MSU CIBER News - Upcoming International Business Forums

Upcoming International Business Forums

8 February, 2000: Elizabeth Briody, Staff Research Scientist, General Motors Corporation.

Many organizations today are entering the global arena through such means as export business, joint venture relationships, and the purchase of wholly-owned subsidiaries. One of General Motors’ globalization strategies has been the creation of internal "partnerships" to develop global products and reduce costs.

Dr. Briody will discuss a three-way partnership, or global vehicle program, involving Small Car Group, Adam Opel AG (Germany), and Saturn. Initial discussions with participants, and later observation of such meetings, revealed significant tension over meeting styles.

Interestingly, the data suggests that meeting styles are a function of organizational-culture differences, rather than national-culture differences. To reduce the tension and improve program performance, it is important to develop a "hybrid" meeting style in which selected elements of the three organizational cultures can be merged to form elements in the overall vehicle program culture.

Dr. Briody is a cultural anthropologist at General Motors. She uses interviews, observations, and documentary materials to conduct research on various aspects of GM’s culture with the goal of identifying recommendations that will improve the effectiveness of the organization. Her work has led to an understanding and explanation of GM’s key cultural characteristics.

Dr. Briody received her French Baccalaureat in Philosophy and Letters, and a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology. She is an adjunct professor at Wayne State University and is a leader in the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology. She has recently designed an on-line resume clinic for anthropology graduate students.

Come learn about the adaptations needed to succeed in today’s global market from Dr. Elizabeth Briody, a leader in the field, as she speaks on, "Meetings, Besprechungen, and Meetings: Dealing with Differences in Cross-Cultural Meeting Styles."

14 March, 2000: John Hornick, Director, Worldwide Business Research, the UpJohn Company.

Global competitive intelligence may best be described as a new source of competitive advantage for companies. In this presentation, Mr. John Hornick will describe the role of competitive intelligence in the global company. Further discussion on its usefulness for strategic decision making will follow. Both of these topics will be addressed with the aid of examples drawn from Mr. Hornick’s distinguished career.

Currently the Director of Worldwide Business Research, Mr. Hornick has worked for the UpJohn Company since 1974. During this time, he has held many senior positions in Market and Information Research, and International Strategic Planning. Prior to these experiences, Mr. Hornick was employed by the Chase Manhattan Bank and IBM, again in positions involving business planning and analysis.

Mr. Hornick obtained a B.S. in Mathematics from Bucknell University in 1965, followed by a M.B.A. from Columbia University in 1971.

A member of several professional societies including the Conference Board-Market Research Council, the Pharmaceutical Market Research Group, and the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Association, Mr. Hornick is also the past president, vice-president and treasurer of the International Pharmaceutical Market Research Group, and a member of the European Pharmaceutical Market Research Association. He has traveled to over 40 countries and has lectured on International Business at Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan University (WMU). He also lectures on Strategic Planning and Market Research at WMU, and is the Secretary on the Board of Education for Plainwell Public Schools.

Please join us for a fascinating view into the new source of competitive advantage as Mr. John Hornick speaks on, "Global Competitive Intelligence."

11 April, 2000: Andrzcj Laganowski, Commercial Counselor, Embassy of the Republic of Poland.

Despite Russia’s economic crisis, Poland recorded a good economic performance in 1998. The Gross Domestic Product grew by almost 5.6%, and unemployment and inflation are falling. External trade is expanding, particularly foreign direct investment with American contribution. But both Poland’s share of the U.S. market and the U.S. share of the Polish market are rather low when looking at their economic potentials and at European competitors’ performance.

Mr. Andrzcj Laganowski, Commercial Counselor, states that his "mission is to ensure that our trade and economic ties with the USA are expanding rapidly and that the enormous opportunities on both sides are utilized by the business communities." With this mission in mind, he is traveling to the Lansing area to discuss ways to expand trade between the US and Poland with the International Business Forum.

Mr. Laganowski graduated from the Foreign Trade Faculty at the Central School of Planning and Statistics in Warsaw in 1970, receiving his Master of Science in Economics.

Currently, Mr. Laganowski serves as the Head of the Commercial Counselor’s Office in New York at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, a position he has held since 1996. Previous to this, he held other positions including Vice Minister at the Ministry for Foreign Economic Relation and as the Director of the Bad Debt Department of the Big Bank S.A. in Warsaw.

Poland is already host to a number of major U.S. corporations, including Phillip Morris, Pepsico, Citibank, McDonald’s and Ford Automotive. Come hear an expert in U.S.-Poland trade speak on opportunities to expand your business into this untapped market at, "Expanding Poland-- U.S. Economic Cooperation."

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