Leadership lessons with Mircea Scaunașu, Philip Morris Romania: “Success is not a destination in itself, but the sum of the heavy decisions taken correctly, daily.”

From Maramureș to Hong Kong, then in Poland, Switzerland and back to our country at the leadership of Philip Morris Romania, the company where you hired 21 years ago. What were the key moments in your trip?

Sometimes I can't believe that it has been 21 years since I was engaged in Philip Morris Romania. It was a trip sprinkled with ambition, passion and desire to grow, but also luck. In 2004, I received the offer for a “special project” job in sales, after applying no less than six times to Philip Morris International (PMI). It's an interesting story, a job was created especially for me and it involved a six -month training in several of the company's departments. This was my launch ramp in the company, which led to the belief that I can become general manager, even though, at that time, there were little Romanians who held the position of sales or marketing director in multinationals.

From 2004 to 2008, I held several positions in the sales department in Romania, then I went to Hong Kong as a Sales Strategy manager for the Asia-Pacific region. There, I made the transition from a local function, in a market, a regional function. I was in charge of the commercial strategy for the 16 countries in that region, but it was the place where I learned about the power of collaboration, the teamwork and the fantastic results that can be obtained. Let us not forget that I was coming from an individualistic culture, such as Romania at that time. In 2012, I left for Russia as a marketing director on the Moscow area, a significantly larger business than the one in Romania. There I learned the lesson of adaptability and resilience. After two years I arrived in Poland as a sales director and contributed, by launching IQOS, to the opening of the category of smoke -free products in this country. After four and a half years spent in Poland, I knew it was a step until it became general manager. That step was Global Head Commercial Operations at Philip Morris International Duty Free.

In 2023, I returned to Romania as a general manager – I am the first Romanian general manager in the 30 -year history of the company. It was the moment I waited for so many years and it was worth everything I did until then. All the challenges, all the successes, but also all the failures, have prepared me to lead Philip Morris Romania and transform this opportunity into a success story for the company and my colleagues.

What principles and values ​​have been crucial for your success in professional life?

Integrity, responsibility, collaboration. All these three values ​​have played an important role in my professional development. I learned two of them from my parents, teachers with a very healthy thinking for the period before the 1990s, and on the third I discovered it later in Asia, but had a great impact on me. That was the click that helped me to understand that I want to support people to grow, both individually and as a team. To build teams, to help them develop, to be the best version of them with the best results. Team work and the attitude of Go-getter fascinated me and guided my leadership mode, to drive people.

However, to achieve professional success, not only these values ​​or the desire to be successful. They are very important, it is obvious, but I want to emphasize that this trip matters and enjoy the experiences we go through, the people we meet. In order to have a balanced image of authentic success, we should not judge it only in the prism of what we set out to achieve, but also from the prism of what we had to sacrifice. I was thinking about this quite recently, after a sports competition I participated in, and how easy you can make a comparison between endurance sport and professional success.

What were the biggest challenges you had in your career and how did you overcome them?

The challenges are the catalyst of growth, they push us to innovate, to adapt and, finally, to excel in our professional path. Without them we stagnated, both as people and as professionals. Cultural adaptation and navigation through various regulatory and market dynamic landscapes, the transformation of Philip Morris International and the promotion of innovation, but also the return to Romania, were instrumental in modeling my strategic vision and approaching leadership.

Moving from Romania to Hong Kong, Poland and Switzerland was a trip. Each new culture and business environment offered me important lessons and a deep respect for different cultures and points of view. While returning to Romania as a general manager was a dream that came, I faced the need to apply global experience on the local market-it was a challenge that I embraced with all my heart. Capitalizing on my international experience in the context of a reality that was more familiar to me allowed me to connect deeply with the Romanian market and to produce significant changes in the company.

I am an adaptable nature, and Philip Morris International is the company that challenges me and offers me the frame to develop. To witness the changes that the company goes through in the last 10 years and even lead the transition to a smoke -free future in some countries have been some of the most challenging, but also satisfactory experiences. I was never alone in this endeavor-we worked with dedicated teams, and the fact that we saw how our efforts take shape and generate real impact made us feel fulfilled. This trip deepened my commitment to collaboration, adaptability and resilience, but also innovation.

Philip Morris International is a multinational company in full transformation process. How do you cultivate a culture of innovation and adaptability within your organization?

Innovation is the basis for the transformation of the company globally and is supported by investments of over $ 14 billion, starting in 2008. An important part of these investments, over 730 million dollars, has been directed to the Otopeni factory – it has made the Philip Morris Romania factory to become the second factory at European level, after the one in Bologna, from the consumption point of view Iqos and other devices that do not burn tobacco. Therefore, innovation and adaptability are familiar to us and help us to take important steps in our mission to build a smoke -free future in Romania and globally.

Both globally and in Romania, we encourage colleagues to come up with new ideas and creative solutions to implement. To take responsibility for them and, above all, to be proud for what they have achieved. We invest in training and professional development programs for employees, meant to help them develop the skills needed to adapt to rapid changes in the company and industry. We encourage flexibility in our work approaches. And we quickly adapt our strategies and processes to respond to changes in the industry and keep us competitive. And I come back to my favorite subject: we cultivate internal and external collaboration – we work closely with our global teams and external partners to share knowledge and develop innovative solutions. Through all these measures, we manage to maintain a dynamic and innovative culture, which allows us to adapt and prosper, but also to innovate, in a constantly changing business environment.

How do you perceive the future of the industry and how do you prepare the company to stay in the top?

I could say that we are already living the future in the industry we belong to. He started 10 years ago. What will the 10 other look like? Cigarettes will be replaced in several countries with innovative alternatives to continuing smoking. The place of cigarettes is in museums, as Jacek Olczak said, CEO of Philip Morris International.

A smoke -free future is possible, but how long it will happen depending on the policies to reduce the smoking that each country adopts. Today, when we talk, 42% of the net revenues of the PMI come from smoke -free products, which clearly shows us that we are on the right track. The tobacco industry has changed radically compared to 20 years ago and will not be the same as now. Likewise, our company will not be the same over 10 years. New products have appeared, innovative alternatives when continuing smoking and I am convinced that others will appear. The PMI has been employed on this road and has already invested, globally, over $ 14 billion in the development, scientific foundation and marketing of smoke -free products since 2008 – it shows that we do not want to stop here. However, investments are not enough if we fail to convince adults who would otherwise continue to quit cigarettes forever. We can do this if we offer this diverse group a wide range of smoke -free alternatives that satisfy the preferences of all adult smokers. IQOS has set up the category of smoke -free products, and we continued to extend it in recent years with a variety of products: from tobacco heated to electronic cigarettes and nicotine envelopes, all supported by scientific research and innovation to demonstrate their benefits for adult smokers compared to continuing smoking. The future certainly belongs to this extended category.

When I came to Romania, I found an ambitious, well -trained team, with a winning attitude that led IQOS to the leader position of the category of smoke -free alternatives. My goal and ours as a team is to maintain this leader position for IQOS and to prepare the land for everything that follows in the future in terms of the development of the category of smoke -free products. And my contribution is to help my colleagues recall some very important principles that sometimes, in the middle of the business tumult, we forget. These are: flexibility in strategies and operations, the power of collaboration between people and teams, as well as consumer orientation. I have already mentioned the first ones, now I would like to highlight the orientation towards the consumer, understanding the needs of consumers who is fundamental. Averages their constant feedback, it helps us to develop and adapt the products and services to better respond to their expectations. Only if we keep these principles in the center of our activities, will we succeed in successfully overcoming future challenges and continuing to innovate in the field of smoke -free products.

What would you tell the young Mircea Scaunașu today, after decades of successful career? But to a young man who is at the beginning of his career today?

“Continue to have ambitious dreams and work hard. Every challenge on the way to success is an opportunity to learn and develop, and integrity and passion will help you overcome any challenge. Do not be afraid of change and embrace the diversity of experiences.” I had these principles at 25, but it would be a confirmation that I am on the right track.

To a young man who begins his career I would tell him to be proactive and open to new opportunities and experiences-these are the best learning opportunities. To learn continuously and not be afraid to get out of the comfort zone. To build healthy relationships and capitalize on every experience. The achievements come from determination, resilience and the ability to adapt to changes. Because success is not a destination in itself, but the sum of the heavy decisions taken correctly, day by day.