Written on
April 12th, 2012
Mavis Leno, wife of “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno, first learned about the Taliban’s abuse of Afghan women in 1997 when she joined the Feminist Majority Foundation board in the United States. That was four years before the 9/11 terrorist attacks that jolted the Western world awake to the dangers of the new regime. “This was getting virtually no coverage, no reporting of any kind at the time,” Leno said April 10, 2012, during a YWCA forum with U.S. Ambassador Barbara Barrett, the Interim President Designate at Thunderbird School of Global Management. “When I learned about it, I shot up out of my seat at the board meeting and said, ‘This is mine. I will tackle it.’” Since then Leno has asserted herself as an advocate for Afghan women. Barrett, who moderated the luncheon discussion, also has served as a champion for Afghan women through programs such as Project Artemis at Thunderbird. The event was part of the YWCA Maricopa County Women’s Empowerment Series at the Renaissance Downtown Phoenix. Watch the video or download the full audio podcast here. | Podcast: Campaign for Afghan Women (43:23)
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Written on
December 1st, 2011
Global leaders will have opportunities to create a more inclusive, more sustainable society in the next 15 years as the world moves toward a low-carbon economy. “It is an opportunity to reinvent our lives — the way we work, the way we transport ourselves, and the way we interact in society,” former Costa Rican President José María Figueres said Nov. 10, 2011, in the evening keynote at the inaugural Thunderbird Global Business Dialogue in Glendale, Arizona. Figueres said a successful transition to the “Industrial Revolution 2.0″ will hinge on society’s ability to navigate three complex issues. The first two issues include population growth and energy consumption. These create pressure to solve the third issue, which is climate change. “It is here,” Figueres said. “It is not about the future.” Download the full podcast here from Thunderbird School of Global Management. | Podcast: Toward a Low-Carbon Economy (45:57)
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Written on
December 1st, 2011
As a leader, BP Group CEO Bob Dudley ‘79 spends most of his time listening. “Many leadership problems can be traced to poor communication,” he said Nov. 10, 2011, during the opening keynote at the inaugural Thunderbird Global Business Dialogue in Glendale, Arizona. “In BP we talk about listening to the quietest voice in the room.” He said BP managers must train themselves to pick up “weak signals” that come from people reluctant to shout when they have something important to say. “We must listen to people on the front lines,” said Dudley, who provided a behind-the-scenes look at BP’s response to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Download the full podcast here from Thunderbird School of Global Management. | Podcast: Leading in Times of Crisis (47:09)
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Written on
December 1st, 2011
Individuals, organizations and countries looking for an edge in the new global economy can find all the wisdom they need from three fortune cookies collected by retired Intel CEO and Chairman Craig Barrett. “During any period of transition, people win and lose market share,” Barrett said Nov. 10, 2011, during a keynote luncheon at the inaugural Thunderbird Global Business Dialogue in Glendale, Arizona. “These three fortunes contain all the wisdom you need to win in an era of historic transformation.” The first fortune says: “The world will always accept talent with open arms.” Barrett said this message highlights the importance of education, the process of discovering passion and harnessing the human potential. The second fortune says: “You cannot win unless you choose to compete.” Barrett said too many people in mature markets resent the upstarts from China, India and elsewhere. Instead of complaining about the new global economy, they need to start competing. The third fortune says: “A small deed done is better than a great deed planned.” Barrett said people need to recognize that the power to win lies within themselves if they are willing to take action. “Stop looking to others to solve your problems,” he said. “Stop waiting on government.” Download the full podcast here from Thunderbird School of Global Management. | Podcast: Global Reputation Management (37:39)
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Written on
December 1st, 2011
As global CEO of public relations and communications firm Burson-Marsteller, Mark Penn follows a simple formula to help his clients get the results they want: Numbers + creativity = strategy. Penn used the approach in the 1990s to help U.S. President Bill Clinton win re-election. The same formula has worked for Burson-Marsteller clients in dozens of countries. “I encounter a number of CEOs and others who want to operate by their gut,” Penn said Nov. 11, 2011, during a keynote address at the inaugural Thunderbird Global Business Dialogue in Glendale, Arizona. “They have great ideas, they have an inspiration, and they don’t want to be bothered by the numbers.” He also meets people at the other extreme who are completely numbers driven. “What I try to preach is, you’ve got to have the right combination for long-term renewal and success,” he said. Download the full podcast here from Thunderbird School of Global Management. | Podcast: Global Reputation Management (37:39)
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Written on
October 28th, 2011
Many people use “international” and “global” as interchangeable terms, but Thunderbird Professor Denis Leclerc, Ph.D., makes an important distinction. “Most international organizations have a center of gravity at corporate headquarters,” says Leclerc, who teaches in the Executive Certificate in Global Negotiations program through Thunderbird Online. “They might sell products around the world, but they truly have a center of gravity.” Global organizations, which have multiplied in the past 10 to 15 years, embed themselves more deeply in the markets where they operate and share knowledge in multiple directions. “Rather than having one center of gravity, they have nodes of knowledge around the world,” Leclerc says. Leclerc says cross-cultural communication skills become increasingly important as companies make the transition from international to global. | Audio: International Versus Global (9:27)
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Written on
September 19th, 2011
Anthropologists, economists and linguists all talk about culture. But settling on one clear definition is difficult. “One reason is because culture remains largely invisible, especially when looking inward,” says Thunderbird Professor Denis Leclerc, Ph.D., who teaches in the Executive Certificate in Global Negotiations program through Thunderbird Online. “It is hard to see one’s own culture.” Culture is often described as a set of shared and learned preferences that bind people together, but Leclerc says his students struggle when he asks them what it means to be from a specific country, organization or group. When pressed, many people mention the importance of family — without realizing that people from all cultures say the same thing. “I have not yet found anybody who says they don’t care about their family,” Leclerc says. Despite the ambiguities, Leclerc says global managers cannot afford to overlook culture because it shapes the way people do business. | Audio: Defining Culture (9:55)
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Written on
September 7th, 2011
People who view the Mideast uprisings as an “Arab Spring” are missing the broader significance of a global movement, U.S. Sen. John McCain said Aug. 29, 2011, at Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona. “I don’t think Arab Spring is the right name for it,” McCain said. “It obviously has spread throughout the Arab world and is still going on. But I would argue that it’s going on all over the world, not just in the Arab world.” McCain said the only comparable time in recent history might be the end of the Cold War and fall of the Soviet Union. “We live in a time when we should be most excited,” he said. “Never in history have so many hundreds of millions of people had an opportunity to experience freedom and democracy and an observance of human rights.” | Audio: John McCain at Thunderbird (13:13)
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Written on
August 22nd, 2011
Western and Eastern European cultures share many things in common, but one distinction is the way people view their ability to change external conditions that affect their lives. “One of the key concepts in defining culture is how people perceive that they can affect their own environment,” says Thunderbird Professor Denis Leclerc, Ph.D. “Western Europeans have a belief that they can change their environment, while Eastern Europeans see more constraints.” Leclerc discusses European culture in this podcast from Thunderbird Online Executive Certificates. Thunderbird Online’s facilitated professional development programs are available to global business professionals around the world. These top-ranked programs are accessible, convenient and up-to-date with the most insightful global business content from the world’s No. 1-ranked school in international business. | Audio: Cross-cultural communications while traveling in Europe (10:01)
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Written on
August 22nd, 2011
Hierarchy matters in Asia, whether you are doing business in China, Japan or any other country in the region. “The hierarchy really shapes the way people interact with each other,” says Thunderbird Professor Denis Leclerc, Ph.D., who discusses Asian communication styles in this podcast from Thunderbird Online Executive Certificates. Thunderbird Online’s facilitated professional development programs are available to global business professionals around the world. These top-ranked programs are accessible, convenient and up-to-date with the most insightful global business content from the world’s No. 1-ranked school in international business. | Audio: Cross-cultural communications while traveling in Asia (9:40)
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