Economics and Management Department included Jacek Siwicki, chairman of Enterprise Investors and Dariusz Miłek, chairman of the company NG2, owner of the brands CCC and Boti. The moderator of the debate on fair play in business was Roman Młodkowski, head of TVN CNBC TV station.

The businessmen discussed whether it made sense to play fair in business.
"No matter if it is business, sport or everyday life, you have to be an honest and decent person, said Leszek Czarnecki. In the Businessman’s opinion, it is not fair to withhold information about products, breach agreements with partners or contractors and act in bad faith even if permitted by law".

The moderator asked about the relation between the rules of fair play and the process of determining prices of some goods and services, for example mortgages.
"The qualification of that phenomenon depends on whether we do have a free market and competition, explained Czarnecki. If we do, the price that the market accepts is fair. A situation when an access to a product is limited or when we are facing price fixing practices is quite a different story."

In his view, the most important thing in this respect is to provide consumers with honest information in order to allow them to compare the value of individual products available on the market and to make their own judgement.
"If we want our business to function for many years, first of all, we have to be reliable and our customers have to keep coming back to us, added Jacek Siwicki. The same pertains to any other industry, no matter if we deal in shoes or companies. On the other hand, why should we sell our merchandise for less than others? The line between playing fair and being a sucker can be very thin."

The speakers agreed that fair play was necessary not only in their relations with clients, but also with employees, shareholders and competitors. They also admitted that it was often very difficult to maintain the right balance between their own interest and the interests of shareholders or employees.
"I know people, heads of companies, who want to keep everyone happy, said Siwicki. But somehow their businesses are not doing too well." "Sometimes you have to be very tough and firm, because that’s how you make money", Czarnecki added.

Their answers were quite straightforward when asked about their business ideas if they were to start their careers from scratch today.
I’d probably just sit down and try to think of new ideas, said Leszek Czarnecki. The best ones would be those that could fill niches or even open up entirely new markets.
"You don’t necessarily have to think things out by yourself, commented Dariusz Miłek. You can simply join other people in their ideas or work for others at the beginning. The ability to watch other people and learn from their experiences is a very important characteristic in young people and future businessmen."

KZ