SPEAKER: FONS TROMPENAARS

/H1> Fons Trompenaars has been the Managing Director of the Centre for International Business Studies since 1989. He is the author of the book 'Riding the Waves of Culture - Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business'. This highly acclaimed book is described as a masterpiece about intercultural management in the emerging global village.

Fons read Economics at the Free University of Amsterdam and later studied for his PhD at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania writing his dissertation on the 'difference in conceptions or organisational structure in various cultures.'

He experienced cultural differences himself; both at home where he grew up speaking French and Dutch and at work where he handled operations for the Royal Dutch Shell Group in nine different countries.

Fons Trompenaar's presentations and seminars on cross cultural management have empowered organisations throughout the business world.

He not only discusses the implications for managing or being managed, working together, building relationships, teamworking, negotiating and communicating with people from other cultures, but more so aims to increase understanding of different values, leading to greater respect for diverse ways of operating and leading to desire and skills to reconcile cultural differences to achieve superior ("world class") business performance.

To benefit from the vast opportunities presented by cultural differences is a major challenge for any international organisation. Fons has developed a model to analyse cultural differences, the so-called "Seven Dimensions of Culture Model".

Fons Trompenaars serves as a visiting professor for the international MBA Programme at the Erasmus University - Rotterdam School of Management.

His book 'Riding the Waves of Culture' provides an excellent narrative and incidentally a very good read, on practical relationships in international management and also those arising from managers dealing with culturally diverse work force within a particular country. He also describes in one chapter the implications between 'National Cultures and Corporate Culture'.

Fons has also co-authored "Seven Cultures of Capitalism".

His general topics include:
    Managing across Cultures
   Multicultural Management
   International Teambuilding
   Remote Management
   The Management of Strategic Dilemmas
   Culture Compass Country Briefings
   The Challenge of International Business