Thunderbird Alumni Impact
T-birds around the world create value as business, government and social sector leaders.
Walker Center Blog
Thunderbird Professor Robert Hisrich, Ph.D., and others at the Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship provide resources for global entrepreneurs.
Gregory Unruh, Ph.D.
Thunderbird professor writes about sustainable business strategy for the Huffington Post.
Bill Youngdahl, Ph.D.
Thunderbird professor writes about leadership and strategy in a project-driven world.
Thunderbird Bookshelf
Learn about books written by Thunderbird professors, alumni, students and staff members.
Thunderbird Student Voices
Students share their views on global management from the classroom and around the world.
When faced with declining profits and bleak outlooks, one way for executives to respond is through increased risk taking. In fact, researchers have consistently found that executives who find themselves in undesirable situations tend engage in more risk taking than executives in more desirable situations. Given the current financial environment, more and more executives may look to risk taking as a way to escape disaster. Read more »
Jordan lacks the oil of other Middle Eastern countries. So the small kingdom north of Saudi Arabia focuses instead on developing human resources more than natural resources. The strategy has produced an increasing number of entrepreneurs ready to tackle the challenges of a global economic crisis, two executives from the Business Development Center in Amman said March 26 at Thunderbird. Read more »
Avnet managers comb through thousands of anonymous survey questionnaires each year looking for ways to improve employee engagement. The annual exercise pays off for the Fortune 500 company in big ways, Avnet Chairman and CEO Roy Vallee said March 19 at Thunderbird School of Global Management. “If you have engaged employees who are doing a good job, the probability is that they’re going to be delivering better customer experiences more consistently over a long period of time,” Vallee said. | Video: Roy Vallee on engagement (1:08) | Podcast: The service value chain (15:35) | Read more »
A wooden tray for class materials caught the eye of Thunderbird President Ángel Cabrera, Ph.D., as he arrived March 12 to address a group of social sector leaders on campus for a weeklong development program funded by the American Express Foundation. A sign attached to the tray read “handouts.” “The message I want to share with you this morning is: Handouts no more,” Cabrera said, holding up the sign. “Donors who give to our organizations don’t give handouts. They fund innovative solutions to seemingly intractable problems.” Read more »
Nonprofit organizations facing fundraising shortfalls in the sluggish economy need to focus on at least five things, a panel of experts said March 11 during a social sector leadership development program funded by the American Express Foundation at Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Ariz. “This is a very stressful time for all of us, and it’s equally hard for donors,” said panelist Carolyn O’Malley, executive director of the Dorrance Family Foundation and a 1971 Thunderbird graduate. Read more »
Thunderbird Professor Michael Moffett, Ph.D., works closely with oil and gas industry leaders as the academic director for Thunderbird’s various International Consortia programs. “The expertise involved in the industry globally is absolutely amazing,” Moffett said March 6 during a special homecoming presentation. “And they’re pouring money constantly into further research and development.” Moffett updated alumni on five issues affecting the industry: complex global value chains, countries reaching peak production, the increasing difficulty of development, price volatility and alternative sources of energy. Podcast:Five issues affecting global oil (17:34)
The ailing world economy will emerge healthier than before, Thunderbird Professor F. John Mathis, Ph.D., said Feb. 23 during a BBC World News interview at the Singapore Cricket Club. “We will come out of this better, and hopefully not overregulated, which is likely to be the case,” Mathis said. “If so, we’ll have to go through some adjustments and get back to market forces driving economic activity.” | Video: Watch the full BBC World News interview (6:19) | Read more »
By Karen S. Walch and Paul Kinsinger, Thunderbird professors
Strategic negotiation skills and adaptation competences are tested more than ever during a decline in global economic activity. Currently many global MBA candidates and corporate clients attend Thunderbird courses on how to strengthen negotiation skills for all levels of management in an uncertain world economy. When it comes to transforming challenges into opportunities, there are two critical areas of expertise required: 1. Knowledge concerning strategic leverage, and 2. Social engagement practices in a cross-cultural context. Read more »