Thunderbird Magazine, Volume 52, Number 2 1999

              THUNDERBIRD. THE AMERICAN GRADUATE SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT • VOLUME 52. NUMBER 2.1999
FE\TlHES DEP.\HT\IE\TS
2 COVER STORY 10 WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD 18 EYES AROUND THE
Brazil on the Edge Johnson & Johnson gets consulting WORLD
The world is watching with cautious
advice Walter Ettlin '89 tells
optimism. 12 EXECUTIVE EDUCATION HITS THE strategy for economic
BIG TIME survival.
7 Emerging Multilatinas Major companies know Thunderbird 16 ALUMNI LEADERS:
Brazil-based Odebrecht promotes secret JIM EASTER '19
global expansion strategy. 14 GLOBAL FORUM DEMANDS 19 ALUMNI LEADERS:
GLOBAL PEOPLE OSAMU YAMADA '83
8 Cardoso's Challenge Enron teams with Thunderbird for 32 CAMPUS NEWS
By Roy Nelson people, training.
Can Brazil push comprehensive 17 CAMPUS SERVICE HELPS BUSINESS 37 NETWORK NEWS
reforms? Library research service is now available. 38 THUNDERBIRD GLOBAL
20 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT BUSINESS FORUMS:
9 Financial Contagion Thunderbird makes progress on key ON THE ROAD IN ASIA
By Anant Sundaram strategies. 40 HOMECOMING
How did a Thai baht devaluation tum
into a worldwide economic crisis? 24 ASIA NIGHT 44 UPDATES
Colorful familiar tradition continues.
28 RESCUE EFFORTS UNITE T-BIRDS
Six T-birds in Kenya help in embassy
rescue after bombing.
30 LETTER FROM ELSEWHERE:
KIDNAPPED IN THE JUNGLE
James Lynch '77 survives hostile
Indians in Brazil.
Thunderbrrd: A Corporate Partner
hunderbird's ability to educate international busi­ness
professionals is widely recognized around the
world. Its ability to serve as a strategic business
partner is, perhaps, less known. Thunderbird's ser­vices
to business include not only the traditional
internships and executive education programs, but
also consulting projects, business services abroad, research ser­vices,
public relations opportunities, and philanthropy. Consider
the following:
Do you need a full-time employee or intern with global
skills? The Thunderbird Career Management Center offers a
variety of opportunities and services for matching the right peo­ple
with the right companies.
Contact: David Martin; (602) 978-7814; martindOt-bird.edu
Has it been a few years since graduation and you want to
give your education a fresh boost?
Does someone in your company want
a global update? Thunderbird's
Executive Education programs offer
professionals many opportunities for
life-long learning, including short
courses, degree and certificate pro­grams,
customized training, and much
more (See article on p. 12).
Contact: Dr. Frank Uoyd;
(602) 978-7923; lIoydfOt-bird.edu
Does your company want to hire a
consulting group to research new
markets or analyze global business
opportunities? Thunderbird's con­sulting
and research projects offer
confidential, cost-effective results to
small, medium and large companies (See article on p. 10).
Contact: Dr. M.V. Krishna Kumar; (602) 987-7193;
kumarkOt-bird.edu
Do you want to reward your managers with a thought-pro­voking,
one-day program that addresses the global econ­omy?
The Thunderbird Global Business Forums are held
annually in four regions: North America, EuropelMiddle
East/Africa, Asia and Latin America (See article on p. 40 and
announcement on the back page).
Contact: Kim Douwes; (602) 978-7111; douweskOt-bird.edu
Do you want to elevate your company's profile in the
international business community through philanthropy?
The Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations can serve as
the primary point of contact for organizations interested in
developing mutually beneficial relationships with Thunderbird.
Corporate scholarships and naming opportunities are two of the
available options.
Contact: Jessie Brooks; (602) 978-7406; brooksj@t-bird.edu.
Before you open operations in another country, do you
want information that will help you thoroughly under­stand
its culture, history, political structure and market
conditions? Business Infonnation Services provides in-depth,
strategic research through country-specific examination.
Contact: Cate Cebrowski; (602) 978-7236; businfoOt-bird.edu
(See article on p. 17)
Do you need to know how NAFfA will affect your business
development in North America? The North American Free
Trade Center offers business research and consulting services,
seminars, and infonnation and referral services.
Contact: Dr. Robert Grosse; (602) 978-7716; grosserOt-bird.edu
Could the managers and staff in your China and Russia
operations benefit from a high-quality, local international
management education program? Centers for Business Skills
Development (CBSD) in Moscow and China train the employees
of foreign and domestic companies in
international management practices at
or near their job locations.
Contact: Susan Weidner;
(602) 978-7129; weidnersOt-bird.edu
Are you looking for a group of tal­ented
people to work on a short­term
international project? Similar
to an internship program, the
Corporate Partners Program recruits
groups of students to work with corpo­rations
on a project while pursuing
their management degree.
Contact: Donovan Penrose;
(602) 978-7267; penrosejOt-bird.edu
Would you like to advertise your
products or services to an audience of Thunderbird
alumni? The Thunderbird magazine offers advertising opportu­nities
to reach this audience.
Contact Lindsey Michaels; (602) 978-7741; michaeIiOt-bird.edu
Do you know some executives who are interested in speak­ing
about their international business strategies? Thunder­bird's
public affairs office coordinates speaking opportunities for
high ranking corporate and government officials (See p. 32).
Contact: James Grant; (602) 978-7827; grantjOt-bird.edu
Want to keep abreast of the latest trends in international
business? Thunderbird faculty members produce many publi­cations
and studies on the cutting edge of international business
scholarship.
Thunderbird International Business Review; (602) 978-7249;
howelisOt-bird.edu
The Jourrwl of Language for International Business;
(602) 978-7262; Yogte@t-bird.edu
The Thunderbird Case Series; (602) 978-7174; casesOt-bird.edu
Not sure which department to call?
For corporate relations, contact: Jessie Brooks Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations (602) 978-7406 brooksj@t-bird.edu
For alurrmi relations, contact: Joy Lubeck Assistant V.P. for Alumni Relations (602) 978-7135 alumni@t-bird.edu
fter the clouds, the sun.
This Latin proverb embodies the essence
of the Brazilian spirit, even in the high­stakes
arena of international business.
After nearly four years of newfound stabil­ity,
Brazil's economy is once again on the
brink of collapse, mostly due to the economic fallout in Asia, politi­cal
instability in Russia and ner­vousness
in the U.S. markets.
Those with the most at stake-for­eign
investors and the Brazilians
themselves-maintain a cautious
sense of optimism nonetheless.
Three T-birds who have lived and
worked in Brazil for years explain
why they expect the clouds to
clear by the year 2000
and how they intend to cope in the meantime.
Why the world is watchillg
with cautious optimism
(far left) More than 165 million people live in Brazil, which is the world's ninth
largest economy. (above) A dockworker tends to a boat in Bahia. Transportation
was among the major industries privatized in Brazil in the 1990s.
THUNDERBIRD 52 12 I 1999
The Real Plan.
In 1994, Finance Minister Fernando
Henrique Cardoso introduced the Plano
Real-an anti-inflationary strategy that
combined various free-market reforms
with measures to stabilize Brazil's cur­rency,
the real, by pegging it to the U.S.
dollar. The plan worked. Inflation
dropped from a 1993 high of about 2,500
percent to as low as 3 percent last year.
What's more, the plan expanded privatiza­tion
measures begun in the early 1990s,
introducing competition in several indus­tries
including transportation, energy and
telecommunications. Its downsides were
extremely high interest rates and the soar­ing
unemployment that developed as local
businesses recoiled. Still, the economy
began to grow, consumer spending rose
and Cardoso was elected president in
1995.
"When the Plano Real was first imple­mented
we had a boom in consumption of
our products and services-a tremendous
boom and it lasted for about two years,"
says Jerry Greene '66, president of
Kodak Brasileira, a subsidiary of Eastman
Kodak based in Sao Paulo. "Then it sub­sided
and we've since had a normal
growth pattern in this very tough market
environment. "
In mid-1997, however, things began to
go sour for Brazil.
First the Asian finan­cial
crisis troubled
Latin America by
weakening commod­ity
prices worldwide.
Then, in fall 1998,
investors fled Brazil
after Russia's trou­bles
rekindled fear
of emerging markets
around the globe.
Brazil lost about a
third of its hard-cur­rency
reserves in
September, totaling
more than $30 bil­lion.
But Cardoso and his administration
acted quickly. Shunning a devaluation, the
Central Bank doubled the basic interest
rate to 43 percent to discourage specula­tion
against the real.
The strategy worked for several
months and Brazil kept itself from becom­ing
the next emerging market to fall into
the abyss. It's still teetering on the edge,
however. On January 12, 1999, the head of
Brazil's Central Bank, Gustavo Franco,
resigned, citing personal reasons and pol-
icy differences. His replacement, Fran­cisco
Lopes, immediately allowed the
country's currency to fall about 8 percent
against the dollar.
So, after failed attempts by Mexico,
Thailand and Russia, Brazil became the
latest emerging market
to risk engineering a con­trolled
and modest
devaluation. The move
sent world markets tum­bling
once again in
Brazil, the United States
and throughout Latin
America, Europe and
Asia.
Brazil Matters.
Why does the turmoil
in Brazil create such a
stir all around the globe?
Brazil is the world's ninth
largest economy. It repre­sents
about half of Latin America in terms
of size, people and gross domestic prod­uct
(GDP). Therefore, multinational com­panies
that want to succeed in Latin
America must succeed in Brazil.
"Brazil is an enormously large market
and it has tremendous potential," says
Greene. "Anybody that is serious about
being a global player in any type of con­sumer
product is going to want a strong
position in Brazil."
In October 1998, leaders at the Inter­national
Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
World Bank met to focus on the world
financial crisis. The plan was to save
Brazil, to build a firewall around it and
prevent the spread of the wealth-eating
financial contagion to Argentina and the
Spanish Main.
Investors believed the G-7 nations were
serious and stock markets from New York
to Sao Paulo saw immediate, if temporary,
jumps. President Cardoso was reelected
to office and, as negotiations with the IMF
reached the final stages, the Brazilian gov­ernment
announced a tough austerity
plan to save $84 billion over the next three
years through spending cuts and tax
hikes. The official announcement from
the IMF came on November 13 for nearly
$42 billion in aid to stabilize the Brazilian
economy.
Business As Usual.
For the past several years, extremely
high interest rates have made local fund­ing
for business expansion distasteful, if
not entirely cost-prohibitive. Thus, much
Kodak Brasileira's main plant is in Sao Jose dos Campos 100 kilometers from the City of Sao Paulo. Jerry
Greene '66, president, maintains that regardless of economic uncertainties, Brazil is still a large market
with tremendous potential.
of the capital for business expansion has
come from foreign investment. The recent
upheaval in world markets has slowed
capital flow into Brazil, but hasn't stopped
it completely. Opportunities still exist.
"There is access," stresses Greene.
"Serious borrowers with good programs
can access international funds. There's
certainly not an abundance of funds, but
good programs can be funded."
According to reports in
"You can make money in Brazil," says
Johnson, who has worked there for 28
years. "If you have a good idea and a good
business concept, understand the lan­guage
and the nuances of Brazilian soci­ety,
then you can succeed here, even
through the tough times."
John Mein '70, president of the Ameri­can
Chamber of Commerce/Brazil, agrees.
"The basics in Brazil are extremely posi-tive.
What we're dealing
Business Week, foreign
direct investment in Brazil
totaled more than $24 bil­lion
in 1998, although it is
expected to fall in 1999 to
about $17 billion. Even in
late 1998, U.S.-based J.C.
Penney Co. announced it
would buy department
store Lojas Renner, and
French car maker Renault
opened a $1 billion plant
in the state of Parana.
Dolph Johnson '68, a
partner with multinational
executive search firm
Spencer Stuart, isn't sur­prised.
he recent
upheaval in world
markets has
slowed capital flow
into Brazil, but
hasn't stopped it
completely.
with right now is interna­tional
perception, with
Brazil being thrown into
a category of 'emerging
markets. ' People don't
seem to realize the differ­ences
between Brazil and
Russia or Brazil and
Thailand."
The difference is
largely a matter of size.
Brazil covers an area
slightly smaller than the
continental United States
and has a population of
about 160 million people.
It has large, well-devel­oped
agricultural, min-
Opportunities
still exist.
THUNDERBIRD 52 12 I 1999
The American Chamber of Commerce recently moved into a modern new building in Sao Paulo, reflecting
the optimism that is felt by many Brazilian business people in spite of recent economic turmoil.
ing, manufacturing and service sectors.
Prior to the Asian crisis, its annual
exports totaled nearly $48 billion and
imports about $53 billion. Approximately
25 percent of its trade is with the United
States, much more than with any other
single country.
"That's another thing people don't real­ize,
the size of the relationship between
Brazil and the United States," says Mein.
"Brazil is the third largest recipient of U.S.
industrial investments in the world. The
United States exports more to Brazil than
it does to Russia and the
many analysts predict his quick action
and strong leadership may enable Brazil
to recover in the next 12 to 18 months,
though growth during that time will be
almost nonexistent.
The fact that Brazil was able to stave
off a devaluation as long as it did is also
promising. According to analysts quoted
in the January 14 Financial Times, reac­tion
to the real devaluation in emerging
markets, particularly in Asia, did not qual­ify
as a crisis. "With the hedge funds
industry less adventurous and less lever­Eastern
Trade Block coun­tries
combined."
Multi-aged
at the moment than last
year," it reported, January was
not a bad time for the devalua­tion.
Clear Skies Ahead?
Oddly enough, some
say the Asian financial tur­moil
that threatened to
trigger a run on Brazil's
currency last fall actually
cast Brazil in a more
favorable light. Cardoso
emerged as a savvy politi­cal
leader with the poten­tial
to finesse his way
through some extremely
difficult reforms. In fact,
national
companies
that want to
succeed in Latin
America must
succeed in
Brazil.
THUNDERBIRD 52 121 1999
"The big challenge going for­ward
in the next year or so is
going to be dealing with an
economy that has slowed down
significantly," stresses Mein.
"My suggestion for the business
community is to tighten the belt
and weather it, because we're
going to come out of this with
flying colors."
Despite Mein's unabashed
optimism, he and others under­stand
Brazil's recovery will be a
slow, difficult process. They also mow a
great deal is riding on Brazilian lawmak­ers'
ability to follow through with some
very tough austerity measures.
For the pessimists, Brazil's lawmakers
are an easy target. In 1997, shortly after
Asia's financial meltdown, Cardoso
announced $18 billion in budget cuts and
tax hikes to ward off speculative attacks.
But once the markets calmed, most were
quietly shelved when lobbyists squawked.
Again, in December 1998, not even two
months after receiving the $42 billion IMF
bailout package, Brazil's legislature
rejected part of Cardoso's proposal to
reduce the 1999 budget by $23 billion.
Then the Central Bank allowed the real to
fall in January, sending them back to the
table with the IMF because a devaluation
was not part of the bailout deal.
"The political establishment here is
really a challenge," says Greene. "It's very
complex. But Cardoso is quite a polished
political leader and he mows how to get
things done. He'll be working quite hard
and we'll all be pulling for him."
Here comes the sun.... •
- Jessica McCann
. ,
ultilatinas"
most dyrlam~cf
"As long
omy, one of"f:..n~s~ slJr.w
businesses to I\tlllllfle
that closed ecomoJIfl.1tl~l~"
'70, president of the!~mtriCJm
of Connrm~rcelBl(IlZil. \
open economy and th8:, r.nql~~~0I11 0
in, then Brazilian COl~ll~ts.m~1
they had better go meeM~fo1l{PE!tifi.~
on its own field as well."
The privatization of the teIE~colrimipni- .
cation, energy and transportation
tries in Brazil in the 1990s, cOlmbin€~4
with trade agreements like the Mercosur
and the Andean pact, have allowed local
companies to embrace new opportuni­ties.
Many have chosen to consolidate
with other firms in order to become
more competitive. In 1997, there were a,
record number of 500 mergers and
sitions; of those, foreign inv.~sllori
acquired at least 200. Innovative
proactive firms have developed str:f1tE!Ii.<1rJ
alliances with foreign firms or inVl~.
in cross-border operations to be4:~~i.
regionally competitive.
Dozens of Brazilian firms are
up or acquiring operations in the
sur trade block, and several have
even further into North
America, Europe and Asia
most notable include Itau
vices), Amil (health care),
(painting products), Brahma . Iewing)
and Odebrecht (conlstnllctioI\'j~d
neering).
"These are some of the 'e rging mul­tilatinas,'
a growing number of Latin
countries and employs
people worldwide.
n.pcmeln.t to Odebrecht's suc­trc)
rlclwide, according to Souza, is
high degree of decentralization
American emerging multinationals that the engineering and construction
are poised to become a significant factor Odebrecht is the most decentral-in
the region," says Cesar uza, ~nior company in the world, much more
vice president of Odebre t America any European or American com-
Inc., based in Washington, D.C. " says Souza, who has spoken on
Brazil-based Odebrecht is the subject studies and the Latin American
of a case study being re II. hed ~rt>uLSiness environment at Thunderbird and
written by Dennis Guthe , the Wharton School of Management "We
have a very fiat organizational structure
in which there are only three levels-the
chairman and president, the country or
entrepreneur and the contract
is it."
: lJI~w)e clients like
to talk to,"
have a problem
work, they want
who has deci-
The basic philosophies of the com­also
seem to nurture a zest for
international management among its
"entrepreneurs." Two of its employees,
Felipe Jens and Daniela Siaulys, recently
enrolled at Thunderbird and are earning
MIM degrees. And the skills they're gain­ing
are already being put to work for
Odebrecht by Robert Phillips '94.
"One major benefit of my Thunderbird
education has been my ability to think
globally-to picture the world as the
playing field," says Phillips, who is cur­rently
developing business for future
phases of a large resort project near
Salvador, Bahia. "It's a philosophy and a
mindset that isn't being applied as much
as it should be worldwide. "
By devising global expansion strate­gies
that evolve naturally from establish­ing
regional operations to forming
international strategic alliances, "emerg­ing
multilatinas" like Odebrecht are des­tined
to become a powerful force in the
next millennium regardless of the
region's economic turmoil. --JM .
THUNDERBIRD 52 121 1999
FACllLTY VIEWPOINT
Cardoso's
Challenge
Only constitutional change can
produce economic reform in Brazil
By Roy Nelson, Assistant Professor of International Studies
The upheaval in the world's financial markets is not the sole
cause of Brazil's economic crisis. Tremendous political
obstacles to reform are at the root of the problem. Even
when the world economy stabilizes (and it eventually will), the
high interest rates and slow economic growth in Brazil will not
change-at least not until the government can initiate the
reforms needed to reduce its chronic budget deficits. Doing so,
however, requires more than just new policies; it requires consti­tutional
amendments.
In their exuberance after the return of democratic govern­ment,
the representatives who wrote Brazil's current constitu­tion
in 1988 produced a document that was lengthy and deeply
flawed. Its nationalist and populist tendencies created serious
obstacles to structural and fiscal reforms. For example, the con­stitution
forbade outright privatization of many state-owned
firms. It provided excessively generous benefits for civil service
employees. It enshrined an outmoded and fiscally irresponsible
social security system. Perhaps worst of all, it mandated that the
federal government transfer a large proportion of its tax rev­enues
to state and municipal governments (which often used the
funds to serve short-term political ends). These constitutional
provisions made massive deficit spending almost inevitable.
In 1994, however, it seemed for the first time in decades that
Brazil had developed a successful economic stabilization pro­gram.
Finance Minister Fernando Henrique Cardoso, with the
help of several Btazilian economists, devised and implemented
the "Real Plan." Its central feature was the new currency, the
real, which was phased in gradually and pegged to the U.S. dol­lar.
In addition, the Real Plan called for fundamental fiscal and
structural reforms of Brazil's economy to eliminate or at least to
reduce its chronic budget deficits, an underlying cause of the
country's hyperinflation.
Its initial success propelled Cardoso to the presidency in 1995.
It also created a great deal of renewed interest in Brazil and in its
tremendous economic potential. Attracted by the country's new
economic stability, foreign investment in Brazil
increased dramatically. Direct foreign investment
alone increased from $2.4 billion in 1994 to $9.5
billion in 1996.
Then the Asian financial crisis hit in mid-1997.
Within little more than a year, the tremors spread
to Russia and Latin America, creating serious eco­nomic
problems for Brazil. It is now painfully clear
that, without changes in the constitution, sustain­able
reform and a lasting solution to Brazil's eco­nomic
problems are simply not possible.
Yet passing a constitutional amendment in
Brazil is by no means easy. Approval of such an
8 THUNDERBIRD 52 121 1999
amendment requires a three-fifths majority vote in the congress.
Given the fragmented nature of Brazil's political party system, in
which more than 20 parties are represented, obtaining consen­sus
or even the necessary three-fifths majority is very difficult.
This recent economic crisis has been so severe, however, it
may actually be a blessing in disguise. When the first round of
Cardoso's proposals fell apart in the house, investors were once
again spooked, sending world stock markets falling. Brazilian
lawmakers were put on notice that reform would not be easy, but
it would be necessary.
All those with a stake in the outcome--economic analysts, for­eign
investors and the Brazilians themselves-are watch­ing
breathlessly to see if this recent crisis will bring
Brazil's political figures to their senses. Can they finally
unite, forego their political games and ultimately push
through a comprehensive economic reform package?
The optimists say yes. The rest of the world is waiting for
the proof. •
Roy Nelson, assistant professor of international stud­ies
at Thunderbird, recently spent several weeks in
Brazil as part of a research project funded jointly by
the Thunderbird Case Series and the Center for
International Business Education and Research.
FACI ILTY A\JALYSIS
Financial Contagion
How does a currency problem in Thailand
become a worldwide economic crisis?
By Anant Sundaram, Associate Professor of Finance
Few people would argue that free
trade and capital mobility among
countries are the sine qua non of
long-run and sustained economic devel­opment.
However, the flip side is the like­lihood
of financial and economic
"contagion": seemingly small and rela­tively
inconsequential events in one part
of the world can quickly transmit them­selves
to other parts of the world. It is the
equivalent 'of a snowball that starts small
at the top of the mountain, but becomes
an avalanche by the time it reaches the
valley. The currency problem that started
in Thailand in mid-1997, which has now
spread economic woe throughout Asia
and into Russia and Latin America, is a
classic case in point.
The effects can be attenuated, and per­haps,
such contagion can even be pre­vented.
But the first step is to understand
how economic disease gets transmitted.
A Chain Reaction. In mid-May 1997,
currency speculation started to attack the
Thai baht, whose value had been fixed to
the U.S. dollar. As the
country accumulated
trade imbalances and
underwent some
major political uncertainty, currency
traders had come to the conclusion that
the baht's peg to the U.S. dollar could not
be sustained, and had begun to speculate
against it.
The actions of Thai companies wors­ened
the effects of the attack. Since the
baht was fixed in value to the U.S. dollar,
many Thai multinational companies had
left their foreign exchange positions
unhedged. Seeing the speculation against
the baht and fearing an impending devalu­ation,
they rushed to hedge their currency
positions, thereby putting further down­ward
pressure on the baht. After about a
month and a half of such currency pres­sure,
the market's expectations became a
self-fulfilling prophecy when the Thai gov­ernment
finally devalued the baht.
The effects of the devaluation spread to
the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia in
The Contagion Effect
Three factors facilitated the transmission of financial contagion from Thailand
throughout Asia, into Russia and to Latin America:
• currency depreciation and lowered commodity prices;
• information asymmetries and risk perceptions; and
• margin calls and liquidity considerations of hedge funds and mutual funds.
To stall the contagion effect, reform efforts must be taken by governments in
emerging markets around the world that will:
• improve corporate disclosure for lending and investments;
• create the conditions for a market for corporate control;
• develop comprehensive bankruptcy laws and means to deal with corporate
financial distress;
• shift investor focus from short-term financial instruments to long-term equity and
bond markets; .
• impose stricter regulations on hedge funds and perhaps even a t ransactions tax
on short-term investments; and
• most importantly, steer clear of the tired, worn (and usually failed) policies of
institutions such as the International Monetary Fund.
the next two to three
months. Soon, problems
floated over to Taiwan,
Korea and Japan. Eight
months later the Russian
ruble plummeted, and by
September 1998 the Brazil­ian
real was under serious
attack.
How did this contagion
happen? Surprisingly, the
factors that create contagion
have little to do with the fact
that these economies had
much trade or capital flow­ing
among them-in fact, they did not.
For example, there is very little trade or
capital flowing between Brazil and Korea.
One would therefore have to conclude
that the contagion from Asia to Latin
America (and elsewhere) must have been
caused by some third element. As it turns
out, this was indeed the case. This third
element manifested itself through any or
all of three transmission mechanisms.
Competitive Devaluations. When the
Thai currency depreciated, its exports
became less expensive in the world mar­ket,
putting its competitors such as
Indonesia and other Asian countries at a
disadvantage. To remain competitive on
the export front, there was devaluation
pressure in these competitor economies.
Depreciating currencies throughout
Asia meant higher import prices for them,
and hence, declining import demand,
especially for raw materials and resources
on which Asia is dependent. Weakened
import demand meant downward pres­sure
on commodity prices worldwide.
Given that commodity prices had already
been weak for over a year before the
Asian crisis, the decline in import demand
further depressed the market, making
commodity-exporting countries such as
Brazil, Russia, Venezuela and even
Canada vulnerable.
Hope v. Fear. The second transmission
mechanism has to do with risk percep­tions
and the tradeoffs in the minds of
financial market participants between
"hope" and "fear." When times are good,
the markets' sense of greed and hope for
high returns overtakes its fear of risk. As
soon as the tide begins to turn even
slightly (such as a little bad news origi­nating
in Thailand), market psychology
can quickly shift. Receiving news of the
trouble in Thailand, investors began to
Continued on page 35
THUNDERBIRD 52 12 I 1999
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It needs market inteUigence that
provides a unique perspective on its
worldwide operations-perspective that
ensures continued success in the highly
competitive global healthcare arena To be
sure, the company has invested resources
in market research through traditional
consulting firms before, however, Thun­derbird's
Corporate Consulting Program
offers J&J something that no consulting
firm or other business school can-stu­dents
with T-bird know-how.
It wasn't that long ago that Ken
WIlczek '97 was a Thunderbird student
himself. Now, as a Director for the
International Business and Market
Development Group for J&J, Wilczek's
international responsibilities include
directing a worldwide database collec­tion
effort and examining business and
marketing opportunities in markets
around the globe.
"There are opportunities that eclipse
daily as the world economy changes. My
team and I simply couldn't keep up with
the demand for worldwide information
that was needed to move our business for­ward,"
Wilczek says, explaining what
brought him back to Thunderbird so soon
after graduation.
"We looked at other graduate schools,
too. Thunderbird's unequivocal advantage
is that nowhere else, including Stanford
and Harvard and Wharton, could I get the
quality of students-the students with the
native language abilities, the cultural
understanding, the international business
adeptness, " he continues.
Value-Added Service Providing clients
with real value is a key component to
Thunderbird's Corporate Consulting
Program. Dr. M.V. Krishna Kumar has
been Director of Corporate Consulting for
Thunderbird since 1995.
"When Dr. Kumar came, he began ele­vating
the level of sophistication and com­plexity,
as well as the breadth and the
nature of the studies," explains Dr.
10 THUNDERBIRD 52 12 I 1999
Charles Nielson, Assistant Professor of
World Business. "Today, we have two
main objectives. One is to provide a value­added
service to the client; the other is to
provide a substantive educational experi-
THE THUNDERBIRD
CORPORATE CONSULTING
PROGRAM-
-has two main objectives-to offer a
value-added service to its clients and to
provide a substantive educational experi­ence
for its students.
- works with entrepreneurs as well as
large, multinational corporations-past
clients include Dun & Bradstreet,
Motorola, Procter & Gamble, Texas
Instruments, Kimberly-Clark, Kodak,
Hershey and Xerox.
- provides clients not only with compre­hensive,
up-to-date market data, but also
with strategic recommendations to
move the business forward.
- offers clients a high~ty product at a
fraction of the cost of top consulting
finns and other graduate-J.evel business
school programs.
- is one of the most sought-a1ter electives
offered at 1bunderbh'd; approximately
60 students p8I1idpat.e each semester.
- completes an average of 18 to 20 client
projects each year.
(1bcM) MIlk COopIr. Vb Po I fehnt""'"
natIanIf. Johnson nlolnon, ..... .....
.. 11I •• of ................ ' .. .
ence for the students. If we do the former,
we discovered that the latter would
ensue. If we focus on the client, the stu­dents
are drawn into an educational
process that is extremely real-world and
very beneficial to them. "
The J&J partnership is an excellent
example. The corporate consulting part­nership
between Thunderbird and J&J
began only one year ago and has already
resulted in two successful projects-with
more planned for 1999. The corporation
asks students to take a comprehensive
consulting approach to its worldwide
business operations-from human
resource and marketing issues to strategic
recommendations and detailed financial
risk analysis. The resulting strategic rec­ommendations
can actually affect the bot­tom
line of this Fortune 100 company.
The first project was an Asian business
study conducted the summer of 1998
regarding opportunities in Korea, Thai­land,
China and Taiwan. The second pro­ject,
in fall 1998, focused on the Latin
American countries of Brazil, Chile,
Argentina and Uruguay.
Serious Business On a continual basis,
J&J Companies develop worldwide strate­gic
plans that encompass all of their inter­national
affiliates-and as such, detailed
region, market and demographic informa­tion
is needed to drive their worldwide
businesses forward. In addition, J&J
develops detailed business plans specific
to each country or region. "The informa­tion
that we're getting from both the Asian
and Latin American projects, once evalu­ated
by our international team, will be
used to drive forth those business plans,"
says Wilczek and Ben Urban, an interna­tional
marketing associate for J&J.
One aspect that makes this relationship
especially successful is the level of sup­port
it gets from high-ranking J&J man­agement.
The company's first meeting
with students, for example, included 15
top executives from J&J, including inter­nationally
based management and the
President of Development for China like­wise,
the Latin America project brought
several high-ranking J&J executives to
hear what students had to say.
Wilczek expands, "We have dis­sected
the reports at a manage­ment
level, and we have developed
a substantial list of action items. We're
moving forth with recommendations in
our worldwide strategic and business
plans for 1999, 2000 and beyond."
The Process The consulting project
begins with a "scope of work" prepared
by the company- essentially a detailed
listing of questions it wants explored in
each of the markets. These can range
from specific questions like "What is the
market share of J&J and each of its com­petitors
in this region?" and "What tariffs
and government regulations exist?" to
more obscure queries such as "What does
it take to win in this market?"
Thus, the student team provides J&J
not only with important core data, but
Johnson & Johnson Medical is one of more
than 180 worldwide operating companies
of Johnson & Johnson, the world's largest
manufacturer of health care products
serving the consumer, pharmaceutical,
diagnostics and professional markets. The
company has chosen Thunderbird's Corpo­rate
Consulting Program to help with its
research in the global marketplace.
also with strategic recommenda­tions
on various aspects of its busi­ness.
Mark Cooper, Vice President,
International for J&J, put it simply
during a meeting for the Latin
American project. He asks students,
"If this were your business, if you
had to eat tomorrow based upon
the success of this company, what
would you do to drive the
business forward?"
The hungry students take
the scope of work and
quickly dive in.
Daniela Malik, a Brazilian
student who worked on the
Latin American project,
says, "We had two months
to find out everything we
could about the industry and get exactly
the kind of information the company
wanted. You learn a lot by doing this."
First, the students conduct secondary
research, tapping into a plethora of T-bird
resources-from the IBIC databases, to
fellow students on campus, to alumni in
the markets of interest. Then they hit the
road to conduct primary market research
on site. Students are each expected to
spend at least one week in the countries
of interest.
"Being in-country was definitely the
best part of the whole project," says
Canadian student Ian Hasegawa, who
conducted research in Chile. "It was an
excellent experience to go down there
Words to the Wise
There are some fairly basic steps a company can
take to ensure it gets the most beneficial
results from a Thunderbird corporate consulting
project.
FOCUS. Mark Cooper, Vice President, International
for Johnson & Johnson Medical, suggests, "Be as
clear and as focused as possible in the information
you're requesting. Don't try to bite off too much."
OBJECTIVES. Anthony Wing, a Honduran student
who worked on J&1's Asian study-who recently
accepted a position with J&J-agrees. "Have a very
defined objective of what you want the consulting
team to accomplish. Should the scope of work be
too broad, while it may be interesting, the end
result becomes superficial."
SUPPORT. It's also important that there be a high
level of support and energy for the project from
the corporate team. Ian Hasegawa, a student on
the Latin American project team explains, "It's very
helpful to the student team that the regional busi­ness
units are prepared to share all the information
they can and to set aside some time to speak with
us about the research."
GOALS. Finally, don't worry about bruised egos.
The ultimate goal is to gain valuable market data
and fresh ideas that can help to move the business
forward. As Cooper succinctly instructed students
at the onset of the J&J Latin America project,
"Don't spare us any negative comments."
and establish relationships of confidence
so they would be willing to really discuss
their business with us."
At mid-semester, students meet with the
client once again, to review their progress
and to determine whether they should
redirect their efforts in any way. Through­out
the process, Wilczek remains in almost
daily contact with Kumar or someone
from the student team.
All along, students receive constant
direction and guidance from professors
Kumar and Nielson. Every number, every
piece of information they uncover, is
checked and rechecked by the faculty
representative for the team; not one piece
of paper or shred of information is given
to the client before being fully scrutinized.
Finally, the project concludes with an
all-day meeting with J&J management
teams to review the team's findings and
discuss their tactical recommendations.
Results Through countless interviews
with product end-users, distributors, gov­ernment
officials, trade offices and affili­ate
industry professionals; the students
generated data and gathered information
of immeasurable value. In some cases,
students provided new, insightful data
that J&J management was otherwise not
able to obtain. In other cases, the informa­tion
has provided objective, third-party
validation of the company's ideas and
strategies. And, a few times, the students'
findings even contradicted the company's
previous research.
Wilczek explains, "We're not experienc­ing
a situation where our managers don't
understand the business or don't know
what's going on in their markets. When we
get involved in day-to-day business oppor­tunities
and operations, we can some­times
lose that outside perspective or
"out-of-the-box" point of view. We want a
credible third-party source to tell us
whether or not they think we're doing
what it takes to win in those markets. "
"I was surprised by how many
resources J&J has dedicated to this pro­ject,"
says student team member Hase­gawa.
"We really have to produce a
professional consulting product."
J&J's Cooper says, "We continue to be
more and more impressed. We have made
it a point to establish a 'win-win' relation­ship
with the students and faculty. Both of
us are experiencing an evolving learning
process. That's what it takes to win in
today's international economy. We take
the information the students give us and
act on it." - Jessica McCann.
THUNDERBIRD 52 12 I 1999 11
)r, Graeme Rankine, Thunderbird associate professor of accounting, is among the outstanding faculty teaching in the Thunderbird Executive Education program.
Major companies know
Nhat many alumni don't:
rhunderbird's Executive
':d. Program has some­thing
for everyone
In less than a decade, Thunderbird's
executive education program has
grown from a staff of three working
out of a trailer in the school parking
lot to an $11 million dollar business
with a staff of 40 and a #1 ranking in
global business education for executives
in Business Week.
Yet, while major companies throughout
the world have taken advantage of the
multitude of executive education pro­grams
offered at Thunderbird, even T­birds
who live in the same city have no
idea how much the department's grown.
"Ninety percent of the (MIM) alumni of
this school have no clue of the breadth of
programs offered in executive education,"
said Jan Mueller, associate director of
executive education.
It's her job to change that.
This year, she sent out more than 8,000
brochures to alumni, spoke to graduating
MIM students, and started contacting
alumni chapter leaders in major U.S. cities
to include executive education course
offerings and program information in the
12 THUNDERBIRD 52 /2 / 1999
chapter newsletters. "Little by little we've
gone out to increase the awareness among
alumni in the States and overseas," said
Mueller. "They need to know we're here."
Even past Phoenix alumni chapter
president Lisa Pringle '91 was blown
away when Mueller gave her a tour of the
new executive education classrooms,
hotel, and administrative buildings.
"My mouth just dropped. I consider
myself a pretty active alumnus and I just
couldn't believe it. I'm on campus all the
time and I never even knew these build­ings
existed," said Pringle, a marketing
director at a local resort. "It's amazing to
me. I knew the program had grown but I
had no idea what it encompassed."
When Pringle graduated, executive edu­cation
was still housed in a trailer.
Now, it has expanded into more than
half-a-dozen buildings. Some of the staff
work out of the renovated Founders Hall
that includes a lounge, classroom and five
breakout rooms. The old I, J, and Keyman
dorms have been remodeled to include at
least 22 single units apiece, each with pri­vate
bath and study areas. Four new audi­torium-
style classrooms hold up to 60
students each.
The new Executive Inn has 12 breakout
rooms and 64 hotel rooms used heavily by
executive education participants. Part of
the new Thunderbird Commons dining
complex is dedicated for use by executive
education students; and a new building,
shared with the Career Management
Center, opened in September 1998. It
holds two new classrooms, 12 breakout
rooms, and offices for 80 percent of the
executive education staff. The remaining
20 percent continue to work out of
Founders Hall.
The executive master's degree (EMIM)
program is just one of many projects they
will be working on. "One of the biggest
myths is that executive education is
EMIM only," said Vice President Frank
Lloyd. In fact, the two-year executive
Advance In ·1999 With These
GLOBAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS
Building Global Marketing Competitiveness
Glendale, Arizona
April 18to 23, 1999
September 19 to 24, 1999
Financial Issues in Global Competition
Glendale, Arizona
September 12 to 17,1999
Globalization: Merging Strategy with Action
Glendale, Arizona
April 2S to 30, 1999
September 26 to October 1, 1999
Leading t he Global Organization
Glendale, Arizona .
May 2 to 7, 1999
October 3 to 8, 1999
GLOBAL LEADERSHIP CERTIFICATE PROGRAM
Evening Program Glendale and Tempe, Arizona
September 11 to November 29, 1999
master.s degree program actually l,'epre­sents
just over 10 percent of the depart­ment's
revenue.
Over the past few years, T-bird's execu­tive
education has grown into one of the
10 largest such programs in the country.
Besides the master's degree program, the
department designs dozens of custom­made
management programs for multina­tional
clients, offers language and cultural
training, a global leadership certificate
program, and open enrollment courses
throughout the year.
For more information about
the following programs,
please contact the program
director listed below:
For the One-Week Programs
in International Finance,
International Marketing,
International Strategy, and
International Leadership &
Organizations:
Jan Mueller
Tel: 602 9787635
Fax: 602 978 0362
E-mail: muellerj@t-bird.edu
For programs in the
telecommunications
industry:
Martin J. O'Toole
Tel: 602 978 7812
Fax: 602 978 0362
E-mail: otoolemj@t­bird
.edu
For language and
cultural programs:
Beth Stoops
Tel: 602 978 7779
Fax: 602 439 4851
E-mail: stoopsb@t­bird.
edu
More than 2,500 executives take advan­tage
of the executive education global
programs each year. Clients :include:
For the 13-week evening
global leadership certificate
program (held in the metropol­itan
area of Phoenix, Arizona):
For programs in the energy
industry:
For the executive
weekend master's program:
Barbara Carpenter
Tel: 602 978 7921
Fax: 602 978-7463
Frank R. Lloyd
Tel: 602 978 7923
Fax: 6024394851
Frank R. Lloyd
Tel: 602 978 7923
Fax: 6024394851 E-mail: carpentb@t-bird.edu
Phelps Dodge, General Motors, Exxon,
Ericsson, Goodyear, TRW, ST Microelec­tronics
and the Korean company Sunk­yong
(now SK Group). The corporations
send executives from around the globe
through programs that range from it few
days to several weeks, and from training
designed only to include that company
and industry-specific issues, to general
management and leadership courses
offered to executives from a number of
different companies.
E-mail: lIoydf@t-bird.edu E-mail: lIoydf@t-bird.edu
"What executive education does is
round out the offerings of Thunderbird,"
said former Senior Vice President for
Executiv~ Education M. Edgar Barrett,
who has headed the program since 1990.
"We already had a degree program. But
once the students left here we had noth­ing
to offer beyond a graduate level pro­gram.
We live in a world where continuing
education is almost a prerequisite for suc­cess
in a managerial career. The expan­sion
of executive education has allowed
us to offer education products to man-agers
throughout their entire lives. In
addition, it has put us into direct competi­tion
with the top business schools and
consulting firms around the world."
One of the fastest-growing divisions is
the Language and Culture Center which
trained about 650 executives last year
from more than 30 companies. Courses
are customized to fit company's language
and vocabulary needs-from training
mining executives from Southern Peru
Ltd., to Wells Fargo bank managers, to the
Roman Catholic Church diocese.
Director Beth Stoops said most of the
business has come from word of mouth,
but she is seeing an increasing number of
MIM alumni taking advantage of the pro­grams.
"They are starting to realize what a
resource they have after they graduate."
It's still a slow process, however.
I
. Thunderbi~d Executive Education Global Programs
ENERGY INDUSTRY PROGRAMS LANGUAGE PROGRAMS
Advanced Management Program for Oil & Gas Ten-Week Language Program
Industry Executives Glendale, Arizona
Beaver Creek, Colorado March 1 to May 7,1999
July 11 to 23,1999 June 7 to August 13,1999
Finance, Accounting and Control for Oil & Gas
I nd ustry Executives
Glendale, Arizona
March 21 to 27, 1999
September 19 to 25, 1999
TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROGRAMS
Global Telecommunications Management Program
Glendale, Arizona
September 26 to OCtober 8, 1999
All dates are subject to change.
October 4 to December 10, 1999
WEEKEND GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAM
Executive Master of International Management
Program
Glendale, Arizona
August 1999 to August 2001
(Friday and Saturday, alternate weekends)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Thunderbird Executive Education
15249 North 59th Avenue, Glendale, Arizona
85306-6004
Phone: (602) 978-7925
Fax: (602) 439-4851 or (602) 978-0362
Internet: www.t-bird.edu/execed
E-mail: executiv@t-bird.edu
Brochures on the language and culture
center and other executive education pro­grams
are handed out to graduates, and
displayed on tables outside the admission
office. Yet, many MIM students say they
see little about executive education
besides the cranes that towered over the
new administration building. Although
executive education's brand-new, state-of­the-
art auditoriums and breakout rooms
stand a few meters from the dorms and
adjacent to the Career Management
Center, few MIM students have ever ven­tured
inside them.
What does the average MIM student
know about executive education?
"That it's over past the cafeteria, and a
lot of people fly in and fly out for it," said
Kathy Williamson-Carlson '97, adding
that she didn't know much about the pro­gram
when she attended Thunderbird
"except that it exists."
Alejandro Vergara '98 said he
wouldn't have known anything about the
program if not for the intensive English
courses he took through the Language
and Culture Center when he first came to
school.
Mueller estimates less than 5 percent of
the executive education participants are
aluinni, but she expects that number to
continue to grow as the program does. "By
targeting the alumni, we've opened the top
of the funneL" -Jennifer Barrett.
For information about executive educa­tion
offerings for your company, contact
Dr. Frank Lloyd, Vice President for
Executive Education, (602) 978-7923;
lIoydf@t-bird.edu.
THUNDERBIRD 52 12 / 1999 13
Enron, a leading energy
provider, works with
Thunderbird in the
development of
customized programs
for its managers.
14 THUNDERBIRD 52 121 1999
Enron looks to
Thunderbird for
employees, training to
enter new markets.
hen a company has projects
that span the globe and
employees working in
dozens of countries, a
global outlook is crucial.
Where does it go get that global perspec­tive?
To the top business schools in the
country, including Thunderbird.
Enron Corporation, a leading energy
provider, realizes the importance of main­taining
a global perspective so it made
perfect sense to align itself with Thunder­bird
more than three years ago. Since
then, the Thunderbird-Enron relationship
has expanded to include not only hiring
Thunderbird graduates but also campus
activities and executive education pro­grams.
"We focus so much of our efforts
in emerging markets that we are con­stantly
searching for a consistently high
level of graduate students that have a
good finance background, specific lan-
Primitivo Diego, a director of Executive Education programs, works with one of the 200 Enron employees who have participated in Thunderbird Executive Education.
guage skills, and the ability to transact
business in a foreign country," says Jim
Easter '79, vice-president of finance for
Enron's Asia Pacific region. "As we looked
around, we found Thunderbird to be an
obvious choice to fill those requirements
and put together our first small organized
recruiting effort."
International operations represent one
third of U.S.-based Enron's total earnings
and operating income. It operates energy
facilities in 15 countries, focusing mainly
on India, Trinidad, and China and employs
more than 16,000 people worldwide. Its
projects are valued at $20 billion.
Named America's most irmovative com­pany
in Fortune magazine for three con­italize
on the synergies between the indus­tries.
Most recently, Enron International
signed an agreement with SK Corporation
to distribute natural gas in South Korea, a
joint venture that serves 1.2 million cus­tomers,
with additional growth expected.
"We realize that markets are constantly
changing. We don't try to sell power to a
country that has plenty. Rather we make a
90-degree turn and ask, 'What is that mar­ket
lacking and what skill sets can we
bring to bear?'" says Easter about Enron's
expansion into other services.
Enron's relationship with Thunderbird
shares this innovative spirit. After its pre­sentation
during corporate career week
last fall, Enron offered students brats and
secutive years, Enron's
success can be attributed
to a corporate culture that
transcends traditional
thinking in the energy
business. For example, it
recently entered the water
business, an area of enor­mous
potential growth
due to its few players, and
views it as an opportunity
to utilize its skills and cap-
Enron really
needed employ­ees
with strong
international
backgrounds
for its world­wide
develop­ment
projects.
beer at the pub in joint sponsor­ship
with the rugby club.
"Participating in Career Chats
and Corporate Career Week is
Enron's way of providing a larger
platform to present itself to the stu­dent
body," explains David Martin,
director of employer relations at
Thunderbird. The company also
supported the International Rugby
Tournament in November.
Not only is Enron an active par-ticipant
in campus activities, it was
Thunderbird's largest recruiter last year,
hiring 15 graduates and bringing its total
count to 24 T-birds working full-time in its
Associate Program. Hiring more than 100
associates per year for this program, it
emphasizes that new associates rotate
through the company for 18 to 24 months
before finding a permanent position. It
was while in this program that Li Doyle
'93, director of consumer services group
at Enron, realized that Enron Inter­national
really needed employees with
strong international backgrounds for its
efforts in worldwide development pro­jects.
Doyle suggested her alma mater as a
source for recruiting talent.
At that time Enron's corporate relation­ship
with Thunderbird's Executive Educa­tion
program was simultaneously igniting.
After representatives from Enron carne to
an open enrollment Oil and Gas Program,
test programs were run and a formal pro­gram
was soon developed. Today, roughly
200 Enron employees have participated in
the Finance Accounting Control Managers
program and future customized programs
are on the drawing board. •
-Tina Ashama11a '99
THUNDERBIRD 52 12 I 1999 15
Versatility
Pays Off
Making His Own Way Keeps
Jim Easter Moving Up at Enron
What do you do when you work for one of the largest
energy and gas companies in the world? "Anything
you're capable of doing," says Jim Easter '79, vice­president
of finance for Enron's Asia Pacific region. It's what
attracted him to Enron in the first place and why he has worked
there for the past 3 years.
"Usually if you want to do something different you have to
leave a company," says Easter. "At Enron they encourage employ­ees
to find themselves another position within the company once
they feel they've accomplished what they wanted to. You sell your
personal skill set within the organization."
After several years in commercial banking with the Bank of
Montreal, Easter grew tired of banking, quit his job and took six
months off. What he discovered during this sabbatical was a
desire to work in an innovative environment. This new-found
interest, coupled with his desire to work in the oil and gas busi­ness,
led him straight to Enron. "It had a great reputation and
offered a lot of opportunities, " he says.
Easter started with Enron as a director in the Deal Structuring
and Execution Group of Enron Capital Management, a division of
Enron Corp. A rather confusing title, its responsibilities were no
less complex. Providing support for origination teams in the
Industrial Services, Metals and Mining and Integrated Solutions
groups, it was primarily a deal-approval area for any transaction
involving an outflow of capital from the company. In charge of all
domestic deals, Easter decided if a deal was worth the risk or not.
"The Deal Structuring group is what we refer to as the sausage
mill," Easter explains. "It's where the deals are done. We go in,
pull them apart, check to see if they're working or not, and then
tie them back together again and say, 'Who's
Next?'
These days, he's asking "What's next?"
Searching for a new area to flex his business
skills, Easter recently made a switch to his cur­rent
position as vice-president of finance for
the Asia Pacific region. In charge of striking
deals on Enron's behalf, Easter and his group
look for investment opportunities that range
from equity investments in companies to bail­ing
out projects suffering from financial crisis.
"We finance projects that are suddenly
unable to move forward when their local bank
suffers liquidity problems. Enron steps in to
provide the capital, the construction services
and operations and management to complete
the project," he says.
Easter credits his versatility and interna­"
It's the ability to
network wherever
they go and
conduct business
in almost any
country in the
world that gives
T-birds an
international
advantage."
birds currently employed by Enron. So what does
he believe makes T-bird alurrmi a good match for
Enron?
"If you need a contact in the ministry of finance
in Taiwan, chances are you can pick up an alurrmi
directory and find a fellow T-bird in the ministry
or close to someone in it, who can help you out,"
he says. "It's the ability to network wherever they
go and conduct business in almost any country in
the world that gives T-birds an international
advantage. "
Closing his own international deals at the
moment, Easter wouldn't hint to their nature but
assures that they should be wrapped up shortly.
Reflecting on past deals, he can't point a finger at
one in particular that's been better than the rest
but notes that some of the smaller deals have
tional expertise to his experiences at Thunderbird. He chose
Thunderbird after receiving a dual degree in chemistry and
German from the University of Texas. Easter also is one of 29 T-given
him the most satisfaction. "The deals that fulfilled a specific
customer need that they couldn't have gotten anywhere else than
Enron, make me proud to be on their team," says Easter. •
16 THUNDERBIRD 52 12 I 1999
Campus Service Helps Business
New research service uses Thunderbird library resources.
By Cate Cebrowski, Business Information Service Librarian
Staying competitive in any global industry, be it
entertainment, energy, or electronics, means
having the most current information about
markets, competitors, and industry trends at
your fingertips. Information is power, as we say
here at the Thunderbird Business Information Service
(BIS). If your busy schedule leaves you little time to seek
and find the information that
will keep your company
competitive, contact BIS.
For a modest fee, our expe­rienced
business research
specialists will answer your
international business ques­tions
and deliver results
right to your desktop.
Examples of information
requests that BIS research
specialists have recently
answered include:
• "Please provide me with
a list of articles describing
the global trend towards
regional trading zones."
• "Who are the leading
distributors, wholesalers,
and importers of commer­cial
cleaning products in
Latin America?"
• "What are the GDP
growth rates, unemploy­ment
rates, and consumer
price inflation rates (real
and forecast) for Korea,
Taiwan, and Japan from
1995-1999?"
• "Who are the leading
competitors in the U.S.
credit card industry
ranked by sales? Please
provide me with infor­mation
on current trends
in this industry. "
• "What are the politi­cal
and economic risks
of investing in Chile and
Argentina?"
• "How much money did Europeans spend on air travel
and car rentals in 1997?"
Robert Courtney '88 recently called upon BIS to
research a topic of interest to his company, US Dental
Care, located in Moscow. "The research has been
extremely useful in helping us crystallize our analytical
Cate Cebrowski,
Thunderbird's
Business Information
Service Librarian,
uses online resources
to conduct research
for businesses.
process and to focus with
more intelligence on future
directions," Courtney com­mented.
He added, "Partic­ularly
for those of us [in]
international locations with­out
the access to the
resources of the 'more civi­lized'
world, this service is
truly valuable. I commend
the School for a valuable
addition to what Thunder­bird
provides to the interna­tional
business community."
Much BIS research is done
online via the Internet and
the comprehensive collec­tion
of databases in Thunder­bird's
International Business
Information Centre. The ser­vice
has a quick turnaround
time, ranging on average
from 2-5 days per request.
Many research results can be
sent to you electronically,
meaning that you no longer
have to wait for postal ser­vice
delivery. Results that
cannot be e-mailed are faxed
or sent via Federal Express,
depending on just how soon
you need them. A 24-hour
rush service is available for
those global executives who
need critical information on
their desks tomorrow. •
THUNDERBIRD 52 12 / 1999 17
EYES AJ{Ol'ND THE WOJ{LD
Surviving the Asian
Economic Storm
such a prominent role in
driving economic growth,
this is particularly difficult
to accept. Not only does it
reduce confidence in your
economic system, it
Long-term strategic
planning is more critical
than ever, according to
Walter Ettlin '89
As the manager oj business plan­ning
and performance reporting
Jor Levi Strauss Asia PaciJic,
Walter Ettlin '89 leads, manages and
Jacilitates the strategic and annual busi­ness
planning process Jor the company
in the region. He also provides coaching
and support to Levi-Strauss business
units in Asia Pacific on issues related to
strategic planning.
Ettlin joined Levi-Strauss Internation­al
in 1990, based in San Francisco, and
has worked extensively on the budgeting
and Jorecasting process oj this $2 billion
division oj Levi-Strauss & Company. In
1995, he moved to Singapore.
Q: What role do you think strategic
planning plays in a company's survival in
the Asia-Pacific economic crisis?
Ettlin:
Given the regional factors, such as the
depressed economies and political unrest,
companies need to have both long- and
short-term strategies in place. The current
economic downturn helps in flushing out
the marginal competition. Once the region
recovers, the players who survive the
storm will be in a much stronger position
to compete. In Asia, there is a saying, "The
low-hanging fruit has been picked, the
fruit higher up in the tree will take longer
to reach."
Q: How would you describe the impact
downsizing has had on confidence in the
region?
Ettlin: It has definitely shaken the confi­dence
of many people. For the past ten
years, the GDP growth of many countries
in Southeast Asia has been the envy of the
developing world. Both the young and the
old proudly displayed the badges of afflu­ence
and consumption. With the continual
stream of news regarding factory clo­sures,
bank failures and declining profits,
people are much more uncertain about
what the future has in store for them. In a
region where the government has played
1B THUNDERBIRD 52 121 1999
exposes the weakness in the govern­ment's
strategies and policies.
Q: What steps should be taken to
remain a strong player in the region?
Ettlin: It's a balance between strategic
and tactical maneuvers. To start, you need
to constantly communicate with your
employees, customers, and suppliers
regarding your goals. You need to assure
your partners that you are committed for
the long term. Additionally, you need to
focus on the basics while remaining true
to course on your strategic direction. At
Levi-Strauss & Co we have spent consid­erable
time on inventory and receivables
management, controlling costs, and man­aging
our sourcing base. In cases where
there has been massive currency devalua­tion,
working capital management has
been extremely important. Companies
that had a U.S. dollar denominated debt or
costs were devastated by the devaluation
of the Southeast Asian currencies. I have
spent a lot of time on the phone with our
treasury people reviewing various hedg­ing
strategies to protect us against volatil­ity
in the foreign exchange markets.
Last, but not least important, we are
looking for various opportunities to grow
and invest in our brands. In this environ­ment
it is very easy to become focused on
the tactical issues and lose sight of the
long-term goals. We have built strategic
partnerships with our suppliers, and it is
in our best interest to work very closely
with them. Strengthening our relation­ships
is essential during these difficult
times.
Q: What challenges might confront a
multinational that chooses to remain in
the region and playa positive role in the
recovery process?
Ettlin: It's a balance between meeting
shareholder commitments and motivating
and retaining your employees. In an envi­ronment
when many companies have had
to downsize their businesses, employee
morale suffers. During the boom times,
employees in the Asia-Pacific region have
been accustomed to large pay increases
and bonuses. In the current climate, this is
no longer the case.
Companies now need to focus on non­financial
means to motivate and reward
employees, like technical training or
career development opportunities.
Another challenge companies face is
efforts in some countries to initiate "buy
local" movements. This has placed pres­sure
on large multinationals and global
brands, as they are often the targets of
these initiatives. At Levi, the majority of
our products are sourced locally, provid­ing
jobs not only for our employees in
those countries, but for our suppliers and
other business partners as well.
Q: What opportunities exist in new
and emerging markets in Asia?
Ettlin: Developing markets such
as India and China offer tremen­dous
opportunity. But Asia-Pacific
is a very diverse region. What
works in Delhi may not be rele­vant
to the consumer in Sydney.
You need to be flexible and
patient. The purchasing power of
the more developed markets, such
as Japan and Hong Kong, is quite
different from the purchasing power of
the emerging markets. Technology offers
tremendous opportunities, especially the
Internet, to communicate with your con­sumer.
Technology is the youth currency.
Companies that are able to utilize this to
their advantage will benefit the most.
-Pamela J. EUlin •
Pamela J. EUlin, a California native,
has been living and writing in
Singapore Jor the last three years. In
addition to her Jreelance writing, she is
on the editorial staff at the Singapore­American
Newspaper.
ALl' ~I \ I LEA J) E H
Country Culture
Makes a Difference
Osamu Yamada '83 Successfully Headed
Companies in Multiple Cultures
Learning how to work withln the cul­ture
of a company is one of the keys
to success, according to Osamu
Yamada '83-and he has the experience
to know. After being president of two
companies, one Chinese and the other
British, and now president of a Dutch
company, plus having worked for several
American companies, he knows that the
national culture of the head office has a
major influence on company style.
Yamada is currently president of Philips
Lighting, KK, in Tokyo, a subsidiary of
the Dutch industrial giant. He was for­merly
president of WKK Japan, Ltd., an
ethnic Chinese company based in Hong
Kong, and before that was president of
the British firm Pont Data (Japan) KK
"I found that even the subsidiary in
Japan is affected by the home country's
nature," Yamada says. "The British com­pany,
for example, was different from the
American company in which I worked
beforehand. The British tended to want to
do what they do in their home country.
"The Chinese company was very entre­preneurial
and very much a part of the
Chinese culture," he says. "They came
from Mainland China, and they believe in
the family. The goal is to make a profit for
the family-to protect the family. This is
different from a Western public com­pany,"
he explains, "where the goal is to
satisfy the shareholders."
so it's part of
their history. "In
Philips, they
want to establish
consensus about
the goal they
wish to achieve
in the forthcom­ing
year," Yamada says. Goals are typically
quantifiable. Profit, sales, expenses­everythlng
is spelled out beforehand. But
once consensus is arrived at, accountabil­ity
is very important. "When you cannot
achieve the goal, you would be held
accountable. Sometimes that can mean
dismissal," Yamada warns.
"Philips is the fourth largest company
in the world, employing 250,000 people,
so Yamada concedes it can be like a mam­moth.
"Mammoths cannot change very
fast," Yamada says, but he is quick to
point out that because of the company's
size, "they need a very concrete control
system." Yamada has high praise for
Philips' new president who came on
board two years ago from Sara Lee. "Since
then, the share price has doubled, and he
is doing a good job."
Yamada himself has much to be proud
of. "They [Philips Lighting] have had four
presidents in four years because in each
year sales were declining," Yamada says.
"Since I took over, we have had 35 percent
growth, and in 1998 compared to the pre­vious
year, doUble." It wasn't easy.
"Reducing people in Japan was very dif-ficult
because of the lifetime employment
system, which is the social norm. People
hesitate to take drastic action. So I did
that. I gave up some areas of the business
and focused on certain areas only where
Philips has a technology advantage in
terms of the product-OEMs and the pro­fessional
lighting markets. Our market
was architects, lighting designers, con­tractors.
We sent about 100 people to
Holland to show them our products and
the factory. They got a very strong impres­sion,
and they started to use our lamps in
Japan.
Yamada predicts that Japan's eco­nomic
slump will continue for a couple
of years, but he cautions that the country
is still a major player in world trade in
terms of its GDP and market size.
"Certain industries are suffering from the
economic slowdown," he says. "Manu­facturing
is strong, however, because it
has adapted to international competition.
After this slow period, Japan's market
and economy will come back, I'm sure,"
says Yamada, "and in Asia, Japan will be
the biggest opportunity for a holding
company to have a business." •
"The owner-chairman decided every­thlng-
everything-all the small pieces of
the decision. When people would talk to
the middle managers, the middle man­agers
would just pass on the inquiry to the
chairman. But when it does get to the
chairman, then the decision is very quick.
So if you approach the middle manager, it
would be a waste of time.
. \ Tllllllclerl lin I Th<lIlk YOIl
Becoming part of the Dutch giant,
Philips Corporation, meant a turnabout
for Yamada, which he obviously managed
with ease. "Consensus is characteristic of
Dutch companies," he says. "For many
centuries, they have been familiar with
the ways of managing holding companies,
In addition to his professional accom­plishments,
Osamu Yamada takes pride in
his role in fostering the reputation of
Thunderbird in Japan. After graduating
fn)m ,~~rd, ~,~~Jwo
says. it had been relatively unknown to
Japanese students. Many of the business
school applicants from Japan look at those
two books when deciding which business
...... ~ . ~ ''!~~~~ .... Yamada been
THUNDERBIRD 52 12 / 1999 19
port from the
STH .\TE(iIES FOH TilE Fl Tl HE sldent
20
Roy A. Herberger, Jr. C President, Thunderbird, The American
Graduate School of International Management
hange is one of the most important qualities that have
marked Thunderbird since its very beginning. The School is in a
constant state of evolution as we move forward to meet the
demands of a changing world and the challenges of economies in
transition. In recent years, that evolution has meant an increasing
focus on technology and a reassessment of what it means to be a
truly global institution.
The strategic plan created in 1997 continues to be our compass as
we focus on six strategic directions: Quality, Globalization,
Lifelong Learning, Diversification of Revenue Sources, Tech­nology
and Distance Learning, and Targeting Linkages.
THUNDERBIRD 52 121 1999
Quality
We are seeing an emphasis on quality in every
area of the School, especially the students our
campus, the instructional program, technology,
and our supporting boards.
FACILITIES. The easiest things to point to in
terms of progress are our new facilities, and we
are pleased with the way the new Career
Management Center and Executive Education
Building are functioning. The new Thunderbird
Commons food service building is now two years
old and has become a focal point for student
activity. In addition, it serves our Executive
Education program and provides additional
meeting space.
We are fortunate now to have one of the most
modern business school physical plants any­where
in graduate management education.
Thunderbird has invested over $60 million dollars
in plant and facilities since 1991, and the Thun­derbird
campus complex has become a market­ing
piece for us that is particularly attractive to
our customers. It's a picture that includes faculty
Instead of
looking at
emerging
markets as too
risky, we see
opportunities.
offices, the information
center, the executive
education facilities,
and the centers we
now operate abroad.
INSTRUCTION. One of
our greatest assets is
our Thunderbird fac­ulty-
their numbers,
their global back­grounds,
their experi­ences,
and their teaching methods. The students
see the value immediately in their courses, in the
different approaches to the Thunderbird learning
environment. At one time, students told me we
did not challenge them enough. Today we must
challenge them if they are to succeed in the
highly competitive environment, and we do so.
The new two-week Foundations program,
which has in it a demanding business simulation
course, enables our new students to get a head
start on their coursework. Our faculty are
involved in developing international business
case studies that are used by other institutions,
and our curriculum includes such up-to-the
minute courses as "Financial Engineer­ing
and Derivative Products," and short
courses in certain growth industries,
such as aerospace, automobiles, phar­maceuticals,
or telecommunications.
STUDENTS. Our
students are an­other
of our most
important assets.
The GMAT average
of new students has
increased steadily
to the point where
their scores are
comparable to those
of most of the top
graduate schools of
The
Thunderbird
campus
complex has
become a
marketing
piece for us.
business. Add to that a rise in experience
level and academic accomplishment plus
an uncommon global perspective, and
you have a combination that adds up to
"Citizens of the World." We have main­tained
our enrollment at just about 1500,
and half of those students are from out­side
the United States, bringing a unique
global context to every aspect of campus
life.
SUPPORT GROUPS. All of this could not
occur without the support of our boards
and advisory groups. The nature of the
people who have joined our governing
boards to support the school's vision is a
tangible asset. The Thunderbird Board
of Trustees has on it some of the world's
top executives from places like Japan,
Mexico, Hong Kong, England, and
Belgium as well as New York, illinois,
Arizona, Ohio, and California.
The Thunderbird Global Council of
100 international business executives
has become extremely valuable behind
the scenes in helping us establish the
Thunderbird brand, in student recruit-ment,
and in curriculum development.
The Thunderbird Alumni Association
and its regional councils are an immea­surable
asset, providing us with an
extra arm that reaches into the corpo­rate
community in nearly every part of
the world.
Globalization: Key
Regions of the World
Globalization is taking place in nearly
every area of Thunderbird. The Alumni
Relations Office and the Thunderbird
Alumni Association, for example, now
have strong regional councils in Europe
and Asia, with a new council forming in
Latin America. We are looking to these
leaders for help in developing lifelong
learning programs in those regions as
well as helping with student recruitment
and employer relations.
We are developing models and pro­grams
that provide educational services
in the emerging economies. As might be
expected, the Asian economic crisis and
the financial breakdown of the Russian
economy have taken their toll on these
programs. Nevertheless, we firmly
believe the potential gains outweigh the
risks. Instead of looking at emerging
markets as too risky, we see opportuni­ties.
The whole world is backing away
from risk. Do we do the same thing? I
think we do so at our peril. I go back to
the nature of the School itself, which has
always gone against the tide. We see the
school constantly moving against the
stream and we have another stream
today. The decision to go forward in
these growth markets is what will drive
us toward relationships, and they're both
corporate and academic. Our Center for
Business Skills Development (CBSD),
which started in Russia, creating new
opportunities in China as well, where
they are developing programs to teach
fundamental management skills to the
rising young business people in that
country. We see this as a model we can
take to other developing economies.
Another area of globalization is the
expansion of our overseas programs.
Two types of foreign programs are now
available to the Thunderbird student.
One is an enrichment or supplementary
program that is administered by Thun­derbird
and staffed primarily by faculty
from Thunderbird. These are offered in
both regular terms and in Wmterim. The
regular term enrichment programs
include numerous courses in our two
foreign centers: The Thunderbird Japan
Center, Tokyo, Japan and The Thunder­bird
French/Geneva Center, Archamps,
France. We also offer summer programs
in Guadalajara, Mexico; Eastern Europe
or China (Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong
Kong), and in every area, we are seeing
increases with some programs doubling
in enrollment.
THUNDERBIRD 52 /2/ 1999 21
22
Winterim enrichment programs are
some of the fastest growing areas and
include Geneva, Latin America, Taiwan,
Kenya, Cuba, South Africa, Paris, Iberia,
and Tokyo as well as New York City and
Washington D.C. Enrollment in the off­campus
programs during Wmterim 1998
was a record 225 students.
Exchange programs include coopera­tion
with the European Business School
(EBS) in Germany; Escuela Superior de
Administraci6n y Direcci6n de Empresas
(ESADE) in Barcelona, Spain (Dual
Degree Program); lnstituto Universitario
de Administraci6n y Direccion de
Empresas (ICADE) in Madrid, Spain;
INCAE, Costa Rica; PUC, Chile; Norwe­gian
School of Management Bedrift
sok0momisk, Sandvika, Norway; Hel­sinki
School of Economics (HSE), Fin­land;
Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea;
COPPEAD/UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;
FENUSP, Universidade de Sao Paulo,
Brazil; Tunghai University, Taiwan; ESC.
Rouen, France; Lebanon American
University, Beirut, Lebanon, and The
American University in Cairo, Egypt.
Lifelong Learning
Executive Education and the Alumni
Relations Office are the two key areas
charged with developing programs for
lifelong learning. Our hope is that both
our alumni audience and our non-alumni
corporate audience will find benefits in
the lifelong learning programs devel­oped
by each of these units.
The Thunderbird Global Business
Forums, which began in four Asian cities
last year (see p. 38), were an important
focus of Homecoming in November. The
concept was taken to three cities in Latin
America in March of this year, and will
be developed in three European cities
this summer. These forums, which are
THUNDERBIRD 52 I 2 I 1999
directed toward alumni, are also open to
other business people in the area They
have stimulated discussions on key
issues that confront business people in
their respective regions. It is these kinds
of lifelong learning programs that we feel
provide the added value to a Thun­derbird
degree.
Diversification and
Enhancement
of Revenue Sources
The chief component in our program
to diversify our revenue stream has been
the Executive Education program. Not
only has this segment generated more
than $11 million in revenue over the past
from companies like Citibank, Coca
Cola, and Philip Morris. I am convinced
this is just the beginning of the kind of
support we can look forward to.
Distance Learning
and Technology
Applications
This is an area where there is real
excitement both on campus and off
campus. The new intranet, known as
"My Thunderbird," is an interactive Web
site with access limited to Thunderbird
students, faculty, and staff. Students and
professors can now communicate with
each other using "course pages" that
contain the course syllabus, announce­year,
but it also promises to
be one of the fastest growing
parts of our program in the
future.
The Executive MIM pro­gram
enrolled its eighth
class last fall. This program,
which operates on a week­We
are involving
our students in
the world of
ments, Web links, media
clips, assignments, read­ings,
and papers.
As of this spring, My
Thunderbird also has a
segment dedicated to
accepted students. They
now have access to pre­enrollment
information
and special programs
that give them a taste of
electronic
end format,
attracts mid-level
managers
corrunerce on a
daily basis.
who demand the best
Thunderbird has to offer.
They challenge our faculty
as well as their classmates.
Other programs in the
Executive Education
Department include short
courses of one to two
weeks, customized pro­grams
offered through
membership in the Thun­derbird
International
Consortia, the 13-week
certificate programs, and
the programs offered through the Thun­derbird
Language and Culture Center.
FUND-RAISING. The trajectory of our
alumni giving and our support base, cor­porate
and otherwise, has exceeded my
expectations. Our $50 million "Thunder­bird
Rising" campaign is ahead of
schedule. As of December, 1998, Phase I
and Phase II of the campaign have gen­erated
$41.4 million in cash and pledges,
thanks to several substantial gifts from
our own alumni. Merle Hinrichs '65 Ken
Seward '57, and Sam Garvin '88 have
given more than $1 million each. An
anonymous former faculty member
gave $4 million, and our trustees have
stepped forward in a major way. Out­standing
corporate support has come
Thunderbird before they arrive. Within
the next few months, we expect every­thing
that is important to our students,
faculty, and staff to be available online.
We are involving our students in the
world of electronic commerce on a
daily basis with the information systems
we've put in place. Plans are well under
way in the development of a sophisti­cated
alumni service that will include
lifetime e-mail, networking capability,
and career development. We expect to
inaugurate that project by this fall.
Targeted Linkages
ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIPS. The relation­ship
we have built with ITESM (lnstituto
Tecnol6gico y de Estudios Superiores de
Monterrey) for our distance learning
MIM in Latin America (MIMLA) is a
model for the way we'll have to do busi­ness
in the future. Each partner brings
something to the table. We both share in
the gain; we both share in the risk. That
model is the way I see us developing in
Latin America, in Asia and in Europe
and Africa as well. We have to find ways
to benefit both parties.
In places like Tokyo, we may develop
a corporate relationship. In Shanghai or
Beijing, we may have a partnership that
is really a marketing relationship. In
satisfy the customer in
every aspect of our rela­tionship,
we are going to
have a long-term win-win
on both sides.
places like Korea or Nor­way
we may go with an
academic institution that
already has a base, much
like we do with Monterrey
in Mexico. Multiple kinds
of solutions to different
kinds of problems in dif­ferent
parts of the world is
the Thunderbird way.
To be competitive on a
global basis, we have to be
We can say to a
company, "You
tell us where you
want to be, and
we'll help you
get there and
stay there."
A partnership attitude is
key. People traditionally
think of educational institu­tions
in a way that focuses
only on our degree-granting
programs, but providing
globally educated gradu­ates
is just one way we
serve the business commu­nity.
Executive education is
another element of that
relationship.
We also have unique ser­vices
in which we can say
to a company, "You tell us
where you want to be, and
we'll help you get there
and stay there ." Our
research facilities, our
consulting courses, our
faculty, our interns, our
constantly innovating, constantly push­ing
our program offerings toward the
unique needs of our stakeholders. At the
same time, these market demands will
stretch our resources and human capa­bilities.
In the end we cannot possibly
take every opportunity by going it alone.
The prototype of our new approach to
alliances is what we are doing with the
corporate clientele in Executive Educa­tion.
While we have provided them with
global educational experiences they
cannot get anywhere else, they in turn
have inspired us. These corporate cus­tomers
are at the action points of global
commerce. What we have learned from
our corporate relationships has had far­reaching
effects in nearly every area of
the School. They have enhanced the
content capabilities of the faculty and
have stimulated both
our teaching and
research. This corpo­rate
community works
with us in a partner­ship
that is truly mutu­ally
beneficial.
I point to compa­nies
like Enron (see p.
14). We are part of
Enron's corporate
strategy, as is the case
with many companies
like General Motors,
Coca-Cola, or Good­year.
As long as we
centers abroad, our programs in Russia
and China-they are all resources that
we offer as a good corporate partner.
(See list of Thunderbird services to
business, p. 1)
The Alunmi Factor
From the standpoint of our resources
and our asset mix, we are in a great posi­tion
to deal with the challenges that lie
ahead. We have a huge reservoir of
human skills, and the alumni body is one
of the important. The financial support
of alumni, their willingness to send us
high caliber students, their continuing
recruitment of Thunderbird graduates
as employees, and their eagerness to
help each other are very powerful,
assets. In my opinion, that's what makes
Thunderbird a unique leader. •
Thunderbird Milestones
(Jufl6, 1997-December, 1998)
• Thunderbird Alumni AssocIation goes global;
develops Europe Council (June 1997)
• YMCA opens on ThunderbIrd campus
(Sept 1997).
• Language Dept. accepts AcrR. tests for
waivers (Sept 1997).
• Thunderbird Executiw EducatIon is named
number one in globaJ busineSs by Business
Week (Oct 7997)
• Executiw Education opens new Executive Inn,
classrooms. on campus (No\( 1997).
• Balloon race nets $92.000 for 1997 event
pushing Friends of ThWldelblrd endowment
past $1 million (No\( 1997).
• Winterim reaches record enrollment led by
15 overseas courses (/an. 1!SB).
• Journal gets new positioning, new name:
Thunderb;rd International Business Review
(Feb. 7998).
• Major media writers visit Thunderbird campus
on fellowship program (Feb. 7998).
• Thunderbird named number 1 graduate school
for international business by U.s. News and
World Report for 3rd Consecutive Year
(March 7998).
• Alumni donations inaease by 50 percent,
average gift rises 60 percent (June 7998).
• Executive Education surpasses $11 million
in revenue (June 7998).
• Archamps Center draws Record 100 students
in summer 1998; overseas enrollment totals
200 (June 7998).
• Master of International Management in
latin America (MIMLA) degree kicks off with
116 students from Mexico (Aug. 7998).
• School goes to 14-week trimester system;
1\No-week interim Foundations program
developed for new students (Sept 7998).
• Career SeI'YicesIExecu Education Building
opens on site of former dining hall and
Crossroads Coffeeshop Sept 7998.
• Entering students average GMAT score
surpasses 600 (Sept 7998).
• Global Business Forums take Thunderbird
expertise on the road in Asia (Sept 98.)
• -My Thunderbird- intranet inaugurated
for students (Sept 199B)
• Foreign student enroflment reaches 50
percent (Sept 1998).
• thunderbird Alumni AssocIation develops
Asia Council (Sept .98).
• Ken Seward'57 donates $1.5 million for the
Seward Q,air in Global Strategy (Oct. 7998)
• Sam Garvin '88 donates $1 million for a
chair In entrepreneurship (Nov. 1998).
THUNDERBIRD 52 121 1999 23
siaN~·
Asia Night is a
familiar tradition at
Thunderbird.
Last fall, the tradition
continued with a
multicultural show
of Asian fashions,
Asian dance and music
as well as displays of
martial arts. Food was
supplied by the Asian
clubs. The evening
festivities climaxed
a week-long program
of speakers and
panel discussions
that focused on a
different Asian region
each night.
Qr LIU OF THE CmNA CLUB
MODELS A TRADITIONAL
CmNESE COSTUME.
(TOP) STUDENTS FROM
THAILAND MODEL EXOTIC
FASmONS.
(BELOW) STUDENTS WEAR
TRADITIONAL COSTUMES
24 THUNDERBIRD 52 121 1999
tradition
MATIHEW BARNICOAT WEAR
TRADITIONAL DRESS FOR
THEIR DEMONSTRATION OF
JAPANESE KENDO
(SWORD-FIGHTING).
MlNG GONG, A MEMBER OF THE
LOCAL PHOENIX AREA CHINESE
COMMUNITY, PERFORMS THE
GRACEFUL PEACOCK DANCE.
A WOMAN IN TRADITIONAL
KOREAN DRESS AND A COSTUMED
TAIWANESE WOMAN WERE popu­LAR
FAVORITES AT ASIA NIGHT.
STUDENTS FROM THE CHINA CLUB
CONTRAST TRADITIONAL WITH
CONTEMPORARY DRESS.
THUNDERBIRD 52 12 I 1999 25
Rescue Efforts Unite T-birds
Six T-bird Alumni Help After Embassy Bombing
By Mike Klesh '82
The bombing of the American Embassy in Kenya last August killed more than 250
people and injured about 5,400 more. In the aftermath of the tragedy, six Thunder­bird
alumni were on the scene helping with the rescue efforts in significant ways.
Three of the T-birds were members of the 12-person Emergency Response Team that orga­nized
and carried out recovery efforts in the days immediately following the tragedy. One of
those, Steve Nolan 76 was in the embassy at the time of the explosion and was slightly
injured. The other two, Mike Klesh '82 and Frank Donovan '81, work for USAID. All three
were good friends, "Thunderbird mystique and all that," says Klesh, and were part of the u.s.
mission that received an award for heroism from u.s. Secretary of State Madeline Albright.
Three other T-birds also helped with the recovery following the bombing: Kevin Doyle '90 of
the Peace Corps aided victims; Ricarda McFalls '84 with Compaq computers in Kenya, donated
computers following the explosion; and Howard Crooks '54 who has his own company, helped
set up a trust fund for bombing victims, especially orphans, and provided supplies. It was the
Thunderbird network in action.
This is the story as told to the Thunderbird magazine by Mike Klesh, during a recent visit to
the United States.
26 THUNDERBIRD 52 121 1999
he bomb exploded at 10:38 a.m.,
Nairobi time, on Friday, August 7, 1998.
I was supposed to have been in the
embassy making a presentation when the
blast occurred. I should have been in an
office that suffered 100 percent fatalities,
the Foreign Commercial Service office.
My office is in the USAID building, a
couple miles away. We heard the blast. We
felt it shake our windows.
Between 10 and 11 a.m. every Friday
there is a meeting for senior staff, and the
terrorists lmew this. In a diabolical way,
they did their homework well. (That's no
longer going to be the case, of course.
We'll switch those times.)
We have a regional business develop-
ment program for east and southern
Africa, which I am administering. So, I
was working with the Commerce Depart­ment
in the embassy preparing for a visit
from Secretary of Commerce William
Daly. Those folks in the Department of
Commerce office, unfortunately, were
killed, because it was at the back of the
building near the blast site, near the
crater.
I was running late. My boss had said,
"Let's go to the embassy at 9:30," but I still
had to do several other items. So I said I
would meet him over there at 10:30. But, a
phone call came. As I was on the phone, I
thought 'Oh, I'm going to be late.'
Then the blast went off.
When we called, there was silence ....
Then we found out on the radio that the
embassy had been bombed.
Steve Nolan, another Thunderbird, was
in the embassy, in the senior staff meeting
at 10:00. If the terrorists had succeeded in
the placement of the bomb at that loca­tion,
they would have killed everyone in
that senior staff meeting, including Steve.
He is the administrative officer for the
embassy. Frank Donovan, another T-bird
on the scene, is senior regional contract­ing
officer for the USAID Regional
Economic Development Services Office.
Frank and I work for the same organiza­tion,
and he was also at the USAID build­ing
when the blast went off.
"It Was a Huge Huge Explosion"
Initially, there was a grenade attack to
take out the guards, and a lot of people in
skyscrapers and high rises around the
embassy rushed to the windows to see
what happened. Many of those people suf­fered
eye and facial trauma from the glass
More than 250 people were
killed and more than 5,000
injured in the bombing of the
American embassy last August.
Six Thunderbird alumni were
on the scene in the aftermath
of the bombing that nearly
destroyed the embassy.
APPHOTOS
withstood the blast. The
reason the embassy wasn't
completely destroyed was
that the bombers were
denied access into the
perimeter of the embassy.
Unfortunately there are no
grounds at the embassy,
but there's a fence and a
gate. They wanted to park
inside, and if that had hap­pened,
the entire embassy
would have come down.
The five-story building
next door was completely
destroyed, probably be­cause
of the bounce-back
effect from the blast. It
was the Ufundi Coopera­tive
House. a cooperative
savings society of small
farmers. It just collapsed. A 27-story
building, two buildings away from the
embassy, had all its windows blasted out
and was structurally damaged. Buildings
as far as three or four blocks away had
windows blown out. In all, 57 buildings in
Nairobi were affected by the blast.
One wall in the back of the embassy
was completely blown out. All the glass
was blown out of the building. People
who survived were thrown from one edge
of the room, sitting at their desks, across
the room. Some hit the wall or were
thrown through windows. It was such a
massive explosion. But the walls stood,
when the bomb went off. Then,
of course, passers by and peo­ple
in buses and cars, also suf­fered,
some died. Even people
blocks away were killed by
falling masonry and glass, like
daggers, coming out of the sky,
for up to five blocks. It was a
huge, huge explosion.
This is one of the largest
bombs ever to go off. Fortu­nately
the walls of the embassy
"1 just remem­ber
getting all
these things
done in the
middle of the
night, and hav­ing
no sleep."
which was the most incredi­ble
thing.
Secretary Albright and
William Daly, who have
both been in the remains of
the interior of the embassy,
say people don't understand
how effective this bomb
was. When people hear that
12 Americans were killed,
it's sort of a misleading
statement because most
THUNDERBIRD 52 121 1999 27
employees of a United States embassy are
not Americans; they are residents of the
country. Of approximately 130 people in
the embassy on that day, most were
Kenyans, 54 were killed, and the rest were
injured. Anyone and everyone in the
building was a casualty.
"The Saddest Thing Was
Dealing with the Dead"
First of all, there was identifying the
dead, the wounded, getting treatment, get­ting
people out of the country for medical
care. I was a dispatcher. The Israelis came
to help first, because they were twelve
hours closer than Washington. Then liter­ally
the cavalry came in-the U.S. Marines
and the Air Force. We had troops coming
in from Bahrain, from Germany (U.S. Air
Force), and rescue folks from Washington
D.C. So we had three arrows coming into
Kenya But those first couple nights were
quite eerie, as you can imagine.
We did a lot of tasks. I think the saddest
was dealing with the dead. Tasks included
going to morgues, identifying bodies, get­ting
lists, contacting relatives. That first
night we were manning emergency hot­lines,
giving reports to Washington, and
most importantly, setting up the hotline
for all the Kenyan victims in the embassy.
We had to get blood donated, contact rela­tives,
work with other embassies, get peo­ple
out of the country for better medical
care-to South Africa and to our Air
Force hospital in Ramstein, Germany.
Coordinating the logistics of huge num­bers
of people and materials, from the
military, all the alphabet agencies in the
United States-it was overwhelming.
Doctors, hotels, transportation, food,
commissaries-essentially setting up and
getting transport for these people,
because they were all coming in the next
day. We all did everything. We didn't get
much sleep for the first few days.
Hospitals were overwhelmed with the
5,000 casualties. At first there were miss­ing
people in the rubble, but I
organizing transport to get the wounded
out. Frank, myself and Steve Nolan were
asked to join the 12-person emergency
response team organized by the ambas­sador.
We pulled together very well. Steve
rescued a lot of people. He had some
minor wounds, lacerations, scratches,
cuts, and things like that, but he's okay.
Fortunately he was in the ambassador's
office which was the opposite end of the
building from where the bomb went off­where
the crater is.
"We Were All Very Cool
Under Pressure"
We all pitched in and did all sorts of
things. I think Steve, being the administra­tive
officer of the embassy, and being
physically within the embassy at the time
of the blast, was really under the most
strain. He is essentially the executive offi­cer
to the ambassador, and he was in
charge of the physical plant. None of us
slept. We were all on shifts.
think everyone was finally out
in the first 24 hours. They
were sent to hospitals all over
Nairobi. With so many thou­sands
of people injured, it
overwhelmed the system, the
ophthalmologists especially,
because of all the eye trauma
from the window glass.
Steve Nolan did a great job.
He went in and pulled people
out. Frank Donovan and I were
" ... tell people
you love that
you love them.
And tell people
how much you
appreciate them
in your life."
I didn't sleep Friday night,
I didn't sleep Saturday
night. There was so much
to do.
What was remarkable
was how cool people
acted under the pressure.
It was such an unusual sit­uation
that your mind sort
of just said 'Let's get the
job done.' And there were
so many overwhelming
28 THUNDERBIRD 52 121 1999
things. I think the mind protects itself. But
Steve, Frank and I were all very calm. No
one raised their voices. We wrote things
down, we logged things into a computer,
so when we went off duty, the next person
would know who was found or missing,
or whatever. I just remember getting all
these things done in the middle of the
night, and having no sleep. I know, per­sonally,
I did things that I didn't think I
was capable of.
We had a great Kenyan staff. Some of
these guys were heavily bandaged. People
were sleeping under the desks. Most peo­ple
didn't sleep for 48 to 72 hours. It has
been tough.
Madeline Albright presented an award
for heroism to the entire U.S. mission
which includes the embassy, USAID, et
cetera. All I could think of, though, was
'Why did all these people have to die?'
The exhaustion occurs weeks later.
But during the crisis itself, during the
absolute worst part of the crisis, the first
24 hours, I can attest that we all were
very cool under pressure. And we all had
our specific strengths. I spoke Swahili the
best so I was on dispatch working with
Kenyans, working with all the logistics,
essentially the interlocutor between our
people coming in from Washington, Ram­stein
and Bahrain-working with the mil­itary
and working with the Kenyan
authorities.
Steve's strength was in the administra­tive
end-getting things done, all the
Washington communication-essentially
organizing the entire rescue effort with
the Israelis. He was responsible for the
physical plant of the embassy, and there it
was-blown up! So he was very much a
guy who was leading the rescue efforts
with the ambassador.
Frank is the senior regional procure­ment
officer. He was in charge of many,
many tasks of support, making procure­ments.
You know, nothing can be done
without a requisition. He cut all the red
tape in the crisis situation, to expend
money, to get things done-to rent buses
for the survivors, or whatever. He was the
expediter for the procurement.
"We Wanted to Go Ahead"
After the bombing, Secretary William
Daly kept his originally scheduled
appearance to come to Kenya in Septem­ber.
so we had to put that together. It was
much shorter, much more of a bereave­ment,
a show of U. S. government and
U.S. people's solidarity. We did have busi­ness
meetings. We wanted to go ahead. It
was the ambassador's call, and I certainly
supported that. We wanted to get back to
normal, while at the same time acknowl­edging
that a lot of our people were dead
and wounded. We didn't want the terror­ists
to think they had beaten us down.
This is the other thing though, when it
rains it pours, or when it bombs, it really
bombs. September 30 is the end of the
government's fiscal year. And between
(previous page) Steve
Nolan '76 (right) helps a
wounded man out of
the U.S. embassy in
Nairobi, Kenya follow­ing
a terrorist bombing
of the embassy last
August. Nolan is the
chief administrative
officer for the embassy.
Mike Klesh '82 was
one of four T-birds who
were awarded the
Medal of Heroism by
U.S. Secretary of State
Madeline Albright.
Others receiving the
award were Steve
Nolan '16, Frank
Donovan '81, and
Kevin Doyle '90.
August 15 and September 30 is really very
busy. Nevertheless, we completed all our
obligations, everything we had to do
besides all the bomb-related things which
were just immense, plus the visits of
Madeline Albright and William Daly. Plus,
plus, plus .. .! don't know how people did
it. We all worked 500 percent harder.
There was a lot of post-traumatic
stress syndrome, and I certainly would
admit, and I think Steve and Frank and all
the T-birds involved would admit that we
all suffer. Anyone who was in such an
"out-of-body" experience would suffer.
You didn't have to be in the building, of
course, to see the dead and feel the pres­sure
of the work during that first couple
of days.
After the crisis passed, obviously the
FBI did a lot of interviewing to find out
any clues. And we were all provided coun­seling.
The counselors went through the
traditional stages of trauma with us, and
talked about the post-traumatic stress­the
denial, the anger, the guilt, and all
those things. That was done at the ambas­sador's
residence.
The ambassador was really a heroine.
She has done so much. She's an incredi­ble
person in many ways. She's very
strong, but extremely cognizant of what
this has meant to people's minds and bod­ies,
of course. So we have liberal adminis­trative
leave. The funny thing is, no one
wants to take the leave because everyone
wants to pitch in.
"It's cramped, but no one is
complaining"
The embassy is completely destroyed
and will be demolished for two reasons.
Structurally it has been compromised.
Also, it has no setback, meaning there's no
space between the street and the building.
To prevent this from ever happening
again, many embassies now have to be
moved to have a greater setback.
The survivors of the U.S. embassy and
the embassy offices and the replacements
for the 54 people who were killed, are
now officed in USAID Towers, which is
almost tripling the occupants. Just imag­ine
putting two and half times the extra
desks in your office, having two and half
more people in your office block. It is
obviously cramped, but no one is com­plaining.
The computers were destroyed,
the hard drives, and so on-everything.
Right now USAID Towers is hard to
defend. We have a lot of Marines, all sorts
of barricades from suicide bombers up on
the side streets; we have sand bags. It's in
a state of war. And it's in a residential area
A new building will take three to five
years to complete, but in March or April
there will be a temporary embassy that
will provide a lot more security.
"I Live to Appreciate Every
Single Day"
A lot of people are psychologically
damaged by this. I didn't have a good
night's sleep until I got back to this coun­try
[in the United States]. I feel safer. It's
good to be in the States for a short time,
but at the same time I'm looking forward
to seeing my friends. In a way, you sort of
have that bonding with people.
I live to appreciate every single day. I
think the most important lesson is to tell
people you love that you love them. And
tell people how much you appreciate them
in your life. That's really important. •
Editor's Note: Mike Klesh is Senior
Regional Private Sector Advisor for East
and Southern Africa, based in Nairobi,
Kenya. He has just renewed his contract
with USAID for another five years, in
spite of the terrorism. ''Africa is a great
place to be, " he says. "It's really the last
frontier. There's an expansion in
telecommunications in the country, and
information technology. Africa really is
undiscovered. It's a lot like America was
decades ago. It's stimulating."
THUNDERBIRD 52 12 I 1999 29
Kidnapped in the Jungle
Both literally and metaphorically, James Lynch '77 was taken captive
deep within the jW1gles of Mato Grosso, Brazil
Professionally, James Lynch '77 is a founding partner of Phoenix Strategic Financial Advisors
based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Prior to that he worked in senior management positions for The
Chase Manhattan Bank in New York and Latin America for 19 years. Personally, Lynch is an
explorer and adventurer. Each year for more than a decade, he has organized and led fascinat­ing
expeditions to remote locations around the globe.
He joins the ranks of the many explorers who, for centuries, have searched the world for new lands, hid­den
treasures and lost legends. More than 70 years ago, for example, English explorer Colonel Percy Fawcett
organized an expedition into the jungles of Mato Grosso, Brazil, in search of a legendary lost city and the lost
gold mines of Muribeca The last message sent by his group from deep within the jungle was dated May 30,
1925. Since then scientists, the British government, family members and adventurers have all tried to dis­cover,
without success, the mysterious disappearance of this legendary Colonel.
In July 1996, Lynch and 16 other men set out to retrace the last expedition of Col.
Fawcett. Halfway through the adventure, while being surrounded and taken captive
by hostile Indians, Lynch speculated as to the fate of Col. Fawcett and prayed his
would not be the same.
More than Adventure
Planning the two-week expedition took nearly nine months.
"Traveling 300 kilometers into the jungle, with no road coming even close to our
destination, it was essential that we be entirely self-suffiCient," Lynch explains. "The
planning process was so complex my colleagues and I designed special computer pro­grams
to calculate our requirements for food, gasoline and supplies."
After drafting a detailed expedition proposal and cost analysis, similar to a corpo­rate
IPO proposal, Lynch approached potential sponsors. Bayer-Brazil stepped up to
the adventure. In addition to its trademark aspirin products, Bayer manufactures an
insect repellant called Autan. The company provided significant financing for the pro­ject,
subsequently named Expedition AUT AN, the total cost of which exceeded
$150,000. Finally, media support was garnered, and about one-third of the expedition
members ended up being reporters and camera crews.
"An expedition goes through many stages-from someone's dream, to intense day­to-
day logistics planning, to finally dressing up the project so it appeals to sponsors
and the media," says Lynch.
'Ole CUlcuro Indians live today as they did 2.000 The excursion began at the headwaters
years ago. deep wfthln the Jungles of BrazIl. of the Xingu River, a tributary of the
Amazon in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Anyone who wishes to enter the
Xingu National Park must obtain special authorization from the
FUNAI (National Indian Foundation). This critical step took
more than three months to complete, with the signed authoriza­tion
being issued by the park's administrator only at the final
hour.
"Leaving the final port in Canarana, we traveled downriver for
eight hours, then we continued by land through the dense jungle
for a few more kilometers until we reached the camp of the
Cuicuro Indians," says Lynch. "We had made arrangements to
ef\joy the hospitality of the Cuicuro for the first half of the expe­dition."
For three days the group lived with a tribe of Indians that
exists today as it did 2,000 years ago. The Cuicuro people live in
huge communal huts in extended family groups of 30 or 40 peo­ple.
They put on clothes when their guests arrived; after they had
become accustomed to the outsiders' presence, their raiment
disappeared. The Cuicuro are so far removed from modem civi-
lization, in fact, that half their people don't even speak
Portuguese.
Immersed in the awe-inspiring, untainted beauty of the
jungle and the cultural wonder of the Indians, the expedi­tion
members were pleased to see the trip unfolding pre­cisely
as planned. While cooling off in the crystal clear
waters of a lake near the Cuicuro village, they were gen­tly
cradled in a mysterious tranquility. Fish five and six
feet long swam peacefully underfoot, and turtles drifted
by entirely unconcerned with the presence of human
beings.
Then misfortune struck.
"Suddenly, we were surrounded by a gang of Camairua
and Kalapalo Indians armed to the teeth. We were taken
prisoner and led to the Leonardo Villas Boas Indian Post
where 80 warriors from six tribes were waiting, all wear-ing
war paint," Lynch remembers. James Lynch 77 (left center) enjoyed the hospitality of
"The Indians demanded that we the CUlaaro Indians during a portion of his expedition.
give them all our equipment and
supplies-food, clothes, fuel, outboard motors, tents, radios, everything. If not, they
said they would beat the hell out of us and keep us prisoners."
For three days, the group was held captive while the semantics of "giving" versus
"stealing" were carefully debated. The entire time Lynch and his fellow hostages kept
their eyes to the ground to avoid any provocation that could add to the Indian's wrath.
"It was while Aritana, the principal chief of the Xingu, tried to appease the kidnap­pers,
that I was able to piece together my theories for the incident," says Lynch. "The
tribes of the lower Xingu River have been at war with the tribes of the upper Xingu
River for many years. We had previously agreed to give a 25-horsepower outboard
motor to the Cuicuro tribe in exchange for their hospitality, which may have aroused
a certain envY and jealousy among the rival Indian tribes, causing them to retaliate."
Fortunately, the incident had a peaceful resolution. The group's release was suc­cessfully
negotiated and all left with their lives intact. Lynch was the last to leave as,
one by one, the expedition group was airlifted to safety in a small single-engine plane.
(As part of the bargain, the kidnappers retained the group's remaining equipment and
supplies, worth about $30,000.) Additionally, the expedition group was able to accom­plish
one of its original goals-to confirm the existence of Col. Fawcett's fabled
"Dead Horse Camp" from which his final communications originated.
"Experts had long doubted the reality of Dead Horse Camp for two reasons, " lNnch
explains. "First, a clearing at the heart of the jungle like Fawcett described would be
an environmental anomaly if it existed. Second, Fawcett had had a reputation for fab­ricating
information about his expedition so that others could not follow his trail and possibly steal the
treasure he had hoped to discover."
Dead Horse Camp was to be the final destination of the Expedition AUTAN in retracing Fawcett's path.
Finding their plans irrevocably altered, however, the group decided to instead locate the fabled camp by air,
using the longitude and latitude specifications noted in Fawcett's letters. In the end, they found their target,
captured it on video and added one more piece to Col. Fawcett's puzzling legend.
Bittersweet Goodbye
"Flying out over the jungle, all you can see is this dense green car­pet,
stretching from horizon to horizon. It's absolutely incredible,"
Lynch recalls. "As I watched that beautiful land shrink into the dis­tance,
I couldn't help but feel a little sad. I was relieved to be leaving
unharmed; but I also knew I might never have the opportunity to
return. Deep within the jungle I was taken captive not only by
Camairua and Kalapalo Indians, but also by our cordial Indian hosts,
the incredible beauty of the land, and the overwhelming cultural
awakening of our journey. My heart quietly ached at that moment,
it still does." -Jessica McCann.
"'ll T -VVe were taken T\-ri4~nT\o."',\
and led to the Leonardo
Villas Boas Indian Post
where 80 warriors from
32
Global Issues
Forum Debuts
The fall 1998 Convocation
Ceremony launched Thunder­bird's
Global Issues Forum Speak­ers
Series. Gordon A. Smith '96,
a graduate of the Thunderbird
Executive MIM program and
senior vice president of the Amer­ican
Express Service Center in
Phoenix was the keynote speaker.
Smith's presentation addressed
"Leadership in a Global Economy"
and was the first part of the Global
Issues Forum series theme, which
is "Strategic Implementation of
Globalization." The forum series is
being coordinated primarily by
the Academic Affairs and Public
Affairs departments, with support
from Alumni Relations and Devel­opment.
Coca-Cola Awards
Thunderbird
$300,000
Thunderbird has received a
$300,000 grant from the Coca­Cola
Foundation-$200,000 for
scholarships and $100,000 to help
launch a Global Brand Develop­ment
program. The grant is to be
awarded in three installments,
Paul Simon, former U.S. Senator from
Illinois, delivered the Commencement
Address at Thunderbird's graduation
ceremony on December 18.
THUNDERBIRD 52 121 1999
www.t-bird.e u
according to Richard Tollefson
'83, associate vice president and
director of development for Thun­derbird.
The Coca-Cola Fellowships and
Scholarships will provide financial
support to top students and future
business leaders. In addition,
Coca-Cola's proven expertise in
global brand development will
complement this newly prioritized
program and emphasis at Thun­derbird,
and it is expected to have
a substantial impact on future
global marketing strategies.
New Students
Get Linked
Thunderbird has unveiled a
new addition to its interactive
Web page designed specifically for
incoming students. The "New
Students" link on the Thunderbird
home page is geared toward stu­dents
who have been granted
admission and paid the $250
deposit but not yet set foot on
campus. It was created to familiar­ize
students with the School and
its programs prior to their arrival,
thereby easing the transition and
adjustment period. This Web page
provides incoming students with a
plethora of information about .the
school, including informatIOn
about campus resources, the illIC,
Career Management Center, and
Student Mentor Program. The link
provides a detailed description of
the new requisite Foundations for
the International Manager course,
and its "Building Personal
Effectiveness" segment.
The Web link is being updated
continuously. Soon new students
will be able to participate in inter­active
discussion groups with
other incoming students around
the world. They will be able to
meet their fellow cohort group
members, orientation team l~ad­ers,
and even professors on-line,
allowing them to become part of
the Thunderbird community
before arriving in Glendale. In the
future, they will be able to take
waiver exams on-line.
Students Raise
More than
$112,000
Students participating in the
fall 1998 Phonathon secured a
record $112,400 in pledges from
Thunderbird alumni.
For nine weeks, these students
received pledges from 1,220
alumni. During the last fiscal
year, alumni contributed more
than $630,000 to the School.
These contributions and the dol­lars
raised during the fall 1998
Phonathon benefit students
mainly by supporting financial
aid and innovations. The Phona­thon
is the only program on cam­pus
utilizing the marketing, phone
and relationship-building skills of
students to secure financial sup­port
from alumni.
Lindsey Michaels
Is New Director
of Alumni
Communication
Lindsey Michaels was recently
named the new Director of
Alumni Communications. She is
primarily responsible for the
Thunderbird magazine as well as
various alumni newsletters and
other alumni publications.
Michaels has nine years of expe­rience
in corporate and academic
communications with Arizona
State University, Circle K, Ameri­can
Express, and First Data
Corporation. Corporate commu­nication
programs under her
direction have included maga­zines
newsletters, and other
print ~aterials for domestic and
international clients, as well as
media relations, special events,
video production, speech writ­ing,
and online communications.
Michaels speaks French and
holds a B.A. in English and
Communications and an MBA.
Panelists for the October 23 Career Chats were (standing, from left) Guofeng
Frank U '96, international trading manager, American IC Exchange; Ben
Jacobson '93, director, channel development and global accounts-Latin
America, Cabeltron Systems; Jeff Veenis, director of sales, Equimeter; and
Eddie Powell '96, global sales manager, lucent Technologies. The executive
producer of the series is David Martin (seated, center), director of employer
relations at Thunderbird.
Balloon Classic
Aides Student
Scholarship Fund
More than 75,000 spectators,
including many returning alumni
and other members of the Thun­derbird
Community, attended the
24th Annual Thunderbird Balloon
Classic, November 6 through 8 in
Scottsdale, Ariz. Preparations are
now underway for a big celebra­tion
of the event's 25th anniver­sary
November 5-7, 1999.
Overseas
Programs Office
Expands Japan
Center
because of falling real estate
prices, it has rented about six
times as much space, Dr. Earl
Gibbons, associate vice president
for overseas programs, said. The
increased space will allow for
more modern classrooms and bet­ter
meeting rooms for visiting
business people, including poten­tial
employers.
Gibbons also said that the
Japan Center would move beyond
its Japan-centered focus to take
on a more pan-Asian approach.
New courses will be added and
each trimester students in the
program will visit at least one
other country in Asia
Asia Week
Heightens
Awareness
Asia Week was recognized at
Thunderbird the week of Nov­ember
16, 1998. Designed to
enlighten the Thunderbird Com­tural
and business issues in
Southeast Asia, Japan and China
The week's festivities concluded
with Asia Night, a cultural cele­bration
that included displays,
demonstrations, dances and cui­sine
representative of the region.
Career Chats
Bring Alumni to
Campus
The second Career Chats series
featured a panel of four industry
representatives who discussed
the topic, "Sales Manager" in front
of a live studio audience on cam­pus.
The Career Chats series has
been produced through the gener­ous
financial support of Enron
and Philip Morris corporations
and was developed with the sup­port
of the Thunderbird Career
Management Center staff and
World Business faculty.
In the series, which has
addressed a variety of careers, the
industry professionals, many of
whom are alumni, tell about the
responsibilities of their positions
as well as their daily work rou­tines.
Topics have included the
financial analyst, the product
manager, internal auditor, human
resource manager, management
consultant, market manager, rela­tionship
manager, and manage­ment
associate. The series was
videotaped and is being offered to
undergraduate institutions.
The Overseas Programs Office
hosted a celebration of the new
and improved Thunderbird Japan
Center in October 1998. The new
facilities accommodate up to 100
students. munity about current issues in As part of the October 28 Global Issues Forum,
The School still occupies space
in the S-Tec building in Tokyo's
Shinjuku District; however,
Asia, activities included three Keith l. Aim, president of Hallmark International,
panel discussions focusing on the discussed global brand management.
economic crisis and social, cul-
THUNDERBIRD 52 1 2 1 1999 33
Manlio Beltrones Rivera. former gov­ernor
of Sonora. Mexico. discussed
business opportunities in Mexico dur­ing
a recent visit to Thunderbird.
Business Leaders
Speak on Campus
Several high-level business
leaders have visited Thunderbird
in the past few months to discuss
global business topics. Highlights
include:
• Richard R. Nason, Ph.D., direc­tor
of credit derivatives for the
Bank of Montreal, discussed the
burgeoning international credit
derivatives market.
• The Department of World
Business hosted a speaker series
titled "Smart Marketing, Compet­ing
to Win." This three-day series
featured Dr. Puneet Vatsayan,
senior product manager for
Centigram Communications;
Jim Hugh, vice president of
sales and marketing for
Dextra Code; and Jose
Carillo, account executive for
Grainger.
• Pharis J. Harvey, executive
director of the International
Labor Rights Fund, spoke on
human rights and international
trade.
• "Put a Brain in Your Global
Campaign" was the topic of
discussion for Marcio Mareira,
director of global brands of
McCann- Erikson Worldwide.
• The annual Charles Olin
Norton Memorial Lecture in
Corporate and Business Ethics
featured Sharon Hadary, execu­tive
director of the National
Foundation for Women Business
Owners.
New Trustees
Named
Two individuals recently jOined
the Thunderbird Board of
Trustees. Both bring a high-level
of international expertise and
years of proven leadership to the
board.
James E. Preston is chairman
of the board of directors of Avon
Products, Inc., the world's leading
direct seller of beauty and related
products with annual sales of $5.1
billion. Preston's career at Avon
spans more than 30 years. He had
been chairman and chief execu­tive
officer since 1989. Under his
leadership, Avon expanded its
global reach, and today Avon mar­kets
its products in 135 countries
through 2.6 million independent
sales representatives. Preston is a
1955 graduate of Northwestern
University in Evanston, Ill., and
serves on several other boards
including the Reader's Digest
Association, Venator Group (for­merly
Woolworth Corporation)
and the ARAMARK Corporation.
Samir Toubassy is president of
Olayan Development Corporation
and vice president of mayan
Investment Company Establish­ment.
He joined the Olayan Group
in Saudi Arabia in 1980. Prior to
that he was Middle East Partner
with Herman Smith Associates.
Toubassy also has worked for the
Ford Foundation, the American
University of Beirut and the
University of California. He is a
graduate of the American Uni­versity
of Beirut and holds an
MBA from Golden Gate Univers­ity
in San Francisco.
Career Fair
Impresses
Employers
Approximately 30 employers
participated in the Career Fair
held at Thunderbird last fall.
Many decided to add additional
schedules and interviews based
on their discussions with stu­dents,
according to James Case,
assistant vice president for
employer relations and career
management. More than 500 stu­dents
participated in 1,000 inter­views
during and shortly after the
Career Fair.
"Employers were impressed at
the extra support they received
from student liaisons and com­mented
on the dedication and
commitment of the student volun­teers,"
says Case. "They were also
impressed that so many faculty
participated in the event. "
Staff. faculty and students attended the Tower Lounge Dedication and
Reception on December 10 to celebrate the contributions of the Class of
1998. the Class of 1992 and Thunderbird Student Government toward
the project.
34 THUNDERBIRD 52 121 1999
2irZ?ZA@!0
TH{"STtts
E ~I E Ii I T I
Thunderbird has been
fortunate to have a number
of trustees who have served
the School generously and
have been elevated to
Trustees Emeriti.
The School extends a
special thank you to these
individuals.
John F. Burlingame
Chairman of the Boal'd
(Retiled)
General Jilleetzic ~
Faculty Analysis
Continued from page 9
re-evaluate their investments a