Dr. Krystian Pracz, president of Capgemini Polska, talks to Dena R. Gurgul.

What are the prospects for growth on the Polish market, particularly in relation to accession to the European Union?
First of all, we have to rely on figures, which provide some grounds for hope that Poland will experience huge growth in comparison with other EU countries-between 4-6 percent. In general, for every company on the Polish market, this should have a positive impact. Analysts also expect double-digit growth in consulting, technology and outsourcing services. There is light at the end of the tunnel, but to talk about double-digit growth in the middle of the year is perhaps a little too early.

We have observed that something is happening on the market, but the real impact is not yet tangible. This is certainly connected with the fact that formal EU integration was just accomplished. There is a lot of positive feedback and many positive expectations, but I think people are a little afraid. After May 1 it became clear that some things would change but no one is sure what form these changes will take. If you read documentation connected with the Schengen, export, transfer and tax regulations, you will see that many changes are ongoing and the final impact of those changes for specific firms is not really known. There is a huge amount of enthusiasm, but also some healthy skepticism which has slightly quelled ambitions.

However, compared to the previous 15 members of the EU, the total climate here is better. We have also observed this in our business. The perspectives of a firm with an international background like ours are good. We have to adapt a little concerning prices and resources, and also have to adjust some well-known but still infrequently used outsourcing components because there are different conditions for outsourcing in Poland than in Western Europe. The labor market, for example, doesn't influence outsourcing deals in the same way as in France or Germany. You have to find the right models for this market to get a better outcome for both sides. This is more a social than a financial issue.

Where does Poland stand in terms of developing business ethics and transparency?
In terms of statistics, it would appear that Poland is not making progress because in the last Transparency International Corruption Perception Index ranking, Poland lost about 16 places and now is on the 65th position among more than 100 countries listed. For me, this is not so easily measurable in general business. However, all countries confront the illness called "corruption," and on fast developing markets the possibility of corruption is definitely higher. Confrontation with a range of expensive consumer goods, which are now available on the market, can reveal our human weakness for consumption on a small or big scale. The room for corruption is everywhere and "we" as consumers, entrepreneurs and citizens together can solve this problem.

What is "near shoring" investment in Poland and how is it developing?
Phrases like outsourcing, near shoring and far shoring describe a very simple concept from an abstract point of view. They involve moving work, whatever it may be, to another provider in order to concentrate on what a company does best. Now the whole idea of outsourcing is being adjusted to individual needs. Pure outsourcing, from Western countries to a country such as China or India, was very popular three or four years ago. Now we know that just moving to a different country will not solve a company's problem in general and may be even more costly.

There are many routes of development. The first is to differentiate the type of work that is outsourced, for example, IT, business processes, or application management outsourcing. There are very simple software development aspects which can be outsourced farther away because less communication is needed, and more sophisticated aspects in which more communication is vital.

Strong communication involves the ability to contact your partner, which means, as an example, being in the same time zone. It is also important to speak the same language and not lose too much meaning through translation. Projects are increasingly organized in more detail and work is split into different tasks. This development requires both far shoring centers and closer near shoring centers. In Capgemini we call this concept "right shoring." We would like to do the right things in the right places.

Our company has centers in Wrocław and Cracow, where we employ people with German, French, English and also other language skills who are no more than one-two hours away from Central European clients. Constant contact is maintained and the whole development process is organized from the beginning to the end by the same people.

On one hand, this takes advantage of the wide experience we have gained by focusing on this type of development, which also results in lower production costs because of economies of scale. Second, the "border" between Eastern and Western labor markets is quite close and that also lowers costs. At the moment we are able to incorporate near shoring or outsourcing in our projects and can therefore obtain a better price for our clients with the same quality of service. Therefore we simply generate more global business for our firm and we see, for example, that Capgemini Germany is growing along with our near shoring centers without a loss on either side. The same is true of, for instance, business process outsourcing, where standard work is moved to another firm that can take advantage of economies of scale by providing more of the same services to different firms.

Is there anything you would like to add?
I can see that Poland is becoming more and more of a service center for Europe, which is a good development and a huge chance for everyone in Poland, including Capgemini. The chances are big and time pressure is high because we can expect the advantages on the labor market for at least five to as many as ten years and then the window of opportunity will move farther east; this process has already started. During these 5-10 years, Poland has a chance to attract a lot of investment, including from France, which is still a key investor in Poland, develop its infrastructure and become a major economy and marketplace in the heart of Europe