Grace
Etsuko Lee
James H. Farren
Luther H. Hodges, Jr., M.A.
Charles M. Hollis, III
Charles
H. Ptacek
Robert
A. Ruotolo, D.S.W.
Thomas
E. Sawner, Ed.D.
Harold
Sharples
Adam
Shaw
Don
Thoren
John
D. Trudel
Penelope
Walker, Ph.D.
Susan
Weidner
Gerald
Weiss, M.B.A.
Huib
Wursten
Adel
Ziady
Grace
Etsuko Lee
Associate
Scottsdale,
Arizona
International
Communications and Marketing
Ms.
Lee is CEO of Grace Lee International, an international company
involving joint ventures in Japan, India, Taiwan, Australia,
Brazil, Denmark, Canada, Mexico, China and Singapore.
She
is an international business consultant and trainer in Western
Japanese social and business skills. Her 27 years of experience
in international business have confirmed to her that proper
etiquette and cultural understanding are essential to developing
successful global business relationships.
Ms.
Lee has written a book, International Business, International
Style, and conducts seminars on assisting mid- to upper-management
become more knowledgeable. She has conducted seminars for America
West Airlines, Japan Expo, Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce, the
Cities of Fukuyama and Onomichi, Salt River Project Federal
Credit Union, the City of Phoenix, University of Southern California,
University of California at Los Angeles, Scottsdale Community
College and others.
Ms.
Lee studied public relations and marketing at University of
California at Los Angeles and international business at University
of Southern California.
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James
H. Farren
Associate
Scottsdale,
Arizona
Human
Resources and Change Management
Mr.
Farren is a broadly experienced executive with a successful
record in strategic planning and direction and execution of
broad corporate administrative, human resources, and line operation
responsibilities in both domestic and international roles. He
has been an officer and director with several multi-national
companies including American Airlines, Allis Chalmers, Ball,
ESMARK, Everest & Jennings, Hydrill, and Hitachi.
Mr.
Farren is an interim executive employed to analyze, plan and
implement the human side of turnarounds, start-ups, expansion
or transitional situations, both domestic and international.
He has 32 years experience as the top executive responsible
for staffing, planning and leading organizations. He has assisted
with numerous mergers, relocations, operational turnarounds,
expansions, and crucial labor negotiations.
In
addition, Mr. Farren led the reorganization and culture change
efforts for a $4.5 billion consumer products company as well
as several diverse midsize manufacturing organizations.
Mr.
Farren is a native of Western Pennsylvania and a graduate of
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
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Luther
H. Hodges, Jr., M.A.
Associate
Carefree,
Arizona
Banking,
Finance and Government
Mr.
Hodges was the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
Washington Bancorporation and The National Bank of Washington.
He
served as Undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce
and later became the first Deputy Secretary of Commerce. Mr.
Hodges was also a candidate for the United States Senate from
North Carolina.
Mr.
Hodges manages two closely held investment partnerships and
is the Chairman/Publisher of The Santa Fean Magazine and an
Owner of Santa Fe Hospitality and the Hotel Santa Fe, Sante
Fe, New Mexico. He serves on the boards of directors of Advanced
Safety Concepts, Inc., The Bank of Santa Fe, CobWeb, Inc., and
ConSyGen, Inc.
He
is Vice Chairman and Treasurer of the Board of Trustees of The
College of Santa Fe and a trustee of the museum at El Rancho
De Las Golondrinas in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
He
has taught on the faculty at the Anderson School of Management,
The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, the University
of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Duke University,
Durham, North Carolina.
Mr.
Hodges was educated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill and the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he received Masters degrees
in both Economics and Finance.
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Charles
M. Hollis, III
Associate
Novato,
California
International
Business and Automotive Operations
Mr.
Hollis served as the Controller of Chrysler Outboard Corporation,
Director of Finance for Chrysler de Venezuela, S.A., Director
of Finance for Chrysler Fevre Argentina, SAIC, Director of Finance
for Chrysler do Brasil, Director of Finance and then promoted
to Deputy Managing Director of Chrysler Espana, S.A.
He
later served as Executive Vice President and Managing Director
of Volkswagen Argentina and Group Vice President for Latin America
in the Bendix Automotive Sector of Allied Signal Corporation.
Mr.
Hollis presently consults in the areas of general management,
finance, international business and automotive operations. He
recently was Chief Operating Officer in charge of administration,
finance, legal, personnel and information systems for Hollis
and Associates, Inc., which managed 38 shopping centers and
malls throughout California.
He
was also a member of the American School Board in Valencia,
Venezuela, President of the Board of the English speaking school,
Escuelas Lincoln in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Director of
the American Chamber of Commerce in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Mr.
Hollis graduated from the Business School of the University
of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan with a Bachelor of Business
Administration degree.
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Charles
H. Ptacek
Associate
Glendale, Arizona
Competitive Intelligence
Charles Ptacek, president of
Charles, Charles & Associates Inc, assists technology, based
companies in highly dynamic industries that are being driven
by rapidly changing market conditions brought about by deregulation,
enhanced competition, and changing technology. Mr. Ptacek has
Over 20 years of marketing and business intelligence experience.
Specializing in human intelligence, key areas of investigative
focus include identifying and assessing new business opportunities
and threats, evaluating marketplace changes and emerging technologies,
and performing competitive assessments.
Mr. Ptacek has led numerous
engagements for telecommunications and information services
organizations in the areas of strategy development, technology
and market planning, competitive and business intelligence,
corporate venturing, and strategic alliances. Clients have included
AT&T, NYNEX/Bell Atlantic, MCI/WorldCom, US West, Cincinnati
Bell, Lucent Technologies, Carder Corporation/UTC, Honeywell/Allied
Signal, Prentice-Hall/Simon & Schuster, Printers Industries
of America, Board of Public Utilities, Moorhead Public Service,
Rockwell International, and the General Electric Company.
Prior to founding Charles,
Charles & Associates, Mr. Ptacek served as Manager, Marketing
Research and Development, Corporate Strategic Planning at General
Electric Company; as Manager, Marketing Science Services for
Marketing Research Counselors, Inc. (M/A/R/C); and as a New
Products Market Research Analyst for the Green Giant Company.
He has also served as Director of Business Intelligence Services
for Kroll Associates, a world leader in business intelligence
and. investigations.
Mr Ptacek received his B.S.
in Psychology at Kansas State University and his M.S. in Consumer
Psychology at the University of Minnesota with additional postgraduate
work in decision theory at Kansas State University. He is an
Executive Member of the American Marketing Association and a
member of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals
as well as an Associate Member of the American Psychological
Association and a Certified Management Consultant.
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Robert
A. Ruotolo, D.S.W.
Associate
Phoenix,
Arizona
Human
Performance within Organizations
Dr.
Ruotolo has over fifteen years of Organization Development and
Corporate Human Performance management/consulting experience
with AlliedSignal, Exxon, Imperial Oil, the Government of Bermuda
and other organizations.
He has served
as a Senior Advisor to AlliedSignal Aerospace for five years,
acting as a liaison to unify and align corporate cultures at
Strategic Business, Sector and Corporate levels. He re-engineered
the Staffing Function in one of Allied Signal’s Canadian operations
reducing cycle time by over fifty percent.
Dr. Ruotolo
is the author of Inspiration at Work, a book initiating a new
entrepreneurial spirit of the individual and the corporation.
He is the author of numerous articles and conference papers
and has presented at many national and international conferences.
He has served as the Co-Chairperson for the Advisory Board of
the University of New England School of Social Work and he is
a member of the National Speakers Association.
Dr. Ruotolo
has a Doctorate in Social Work with an emphasis on Staff Development
and Organizational Change from the University of Pennsylvania.
His Master’s degree is in Social Work and his Bachelor of Arts
degree is in Sociology from Saint Mary’s University in Halifax,
Nova Scotia.
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Thomas
E. Sawner, Ed.D.
Associate
Arlington,
Virginia
Executive
Leadership
Dr.
Sawner specializes in Leadership Enhancement, Executive Coaching,
Cultural Assessment, Process Mapping, and Organizational Alignment.
He
is CEO of River Oak Associates and has an extensive background
in executive leadership development, team building, executive
facilitation, organizational change, strategic planning, and
continuous process improvement.
Prior
to retiring from the Air Force, he directed the Air National
Guard Center for Excellence, which provided organizational culture
and leadership development, performance improvement and strategic
planning services for the 108,000 members of the Air National
Guard. Under his direction, the Center was selected in 1995
for the “21st Century Organizational Excellence Award,” the
first public sector organization to be so honored.
Dr.
Sawner received his Doctorate from the George Washington University,
Washington, D.C., Executive Leadership Program in Human Resource
Development and has conducted extensive research into the relationship
between an organization’s culture and its performance.
He
holds Master of Aeronautical Science and Master of Business
Administration degrees and a Bachelor of Science degree from
the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado. In 1986,
Dr. Sawner received the Shrine Award as the #1 fighter pilot
in the United States Air Force.
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Harold Sharples
Associate
Manchester,
United Kingdom
Culture
and Change Management
Mr.
Sharples founded and still remains president of HS Associates,
a private consultancy specializing in Culture Diagnosis and
Change, Change Management, Team Development, Character-based
Leadership, Total Quality Management and the development of
Personal and Organizational Alignment-focused Change Technologies.
Mr.
Sharples has provided consulting services to numerous firms
in the UK and Europe as well as in the US. A brief list of his
corporate clients include: SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals
(UK, US, Netherlands), Coca-Cola, AT&T, MCI Worldcom, and
IBM.
In
addition to developing his own consultancy, he has developed
expertise as a turnaround specialist in the areas of computer
systems sales, marketing, distribution, and manufacturing. Other
entrepreneurial experiences include the food and printing industries.
Mr.
Sharples experience includes the systematic identification of
leverage points for organizational change, recruitment, selection
and induction of new employees into corporate structures, and
the development and delivery of context-focused management development
programs.
Educated
at St. Andrews, Scotland as a Psychologist, his principle competencies
are in the areas of organizational assessment related to strategic,
financial, and human resources.
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Adam Shaw
Associate
Scottsdale,
Arizona
Research
Assistant
Mr.
Shaw is experienced with performing primary and secondary research,
creating reports, and analyzing data, which has resulted in
feasibility studies and business plans.
He
has conducted research related to Native American Indian communities
and he has assembled information into a resource library related
to social issues and public policy programs.
Mr. Shaw
also performed software set-up and support for the first Presidential
Primary ever held via the Internet, resulting in the successful
launch of Internet voting in the State of Arizona. He has been
heavily involved in various university and community activities.
Mr.
Shaw is a graduate of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona
where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science
with a minor in business.
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Don Thoren
Associate
Tempe,
Arizona
Leadership
Development
Mr.
Thoren has worked with organizations for over 25 years in the
areas of interpersonal relationships as related to the corporate
environment.
As a keynote
speaker, consultant and facilitator, Mr. Thoren has continued
to develop new strategies for improving personal and team productivity
and innovation. His topics are based on learning to value the
creative potential of conflicting opinions by channeling inevitable
anger and frustration into a search for creative 3rd
Ideas.
Mr. Thoren
is the author of “Unlocking Creative Ideas”, “Maximizing Joint
Productivity & Innovation” and “Interpersonal Effectiveness”.
He is a founder and past National President of the National
Speakers Association which conferred upon him the C.P.A.E. Speaker
Hall of Fame designation. He is also a Certified Management
Consultant (CMC) with the Institute of Management Consultants.
Mr. Thoren
is a graduate of the University of Wyoming with a Bachelor of
Arts degree in Business Administration. He was a decorated
training officer in the US Army and has held management positions
in both General Electric and American Salesmaster.
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John D. Trudel
ICA
Senior Associate
Scappose,
Oregon
John D.
Trudel, the “business innovation guru” is the Managing Director
of The Trudel Group (TTG), a consulting firm that he established
in 1988. His work centers on what Akio Morita of Sony called
“business innovation” – helping clients fit strategy, technology,
market need, and implementation together in uniquely valuable
ways.
Mr. Trudel’s
clients are worldwide, but his practice is limited to businesses
that derive value from technology. He helped Intel plan the
“P6”, a breakthrough that set the foundation for their blockbuster
Pentium II and III processors. He later helped them with Internet
technology strategy and other endeavors. He has given strategic
innovation seminars for clients including Silicon Valley World
Internet Center, Hewlett Packard, Agilent, the Institute for
International Research, SCIP, DaimlerChrysler, and many others.
His long-running
popular columns, “Tales from a Skunk Works” and “Trudel to Form”
for Electronic Design magazine, and “Management Insights” for
Upside, received wide acclaim. He now writes “Innovation in
Sight” for the IEEE Engineering Management Review. He has been
interviewed on technology topics by media from the BBC to Electronic
Business to the Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Trudel
holds a BEE (cum laude) from the Georgia Institute of Technology
and an MSEE from Kansas State University, where he also did
the course work for the Ph.D. EE. He received graduate level
business training at Stanford, UCLA, and Columbia Universities.
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Penelope Walker, Ph.D.
Associate
Niagara
Falls, New York
Economics
and Country Opportunity Studies
Dr.
Walker spent several years working for General Electric and
was in charge of international competitive, political and economic
analysis for planning, business development and finance functions.
She
has consulted with IBM, Fujitsu, Proctor and Gamble, Lockheed,
The World Bank, the U.S. State Department and OPEC in the areas
of business development and international financial functions.
Dr.
Walker also worked for Citibank where she was the associate
economist in charge of international financial forecasting and
European economics.
Her
specialties include international finance, country opportunity
studies and both government and private sector alliances.
Dr.
Walker has a Doctorate of Philosophy from Yale University, New
Haven, Connecticut in International Political Economy, European
Politics and Latin American Politics. She has a Masters degree
in International Economics and Economic History from Georgetown
University, Washington D.C., a Master of Arts Administration
degree from New York University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree
from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, in International
Economics and Politics.
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Susan Weidner
Associate
Mesa,
Arizona
International
Program Development
Ms.
Weidner is presently the project director for Global Interactions,
Inc. for a China-U.S. Business Symposium in collaboration with
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Commerce,
charged with linking American companies with potential partners
throughout China.
Ms.
Weidner advises companies on international project identification,
development, negotiation and implementation, especially in Eastern
Europe, Russia, Central Asia and China.
She
has served in various management positions with regard to international
business, including five years as a diplomat and twelve years
in project teams for Phillips Petroleum, Armco Steel and General
Tours, Inc.
She
speaks fluent Russian, some Chinese, French and German.
Ms.
Weidner served as the Executive Director of Government, and
Corporate Development for Enterprise Initiatives for the Thunderbird
Graduate School of International Management. She was in charge
of seeking grant funding for business skills training in Russia,
Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.
She
worked with Senator Richard Lugar’s office on the wording of
a bill related to Russia in 1999-2000. Ms. Weidner served as
the Senior Commercial Officer and First Secretary at U.S. embassies
in Almaty, Kazakhstan and Sofia, Bulgaria.
She
was actively involved in assisting U.S. companies on multi-million
dollar projects in Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania with US Trade
and Development Agency Funding.
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Gerald
Weiss, M.B.A.
Associate
Westport,
Connecticut.
New
Business Ventures and Corporate Planning
Mr.
Weiss is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Strategic
Planning Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is also consulting
with the Chairman of the State Street Bank, Boston, Massachusetts.
He
retired from the Chase Manhattan Bank on June 30, 1990. He was
with Chase Manhattan from 1975 until retirement and served as
Senior Vice President and Executive of the Corporate Planning
and Development Department reporting directly to the Chairman
and CEO. His responsibilities included designing and managing
the planning processes of the bank, development of new business
ventures, internal acquisitions and divestments and managing
a central group of management scientists that provided services
to the various businesses of the bank.
Before
joining Chase in 1975, Mr. Weiss held various positions with
the General Electric Company. From 1952-1961 he served in the
aircraft jet engine business in various marketing and project
management functions.
In
1961 he transferred to Defense Electronics focusing on new business
development and the application of advanced electronic technology
to commercial applications. In 1964 he joined the GE Corporate
Planning function and was concerned primarily with the corporate
planning process and the development of new business opportunities.
Mr.
Weiss has a Masters degree in Business Administration from Columbia
University, New York, New York and a Bachelor of Mechanical
Engineering degree from New York University, New York, New York.
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Huib Wursten
Associate
Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
Change
Management and International Negotiations
Mr.
Wursten specializes in change management and international negotiations.
Since 1990 he has been the managing director of ITEM Netherlands
and serves as a senior consultant and trainer on intercultural
issues and its consequences for international business.
His
list of international clients includes the International Monetary
Fund in Washington, Europol, the Worldbank, Council of Europe
and the Peacekeeping forces, 3M, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, ABN
AMRO:The Network Bank, Unilever, and IBM.
A
list of countries in which he has consulted and trained includes
Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Egypt, Madagascar, Thailand, Philippines,
Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Columbia, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia,
Mexico, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Norway,
Sweden, Denmark, and the United Kingdom.
In
Eastern Europe, he has undertaken assignments in Russia, Czech
Republic, and Latvia for governmental and private organizations,
both locally and foreign based.
Mr.
Wursten graduated from the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands,
with a Masters degree in Educational Psychology. He is fluent
in English, German, French, and Dutch.
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Adel Ziady
Associate
Tucson,
Arizona
Mid-Eastern
Business Development
Mr.
Ziady’s areas of specialty include conducting business in the
Middle East, with particular emphasis upon sales, business development
and marketing in overseas markets.
Mr.Ziady
retired from General Electric after 32 years of service. Positions
he held there included Vice President, General Electric Technical
Service Company, Manager, Middle East Sales and Business Development
Operations, Manager of Saudi Arabia Sales Operations, and Manager,
Power Generation and Market Development, Saudi Arabia.
He
also worked for Aramco’s Trans Arabian Pipeline Company and
the International Harvester Company.
At
General Electric, Mr. Ziady successfully established local sales
and service offices, assigned sales agents throughout the area,
formed consortium partnerships, and helped establish General
Electric as the number one company generating over two billion
dollars in sales.
He
has provided sales and marketing support for a variety of product
lines including power systems, gas and steam turbines, medical
systems, mobile communications, locomotives, aircraft engines
and aerospace products.
In
performing his duties, Mr. Ziady has resided in the U.S., Saudi
Arabia, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Germany, Lebanon and Dubai.
Mr.
Ziady is a graduate of the University of Louisville, Louisville,
Kentucky with a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering.
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