Archive for October, 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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T-birds (as students and alumni are known at Thunderbird School of Global Management) find themselves in all sorts of memorable situations around the world. These adventures have led to a rich collection of stories about meeting extraordinary people, overcoming language barriers, and getting lost — all part of the adventure when T-birds go off the beaten path. Experience the world through these intrepid globetrotters as they float down the Niger River, journey into the heart of India, see North Korea through the eyes of a local, become a patient at a local Chinese hospital, and much more. Be inspired to seek out adventure yourself! Here is chapter 1 by Bryan D’Souza, a 2011 Thunderbird graduate from India and the United Arab Emirates. | Order today: Amazon.com
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By Thunderbird Adjunct Professor Eileen Borris

I arrived in the former Soviet Union in 1986 paranoid and full of trepidation. Many in the United States had warned me about entering the “evil empire,” and I had watched movies and read books that bolstered this view. Initially, everything I saw in Moscow confirmed my biases. Unconscious beliefs surfaced and became conscious. My views changed when I flew to Ukraine to teach at the University of Odessa. There I met a Soviet English professor who looked similar to me. As we became close friends, we discovered many things in common. Our similarities surprised us. Learn more in this Thunderbird Knowledge Network video. | Video: Lessons from Russia (2:42)
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By Thunderbird Professor Andreas Schotter

Conflict between parent and child comes with the territory when multinational corporations set up overseas operations that span cultural, political and geographical boundaries. Subsidiary managers often resent the perceived meddling from headquarters, while corporate managers resent the perceived lack of teamwork and unity. Fortunately, conflict can drive innovation and boost productivity when organizations place managers in key positions who know how to function as “boundary spanners.” | Video: Solutions at Both Ends (2:09) | Video: No More Expatriates (2:55) | Video: Beyond Repackaging (2:52)
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By Thunderbird Professors Andrew Inkpen and Michael H. Moffett

The global oil and gas industry is huge, controversial and poorly understood by most people. This lack of knowledge is surprising, given how important the industry is in the global economy. Oil and gas companies touch our daily lives with products such as fuels, asphalt, lubricants and thousands of petrochemical products from carpets to eyeglasses. The industry impacts national security, elections, geopolitics and international conflicts. In the final chapter of our book, The Global Oil & Gas Industry, we explore key trends in three areas of oil and gas: the products, the markets and the players. | Thunderbird Online: Certificate in Global Oil & Gas Management
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By Thunderbird Professor Emerita Gillian Rice

Companies are discovering Muslims as consumers. According to Nazia Hussain, Director of Cultural Strategy at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, Muslim consumers total almost 1.8 billion people worldwide. The halal market, which refers to that which is permissible according to Islamic law, is worth $2.1 trillion. I am co-editor, with Özlem Sandıkcı, of the Handbook of Islamic Marketing (Edward Elgar, 2011). This new book provides a timely, critical, and multidisciplinary approach to the intersection of Islam, consumption and marketing. Why the burgeoning interest in Muslim consumers? A number of social, cultural, political and economic developments are responsible.
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Simple adjustments go a long way in emerging markets. But multinational companies will have to do more than just repackage their products or tweak their marketing messages to succeed in the 21st century. “That’s not good enough anymore,” says Thunderbird School of Global Management Professor Andreas Schotter, Ph.D. He says multinational companies in the 21st century will need boundary spanners who know how identify solutions that penetrate deep in emerging markets — and then communicate these solutions to corporate headquarters. “You have to learn from the different levels in these markets,” Schotter says. “There are huge segments of customers who need more than the unsophisticated repackaging processes that use little satchels instead of big boxes.” Learn more in this Thunderbird Knowledge Network video. | Video: Beyond Repackaging (2:52)
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Marketing professional and entrepreneur Carol Schuster ’83 has worked with major clients such as Coca-Cola, Dupont and DHL in a global career that has spanned more than 25 years. But she still describes herself as a beginner. “I try to look at everything I do as a beginner,” Schuster said Oct. 7, 2011, at Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona. Being a beginner, however, does not mean setting aside the importance of experience, education and expertise. Schuster said the key is to remain teachable and flexible. “It is really about curiosity,” Schuster said. “It’s a mood you have about something.” | Video: An Experience Beginner (2:40)
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In three years Faisal Abdalla saw six disasters hit his company. As the vice president of Adbul Latif Jameel in Saudi Arabia, he had to make sure that his company survived those disasters. Adbul Latif Jameel is the largest independent Toyota distributor in the world, and in those three years, they were affected by a large-scale Toyota recall, a tsunami that halted Toyota’s productivity, and major flooding in Saudi Arabia that swept away or damaged at least 3,000 vehicles. “If you believe you are going to be doing business as usual, you may as well not start,” Abdalla said Sept. 27, 2011, at Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona. | Video: Driving a Performance Cutlure (3:28)
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Change is something Greg Brown is familiar with. When he took over as Chief Executive Officer of Motorola in 2008, he knew change was what the company needed. “It was a very troubled company,” he said Sept. 29, 2011, at Thunderbird School of Global Management. “Our biggest division, Mobile Devices, was losing a lot of money. It lost a billion and a half dollars at the low point in 2008, and we had a macroeconomic collapse.” | Video: Change Leadership at Motorola Solutions (4:22)
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