Thunderbird Magazine, Volume 54, Number 3 2001

              TH UN D ERS I RD Magazin e WWW.T-SIRD.EDU 54 / 3 / 2001
THUNDERBIRD
Page 2
The Financial Side of Social
Responsibility
Sodally responsible business practices positively
impact one's bottom line, said Dr. Prisdlla Wisner.
Page 6
Globalization: Good or Evil?
Will recent events cause multinationals to retreat,
or will they strengthen their resolve? Alumni and
faculty discuss globalization realities.
Page 10
Innocen( ts )ce Lost
The September 11 attacks were atrodties that will
forever change our lives. It seems that today, more
than ever, this world needs Thunderbird.
Page 12
Risky Business
Risk assessment involves more than currency flux
and finandal factors. It requires analyzing items
such as political unrest or terrorism, said Professor
Linda Wetzel, a former CIA officer.
Page 16
The Language and Culture
of World Business
Master the secrets of doing business in Mexico,
marketing effectively to France, or navigating
China's politics. Thunderbird's language programs
teach the critical business and cultural practices
that make or break each business deal.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Ranked # 1 in international business
by The Wall Street Journal and
U.S. News & World Report
Thunderbird is America's premier source of global
management education with operations in the U.S.,
France, Russia, China, Japan, Mexico, Taiwan and Brazil.
Page 1
BORDERS FREQUENTED BY TRADE ...
Thunderbird's ideals and principles get re-emphasized
in the wake of the September 11 tragedies.
Page 19
ENLIG HTENED SUBJECTIVITY
To Will Warne '99, business success and failure
ultimately depend upon successfully applying the
cultural lessons he learned at Thunderbird.
Page 21
EUROPEA N START OPTION
The Thunderbird Europe, French-Geneva Center pro­vides
unprecedented European access. It's also helping
Europeans acclimate before coming to the States.
Page 26
SUPPLY CH A INS IN S.E . ASIA
After three weeks of studying supply chain systems in
Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore, Dr. Winter Nie's
students really know the score.
Page 28
GAUGING RECESSION
The U.S. was balanced on the brink of a recession
before the terrorist attacks. Now what?
Page 30
THE MIAMI HERALD AMERICAS CONFERENCE
Mexican President Vicente Fox delivers keynote at
major Latin American gathering.
Page 32
THUNDERCOUPLES
For these Thunderbird alumni who met and married,
cross-cultural communications gets personal.
Page 34
HOMECOMING
Birds of a feather flock together. Digital Divide and
Igniting Change share center stage with fun.
Page 38
T- BIRD NEWS
Page 40
N ETWORK N EWS
Page 42
UPDATES
ABOUT OUR COVER
Dr. Priscilla Wisner's research quantifying the positive
impacts of socially responsible business practices has
been published by Harvard Business School Press and
Environmental Quality Management - among others.
~~----------~
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54/3/2001 'r.l ~ p . l
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.~ir;:. . r ~~~:
t has been said so often over the past several weeks
that it has become a cliche, but truly nothing does
seem the same in the wake of the events of
September 11 tho Our world, and our perception of
the world, has been changed dramatically by the
hijackings and attacks in New York, on the
Pentagon and in Pennsylvania and the aftermath of
those tragedies. Each of us is
encountering those changes in
different ways and places, but " B 0 R D E RS
each of us has made adjust-ments
in our lives.
We are also learning some
powerful lessons about our­selves
and each other. In
many cases, the lessons are
reminders of what is truly
important, what is truly cen­tral
to our lives. That has cer­tainly
been the case at Thun­derbird.
It is always easy, in the flur­ry
of day-to-day activities, to
forget why Thunderbird is
here. But never has the impor­tance
of our School's found­ing
philosophy seemed more
important than it does now.
One of my predecessors as
president of Thunderbird,
William Schurz, put it particu­larly
well: "Borders frequented
by trade seldom need sol­diers."
All of us in the Thunderbird
community are familiar with
the story. Since its founding in
1946 as the American Institute
of Foreign Trade through
today, Thunderbird has been
built around the idea that a
world that did more business
impacts of globalization - as well as Thunderbird's continuing com­mitment
to ensuring that globalization occurs responsibly.
For the last year, the focus of the Thunderbird Global Business Forum
series has been business sustainability in a global context. Professor
Priscilla Wisner has done outstanding work in this arena. She has been
a featured speaker at the 2001 forums in Mexico City, London, and Hong
Kong. Her work is one of the in-depth features of this issue. While Dr.
Wisner's work is financial in
nature, its underlying theme is
that to be truly successful, a
business enterprise or rela­tionship
must be sustainable.
It must work for all parties,
not just the individual enter­prise
that initiates it. It has to
be what in popular terminolo­gy
has become known as a
uwin-win" proposition.
Unfortunately, the history
of global business is not rife
with positive examples of this
kind of sustainability, but
they are being found more
frequently today. More and
more businesses and business
professionals are recognizing
the importance of seeing
beyond this quarter's bottom
line to build long-term suc­cess.
While they haven't
always reached this conclu­sion
without external pres­sures,
we do see more enlight­ened
labor practices, more
community building partner­ships,
more environmental
sensitivity.
together, that worked together,
that understood one another
better, would be a better place
to live for all peoples. We are a
school dedicated to that ideal,
but we also understand the
practical skills and abilities it
takes to bring that dream clos­er
to reality. While the rapid
globalization of business over
the past two decades is evi-
Bv DR. ROv A. H ERBERGER, JR.
I'm proud to say that many
T-birds are leading these
efforts at their organizations,
and that should come as no
surprise to anyone who knows
this institution. After being
immersed in a global commu­nity,
getting to know and
appreciate so many different
cultures, and sharing projects
and social occasions with
classmates from more than
PRESIDENT, THUNDERBIRD
Thunderbird's 'The Continents' sculpture, which symbolizes world unity,
was encircled by flags during a special post-September 11 memorial.
sixty nations, it is hard to
imagine anyone then going
off to do business in anything
but a "win-win" manner.
dence of how much progress has been made, the events of this fall are
a reminder of how far there is still to go.
This issue of Thunderbird magazine largely examines the issues and
This shared vision of a world that works and lives together with mutu­al
respect and understanding is what unites Thunderbirds. This vision
seems even more important now. •
p.2 WWW.T- BIRD.EDU
SUSTAINABLE
ECONOMIC GROWTH
AND SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY
How being a good corporate citizen
also pays off financially
By LINDSEY MICHAELS
s being a good corporate citizen a luxury or a necessity in the 21st
century? T Dr. Priscilla S. Wisner, an assistant professor of account­ing
at Thunderbird and Certified Management Accountant, argues
that being socially and environmentally responsible isn't just 'right: it
is actually a criticality for companies hoping to sustain their econom­ic
growth in an ever-more-connected world economy. Wisner has
been quantifying that message, using data collected at hundreds of
companies from around the world, at a series of Thunderbird Global Busi­ness
Forums (TGBFs) held in Mexico City, London, and Hong Kong. Wisner
will also present her data at the New York City TGBF on January 8, 2002.
"A company's balance sheet only tells what
happened in the past," explained Wisner. "Ana­lysts
and institutional investors now realize
that intangibles - such as potential oil spills or
public outrage over poor child labor practices
- can be a huge predictor of a firm's future
value. As a result, companies are being pres­sured
to think and act more responsibly - and
to disdose more and more at all levels of their
value chain."
According to Wisner, research shows that
quarterly earning statements aside, proactive
dedsion making and investment strategy often
yields a better return on investment (ROI) than
reactive dedsion making; some companies
have created competitive advantage byembrac­ing
that concept. Wisner describes how leader­ship
companies often follow a 'balanced score­card'
approach to better manage and imple­ment
corporate sodal responsibility. She dted
four interactive dimensions that impact a com­pany's
performance: organizational learning
and growth, internal business processes, cus­tomer
impacts, and financial outcomes. Wisner
stressed that in this 'balanced scorecard'
approach to performance management, no
dimension can be ignored.
The learning and growth dimension is large­ly
focused on employee and organizational
capabilities and involves corporate attention to
items such as workforce equity, environmental
training, employee satisfaction, absenteeism,
and safety. Yes, these are defmitely sodal and
environmental 'nice-to-haves: Wisner agreed.
After all, happy employees generally equate to
focused and productive employees and strong
corporate advocates; companies that maintain
good environmental practices generally attract
good press. But, these 'nice-to-haves' also yield
definite finandal gains.
For instance, unhappy or untrained employ­ees
may make mistakes and disregard safety
procedures. Possible results indude higher
defect and return rates, causing customer dis­satisfaction
and related sales dedines. The com­pany
not only loses revenues, but also incurs
additional costs to recall and fix defective prod­ucts,
and potential liabilities if the product
causes harm to the consumer.
The second dimension of the balanced score­card
value chain is internal business processes.
This is where attention paid to organizational
capabilities begins to bear fruit in the form of
decreased turnover and increased productivity,
54/3/2001
for example where safety tramlng results in
fewer acddents, and where supplier certifica­tion
helps minimize supply chain disruptions.
Companies that manage their internal business
processes effectively are more likely to make
more productive use of their human and
machine assets, minimize waste, improve safe­ty,
and pollute less. Finandal results indude
lower dean-up costs, fewer fines and penalties,
and lower employee turnover.
5 4 /3/ 2001
The customer impact dimension is one in
which the company pays attention to the voice
of the customer, both before and after the prod­uct
sale. Too many companies only react to cus­tomer
needs once sales decline or complaints
are raised. Customers seek products in the mar­ketplace
(or conversely they avoid them) based
upon their quality, as well as upon the compa­ny's
reputation for outstanding social and envi­ronmental
policies. Research has shown that
WWW.T-BIRD . EDU
consumers are more likely to choose produas
that are associated with social responsibility.
And in business-to-business commerce, many
companies are now imposing social and envi­ronmental
standards on their second- and
third-tier suppliers.
The financial dimension of the balanced
scorecard represents the financial outcomes of
all the decision-making and performance man­agement
that have taken place in the other
p .3
three dimensions. Companies that don't treat
their employees well will pay the price in terms
of higher recruiting and uaining costs, perhaps
in terms of poor produa quality and therefore
additional warranty costs. Companies that
employ processes that pollute the environment
are impacted by higher costs of pollution treat­ment
and disposal, fines and penalties, and
insurance costs. Additionally, poor social and
environmental reputations have a negative
p .4
impact on the image and reputation of the
firm, leading to other potential issues that are
vitally important to companies. For example,
• Will financial institutions offer better lend­ing
terms and rates because they know
you're not hiding any potentially damaging
social or environmental secrets?
• Will consumers actively seek out your prod­ucts
(or, at least, stop actively avoiding
them) based upon their positive perceptions
of your company?
• Will investors place a higher value on your
stock, thus driving up your equity?
PUTTING WORDS INTO ACTION
Wisner's research shows that 10 percent of
American consumers make purchases based
upon social reputation factors while 45 percent
admit to avoiding products when they don't
believe a company is acting responsibly. We
have seen recent examples of this reaction in
the apparel business where
entities such as Nike were sub­jected
to sharp criticism some
years ago.
Wisner said that consumers
associate product quality with
the last company that touches
a product before it reaches
them - not an early-on sup­plier.
That's why companies
such as Ford and General
Motors now require their sup­pliers
to be ISO 14000 compli­ant;
why McDonalds imposes
strict chicken raising standards
on its egg suppliers; and why
Wal-Mart and Clairol audit
and certify suppliers regularly.
While Wisner cited numer­ous
examples - backed by hard and fast num­bers
- during her TGBF talks, she singled out a
T-bird when demonsttating how the balanced
scorecard approach can actually propel one's
business financially.
Co-founded in 1991 by Alfonso Hernandez
'83, The Argus Group is one of the Caribbean
Basin's largest apparel manufacturing conttac­tors.
The small, private company counts Wal­Mart
arnong its dients, has 6,000 employees,
and operates eight facilities in El Salvador, Hon­duras,
Nicaragua, and the U.S. Under Hernan­dez'
leadership, the company has developed
one of the most progressive labor programs in
its indusuy - earning Nicaraguan President
Amoldo Aleman's Best National Labor Pro­grams
award in 2000.
So, why does a small company that manu­factures
in some of the world's poorest regions
not only embrace, but heavily invest in,
'responsibility?' One reason is that Hernandez,
WWW.T-BIRD.EDU
an EI Salvadoran himself, simply seems to have
an inherently soft heart and sttong sense of
humanity. But, Hernandez assured, he can also
quantify the positive financial impact of such
works on ROI.
"My goal is to position The Argus Group as
the most professional supplier of apparel man­ufacturing
services in Centtal America," he said,
"and to brand us as such in the minds of U.S.­based
apparel indusuy representatives. That
means turning out top quality work and meet­ing
time commiunents. But, to accomplish
that, you really have to invest in people -
because if you don't, your competitive edge will
walk out the door and you'll be forced to start
from scratch each day."
For Hernandez, healthy, happy people were
the first priority.
"When you're in a heavily people-oriented
business, you obviously need to have a healthy
labor force to compete effectively," he said.
"People can't focus when
they don't feel well."
While analyzing his com­pany's
leading cause of
absenteeism Hernandez
realized that 85 percent of
absences were caused by
employees having to miss
an entire day of work - and
sometimes ttavel great dis­tances
- to reach state-pro­vided
medical facilities. As a
result, most employees only
visited doctors once they got
really ill.
Hernandez reasoned that
if he offered free, full-time,
state-sanctioned medical
services on-site at The Argus
Group, it would be easier for everyone to
obtain required care. What's more, they could
pursue preventative and early onset care.
While that investment definitely proved
valuable, Hernandez found that it didn't go far
enough. Argus Group employees still missed
work when their children or extended family
members got ill. The solution? Simple. Also
provide care for each employee's family.
"While the average rate of absenteeism for
our indusuy within the Caribbean Basin is 10
percent, we've reduced ours to four percent," he
said.
Argus Group employees also get free, on-site
eye exams each year. If they need glasses, those
glasses are provided free of charge - or else are
highly subsidized. "We see people almost jump
out of their skin when they put glasses on and
see dearly for the first time," he said. "It's
incredibly rewarding."
So, too, Hernandez said, is seeing his
54/3/2001
employees' children at on-site daycares and
schools. Quality educational opportunities are
often rare in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Hon­duras
for children of the working dass. Thus,
Argus Group employees possess the power to
achieve another important goal: they can forev­er
change their children's lives.
Helen Walton, widow of Wal-Mart founder
Sam Walton, further heightened parental hope
during a recent supplier certification visit.
According to Hernandez, Walton was so
impressed with his employees and company
schools that she promised to provide four full
Arkansas university scholarships to Argus
Group school graduates.
'T d like to tell you that these benefits are
something we just provide, but the uuth is that
our employees earn every one of them,"
Hernandez said. "The most productive facilities
earn the most benefits.
"In many cases, our factories in Latin
America are producing better quality at better
prices than U.S. factories. As a result, more and
more companies are coming to us as their pri­mary
resource - which means we can employ
more and more people and provide them with
more services."
That's exactly what Wisner means when she
talks about doing business responsibly. "The
Argus Group is an excellent example of how
socially responsible business practices can actu­ally
compel - rather than compete with -
financial growth," she said. By gaining the
endorsement of a major distribution chain like
Wal-Mart, Hernandez has effectively earned 'cer­tified
source' status with every dothing company
that sells worldwide through Wal-Mart stores.
That recognition leads to more business
opportunities, which in tum leads to more
employment opportunities in the countries
where such work is done, which opens the door
to further quality-of-life employee gains,
which, in turn, creates emerging markets for
other services and goods. •
You CAN LEARN MORE about Dr. Wisner's ROJ­related
social responsibility research at the
January 8, 2002 TGBF in New York City. Details
are available on the Thunderbird Web site at
www.t-bird.edujglobalforums. Or contact Gail
Yates, director, Thunderbird Global Business
Forum by telephone at (602) 978-7542 or via
email at tgbf@t-bird.edu.
CONTINENTAL PROMOTION GROUP (CPG:
www.cpginc.com) is the global title sponsor of
the Thunderbird Global Business Forum series.
Owned by Thunderbird alumnus Sam Garvin
'88, CPG provides a single international
resource for worldwide consumer and ttade
promotion services. The company specializes in
complete rebate management and fulfillment.
It still demands
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p .6 WWW.T-BIRD .EDU
GLOBALIZATION:
GOOD OR EVIL?
Will the new world war against terrorism
cause multinationals to retreat,
or will it strengthen their resolve to globalize?
By JESSICA MCCANN , 'G lobalization is a require­ment,"
said Tabatha Chap­man
'96, director of global
business development for
CIGNA International.
"The U.S. market is saturated," said Mark
Smucker '96, general manager, Mercosur, for
the J.M. Smucker Co. in Brazil. 'The growth
opportunities are abroad and that needs to be
our focus."
"Globalization is how the world economic
and trade system functions today," said Hasan
Yalcin '96, commercial counselor for the Turk­ish
Embassy in Moscow. "It is not you who
decides whether to become a part of it or not; it
is globalization itself that sets the rules."
Clearly, globalization is a powerful business
force that has gained serious momentum in the
past two decades. Terrorism may be able to
temporarily disrupt that momentum, but few
believe that it can stop it.
That said, globalization may become a slow­er
and more costly endeavor for a while. It's
based on an open, borderless world, which is in
stark contrast to the heightened security we're
experiencing globally in the wake of the terror
attacks in the U.S. The task for business and
political leaders going forward is to secure both
free exchange and safety. The future of global
economy could depend on it.
Why globalization? Because the net effect is a
positive one. Globalization has helped distrib­ute
financial capital, technology and innova­tion
around the world. It has created jobs,
enabled manufacturers to boost productivity,
and lowered prices for goods. Perhaps the most
positive result of globalization has been the
empowerment of consumers far and wide.
"I think that's a point that often gets lost."
said Bob Saum '91, a sr. financial management
specialist for the World Bank in New Delhi,
India. He oversees financial management issues
in the South Asia region for the bank, including
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal. and Sri Lanka.
"While there have been SOII;le negative sides to
globalization, there are also clear benefits in
providing greater empowerment to people and
opening up countries and economies, provid­ing
opportunities to people that they may not
have otherwise had."
The World Bank is one of the world's largest
sources of development assistance, providing
more than US$17 billion in loans last year. It
works in more than 100 developing economies,
focusing primarily on helping the poorest peo­ple
and the poorest countries.
CIGNA's Chapman agrees that empowering
the consumer is one of the greatest benefits of
globalization. Based on her work throughout
Latin America, she offers a case-in-point.
"Not all Americans have access to private
healthcare, but access is even scarcer in many
Latin American countries," she said. "In the
absence of competition or with the existence of
too many competitors in a highly-fragmented
market, people often have very little choice and
long waits for care, even if they are paying pre­mium
dollars."
CIGNA International serves markets outside
of the U.S., primarily in the United Kingdom,
Latin America and Asia. Its most dominant
division provides expatriate benefits, but the
company also provides the full range of
employee benefits, insurance and financial
services for groups and individuals, including
health care, pensions and life insurance.
"When introducing new practices into a mar­ket,
you try not to send a market too far out of
bounds; you always aim at improving the cur­rent
market offerings. We often bring a certain
54/3/2001
quality of service that does not exist in the mar­ket,
such as medical management, shorter waits
for care or access to toll-free phone numbers
where someone can answer questions easily.
That begins to change the game and raises the
bar for local companies to address customers in
a better way," said Chapman.
54 / 3 / 200 1
One drawback of globalization is that it cre­ates
a certain vulnerability amongst highly­integrated
economies. Take the impact of the
1997 Asian financial crisis on Turkey.
After adopting an export-based develop­ment
strategy in the 1980s, Turkey gradually
expanded its textile sector and sales in Russia
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and Europe. Before long, Turkey became one
of the world's top exporters, accord ing to
Yaicin, who helps develop and promote trade
with Russia in his ro le at the Turkish embassy
in Moscow. Turkey's export success was
ach ieved, he says, through combined policies
of liberalizing trade, investing in tel ecommu-p.
7
nications and infrastructure, and finally adapt­ing
to the world econom ic system.
When the financial crisis hit Asia, the
demand for raw materials and energy from
these countries fell sharply. This diminished
demand pulled down the prices of commodi­ti
es. This started a crisis in Russia, which relies
p.B
heavily on energy sales and other commodities,
and Turkey's exports to that region dropped
dramatically. Compounding the problem, the
currency devaluation in the Asian countries
made Turkey's exportable goods more expen­sive
in the European market.
While globalization allowed Turkey to seize
new export opportunities, it also made the
country more vulnerable to downturns else­where
in the world.
"The devaluation of baht in Thailand hit
Turkey's export sales to Russia and to the EU
after two years, because we live in a globalized
world," said Yalcin.
Perhaps the strongest downside of globaliza­tion
is that it can dominate political and cul­tural
empathy. With it, economics drive the
nation's welfare, rather than political bound­aries
or systems controlling that welfare. A
sense of loss over control, compounded by the
failure of key nations to benefit from globaliza­tion,
can create fertile ground for extremist
ideas to grow.
"This is very significant in the latest crises of
September 11," said Dr. Roe Goddard, an asso­ciate
professor of international studies at Thun­derbird's
Glendale campus. ''There can be a
feeling of loss of control, which in turn creates
insecurity and anxiety. And it provides a very
convenient target for people whose economic
life might have been miserable even without
globalization. Globalization is an easy scape­goat."
"An important thing to remember about
globalization is that it will benefit the world
community in the long term, not necessarily in
the short term," added Smucker, who has
worked for the family-run company in Mexico
and Brazil, as well as in his hometown of
Orville, Ohio. "That's why there's some resist­ance
to the idea, because in the short term it
can create more disparity than already exists.
The challenge becomes figuring out how to
eliminate the disparity and spread wealth
across the global population more quickly, so
that everyone can benefit as soon as possible."
GETTING BACK TO WORK
Regardless of the long-term impact, the
recent terror attacks in the U.S. certainly dis­rupted
normal business activity short term.
Lives were lost, property was destroyed, meet­ings
and conferences were canceled, travel
plans were altered. Whether directly affected by
the events or not, millions of people around
the world felt the pain and most companies
quickly took steps to be sensitive to the loss.
"We had a commercial on the air that shows
people from all different walks of life - with
Louie Armstrong's song 'Life is a Bowl of
Cherries' playing in the background. In light of
WWW.T-BIRD .EDU
the attacks, we took out the music track to
reflect the somber mood of the U.S.," said
Smucker, whose great-great-grandfather found­ed
the company. "Even small things like that
show that there is definitely an increased sense
of awareness."
The 1. M. Smucker Company is a manufac­turer
and market leader of fruit spreads, ice
cream toppings, health and natural foods bev­erages,
and natural peanut butter throughout
54 /3/ 2001
North and Latin America, and Australia. Its
products are sold in more than 70 countries,
and it has manufacturing facilities in Scotland
and Brazil, with another set to open soon in
China.
To restore a sense of normalcy, multination­als
must work to ensure a secure environment
for their operations and nurture a sense of safe­ty
and comfort among their employees.
"We can't go back to dosing borders, because
54 / 3/200 1
that is exactly what the terrorists want," said
Clayton McManaway '59, founder and pres i­dent
of Shamrock Consulting, In c. "But a lot
can be done to improve security. Corporations
need to have good contingency and uisis man­agement
plans in place."
McManaway's company advises corporations
on international operations, due diligence
investigations and global strategies. He draws
on more than 40 years experience working for
the U.S. Foreign Service and in the private busi ­ness
sector, dealing with crisis management,
security engineering, risk and threat a nal ysis,
and market intelligence. He has held numerou
positions for the U.S. offices of the secretary of
state and defense, including deputy for the
Office of the Ambassador-at-Large for Counter­terrorism
.
Most companies have detailed contingency
plans to protect their data-largely the result of
Y2K preparations-and many also have emer­gency
evacuation plans. But having plans in
place is not enough, according to McManaway.
''That's not worth a damn if you don't exer-
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cise it," he said. "You've got to run through it
frequently, so everyone knows the drill and can
function in a real crisis. And you've got to get
the top management involved, the plan has to
be tailored to th e culture of a given company."
The pl an also must account for human needs
after the initial crisis situation. For example, fol­lowing
the September 11 attacks, CIGNA
immediately launched a number of employee
p.9
that, for example by focusing on research and
development of new products to increase their
market share."
T HE WORLD UNITED
While Osama bin Laden and other Islamic
extremists are inciting war between the Muslim
world and West, most world leaders have reject­ed
that notion. British Prime Minister Tony
initiatives, including
organizing fund rais­ing,
allowing work­ers
to go to New York
to volunteer, and
hosting a number of
seminars on coping
with grief and fear.
" I ••• N THE SHORT-TERM [GLOBALIZATION]
CAN CREATE MORE DISPARITY THAN ALREADY
"CIG A is a very
deliberate and meth ­odical
company, but
during the aftermath
EXISTS. THE CHALLENGE BECOMES FIGURING
OUT HOW TO ELIMINATE THE DISPARITY AND
SPREAD WEALTH ACROSS THE GLOBAL POPU- of September 11 , it
reacted to the events
with a speed often
only seen in smaller
co mpanies, said
Chapman. "It didn't
affect our intern ationa l
LATION MORE QUICKLY, SO EVERYONE CAN
BENEFIT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE:' MARK SMUCKER '96
operatio ns in the
immediate term, as much as our domestic
ones. The attacks in New York really affected
the morale of our workforce given the location
of our offices in the City, as well as the proxim­ity
of our headquarters in Philadelphia, which
produces part of the skyline of Center City.
Everyone was rea lly nervous about returning to
the buildings so a lot of
ca re was taken to help
them feel secure. I was
really impressed with the
soft and hard initiatives."
Looking forward, God­dard
doesn't believe fear
of travel and political
unrest will lead major
multinationals to retreat
from foreign markets, but
rather will strengthen their
resolve for globalization.
Sti ll, co rpo rati ons will
need to rethink how they
do business, reassess their
long-term goals and refine their business strate­gies,
all within a higher-risk environment.
"I do n't think that these events will necessar­ily
deter big projects, other than maybe those
going into marginally vo latile countries like
Indonesia," he said. "But, given th e current eco­nomic
situation, I think companies must lower
their growth expectations for at least the next
year. There are going to be more layoffs, but I
think companies need to be more ueative than
Blair summed it up best during a visit to
Pakistan when he said that the terrorist attack
in the U.S. was not a crime against the West, but
rath er "a crime against humanity."
Thus, the world is at war with terro rism and
not with the people of Afghanistan or believers
of Isl am. Such global unity is one of the few
positives to come from this devastating u isis.
Unwittingly, the terrorists have actually ueated
an opportunity to further unite nations, to
show that we do indeed share meani ngful
interests, even if the most pressing happens to
be security. Perhaps if terrorism is contained,
people worldwide will have a greater apprecia­tion
that the fates of the West and the develop­ing
world a re vitally integrated - econom ical­ly,
as well as politically.
"I have Afghan friends and former colleagues
who are living in Qandahar, Afghanistan, and
in Queta, Pakistan," said Saum, who spent two
years in Pakistan worki ng with Afghan refugees.
"So it's a real mixed bag of feelings for me­being
Ameri can and knowing what happened
in my home cou ntry, yet knowing the compli­catio
ns and difficulties of the region."
aum is hopefu l that the global coalition
being developed to fight terrorism will become
an important milestone for future global unity.
"I hope it wi ll remind people how integrat­ed
we all are and how uitical it is for us to
remain integrated," he said. "Something like
this event drives us even further to work at
globalization and make it a positive experience
for everyone." _
p . l0 54/3/2001
INNOCEN(TS)CE LOST ... THE
" I t was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
epoch of belie£ it was the epoch of incredulity,
season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it
of hope, it was the winter of despair ... " A Tale
On September 11, 2001, the world watched in horror as four
commercial aircraft helped to forever change our lives.
While each of us was affected in personal ways, the Thunder­bird
community was especially touched. Several hundred
alumni and student interns worked at or near the World Trade Center
and Pentagon; others had friends and relatives on the planes. They, like
other T-birds, embrace values and beliefs that are diametrically opposed
to those of their attackers: a love of peace, an acceptance and under­standing
of diversity, the pursuit of missions that accomplish change
through global economic gain.
Thankfully, the safety of over three hundred T-birds has been con­firmed
as we go to press. Sadly, some T-birds may remain unaccounted
for. We at Thunderbird extend our deepest sympathies to the friends,
families, and colleagues of all those who were lost. They came from
more than 80 countries and were truly global citizens.
Despite these horrific acts of terrorism, T-birds - and indeed, much of
the world - clung to a sense of oneness that knew no geographic bound­ary,
race, creed, color, or religion. Frantic requests for information about
T-birds thought to be in the New York City area, confirmation as to which
T-birds had survived, words of encouragement, eye witness accounts, and
offers of free housing - worldwide - were immediately posted on a
Crisis Network discussion board on the School's My Thunderbird intranet,
giving anxious T-birds everywhere an instant online place to meet.
Things began promptly with a post from Ramelle Gililand '98 asking.
"Anyone heard from David Welton or Joao Calil?" That note was quick­ly
followed by a message from Kim Stinger '01 imploring, "NYC T-birds,
please check in." And, they began doing so: "Shreyas Chari is OK,"
"Andres Castillo is OK," "Janet Joyce and John Fairchild are OK," Navin
Gupta OK, Rodrigo Vega OK, Charles Xiao Liu OK, Kiyoko Fuchimoto
OK, Ladan Madraseehee OK." As hundreds of 'OKs' poured in, Thunder­bird
staffers began compiling names into an alphabetized list online.
Meanwhile, on campus, classes were cancelled and hundreds of
stunned faculty, staff. and students began gathering numbly around tel­evisions
in the !BIC Media Room, Tower Lounge, and AT&T Auditorium.
By 10:30 a.m., former CIA officers Paul Kinsinger and Linda Wetzel (who
teach Business Intelligence, Political Risk, and Regional Business
Environment: North America) were sharing their expertise with T-birds
in the AT&T Auditorium.
As afternoon ebbed, survivor accounts started surfacing online, draw­ing
the Thunderbird community together tighter still.
"I was writing an office memo when I heard a compound boom,
which sounded like the side of a truck had been dropped onto a build­ing
from 10,000 feet," said Walter Joyce '99, chief operating officer of
Inculab, Inc. "I turned around to see what looked like 20 floors ablaze
with smoke rising to tile top of the building. Even though I was staring
out of the window at the fire, I just couldn't process what I was seeing. I
just became grief-stricken and picked up the phone to call my wife
Nancy to tell her I was OK and that I loved her. In what I now think was
a divine act, I looked away from my window long enough to only have
to hear the second plane."
"I worked on the 37th floor of the south tower," wrote Hazem Gamel
'98, an Egyptian/American assistant vice president at Oppenheimer
Funds and TM-New York City chapter president. "I managed to escape
unscathed except for being completely caked in dust and witnessing
among the most horrific sights I'll ever see. I also saw a great deal of
compassion, level-headedness, and courage .... The impact of these acts
will be felt for a long time by many people around the world."
'To all of you wonderful friends from all over the world who have left
messages and sent emails," wrote Annette Cazenave '79, "after the Towers
collapsed, I couldn't get home so I am staying with a friend in Soho until
they let us go below Canal Street. When they finally told us to get out of
our building. they were handing out wet paper towels to hold over nose
54/3/2001 WWW.T-BIRD .E DU p . I I
SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACKS
.. .it was the
it was the
was the spring
of Two Cities
and mouth, and they told
us to walk looking down
because there were bits of
steel and glass flying
around. It was like the mid­dle
of the night, with about
four inches of soot on the
ground. When we got
north of the Brooklyn
Bridge, we were out of the wind drift and the sun was out, but there was
an eerie silence. No one speaking, just walking slowly further north."
Cazenave was one of thousands displaced by the attack, either in the
affected dties themselves, or wherever in the world people found them­selves
stranded by the unprecedented ban on U.S. flights. And, once
again, Thunderbird's global reach became evident. "[ have a place where
you can stay in Austin," wrote Jens Rosmus '98, who works for Dell
Computer there. Similar offers appeared for other places, Chicago, Seattle,
Holland, Germany, Australia, Singapore ....
Meanwhile, back at campus, hundreds of shaken T-birds gathered
around the new 'Continents' sculpture - which was built to symbolize
world peace and unity - for an evening prayer vigil. While white candles
floated solemnly across the fountain and glowed in the hands ofT-birds
whose eyes glistened with tears, students from more than 60 nations
prayed together for the victims and their families - as well as for the safe­ty
of peace-loving Arab and Muslim brethren everywhere.
"[ am proud to be a member of the T-bird network," Jennifer Crow
'00 wrote on My Thunderbird. "My father was at the World Trade Center
for a conference. He was evacuated safely, but was stranded in Man­hattan
without anything but the dothes on his back. Spedal thanks go
to T-birds like Bill McKalip '99, who took in my dad and other T-birds
and gave them food, shelter, and emotional support during this time. I
During a healing memorial service, Haji EI-Khalil '00 solemnly read the name
of each of the 85 countries that lost citizens in the attacks. As director of
Student Services, Kahlil, a citizen of Lebanon and the U.K., was called upon to
preside over the community event.
am very grateful to him and all the wonderful friends I've met - and
have yet to meet - from Thunderbird."
"[t's comforting to be a T-bird at such a tragic time," wrote Rene
Henson Bana '93. "Let's all learn from this experience and do whatever
we can to put an end to such actions. Although it's difficu lt to feel help­ful
due to the distance that separates us, if we continue to show people
of all nations, cultures, and beliefs that we truly can live together in
peace, we will have at least done something. God bless all of those affect­ed
by this devastation. Our thoughts and prayers are with you."
And so are the thoughts and prayers of all of us at Thunderbird.
On October 11, staff, students, faculty, alumni, Board of Trustees
members, and people from the nearby community solemnly drded The
Continents sculpture carrying the flags of each of the 85 nations whose
dtizens perished one month earlier. After each country's name was
read, and the final, haunting notes of Taps were played, shaken people
embraced and cried: 'Now, more than ever, this world needs Thunder­bird:
- LINDSEY MICHAELS •
p. I 2 54/3 / 2001
RISKY
BUSINESS
Identifying, analyzing, and managing country risk
BY PROFESSOR LINDA WETZEL, ADJUNCT' PROFESSOR, INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
9/ 11 On a telephone, a call for help. On his-tory's
recent calendar, another "date
that will live in infamy." On the island
of Manhattan, another sort of crash.
On the minds of nearly everyone, a world suddenly and terrifyingly
fraught with risk.
As mourners are repeatedly told, the business of life must go on. And
the life of business does go on ... jittery, tentative perhaps, but onward.
Business, like life, has always been risky and businesspeople have long
sought ways of managing risk. After 9/11, that risk may at times seem
overwhelming in its variety, magnitude, and lethality. But many risks
can and must be identified, measured, and mitigated, if not eliminated.
And like the fireman with his siren and the anthrax researcher with her
microscope, business decision makers have specialized tools and skills
to help them do their work of risk analysis and management.
WHAT IS COUNTRY RISK ANALYSIS?
When they hear the phrase 'risk management; many businesspeople
think only about financial risk. Tradjtionally, that has been the type of
risk considered most easily identifiable and manageable. Referring two
years later to the lessons of the 1997-98 world financial crisis, for exam­ple,
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said that it was
"essential that we employ the current period of relative international
financial stability to address as best we can some of the more evident
short-run potentials for crises." (The New York Times, 13 July 2000.)
Although Greenspan's immediate concern might have been financial
risks, his antennae probed more widely. He, like others, was well aware
that the financial dimension is not the only one in which business oper­ations
or investment may be seriously - perhaps fatally - vulnerable.
Five days before Greenspan's remarks in New York to a meeting of the
Council on Foreign Relations, a Times correspondent in Singapore had
reported in an article entitled "Asian Oddity: Economies Up, Markets
Down" that "analysts and fund managers attribute the sell-off [of
Southeast Asian stocks and currencies] to a perception that Southeast
Asia, despite an economic rebound, remains a dangerous place to invest
because of political instability, corruption, and a lack of technological
sophistication." (The New York Times, 8 July 2000.) Political uncertain­ty,
cronyism, the skills and education level of the bulk of the local work
force - such factors are the stuff of political (or socio-political) risk
analysis. Assessment of political and social risk, along with financial
and economic risk, constitutes 'country risk analysis:
The country risk analysis performed in and for the U.S. private sec-tor
had its genesis in the national security realm. The systematized,
comprehensive analysis of country and regional risk originated in the
U.S. Intelligence Community, which had been created to preclude
'another Pearl Harbor' but was being excoriated for having allegedly
failed to anticipate the fall of Shah Reza Pahlavi's regime in Iran.
Intelligence analysts designed a model that identified factors suggest­ing
risk to the stability of political regimes of interest to Washington,
provided mathematical formulae for quantifying such nebulous risks,
and determined weighting schemes appropriate to a given country's
unique mix of risk factors that produced an overall numerical 'rating:
These ratings were provided in regular classified reports to senior U.S.
officials who were responsible for managing risks to U.S. security and
foreign policy interests.
International business had discerned the need for such systematized
assessment and analysis as well. The Economist was neither the first nor
the last to address that need when it described a methodology for antic­ipating
risk in an article entitled "Countries in trouble: who's on the
skids?" which appeared on 20 December 1986. In its ranking of 50
countries from 'hyper risk' to 'low risk; that article attempted to do for
its readers what the Intelligence Community had done for the U.S. pol­icymaking
community: model the appropriate analytic process. And
unlike the Ie, which is prohibited from recommending or advocating
policy, The Economist and other risk modelers intended that their
methodologies suggest means of managing the risks described.
WHAT ARE THE "TOOLS OF THE TRADE?"
The key items in any risk manager's 'toolkit' are the various models
and analytic approaches available. Some models - like The Economist
Intelligence Unit's 1997 update ofthe model described a decade earlier
and the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG), now administered by
the Political Risk Services Group, Inc. - extrapolate potential future
losses to business and investment from risk factors currently evident in
the country under study. Inter-ethnic tensions, for example, even if they
are not at present reflected in radical or violent behaviors, are assessed
for their potential for destabilizing the regime, re-directing or diminish­ing
economic assets, inciting the flight of human or other capital, etc.
Other models map the intellectual 'cause-and-effect' leap of risk
analysis in more complex designs. The Political Risk Index (PRJ) of the
Business Environment Risk Intelligence (BERl) model, for example,
projects the existence of risk factors in the future from that of risk fac­tors
in the present, and on that basis forecasts possible business losses.
Although some might say that such a two-step projection is implicit in
54/3/2 0 O~I=------------ WWW. T - BI R D . E- D U p. I 3
p. 1 4
the EIU/ICRG approach, the model requires
consideration that risk factors might change
simply because of the passage of time. A coun­try
currently suffering inter-ethnic tensions may
not eliminate such tensions within five years.
But the tensions might, over that period,
change character - from, say, the strong resist­ance
of the indigenous population to a sudden
influx of refugees to grudging acceptance of
their partial assimilation several years later. The
risk factor is still there, but the probability of
consequent losses to business is less.
The BERl Operations Risk Index (ORl) iden­tifies
risks specific to a particular industry, com­pany,
or investment in a country. The ORl's
analytic approach projects risk not from the
static existence of certain factors such as inter­ethnic
tensions, but from actions undertaken
or behaviors prompted by those factors. The
model would ask how are race-, nationality-,
religion-, or other-based differences or dispari­ties
in a heterogeneous population handled?
Are they ignored? Suppressed? Negotiated?
Exploited? For a foreign-owned business that
must manage an ethnically diverse labor force
and customer base - and is itself another chip
in the demographic mosaic - the impact of
actions taken or avoided could be considerable.
Thus, the ORl anticipates likely responses - or
the lack of response - to 'facts on the ground'
to suggest how such actions or behaviors might
pose risks to foreign investors.
The original risk model of the PRS Group
pioneered the approach of projecting business
risk in two steps: first, forecasting the political
regimes most likely to be in power 18 months
or five years out; and second, projecting the
likely attitudes toward and treatment by those
regimes of foreign investors. By forcing the ana­lyst
to envision the top three "candidates" for
political dominance in the future, the PRS
model prompts examination of beliefs, agen­das,
prejudices, and goals on the part of indi­vidual
leaders, parties, and institutions whose
decisions will affect the operation of foreign­owned
businesses in their countries. For exam­ple,
a new prime minister elected by an ethni­cally
diverse constituency on her promise to
institute more inclusive policies and political
practices might alter her country's risk profile
significantly in the estimation of foreign
investors.
In addition to these commercially available
risk modeling services, a number of companies
- usually multinational corporations or other
large business entities - maintain in-house
risk assessment units that apply models or
methodologies tailored to the specific needs of
that company. A broad range of risk analysis
and management services focused on nearly
everything from time-specific travel advisories
WWW.T-BIRD. EDU
(like those provided by Control Risk Group)
and customized in-country personnel security
plans to sovereign credit risk ratings ([nstitu­tional
Investor) and market sector forecasts is
available to supplement or substitute for com­prehensive
country risk reports.
The offerings of diverse risk management
services are similarly rich. Insurers affiliated
with governments (such as the Overseas Private
Investment Corporation in the United States),
international organizations (the World Bank's
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency), and
private agencies (A1G, Uoyd's of London, et aL)
provide policies covering certain 'political risks'
such as currency inconvertibility, nationaliza­tion
or expropriation, and civil strife damage.
Businesses can buy help in facilities design
(including perimeter security and environmen­tal
management), personnel security training,
governmental and community liaison, and even
hostage negotiation.
The most adept risk analysts and managers,
however, do not rely exclusively on even the
best and most comprehensive of the formal
models. Such analysts utilize models to develop
their own 'internal' analytic models, which -
with exhaustive research, analytic rigor, and
repeated practice - should be adaptable to vir­tually
any country, region, or sub-national area
and to any business, industry, or product line.
When students ask me which model [ used
when I was an analyst and manager/trainer of
analysts at the CIA, I point to my head.
HOW IS IT DONE?
As an intelligence officer, [ used my head to
analyze the risks posed to the United States by
the former USSR. [ developed, adapted, and
cannibalized various 'models' for assessing,
among other things, economic perestroika and
personnel changes in the top levels of the
Soviet political leadership. Later, as an inde­pendent
consultant, I drew on that experience
as well as on my education in the Russian lan­guage
and culture to forecast risks to such busi­ness
ventures as proposed oil pipelines from
the Caspian Sea and a processed food plant in
the Russian Far East.
As an instructor at Thunderbird, [ am in the
enviable position of being able to leam as much
as [ impart with regard to the art and science of
business risk analysis. [n my 'Regional Business
Environment: North America' class, I use the
International Country Risk Guide to help stu­dents
understand the nature of living and work­ing
in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The students draw upon their own experiences
in these countries or their perceptions from afar
of their business and popular cultures to enrich
such risk analysis with additional layers of
insight. [ can describe the risk to Canadian tim-
54 / 3 / 2001
ber interests of Canada's trade with the United
States, which even under the North American
Free Trade Agreement limits timber imports to
protect the domestic industry (according to the
E[U model, the U.S. in this regard is a 'bad
neighbor' for Canada and thus a risk). But only
a Canadian citizen in the class can discern first­hand
the potential risk to the warmth of the
bilateral American/Canadian relationship
caused by the fact that many Americans view
Canada as their fifty-first state. [ can use a model
to define the risk inherent in Mexico's per capi­ta
GOP's being six thousand US dollars lower
than the United States', but students familiar
with Mexico can describe the emotional as well
as economic motivations behind the life-and­death
risks of illegal migration.
Risks as well as opportunities are examined
in the 'Business Intelligence and Corporate
Security' course. A newer and still evolving dis­cipline,
business (sometimes called corporate)
intelligence aspires to understand a business
operating environment in its entirety, subsum­ing
actionable risk analysis. The losses threat­ened
by an inadequate understanding of one's
own business environment or by an inability to
protect it from another's efforts at such under­standing
are many and varied.
Thunderbird also offers a 'Winterim' pro­gram
in Washington, DC on U.S. foreign eco­nomic
policy. This January - not far from the
damaged Pentagon - U.S. and foreign stu­dents
will again be able to hear the views of
business, political, and NGO decision makers
on risks and opportunities created by the u.S.
Government's alliances and relationships
worldwide. Last January, experts on antitrust
law enforcement and on the international nar­cotics
trade were added to our speakers array.
[n my 'Political Risk and Global Change'
class, the full range of analytic and risk man­agement
challenges is grist for discussion.
Student projects have included one that con­duded
that the risks to foreign businesses in
Algeria - where violence perpetrated by some
religious extremists continues to flare, earning
the country a negative overall risk rating in
most models - actually vary widely, from pro­hibitively
high in densely-populated areas on
the Mediterranean coast to nearly negligible in
the desert interior, where foreign-owned oil
and gas businesses operate. Another student
discovered to his surprise that the greater risk to
U.S.-owned businesses in Russia was not mafia­run
protection rackets but official tax collectors,
who profitably target businesses not owned by
Russians and others highly skilled at evading
authorities. Several students had been intrigued
by their study of countries in which corruption
has long been regarded as part and parcel of
doing business - before tighter integration
5 4 / 3 /2 001
into the world economic network has prompt­ed
reconsideration of the risks to their domes­tic
econo mies of foreign investo rs' preference
for transpa rent business environments over
those clouded by bribery, nepOlism, and relat­ed
behaviors.
Recent discussions in the political risk class
have, sadl y, cited mo re U.S. examples than ever
before. Students currently applying models to
the U.S. oil. banking, and pharmaceutical
industries are lea rning that long-recognized
risk factors such as environmental acti vism,
merger-and-acqui sition trend , and drug safety
regulations have been joined by risks attributa­ble
to physical location (World Trade Center
offices were once coveted), the efficiency and
privacy of postal services (what if those
envelopes containi ng anthrax spores had ended
up in the - excuse tile expression - dead-Iet-
WWW.T - B IR D . EDU
ter offi ce?), and reactions abroad to the spread
of 'decadent' U.S. popular culture.
SO WHAT?
Sound risk ana lys is is the criti cal first step in
effective risk management, but it is only the
first step. If analysis does nOl suggest - explic­itl
y, in good business inte lligence, or indirectl y,
in nati onal security intelligence - methods of
managing the phenomena it describes, it is a
sterile intellectual exerci e. International busi ­ness
managers do not have the time to play par­lor
games; they must manage and pl an for their
busi nesses.
At Thunderbird, teaching effective manage­ment
of risk is a core com petency. Professor
John O'Connell's course "International Risk
Management and Insurance" highlights the
va riety of means of risk management. from
p . 1 5
buying political risk insurance to designing
evacuation plans for expatriate employees. In
my course 'Political Risk and Global Change;
risk a nalysis models provide the skeleton on
which the living tissue of management options
and risk-sensitive stra tegic planning is hung.
Indeed, Thunderb ird curricula are permeated
by the awa reness of risks to business - posed
by anytlling from a maladroit colloquialism in
the native language to a market entry plan
'blind' to xenophobic sentiments - and cre­ative
thinking about them.
Thunderbird graduates are panicularly well
equipped to confront the risks and chall enges
tllat inevitably will arise in the global market­place.
They are among the visionaries who will
help ensure that 9/ 11 began not just an era of
heightened risk but of braver and better han­dling
of that risk. •
p. 16
THE LAN
Can you speak it
effectively?
By WILLIAM KING, ASSOCIATE
PROFESSOR OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Foreign language skills can open doors
for those who want to work in global
companies, especially those who hope
to work for branches where their native
tongue is not spoken. But, because English has,
in fact, become the 'lingua franca' in many
countries, why should anyone who already
speaks English invest the time and energy to
learn a new language or improve their English
as a Second Language skills?
Because truly knowing the language and cul­ture
of world business involves far more than
basic grammar and conversation skills.
In a September 24, 2001 Business Week
article, Nick Oakley, vice president of a
large London recruiting firm, said: "It's all
about credibility and building personal
relationships. It is a reality that if you
know English, then you really do not
need to learn a foreign language, but it
undeniably gives you a personal and pro­fessional
edge."
That 'edge' is something Thunderbird
has understood for more than 50 years. It's
why the School has mandated a tripartite
curriculum for its Master in International
Management (MIM) students - requir­ing
them to become 'fluent' in a core busi­ness
function (finance, marketing, etc), a
geographic region (Asia, Europe, Latin- or
North America, etc.), and at least one lan­guage
other than their native tongue. So,
even though the School now offers an
MBA option that doesn't require addition­al
language training - for those who
believe their current language skills to be
sufficient - it doesn't mean that language
and culture training aren't still very much
alive and well at Thunderbird.
This past year has been a busy one for Thun­derbird's
language faculty; we needed to some­what
'reinvent' our products to better serve the
changing marketplace. In Summer 2000, a con­sortium
of faculty helped develop new prod­ucts
for the Institute for Languages and Com­munication
at Thunderbird. While continuing
to teach its regular and advanced MIM courses,
the faculty added several intensive language
programs to its product mix - all designed for
WWW.T - BIRD . EDU
time-stretched business people and pre-MBA or
MIM students who can ill afford to take a lot of
time off to learn a new language. These pro­grams
employ either an intensive, six-week for­mat
or a shorter immersion travel one.
IMMERSE YOURSELF
The first Intensive Language Program ran this
past summer. The program was designed for
incoming Fall 2001 trimester students with sec-
54 / 3/2001
ond language needs, as well as for current
Thunderbird students who wanted to start or
continue a third language.
Intensive Language Program students took
Fundamentals (grammar and conversation) at
the first two levels, depending on their previous
language abilities, in anyone of the following
languages: Chinese, English, French or Spanish.
The program compressed the normal 18 weeks
of instruction into a six-week language learning
54 / 3 / 2001
experience. Classes met two to three hours per
day - before or after work - and also includ­ed
extra practice sessions, informal meals
around 'language tables: and cultural discus­sions.
Students earned 4.5 credit hours for each
course - which they could apply toward their
MIM requirements, their MBA electives, or
toward Thunderbird's IS-credit-hour Certifi­cate
of Advanced Studies option.
"I found the Intensive Language Program to
WWW.T - BIRD . EDU
far exceed my expectations," said Victor
Goodin, a Summer 2001 program participant.
"The interactive nature of the course enabled
me to absorb a tremendous amount of infor­mation
in a short period of time. I feel that,
after only six weeks, I have an excellent grasp of
the fundamentals of Spanish from both a writ­ten
and oral perspective."
Directed by Dr. Guiomar Borras, the Inten­sive
Language Program targets two groups:
p . 17
those who stay to complete a formal masters
degree (and reap the additional benefit of accli­mating
to campus life before full-time classes
start) and working professionals who want the
strategic business edge that results from foreign
language training. "Our immersion-style Inten­sive
Language Program courses will now be
offered in all of the languages for which Thun­derbird
is famous - Arabic, Chinese, English
as a Second Language, French, German, Japan­ese,
Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish - as
demand warrants," Borras said.
TRAVEL PROGRAMS
The Institute for Languages and Communi­cation,
which is a part of the full-time degree
unit at Thunderbird, is also developing a series
of seven to 12-day travel programs for language
and culture study. "Similar to Thunderbird's
longer Winterim programs, The Short Trips
Abroad program provides Thunderbird alumni
and the public with a blend of focused cultural
and professional experiences not usually found
in other types of travel abroad programs," said
Dr. Carmen Vega-Carney, who directs that pro­gram.
Planned offerings include: Ch ina 2002: Tra­ditional
Chinese Medicine in the 21st Century;
Chile, Argentina, Peru 2002: Discover Opportu­nities
in These Emerging Markets; Cuba 2002:
Positioning Professionals for Cuba in the 21st
Century; and Venezuela: The Secret Pearl of the
Caribbean.
Scheduled for May 2002, the eight-day China
trip will show participants the importance of
traditional Chinese medicine in the Chinese
culture. After a half-day seminar, participants
will visit hospitals and institutions practicing
traditional Chinese medicine in Beijing.
Given the expansion of trade agreements such
as Mercosur, Argentina, Chile, and Peru are fast
becoming major South America business spots.
Thus, this seminar includes visits to leading
companies, and meetings with important busi­ness
and government leaders in all three coun­tries.
It also includes cultural activities, including
a visit to the sacred Inca city of Macchu Picchu,
located high in the Peruvian Andes.
The Cuba trip allows participants to experi­ence
a new market in its earliest growth and
provides for substantive interaction with Cuban
managers. This experience allows a unique
opportunity to develop knowledge of Cuba's
new and emerging industries and to see first­hand
Cuba's unique and changing business
environment.
The lO-12-day Venezuela trip combines a
language immersion program with a country
overview. The trip will take students to Caracas,
Merida, and Canaima, enabling them to expe­rience
incredibly diverse regional landscape
p . 1 8
and dialects. Students will attend four hours of
daily language training, followed by afternoon
outings that include a visit to Angel Falls, the
world's tallest waterfall, and a ride on the
world's longest cable car - which climbs to an
altitude of 4,765 meters.
"Be it for political reasons, or for the simple
matter of geographic distance from many
points of the globe, some of these cultures will
remain sheltered from the world at large for
some time to come," said Vega-Carney. "Thun­derbird's
prime position of leadership in inter­national
business, language and culture studies,
and research, makes these kinds of highly
memorable trips possible."
ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL)
But, at Thunderbird, where more than half
the students come from outside the U.S., 'for­eign'
language training also means 'English lan­guage
and North American culture training: To
meet this growing need - at Thunderbird and
beyond - the School continues to pioneer an
assortment of creative and well-received, new
English as a Second Language courses for
advanced speakers.
Just like their Spanish, French, German, etc.
equivalents, advanced English language courses
at Thunderbird go far beyond simply teaching
the vocabulary and grammar of target lan­guages.
They also teach about the daily busi­ness
practices and cultural nuances of the peo­ple
in those countries.
For instance, during this past year, Thunder­bird's
language faculty created and delivered an
advanced business communication course, as
well as a 'capstone-level' managerial communi­cation
course for international executives for
whom English is a second language. Students in
such classes learn about American timelines,
work habits, and communication styles. They
might also use advanced computer applications,
write a business plan, learn crisis-
WWW.T- BIRD .EDU
Bill King's ESL students
learn much more than
advanced English.
They may also write
a business plan, learn
how to manage the
U.S. media, study
labor laws,
and utilize
advanced
technology.
plan to enter an English language graduate
business school program.
Offered three times each year - in the
Spring, Summer, and Fall - the Pre-MBA Inten­sive
Language Program provides individualized
instruction in classes comprised of six to eight
members and attracts more than 150 students
per year.
Program focus areas include:
• Conversation Skills: practicing formal and
informal conversation for everyday situations,
developing executive style presentations, and
working on pronunciation.
• Critical Listening Skills: enhancing business­listening
skills, note-taking skills, as well as lis­tening
strategies for social interactions.
• English for Corporate Interaction: building
discussion skills and a broad business vocabu­lary
through the careful use of special business
readings and the 'case- study' method.
• American Culture Orientation: exploring key
elements of American culture, including values,
non-verbal communication patterns, relation­ships,
family life, and education.
• Strategic Reading Comprehension: enhanc­ing
reading skills through learning and practic­ing
reading techniques.
54/3/2001
Besides receiving intensive language skills
training, participants also benefit from
numerous company visits and cultural out­ings.
That's one reason the program routinely
attracts recently transferred executives who
need a quality English immersion experience.
The Thunderbird Language and Culture
Center - part of Thunderbird's Executive
Education unit - also provides custom one­to
two-week language and culture programs
for those seeking a quality Arabic, Chinese,
French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Rus­sian,
or Spanish immersion experience, as well
as those needing regional business expertise in
Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America,
the Middle East and/or Africa market practices.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Armed with the knowledge of how to truly
'speak' the language and culture of world busi­ness,
Thunderbirds are uniquely positioned to
successfully 'parachute' into foreign lands - and
to both build real friendships and work there
efficiently and ethically. Given the tragedies of
recent months, such skills can only be a plus. •
FOR MORE INFORMATION about Thunderbird's
language and culture programs, please contact:
• Institute for Languages and Communication
programs: Dr. Jutta Ulrich, ulrichj@t-bird.edu
or (602) 978-7266.
- Intensive Language Programs: Dr. Guiomar
Borras, borrasg@t-bird.edu or (602) 978-7284.
- Short Trips Abroad: Dr. Carmen Vega­Carney.
carneyc@t-bird.edu or (602) 978-
7282.
- English as a Second Language: William King,
kingw@t-bird.edu or (602) 978-7277.
• Pre-MBA Intensive English and custom
Thunderbird Language and Culture Center
executive programs: Beth Stoops, stoopsb@t­bird.
edu or (602) 978-7779.
related media management tech- ADVANCED . FOR - CREDIT BUSINESS / LANGUAGE OFFERINGS
niques, discuss American sexual
harassment law, and experience an
American-style performance review.
PRE -M BA INTENSIVE ENGLISH
AND OTHER PROGRAMS
For the many foreign students
who want pre-advanced, intensive
language preparation prior to enter­ing
an MIM or MBA program at
Thunderbird - or elsewhere - the
Thunderbird Language and Culture
Center offers an outstanding Pre­MBA
Intensive English Program.
This lO-week, 25-hour-per-week
program is designed especially for
non-native English speakers who
ADVANCE~ 'LANGUAGE' COURSES
ARE COUNTRY-SPECIFIC BUSINESS
PRACTICE AND CULTURE CLASSES
THAT ARE TAUGHT ENTIRELY IN
THE TARGET LANGUAGE.
AR5200 Arabic Business
Communication and Documentation
CH5201 Advanced Chinese for Business
CH5750 Chinese Oral Business Language
CH5302 Contemporary Political, and
Economic Issues
FR5202 French for Management
FR5511 French for Marketing
FR5512 French for Advertising
FR5513 French Business Intelligence
FR5514 French for Finance
FR5515 French Corporate Culture
FR5516 French Human Resource Mgmt.
FR5517 French Project Management
FR5518 Import-Export in France
GE5201 Major Topics in Central Europe
GE5303 Contemporary Social, Political.
and Economic Issues
GE5304 Environmental Policies and
Issues
GE5305 German for Strategic Mgmt.
GE5511 German for Marketing
GE5514 German Finance
jA5202 japanese for Corporate Mgmt.
jA5303 Contemporary Political, and
Economic Issues
jA5751 Advanced japanese for Business
RU5204 Seminar in Corporate Structure
and Business Culture of
Contemporary Russia/CIS
RU5306 Case Studies in Contemporary
Industry
SP5201 Major Topics in Latin America
SP5202 Spanish for Management
SP5370 Analyzing Sustainable Business
in Latin America
SP5220 How to Do Business in Mexico
SP5303 Contemporary SOCiocultural,
Political. and Economic Issues
MLS898 Selected Research Topics
54 / 3 / 2001 WWW.T - BIRD . EDU p.19
'ENLIGHTENED SUBJECTIVITY'
Thunderbird's core competency
I chose Thunderbird over more traditional
MBA programs because I believe interna­tional
business is inherently interlinked
with history and culture. There are many
students, faculty, and administrators who ques­tion
the efficacy and relevance of Thunderbird's
tripartite curriculum. They debate the value of
mixing the study of the IMF and comparative
re.ligions with investment and asset valuation
theory. Never before in human history has the
outcome of this debate been more relevant.
That curriculum creates enlightened subjectivity
and perpetuates the School's founding premise:
Will Warne '99
BY WILL WARNE '99
that understanding multi-culturalism is essen­tial
to world peace.
Since graduating in 1999, I have traveled
220,000 miles managing a project that spans
five continents and 50 countries. Most of my
successes and failures can be directly traced to
my ability or inability to evaluate the interrela­tionships
of culture and
advantage that is almost immune to replication
because it is both infinite and personal. It
enables a person to see and understand some­thing
in a way that no one else does.
Value is added by seeing and understanding
something in a new or unique way. It comes
from connecting otherwise disparate variables
into an effective strategy or
commerce on decision­making.
To attempt
international business
without a comprehen­sive
understanding of
the myriad influences
that shape the interper­sonal
landscape in
which you work is like
trying to understand the
patterns of stars with
" D course of action. By reduc-
OING BUSINESS IN CHILE ing business school to the
WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE OF
PABLO NERUDA OR IN ASIA
study of tangible attrib­utes,
traditional MBAs
become an assembly line
for opinions and practices
that are more geared to
value dilution than cre­at
ion. Students emerge
after two years with a com­mercial
dogma that is
WITHOUT EXPOSURE TO
BUDDHISM REDUCES YOUR
WORK TO TRANSACTIONAL
PROCESSES."
your eyes dosed. Today's business is not only
global but also increasingly democratic. That
means people at every level within an organiza­tion
have an increasingly potent impact on a
company's success. It also means that the his­toric
and cultural influences that shape the per­spectives
and decisions of these people are more
acute. As individuals are given more freedom to
articulate their opinions and goals, they are
simultaneously expressing the sometimes­inaudible
signals of their country's socio-eco­nomic
experience. These signals are defined by
re.ligion, language, colonialism, geography, di-mate,
and national aspiration.
One of my happiest days at Thunderbird
was spent translating a Pablo Neruda poem
in Spanish dass followed by a Net Present
Value struggle in Finance. I was thrilled
because the juxtaposition of commerce and
culture was an honest reflection of what I
had already encountered in my exposure to
international business. Doing business in
Chile without knowledge of Pablo Neruda or
in Asia without exposure to Buddhism
reduces your work to transactional processes.
Any company or individual with enough
time or motivation can easily replicate, if
not improve, a company's transactional
approach to commerce. But how does
anybody replicate the unique cultural
insight that an individual may bring to
the decision-making sequence within a
large, multi-national project or deal?
Cultural awareness creates enlightened
subjectivity - a true comparative
often narrowly conceived from formulas, graphs
and Western-centric concepts.
Students must combine the finite themes of
business school with the infinite issues of
multi-cultural ism. Enlightened subjectivity is
the force driving that synthesis of ideas and
experiences. For example, a student may ques­tion
the applicability of traditional asset-based
accounting practices in countries with limited
asset-based record keeping or judicial systems.
From this questioning and insight may come a
new way of valuing projects or products that
leverages the best of traditional business princi­ples
with the realities of a country's historic
experience and institutional attributes.
Since the day General Yount conceived
Thunderbird, the School's mission has been
visionary. It is why students and faculty contin­ue
to dearly argue in favor of mixing culture,
language, and finance. None of us can articu­late
exactly how knowing a country's history or
the themes of its greatest poets gets us doser to
winning an important deal or managing a proj­ect
successfully - but it does! The businessper­son
who possesses enlightened subjectivity is
constantly listening for the un-spoken words -
the subtle hand-gestures and placement of peo­ple
around a table - to calculate the best
course of relative action. Thunderbird's curricu­lum,
combined with long-term interactions
with students from throughout the world,
empowers T-birds so that we can hear and see
cultural indicators where our competitors can­not.
This is the core competency of Thunder­bird
- and Thunderbirds. •
p . 2 0 WWW.T - BIRD . EDU
Referring qualified students is the most important
thing alumni can do for Thunderbird
BY JESSICA McCANN
A modern, comprehensive curriculum
is the cornerstone of an advanced
business degree, and the faculty who
deliver it must be superb. Of course,
state-of-the-art facilities and technology are
needed in today's competitive learning envi­ronment.
Philanthropic support, community
involvement and marketing acumen are also
necessary to keep a school ranked among the
best in its discipline. But one could argue that
the most critical need of any school is stu­dents-
exceptional students.
And what makes an exceptional student
when it comes to Thunderbird? Who better to
answer than its 32,000 alumni worldwide.
"They've been here. Alumni know what it
takes to make it at Thunderbird," said Judy
Johnson, dean of Admissions and financial aid
at Thunderbird. "But more importantly, they
know what it takes to make it after Thunder­bird,
in the highly-competitive international
workplace. "
That's exactly why Thunderbird has launched
a new program reaching out to alumni and
encouraging them to refer potential students -
because without a constant influx of quality stu­dents
any school would lose value.
"At Thunderbird, the work experience and
zest for international life our students bring
provide an added value to faculty and members
of their dass," said Johnson. "So, referring
potential students is the most important thing
alumni can do."
Those referrals go directly to the Thunder­bird
Office of Admissions where the staff per­sonally
follow up with candidates and the
alumni who referred them. The goal is to estab­lish
a personal connection and to foster ongo­ing
communication among the candidate,
alumnus, and School staff. As a result, the can­didate
soon learns that Thunderbird isn't just a
place to earn a degree; it's a community and a
lifelong connection to the most expansive
alumni network in the world. The value
becomes immediately dear.
Alumni have a vested interest in referring the
best and brightest prospects to the School. too,
because every new graduate either increases or
decreases the perceived value of a Thunderbird
degree. On a more personal level. becoming
actively involved with potential students can
help alumni stay focused on why they them­selves
chose Thunderbird.
"When you come out of Thunderbird, you're
still on a high from the experience," said Lynn
Campbell '92, global director of human
resources for F1extronics in Dallas. "Most peo­ple
leave when they're not ready to leave, and
that's a good thing. But then you're thrust into
a highly competitive global business environ-
54/3/2001
ment and there's the poten­tial
of getting discouraged
or questioning your career
goals.
"When you have the
chance to associate with
somebody who is thinking
of going to Thunderbird, it
gets you talking about the
positive things about the
School. It reminds you of
the reasons you went to
Thunderbird, and keeps
your focus on the long­term,"
said Campbell.
While in Seattle,
Campbell and the local
Thunderbird Alumni
Association chapter
regularly obtained a
list from the Thunder­bird
Office of Admis­sions
of people in their
area who had applied.
They then invited
those potential stu­dents
to First Tuesdays. "This ended up proving
to be a great way for people to feel the bigger
part of Thunderbird, " she said.
If such reward can come from interacting
with strangers considering a Thunderbird edu­cation,
imagine the personal reward of referring
someone to the School with whom you already
share a common bond.
"Ultimately, we would like alumni to direct
people to Thunderbird whom they already
know and respect on a professional level,"
Johnson said. "Someone they would be com­fortable
saying. 'I would like for this person to
become part of the T-bird community:" •
WHAT A T-BIRD NEEDS
Things to keep in mind when referring a poten­tial
student to Thunderbird:
• GMAT scores of 550 or better-this score
should validate adequate verbal. quantitative
and analytical skills
• Work experience in the professional market­place-
has this individual proven his or her abil­ities
at a junior- or mid-management level?
• Participation in extra curricular activities­such
activities give you a good sense of this
person's leadership qualities.
To refer a potential student to Thunderbird go
online at My Thunderbird, http://my.t-bird.ecIu,
or use the referral card enclosed in this magazine.
If you have any questions, please contact the
Thunderbird Office of Admissions at 602-978-
7100 or admissionsCiDt-bird.edu.
so, you dream of living in Europe. You
fancy a job as an investment banker in
Geneva or London. Or you think a cou­ple
of years marketing consumer goods
in Spain would help your career. You've been to
Europe before, and really enjoyed it - maybe
you even speak a European language. Images of
sunny sidewalk terraces and bustling financial
centers start to fill your dreams.
But a twelve-countries-in-four-weeks trip
your junior year in high school can't begin to
prepare you for the thrills and challenges of liv­ing
and working full-time in Europe. Do you
really know what the business culture in Spain
is like? Or why the European markets differ
from the New York Stock Exchange? Or how
political demonstrations in Germany can affect
your sales targets in Turkey?
Or perhaps you are European - and you
already speak two or three languages - but you
want to get a better sense of the overall
European market, not just your home country.
You feel that an American program will give
you the best in management education, but
you don't want to come away with an 'Ameri­can-
centric' point-of-view.
If your goal is a career in Europe - or even
just a better understanding of the European
market - you can give yourself an edge by
attending the Thunderbird Europe, French­Geneva
Center.
Located in Archamps, France, a mere stone's
throw from the Swiss border, Thunderbird
Europe is only minutes from downtown Geneva
- and, by extension, from the rest of Europe.
Here students study European business with
professors who are themselves nearly all practi­tioners.
They supplement dassroom teachings
with trips to foreign capitals - for both learn­ing
and pleasure.
Thunderbird established its European center
in 1993 in order to further its global reach and
offer its students the opportunity to experience
Europe first-hand. Situated in an international
business park in the Haute Savoie, (France's sec­ond
largest region) Thunderbird Europe offers
students an unprecedented opportunity to live,
work, and play in an environment which com­bines
the rigorous educational standards of a
first-dass American educational institution with
the cultural advantages of a truly international
student base, faculty and setting.
"Students here get the benefit of a Thunder­bird
education, exactly as they would in Ari-
zona, but they also have the added value of
business, cultural. and political exposure they
ca n't get in the U.S., " said Dr. Ya hia Zoubir, the
program director for Thunderbird Eu rope. "It's
not just abou t learning Frend1."
Students come to Thunderbird Europe for a
number of reasons. Some wish to live in Fra nce
so that they can truly learn the language both
inside and outside of dass. Some come to study
with particular professors whose fame has
spread to the other side of the Atla nti c. Others
want to gain an in-depth understanding of the
business and cultural environment in Europe
by studying and traveling here. Still others
come merely to escape the llO-plus-degree (F)
summer heat of the Arizona desert - where
Thunderbird 's main campus resid es. "I m ose
Thunderbird because it is an American smool
wi th a European campus, whid1 lends more
cred ib ility to its international curriculum," said
Shelley Collum, a first -trimester French-Geneva
Center student.
Traditionally, students came to Europe after
having spent one o r more trimesters in Glen­dale,
but as of September 2001 , they can now
start directly at the Thunderbird Europe site. For
those who wish to start in Europe, there is one
entering dass every yea r, in May. Both the MIM
(Master of International Management) and
MBA degree tracks are offered in Armamps.
Entering MBA students currently spend one
trimester in Europe before going to main cam­pus.
Entering MIM ca ndidates can spend up to
three trimesters in Europe (depending upon
individual ci rcumstances) before completing
their final 15 credit hours in Arizona.
One of the advantages of the Thunderbird
Europe campus is its small size. "I chose the
Archamps campus because I am more comfo rt­able
in Europe," said Chetan Baboor, a new stu­dent
from India. "This is a small, intimate com­munity
- it's more like a fa mily. And also,
because it is sma ll er, you get more personalized
dasses, with more time to yourself to think,
study, and travel. "
Frenm-Geneva Center students receive the
same qua lity education and learn from the
same level of internatio nal faculty for wh im
Thunderbird is renowned. "I am very impressed
with the facu lty here in Archamps. Being on a
sma ller campus is a great way to have dose aca­demic
relatio nships, real ly get to know your
professo rs," said Todd Kirkbride. "Plus your pro­fessors
are right in the thick of things. Armamps
is essential for anyone interested in Europe."
While many professors rotate over from main
campus, mum of the faculty is local - with
many continuing to team while working fu ll ­time
in industry. Dr. Francois-Serge Lhabitant,
for instance, works for a major Geneva bank and
tead1es fin ance and investment banking. Dr. Ivor
Roberts, who just retired after 30 years of work­ing
fo r the European Commission, now teames
Regional Business Environment: Europe.
Dr. Ken Ferris, the MIM program director
and a Glendale-based professor of finance and
accounting. now in Archamps, said, "I have
found the quality of the local faculty to be
excellent, and the fact that they are practition­ers
means that students benefit from their real­world
experience every day in the classroom ."
Frend1-Geneva Center students also benefit
from the same extensive resources they would
find at main campus. They use the online My
Thunderbird platform, access a wide va riety of
o nline databases th rough IBIC (International
Business Information Centre), borrow books
from the library th rough the weekly intra-cam­pus
courier service, and have career advising.
academic advis ing. and alumni relations servic­es
on site. Unlike some overseas experiences
where students can be out of touch with their
home base, students in Armamps work just the
same as if they were on the main campus, and
are in continual contact with their colleagues
and friends in Arizona.
French-Geneva Center students also have
access to a number of resources unique to the
Thunderbird Europe campus. For example,
Geneva is home to many international organi­zations,
such as the International Red Cross and
the ITU (International Telecommunications
Union). Each trimester students tour both the
wro (World Trade Organization) and the UN,
where they can apply for reader's cards that give
them access to the UN library - an excellent
resource both for doing coursework and for
meeting other internationally minded people.
Thunderbird Europe also organizes at least
two corporate site visits each trimester. Some­times
these take the form of day trips to local
companies. Past visits have induded Swatch,
Hewlett-Packard (HP), Rossignol, FlFA, and
Nestle. On other occasions seminars have been
given by local experts on subjects ranging from
competitive intelligence to offshore banking to
the global shoe industry. French-Geneva Center
students have also taken in-depth looks at
emerging markets through four-day trips to
Budapest, Frankfurt-am-Oder, and Istanbul,
where they visited local companies and historic
sites, and met Thunderbird alumni.
WWW.T-BIRO : EOU
Lest you get the impression that Thunderbird
Europe is all work and no play, rest assured that
is not the case. Cultural opportunities abound,
of course, and students make the most of them.
One recent group organized a visit to Beaune,
the heart of France's Burgundy region, to learn
about the local economy - which induded a
guided tour of one of the largest commercial
wine cellars in the region.
Because Geneva is so centrally located, travel
is an important part of any European stay.
Zurich, Paris, and Milan are only three hours
away by train - London, Amsterdam, and Bar­celona
only an hour and a half away by air.
There are a number of low-cost airlines based
in Geneva, and rail connections to anywhere
on the Continent are excellent. There are excel­lent
adventures dose to home as well -
whether it be dimbing Mont Blanc or skiing at
anyone of the many ski resorts within an
hour's drive. "It's a great lifestyle, one alumnus
said. "There's music all summer long, and I can
ski and play golf in the same weekend. Why
would I want to live anywhere else?"
For those interested in extending their
European stay through either an internship or
full-time European job, many resources are
available. Cynthia Zoubir, director of Admis-p.
2 3
sions, serves as the CMC (Career Management
Center) representative for Thunderbird Europe,
and she is always willing to offer advice and
assistance. "Internships are out there; those who
make the effort and apply themselves generally
find opportunities," she said. Some of the
internship opportunities that students have
found have induded offers at J.P. Morgan Chase
in Geneva, Delphi in Paris, HP in Grenoble, and
Accenture in Zurich.
Shelby Kardas is one student who came to
Europe for career opportunities. "I always knew
I wanted to come to Archamps," said Kardas an
Idaho native. "It just seems to fit with the Thun­derbird
mission. I also knew I wanted an
internship in France so that I could work in
France and speak French. I found that actually
being in Europe was crucial to finding an
internship; being in France really puts you in
the mindset." Kardas is spending six months
working for T-bird alumnus, Ed Pierce '91, at
his Internet company.
In addition to career advice, Cynthia Zoubir
offers all incoming students an invaluable
resource: her European Career Management
workshop. The half-day seminar covers all
aspects of the European job search, such as dif­ferences
between an American resume and a
p. 2 4
European 0/, how to handle difficult interview
questions, and realistic job hunt expectations.
Students can also seek help from alumni.
One of the key elements of th e Thunderbird
experience is the worldwide alumni network.
With over 32,000 alumni working for more
than 12,000 companies in 135 countries
worldwide, the network is truly unique. Stu­dents
at the French-Geneva Center can access
alumni contacts in nearly any country/ind us­try/
company that interests them. "I have also
found the local alumni to be very friend ly and
willing to help in whatever way that they can,"
said Michelle Learned, a current student now
on a Zurich internship.
One of the best aspects about coming to
Thunderb ird Europe is that it makes the transi ­tion
to a European lifestyle easy. Accommoda­tion
is pre-arranged for incoming students,
making the arrival into a new country as pain­less
as possible. Students choose between three
corporate apartment complexes - one right
next to the campus and the other two located
closer to Geneva and linked to the campus with
a daily bus service. Of course, those with an
independent streak can find their own apart­ment
or set themselves up with a local family.
Said Ferris of his experience, "Living here is
easy. It's not all that hard to pick up survival
French. It's surprising how multi-lingual people
here are; it's velY easy to get by."
In terms of legalities, U.S. nationals obtain
student visas that are good for three months -
and renewable for up to 12 months. Once stu­dents
arrive on campus, Marie-Laure Kienne, the
administrative director, and Chantal Aublet, the
program coordinator, manage that process
As administrative director, Kienne also han­dles
registration, tecllnological issues, and is
the liaison with the Glendale campus. Aublet
serves as a student resource - answering ques­tions
ranging from where to find Chinese cook­ing
ingredients to how to get to the French
Riviera. Together, they do everything possible
to ensure that students have the best experience
possible during their European stay.
Temporary residents on student visas are
allowed to take internships, and to get paid for
them. Regulations differ from country to coun­try,
however, so candidates should work closely
with their future employer - and be patient!
Thunderbird Europe may be a small campus,
but it is growing - rapidly. The school current­ly
occupies a 17th-century farmhouse in the
beautifully landscaped setting of the business
park. ow, however, due to continued expan­sion,
Thunderbird has outgrown its facilities.
Construction recently began on a new building
that will more than double the existing facilities.
Scheduled for third quarter 2002 completion,
the addition will house four auditoriums, four
classrooms, and 12 breakout rooms, as well as
state-of-the-art audio, visual, and Internet facili­ties.
It will also accommodate Executive Educa­tion
clients - for whom Arch amps will become
a European training base. A 90-room, three-star
hotel is being built on-site for them.
Although small compared to main campus,
Thunderbird Europe offers the same quality
Thunderbird experience. Students reflect as
much cultural and educational diversity as
those in Arizona. While, naturally, the opportu­nity
to live and study in Europe attracts many
non-Europeans, the French-Geneva Center can
also be the perfect alternative for Europeans
who want an American degree but who aren't
necessarily ready to go to the U.S.
Thunderbird Europe is definitely a total
immersion experi ence - living, studying,
working, traveling, first-hand exposure to the
cultural and businesses. It's all there for the
adventurous I •
Cynthia Zoubir knows the secrets of securing
jobs In Europe. Contact her at zoubirc@t­bird.
edu or +33-450-31-56-63 for more infor­mation
about Thunderbird.
54 / 3 / 2001 WWW.T - BIRD . EDU p. 2 5
COMPANIES STILL RECRUITING AT THUNDERBIRD
Nearly 90 companies had signed
up for Thunderbird's annual
Career Fair - so many, in fact,
that Thunderbird had to divide the
group in two. Half would come Monday
through Wednesday; the other half
Wednesday through Friday.
Then, the September 11 attacks
occurred - prompting many companies
to implement temporary travel and
recruiting bans. Despite all that, more than
50 companies still attended this year's Fair,
held October 1-5 in Glendale. Baxter, Bayer,
the Central Intelligence Agency, ConAgra,
EchoStar, Ernst & Young, Hilti, Intel,
Kimberly-Clark, Microsoft, Siemens, UPS,
and Western Union were just a few.
The Fair's three-day format of company
presentations, followed by a day of trade
show booth visits, followed by a day for
interviews, again drew rave reviews.
"Given recent corporate layoffs, hiring
uncertainties, and all the travel restrictions
that resulted from the attack of September
11, which was just three weeks ago, we were
extremely pleased by the number of compa­nies
that committed to coming to this Fair,"
said Kay Keck, vice president for career and
professional development. "We also know
that the companies that did come had an
outstanding experience. They continue to
really be impressed with the quality of our
students and to like the Fair's format."
Combined, those recruiters collected near­ly
7,000 resumes and conducted 660 inter­views.
Others scheduled later interviews.
BY LINDSEY MICHAELS
Alumnus Maulik Prekhi '00 talked to T-birds
about career opportunities at EchoStar -
which just bought DirectTV.
Kimberly-Clark was especially popular
with students; the booth seemed to always
have a 1O-15-person waiting line.
"I think people were attracted to our
booth because Kimberly-Clark is a very
popular consumer goods company with
many very well-known global brands," said
Carlos Moreno '00, a special projects man­ager
who flew in from Costa Rica for the
Fair. He and fellow recruiter, Eduardo
Grauer '00, an international marketing
associate, who flew in from Altanta, were
filling jobs in Latin America.
"I saw a lot of talent and a lot of people
with some very impressive backgrounds,
Moreno added. "They were people with pas­sion
and perseverance, but also people with
the type of cross-cultural awareness to know
exactly what messages to convey to which
customers in each market. For instance, in
our Pampers line, we focus on creating the
image of a happy, independent baby, but
what constitutes 'happy and independent'
Kimberly-Clark sent two alumni, Eduardo
Grauer '00 and Carlos Moreno '00 to recruit.
differs greatly in, say, Ecuador and Costa
Rica. T-birds understand that fact."
"Saying you're global, and actually
understanding how to do business in
other parts of the world are often two
really different things," Grauer said.
"Carlos and I know that Thunderbirds
are in that second group, which is why
we - and otherT-birds within our com­pany
- are working very hard to ensure
that Thunderbird remains on Kimberly­Clark's
'A list' for recruiting - not just for
international jobs, but for our domestic
ones as wei!."
'Thunderbird is one of six select U.S.
schools we recruit from," said Knut
Baalerud '90, who works for UPS. "We've
hired T-birds for 10 years now and keep
coming back based primarily on their
superb records of performance. Their flexi­bility,
diversity, tenacity, high level of self­motivation,
and depth of expertise make
them very 'in demand' within many differ­ent
departments at UPS."
Thunderbird's students also like the Fair's
format. Most were grateful to the companies
that attended this year's event - even
though they sensed their uncertainties.
Given the environment we're now living
in, I think it was a great Fair," said Nicolas
Amaya '01, a Colombian citizen who is also
authorized to work in the EU. "Despite the
tragedy, many companies still came,
although most were probably in marketing
since many of the New York financial insti­tutions
were still facing travel uncertainties."
Amaya obtained more interviews than
any other student at this year's Fair. He cred­ited
his three years of brand management
with Unilever, as well as his recent six­month
internship with Kellogg for his pop­ularity.
But, he said, he'd also prepared
himself - defining his strengths and
company criteria, and then focusing all
of his attention on those companies.
"Searching for a job isn't just one
party's responsibility; it has to be a joint
effort on the part of CMC (Career Man­agement
Services) - which attracts
good companies to Thunderbird, and
the students - who must prepare
themselves to seize good opportuni­ties,"
said Angel Wang '02, a Chinese
nationa!' 'The Career Fair is a superb
joint effort in that regard ." •
T ~ ',~ ~ ." .~ ,~, ': ~3,:
p . 2 6 54 / 3 / 2001
'. '
,
~n--, • ."
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT IN
SOUTHEAST ASIA
From the bustling streets of Bangkok to
the tranquil riverbanks of the Mekong
Delta to the towering skyscrapers of
Singapore, Dr. Winter Nie led 21 T-birds
from six nations on an interesting supply chain
management Interim to Southeast Asia. During
the three-week course, we gained firsthand
insight into doing business in this culturally
and economically diverse region of the world
with on-site visits to over 15 companies in Viet­nam,
Thailand, and Singapore. Although each
visit provided a unique perspective on supply
chain management, common themes soon
appeared that dosely reflected the level of eco­nomic
development of each country.
Vietnam, for instance, is a communist sode­ty
with a population of 79 million-twice that
By KRISTI KRAMERSMEIER '01 & TREVOR OLSEN '02
of many Western European countries. But with
an annual GOP of only $140 per person, labor­intensive
operations are still very much the
norm. One famous example is Nike, which
takes its role as the largest non-government
employer in Vietnam very seriously - as we
discovered when visiting the Dona Victor Foot­wear
factory. Earning about $64 per month, not
only are the factory employees paid more than
most local teachers and doctors, but they are
also trained directly by Nike and cared for at
the on-site healthcare center. Nike, in return,
benefits from the flexibility of labor-based
batch processing which is essential to produc­ing
6,000 different styles of shoes each year.
Another challenge in a developing country
such as Vietnam is the lack of infrastructure
needed to reach a largely rural population -
not to mention reaching the urban retailers in
the dties where few traffic lights are found and
modem highways do not exist. Brown Smiley
'94, Bayer's chief representative in Vietnam,
provided a personal glimpse of the fragmented
distribution system. He sent each of us off on a
motor scooter with a sales rep through the
streets of Ho Chi Minh City. While weaving
through incomprehensible traffic, we were
amazed to find major wholesalers and re-sellers
operating out of tiny, product-lined stalls at
crowded market areas dtywide.
Consumer products giant, Unilever, has also
faced distribution challenges in Vietnam. Due
to the lack oflocal distributor warehouses, Uni­lever
had to finance a large fleet of trucks to
54 / 3 / 2001
visit over 100,000 stores throughout the coun­try
each week. However, the company has
found this direct contact with retailers and
users extremely helpful in identifying con­sumer
preferences. For instance, after discover­ing
the local tradition of brushing teeth with
salt, Unilever introduced a salt-flavored tooth­paste.
The company now has a 50 percent
toothpaste market share.
In Thailand, where the distribution infra­structure
is more advanced and a burgeoning
middle class demands more technologically
advanced products, we learned that understand­ing
the local market is still critical. Isuzu suc­cessfully
leveraged the popularity of light-duty
pick-up trucks to become Thailand's number
one truck manufacturer. Hosted personally
by the president ofTri Petch Isuzu Sales Co.,
Ltd., we were reportedly among the first pub­lic
visitors to the Thailand Isuzu factory -
where over one million trucks have been
made since 1963. Factory managers there
shared their plans to improve demand fore­casting,
accuracy, and to reduce lead times by
collaborating more closely with suppliers.
According to Accenture representatives,
improving supply chain management prac­tices
through integration and collaboration
is becoming common in Thailand. We saw
this when we visited Sony Semiconductor
Ltd. in Bangkok where running a 24-hour
operation producing and exporting 30 mil­lion
units a month makes minimizing
inventories through Enterprise Resource Plan­ning
(ERP) a top priority. Similarly, Nestle's
factory in Bangpoo showed how demand and
supply planning - along with an automated
bar code system - play key roles in manufac­turing
and distributing 75 different Nescafe
creamer and tea products in Southeast Asia.
While Thai companies work on adopting the
latest in supply chain management strategies,
local consumers are eagerly adopting the latest
in high-technology products, as evidenced by
the throngs of young shoppers toting mobile
phones in the upscale Siam Square shopping
area. Our visit to Ericsson, however, showed the
interesting paradox faced by technology com­panies
in this emerging market. On the one
hand, the Thai market is very attractive as one
of the fastest growing mobile phone markets in
the world with projected annual growth rates of
80 percent. On the other hand, government­linked
telephone companies are maintaining
close controls on the development of mobile
Internet applications and potentially stifling
the growth of value-added mobile services.
In Singapore, where the government is
renowned for promoting foreign investment
and encouraging technological development,
we met up with global companies who are lead-
WWW.T - BIRD.EDU
ing the way in state-of-the-art logistics and sup­ply
chain management services. For example,
after a rapid expansion into Asia, Avnet Asia Pte.
Ltd. has chosen Singapore as the headquarters
for its regional Integrated Materials Services
(IMS) operations. Building upon Avnet's world­wide
expertise in electronics assembly sourcing
and distribution, Avnet's IMS division offers
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)
with customized just-in-time (IIT) and demand
pull methodology services designed to optimize
supply chain operations.
At Emery Worldwide, we were able to see
how this intemational air freight company is
transforming itself into a leader in global sup­ply
chain management and logistics services. A
tour of their local warehouse proved particular­ly
interesting as we found it fill ed with Nike
products, some of which were undoubtedly
produced at the factory we had just visited in
Vietnam. Emery provides Nike with full ware­house
and distribution management services
throughout Southeast Asia.
In another visit, we enjoyed a panoramic
view of Singapore from the Suntec Towers
while listening to Paul Freyermuth '89, vice
president of business development at i2 Tech­nologies
Pte. Ltd. His company is focused on
creating value for billion-dollar global compa­nies
operating in the Southeast Asia region by
providing the latest in supply chain manage­ment
technologies-an opportunity made pos­sible
by Singapore's advanced economy and
strong technology infrastructure.
Between company visits, we still found time
to enjoy the exciting and diverse cultures of
Southeast Asia. In Thailand, we marveled at the
colorful and ornate temples of Bangkok and
Chiang Mai and savored the deliciously spicy
Thai cuisine. In Vietnam, we crawled through
the unbelievably narrow Viet Cong tunnels in
Cu Chi, and spent a glorious day on a boat ride
through the Mekong Delta. In Singapore, some
of us enjoyed the Night Safari at the Singapore
p. 2 7
Zoo, while others sought out their favorite gas­tronomic
delights in the endless rows of inter­national
restaurants and shops. And, wherever
we went, we were graciously welcomed by
Thunderbird alumni who openly shared their
insights and experiences in this exciting region
of the world.
Most importantly, we received excellent
advice on doing business in Southeast Asia from
people who are succeeding there today. For
example, Roberto Castillo '60, Unilever's supply
chain and technical director, strongly empha­sized
the importance of getting to know each
country personally before developing long-term
strategies. Bayer illustrated this too by explain­ing
how it had to develop individually packaged
insect repellent coils to meet price points
that Vietnamese consumers could afford.
Quality was also at the top of everyone's
agenda as the majority of factories touting
their ISO-9002 certification and adherence
to the Japanese 5S model: Seiri (tidiness),
Seiton (organization); Seisou (cleanliness);
Seikatsu (way of living); and Shitsuke
(training/discipline). However, after seeing
the term "ISO-9002" plastered across signs
on even the smallest of shops in Vietnam
and Thailand, we realized that verifying the
existence of actual quality management pro­cedures
is still a must in Southeast Asia.
Another common theme was business
ethics - with representatives from Nike
and Unocal describing their companies' no­bribe
policies when dealing with local suppli­ers
and distributors. Allen Obemdorf '72, an
exclusive distributor for Corona beer in Viet­nam,
echoed this sentiment by warning us that
"engaging in bribes is the most inflationary part
of doing business in Southeast Asia." He also
explained his company's unique approach to
dealing with product tampering. By carefully
tracking and collecting all Corona beer bottles
back for recycling, an effort that pays for itself,
his company is able to avoid having stolen bot­tles
show up on the market filled with cheap,
local beer.
From firsthand encounters with labor-inten­sive
assembly in Vietnam, to witnessing the
more automated factories of Thailand, to learn­ing
about the latest in logistics technologies
and services in Singapore, the valuable insights
we gained from the Supply Chain Management
in Southeast Asia interim course are as diverse
as the countries themselves. Although we
would be hard pressed to agree on what was the
most valuable experience we each gained from
the course, it is certain we would all agree that
our Thunderbird education was greatly
enhanced by this unique experience. Not to
mention our fond memories of riding through
the Thai jungle on elephants! •
54 / 3/2001
and Japan pumped nearly
US$120 billion into financial
markets on September 12 to
assure liquidity, according to
Business Week reports.
When Wall Street reopened,
the Dow quickly fell more than
600 points. But bargain hunters
fueled a comeback the following
week and the markets began to
stabilize - even airline stocks
prices rose a bit in response to a
US$1S billion Congressional aid
package. Still, fear and uncer­tainty
are likely to keep market
volatility high for now.
GAUGING A RECESSION
What makes a u.s. recession
so worrisome is that the fates of
many other economies hinge
largely on the performance of the
u.s. economy. For example,
recovery from the 1997 Asian
financial crisis was being driven
largely by exports to the United
States and in Mexico nearly 90
percent of exports are manufac­tured
goods bound for the States.
How the U.S. responds is criti­cal.
Until September, the cure-all By JESSICA MCCANN
The global economy had been teetering
on the edge of recession for some
time. In fact, many believed that U.S.
consumer confidence was the only
thing priming world markets. On September
11, that confidence was crushed and a global
economic slowdown became reality.
Could the likelihood of a drawn out war on
terrorism hamper a quick recovery? Perhaps,
say Thunderbird international finance and
trade professors on both sides of the Atlantic, if
consumer confidence remains low.
"What is happening in the economy is more
of a reaction to the past four or five years, rather
than anything that arises from the terrorists. We
were clearly in serious trouble before this hap­pened,"
said Dr. lohn Heptonstall, who teaches
at the Thunderbird Europe campus in France.
'The September 11 incident will have a serious
impact on specific industries, such as tourism
and the airlines, but not much direct or lasting
impact on the economy as a whole. More
important is the secondary effect on consumer
confidence. In this respect, the anthrax inci­dents
are also bad news."
Dr. John Mathis, of Thunderbird's main U.S.
campus, concurs, though is less concerned
about consumer confidence.
"The terrorist attack was a major shock and
major interruption of economic activity, and its
effects are still rippling. A month or two of this
disrupted economic activity is going to result in
a pretty sharp decline in growth over the next
couple of quarters, but I don't see it lasting
much longer than that, " he said. "We should be
realistic, but not overly pessimistic."
SPEEDING UP THE INEVITABLE
Many business and political leaders believed
a global recession was imminent. The underly­ing
problem: the world's three largest
economies - the United States, Japan and Ger­many
-were in a synchronized slump. Japan
was in its tenth year of stagnation. Germany's
industrial production had plummeted signifi­cantly
during the past year. The U.S. economy
had been fueled by little more than consumer
spending since January.
"Investment spending in the U.S. corporate
sector pretty well burned out," said Hepton­stall.
"Up to the third quarter that was being
offset, quite surprisingly, by a strong level of
consumer spending. The real problem now is
that consumer spending has very clearly
dropped, as well."
The September 11 attacks sent shock waves
around the world, shutting down Wall Street
and sending markets plummeting by as much
as 12 percent in Frankfurt, Tokyo and Korea.
Governments worldwide moved quickly to sta­bilize
markets and stimulate their economies.
The central banks of the United States, Europe
seemed to be cutting consumer
interest rates. A half-point cut in October was
the ninth this year, bringing the rate to its low­est
point in 40 years. But more is needed. U.S.
fiscal policy has broadened since the attacks,
and Heptonstalllikes what he sees so far.
'The thing the U.S. economy really needs is
a recovery of business confidence - the
resumption of spending by the corporate sec­tor.
The low cost of funds is a necessary condi­tion
of that, but not a sole condition," he said.
"Ironically, in a way we're back to the Reagan
period. You had a very deep recession in the
U.S. in '80 and '81, and then staged a very
robust recovery because the Reagan government
committed itself to a combination of large cuts
in taxation and large increases in government
spending. I now see the Bush administration
doing very much what Reagan did back in '82,
which I think is the right approach," said
Heptonstall.
If that fiscal policy could create new buoyan­cy
in the U.S. economy, it could stimulate recov­ery
for the rest of the industrial world-just as it
did in the early '80s. The risk of continuing such
policies too long, however, is that both inflation
and the national deficit could rise.
HAlthough you have to keep an eye on the
long run, the most important problem is solv­ing
the short run," said Heptonstall. 'Tm very
critical of the European Central Bank at the
moment because I think it's so concerned
54/3 / 2001
about the long run dangers of inflation, that it's
ignoring the much more immediate problem
of low growth and high unemployment in
Europe. So far it's resisting any suggestion of a
relaxation of fiscal policy."
TIMING IS EVERYTHING
Although the terrorist attacks came at a prob­lematical
time in the business cycle, things
could have been worse. The U.S. Federal
Reserve and White House had already approved
stimulus packages, such as the tax rebate plan
that had checks in the mail by mid-summer.
The central bank had also been cutting interest
rates since January. But the September 11 attack
tipped the scales into recession.
The U.S. airline industry suffered the first
major economic blow when planes were
grounded for two days. Soon, airliners around
the globe began feeling the strain, as well.
Many-including Lufthansa, Swissair and Aer
Lingus-announced layoffs affecting thousands,
and most reduced flights by up to 20 percent.
In addition, the world's largest insurance
companies have said the terrorist strikes would
produce the largest claims in their history.
Munich Re and Swiss Re expect to jointly pay
out more than US$3 billion. European finan­cial-
products giant Zurich Financial Services'
losses could reach US$900 million.
The attacks also pummeled many Internet
companies - especially travel operations - just
as they were starting to recover. Expedia.com, for
instance, reported a 60 percent drop in online
reservations (not counting cancellations) in the
weeks after the disaster. Travelocity.com
announced significant cost reductions in Octo­ber,
including a 10 percent staff reduction, hiring
freeze and advertising cuts.
The auto industry is also reeling, as consumer
spending on big-ticket items stalls. Most major
manufacturers are offering zero percent, five­year
financing for U.S. purchases to boost sales.
"A lot of these industries were feeling pains
even before the terrorist attacks," said Mathis.
"But when you have a shock like that, you have
an excuse to do some extra housecleaning. I
think that is why you are seeing corporations,
even in other industries, scale back."
It's true. The U.S. labor market was under
intense pressure long before the attacks. The
drop of 199,000 payroll jobs in September was
the largest one-month decline since February
1991, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics. And, that monthly report didn't even
capture the 200,000 plus airline and travel
industry layoffs that occurred after September
11. Manufacturing companies alone laid off
93,000 workers - the 14th consecutive month
of job losses at factories.
A significant shift in spending also occurred
WWW.T- BIRD .E DU
in late September. Consumers have donated
hundreds of millions of dollars to organiza­tions
helping those affected by the attacks­electing
to help victims rather than spend that
money on themselves.
"The issue now is how quickly that money
gets channeled back into the system," said
Mathis. "It will take at least a quarter. So,
instead of the economy following a V-shaped
recovery - where we see a sharp decline and
equally sharp recovery - it will probably be
more like a check with a sharp decline and
gradual recovery."
CONFIDENCE IS KEY
While American spending is low, patriotism
and confidence in the institutions of govern­ment
- the Presidency, the Federal Reserve,
and the military - to secure the nation and
return it to prosperity seems higher than ever.
p. 2 9
As such, U.S. political and military response
may be as important as economic policy in get­ting
the nation - and world - back to busi­ness
as usual. So far Americans appear to
approve. A series of Newsweek polls conducted
in late September showed 89 percent approve
of President Bush and his actions.
But, according to Heptonstall and Mathis, the
world shouldn't expect America's growth rate to
return to 5 percent. The country had been aver­aging
4.5 percent growth for most of the past
four years and most economists don't consider
that to be a sustainable level, they said.
"The need for a correction was certainly
established long before September 11," said
Heptonstall. "But my guess is that by the mid­dle
of next year, the economy could well be
growing again. It is going to depend very much
on confidence levels, both in business and
among the general public." •
p. 3 0
Security was tight; the media abundant.
The crowd was visibly exdted as Mexico's
President Vicente Fox addressed The
Miami Herald's 5th annual Americas Confer­ence
in September. That conference is held in
partnership with Thunderbird.
Fox addressed a sell-out audience at what is
unquestionably one of the two major U.S.­based
Latin America conferences each year.
Tall and affable, Fox was warmly received by
the standing-room-only crowd. The Harvard
alumnus and former president of Coca Cola,
Inc. of Mexico began by telling the group that by
voting for him last year, his people clearly sig­naled
their quest for change. "Mexicans wanted
freedom - freedom from corruption, freedom
from deception, freedom to fully express them­selves
as Mexicans," he said. 'They also want
free access to today's economic progress."
According to Fox, that can only happen if
Mexicans continue along a true course of
democracy - with democracy meaning "not
just the casting of votes, but the very basis of
the country's economic and sodallife."
Fox reminded everyone that Mexico is now
WWW.T-BIRD .EDU
the U.S:s second largest trading partner -
behind Canada - buying more goods and serv­ices
from the U.S. than France, Italy, Spain, and
Germany combined - and that Mexico has a
US$250 billion trade balance with the U.S.
"This partnership that we have made
through NAFTA has made the Mexican econo­my
converge with the U.S. economy," he said.
Unfortunately, Mexico is also feeling the
impact of the U.S:s economic slowdown. Thus,
he cautioned his countrymen not to "lose the
power to control our destiny" by pursuing
short-term profits too aggressively right now.
Mexico recognized open trade agreements
with 32 countries - including two with the
world's two largest trading regions: North
America and the European Union. That makes
it a great place for business, Fox said. As does the
fact that Mexico has managed a "finandal disd­pline
that has resulted in an interest rate decline
from 18 percent to 71/2 percent this year," and
"managed to make international markets recog­nize
the stability of our economy."
The country also has the highest per capita
income in Latin America at US$6,200. But, even
54 / 3 / 2001
that needs to rise, said Fox, who again termed
democracy the economic and social equalizer
for both Mexico and all of Latin America.
"Latin America also is still one of the world's
most inequitable regions because even though
considerable wealth exists in the region, 220
million Latin Americans still live in poverty
today - 40 million of them in Mexico." Dem­ocracy,
he said, is the key to distributing that
wealth and "eradicating the marginality and
economic inequity that condemn millions and
millions of Latin Americans to a life of poverty
and limitation."
Fox's greatest personal source of optimism?
That for the first time in history, all Latin
American countries (except Cuba) now have
democratic leadership. As a result, "This, the
21st century, will be the century of Latin
America," he said.
More than 750 people attended this year's
Americas Conference, which included address­es
by Patrida Cisneros, chairman, Fundad6n
Cisneros, Frandsco Flores, president of EI
Salvador, and /eb Bush, Governor of Florida.
The event also included a Thunderbird-spon-
54 / 3 / 2001
sored panel entitled, The Conver­gence
of Telecoms, Media, and
Content: which included Jose
Antonio Rios, president, Global
Crossing International, and
Charles Herington, president AOL
Latin America.
Cisneros' panel on social
responsibility included represen­tatives
from the AOL Time Warner
and Rockefeller Foundations.
A former teacher in both the
u.s. and Venezuela, Cisneros
spoke passionately about her
Foundation's AME and CI@se
programs. "I believe that new
media and technology have the
capability to be the great equalizer
where education is concerned,"
she said.
AME is a distance-learning
program that teaches teach­ers
throughout Latin Amer­ica;
she said it impacts 57,000
teachers per year. CI@se deliv­ers
first-rate educational pro­gramming
that is compiled from
throughout the world, and then translated
into Spanish and Portuguese. Commercial free,
the service is offered in partnership with AOL
International and reaches more than 15 mil­lion
students annually.
Kathy Buskin, president of the AOL Time
Warner Foundation, said that the Internet is
forcing business, government and NCOs to
work together to achieve united goals. She
expects AOL Latin America to play an increas­ingly
important role. The company attracted
more than one million subscribers in Brazil.
Mexico, Argentina, and Puerto Rico during its
first 21 months, is reaching critical mass, and is
WWW.T- BIRD. EDLI
one of two or three key regional players.
According to Buskin, it took AOL nine
years to reach the one million mile­stone
in the U.S.
The charismatic president of EI
Salvador, Francisco Flores, was the
Thursday lunch speaker. Flores pro­fessed
optimism in his country's future
but stressed, "We don't want fish, or a
lesson in fishing. What we direly need is the
opportunity to fish. "
Flores termed himself committed to leading
his country out of crisis and into economic sta­bility.
He termed access to technology, educa­tion,
and English language training critical to
his country's transformation from an agrarian
to modem society.
After being ravaged by violence between
1979 and 1992, when a peace accord was
signed, EI Salvador has been devastated by
earthquakes in recent years and is now in the
middle of a draught - prompting one in four
EI Salvadorans to flee. Still, Flores said, his gov­ernment
is making significant headway:
p.31
• Lowering inflation from 32 percent to 3.5
percent,
• Reducing trade barriers from 290 to between
5 and 15,
• Trimming defense spending from 56 percent
to 5 percent,
• Reducing EI Salvador's dependence on coffee
production to 10 percent of total exports,
• Building 200,000 new homes since the earth­quake.
Florida Governor Jeb Bush discussed Flor­ida's
role in Latin America as part of a Friday
morning panel, impressing many with his
humor, first-hand knowledge of Latin America,
and Spanish language fluency.
According to Bush, Florida is the fastest
growing state in the U.S. and boasts the 17th
largest of the world's economies.
"Florida has one foot firmly planted in
North America and another firmly planted in
the rest of the Americas," he said. "Our rela­tionship
goes way beyond mere numbers; it
goes to culture and personal passion."
Bush described Florida as being 'wired' to
Latin America. He has led three major trade
delegations there - one to Mexico, one to
Brazil, and another to Argentina and Chile. "Let
me make a confession here today," he said, "I
believe in entrepreneurial capitalism from the
end of my toes to the top of my head." He
termed education a critical success factor in
accomplishing that goal.
Thunderbird is one of The Miami Herald's
main partners in producing the annual
Americas Conference event, which draws top
political and business leaders from throughout
the U. S. and Latin America - including many
T-birds. Thunderbird also typically attracts a
majority of the paid conference attendees and
sponsors a trade show booth and key events -
which help build brand equity. •
THUNDERBIRD SPONSORS TELECOM, MEDIA AND CONTENT CONVERGENCE PANEL
HoW is global convergence driving the business model for content providers in the 21st cen­tury?
Jose Antonio Rios, president of Global Crossing International. and Charles Herington,
president of AOL Latin America, were part of a Thunderbird-sponsored panel that discussed
that and other 'convergence' issues. Thunderbird's Dr. Robert Grosse served as moderator.
Rios, who had worked for the Cisneros Group in Venezuela, where he helped launch Direct1V,
described how Global Crossing has connected 200 of the world's largest cities, in 27 countries, with
fiber optic cable. According to Rios, 80 percent of the world's data needs reside in those