Thunderbird Scholar Named to BDA Board
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THUNDERBIRD PROFESSOR JOINS BUSINESS FOR DIPLOMATIC ACTION BOARD
Javidan helps group design executive workshop for cross cultural understanding
(GLENDALE, Ariz.) March 13, 2007 ¿ The Business for Diplomatic Action, an influential nonprofit group whose mission is to improve the standing of America in the world, has unanimously elected to its board Thunderbird professor Dr. Mansour Javidan. Javidan, in conjunction with the BDA, has designed a high-level workshop to help executives with cross-cultural understanding.
Javidan¿s appointment to the board comes at a time when America¿s image around the world is near an all-time low. According to a survey released this week by the British Broadcasting Corp.¿s World Service, the United States trails only Israel and Iran as countries with the most negative image around the world. The poll, which surveyed more than 28,000 people in 27 countries, found that 51 percent said the United States has a negative influence on the world, while 30 percent felt it had a positive influence.
¿We welcome Dr. Javidan to our board.¿ said Keith Reinhard, President of Business for Diplomatic Action and Chairman Emeritus of DDB Worldwide. ¿His unique experience and expertise will bring much to our effort.¿ Reinhard added, ¿We also look forward to building on our strong partnership with Thunderbird, especially in the development of an intensive corporate diplomacy workshop that will better equip U.S. businesses to build new bridges of understanding and respect across the world.¿
Javidan, who is director of the Garvin Center for the Cultures and Languages of International Management at Thunderbird, said collaborating with Business for Diplomatic Action made sense because of Thunderbird¿s global scope and reputation for educating global leaders who can work successfully with individuals from diverse cultures in different social, economic and political environments. BDA¿s stated mission is to enlist the U.S. business community in actions to improve the standing of America in the world with the goal of, once again, seeing America admired as a global leader and respected as a courier of progress and prosperity for all people. ¿It makes sense for us to get together and to collaborate,¿ he said.
Javidan was named to the 17-member BDA board in December because of his expertise and groundbreaking research on how management styles and leadership are influenced by culture. Since joining the board, Javidan has been working with the leadership of BDA to design a workshop that will help business executives in the United States deal with cross-cultural issues. The corporate diplomacy workshops will be offered by the BDA and the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
¿From a leadership prospective we can ask whether the same attributes that lead to successful leadership in the U.S. lead to success in other countries. Or are they irrelevant or, even worse, dysfunctional?¿ Javidan explains. ¿For example, people in highly assertive countries such as the United States that tend to have can-do attitudes and enjoy competition in business, could run into conflict in a country like China where building personal relationships is important. The big challenge to American executives is how to make sure their natural American assertiveness does not turn their Chinese employees and counterparts off and does not impede their efforts at building strong relationships.¿
Javidan is president and chairman of the board of GLOBE Foundation (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) and is one of the founding researchers on the GLOBE Project, a long-term research program that included more than 160 social scientists studying more than 17,000 managers in 62 cultures. In 2004 the book that came out of the research, Culture, Leadership and Organizations, the GLOBE Study of 62 Countries, was given the top award by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychologgyy, the M. Scott Myers Award for Applied Research in the Workplace.
About Thunderbird
In 1946, Thunderbird was founded as the first graduate management school focused exclusively on global business. It is regarded as the world¿s leading institution in the education of global managers and has operations in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Russia and Asia. Ranked No. 1 in international business by U.S. News and World Report, the Wall Street Journal survey of corporate recruiters, and the Financial Times, Thunderbird is dedicated to educating global leaders who create sustainable prosperity worldwide. The school¿s programs facilitate the development of the global mindset which is critical to managing effectively in different social, economic and political environments. More than 38,000 students have graduated from Thunderbird, and its alumni live and work in more than 140 countries. For more about Thunderbird, please visit: www.thunderbird.edu.
For additional information on Business for Diplomatic Action go to www.businessfordiplomaticaction.org or contact Cari E. Guittard, Executive Director, at Cari.Guittard@sf.ddb.com, 415-732-3620.
