BELGIUM (by Jo de Roo) During a recent press conference, BWP revealed its new business model, a milestone in the association’s history since its foundation in 1955. BWP president Kris Keersmaekers started the press conference by saying: “After 50 years it was time to change. We have to be ready for the future. Everything changes, also the horse industry. We needed to adjust ourselves to the changing circumstances”. We therefore talked with the president and the vice-president Jozef Bauters.
During a recent press con- ference, BWP revealed her new business model, a mile- stone in the association’s his- tory since its foundation in 1955. BWP president Kris Keersmaekers started the press conference by saying: “After 50 years it was time to change. We have to be ready for the future. Everything changes, also the horse in- dustry. We needed to adjust ourselves to the changing cir- cumstances”. We therefore talked with the president and the vice-president Jozef Bauters. Following their elections, Kris Keersmaekers and Jozef Bauters wanted to change the old business model in order for the Belgian Warm- blood Horse Association to become a modern, demo- cratic and well-structured company, capable of taking very quick decisions. They wanted to ‘keep it short and simple’, based on the ideas of the breeders.
During the first quarter of 2015 BWP will hold accelerated elections. Keersmaekers as well as Bauters both come from a professional background and launched their new project, the board of directors appointed an external adviser, and two working groups were established.
Q What’s the reason for changing BWP’s business model?
KK: The board of directors, consisting of almost 30 people, was too heavy. They could hardly manage.
JB: That was one of six guide-lines for our conduct.
KK: In order to realize this, we decided together. The business model of BWP wasn’t adapted to modern times. Since the foundation of BWP the business model hasn’t changed. In our opinion it became more and more difficult to run our organization, mostly with volunteers. In the long term this situation was untenable. We wanted to change our business model as well as the working methods of the secretary.
JB: We want to transform the BWP into a modern company with direct lines. Decisions at the top need to be taken quickly. Our business is changing so quickly that we need to anticipate. According to us this change was a dogma...
