Patrik Andersson
President of North Europe Division since 2007. Employed and member of Group Management Team since 2007.Born 1964, Bachelor of Business Administration.
Patrik Andersson has solid experience of the fast moving consumer goods industry from such international groups as Barilla and Unilever. Patrik has been President of North Europe Division, in which snus is the predominant product category, since October 1, 2007 and he believes his main duties including further strengthening Swedish Matchs position as an innovative and dynamic consumer goods company.
16 Nov, 2007
How did you first come into contact with Swedish Match?
"I was President of Wasabröd AB in the Barilla Group when I was recruited to Swedish Match by a headhunting company. It was an easy decision to accept to the job offer since I believe that Swedish Match is an exciting consumer goods company that is also in the midst of an interesting phase, with the market increasingly becoming exposed to competition and with demands for speed and renewal escalating," says Patrik.
What do you hope to contribute to the company?
"Above all else, the experience of fast moving consumer products that I accumulated over my 12 years working at Unilever and the slightly more than three years working in the Barilla Group. Both are global companies at which I learned an incredible amount about building brands and concepts, and about consumer and customer care. These years were fantastically instructive and being able to apply my expertise to Swedish Match's operations and products will be exciting."
Can you describe your role in Group Management?
"I am a very new member of Group Management, but apart from my background in fast moving consumer goods, I hope in particular to contribute my international experience. My duties have previously included change processes, strategy and acquisitions at international level," explains Patrik.
Do you take much notice of the public debate about tobacco?
"I follow the public debate and I really do feel that I can stand for our products. We should not forget that we market and sell products that are very close to our consumers, meaning that our consumers have an immense sense of trust in and loyalty toward our products. We must also be clear in the relationship between snus and health. We as a company possess a great deal of information that does not always appear in the public debate."
If you were to highlight one thing that Swedish Match is good at, what would it be?
"Swedish Match is generally a very strong and stable company. If I were to highlight something that we are particularly good at it would be the very high level of expertise among our employees. The employees are also highly motivated and the atmosphere is productive."
What could Swedish Match do better?
"We must become better at defining ourselves as a fast moving consumer goods company. This also means having a minimum aim of being just as good as the best consumer goods companies as regards our brand work and consumer insight," says Patrik.
What do you think characterizes good leadership?
"First of all, everyone should adopt a leadership style that suits their own personality. Personally, I value leaders who can inspire and set out a vision in such a manner that employees feel committed. As part of my own leadership approach, I work specifically with establishing a strategic agenda together with employees, providing support during the process of activities we have decided, and acting as a coach and delegater within a specific framework. Naturally, this requires employees who are sufficiently mature and competent to take on a high level of responsibility."
What are your personal guiding principles in your work?
"The key aspect for me is to achieve established targets. To do this, it is vital that I create commitment and participation among the employees so that they understand where we are going. If you succeed in this, it provides immense power of momentum and things flow almost by themselves."
What will be the greatest challenge for Swedish Match during the coming year?
"The greatest challenge will be to generate organic growth. For the North Europe Division, this primarily involves growth in the snus segment and having a long-term strategic agenda in place that allows us to consider how to manage challenges, such as intensifying competition in the market and tax increases on our products," he concludes.
16 Nov, 2007