Big fish in a small pond

Czech TV made a show of leaving an empty seat on the set when ODS Chair Mirek Topolánek canceled a debate with Premier Jiří Paroubek two days before the Sunday broadcast. A more important cancellation went unreported, though. The CEO of one of the world's largest corporations - we agreed not to mention the name - came to Prague two weeks again to scout a site for an investment. While some Czech officials went out of their way to accommodate him, two of the CR's most-celebrated CEOs, Martin Roman of ČEZ and Radomír Lašák of ČSA, canceled their previously agreed appointments with him at the last minute. Such behavior might be business-as-usual for some Czech bigwigs, but at such a high level in the global business world it's a major sign of disrespect and arrogance. These guys need to get out of their fishbowl and start swimming in the ocean. [Czech Republic Television foreign direct investment]