Knowledge Network: Faculty & Research

Executives get paid to take risks, but they should pause and consider their motives before rolling the dice, a Thunderbird professor said Aug. 12 at a global conference in Anaheim, Calif. Nathan T. Washburn, Ph.D., contends that executives take two types of risk, but only one tends to improve performance.
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Burger King Corp. has emerged from a 2002 private equity buyout stronger than ever, and Chairman and CEO John Chidsey said Sept. 9 at Thunderbird School of Global Management that things will only get better as the fast food chain “drills down” in regions such as Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.
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Marketing from the Navel, by Brian Critchfield

We have been trained by our schools, advertising agencies and corporate America to think about marketing in terms of campaigns. We need a “spring promotion” or a “Christmas sale.” It’s amazing how many companies have approached me asking if I can implement a campaign that will give them word of mouth among their customers. Collectively, we believe that, like an ad campaign, marketing can be turned on and turned off at will. Unfortunately, consumers are like children — they often don’t do what they are told.
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In a world where the price of oil is fluctuating, government regulation of greenhouse gases is tightening and consumers are switching to more ecofriendly products, sustainable product development has become core to corporate survival. The challenge will only become more acute as a billion Chinese and a billion Indians pursue Western lifestyles.
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Peace Corps veteran Andrew Wulf had plenty of job options when he graduated from Thunderbird School of Global Management in May. But the young MBA took a position with California-based Driscoll Strawberry Associates because he liked what CEO Miles Reiter had to say about corporate social responsibility and the environment.
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By Kip Harrell

As baby boomers continue to exit the workforce in the United States by the millions, the competition for replacement workers has become fierce. Baby boomers (people born between 1946 and 1964) are reaching retirement age, and the implications and impact on worker productivity are enormous.
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Top five things you can do to better hire and manage Millennials:
1. Adapt. Stop marketing to your peer Baby Boomers and managing Millennials like you did previous generations. These guys need constant change, flexible work locations and hours and messages tailored to them. They were taught “you are special.” They believe it, and now they need to hear it constantly.
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By Bill Youngdahl and Robert Moran

Pharmaceuticals giant Novartis realized several years ago that many of its managers lacked the skills necessary to lead complex global projects. With operations in several countries, they faced challenges related to leading global project teams and lacked the cultural acumen to communicate and collaborate effectively across functions, companies and geographies.
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By Stefan Michel, David Bowen and Robert Johnston

Companies pay a price for bad service. They lose customers, endorsements and revenue. Sometimes, they even lose good employees who leave when workplace tensions rise. But the proper approach to service recovery often depends on whom you ask.
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Brain scanners don’t work as lie detectors. But new research from a Thunderbird professor and 15 co-authors shows that brain scans do reveal information about a person’s culture. “Brain scans provide a scientific map of cultural preferences and style differences long understood by Thunderbirds,” said Karen S. Walch, Ph.D., a professor at Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Ariz. “These brain maps reveal differences in neural processes of perception, emotion and motivation across cultures.”
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