Rachid Benlakhouy, Sales Manager Africa and Western Europe at LEISTER TECHNOLOGIES AG
Rachid has a passion for developing new markets and businesses for Swiss industrial brands. For nearly 21 years, he has worked on investment and semi-investment industrial products across various markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. With a dual Swiss and Moroccan cultural background, he speaks 6 languages fluently and has pursued business studies in Morocco, France and Switzerland. Rachid lives in Lucerne with his wife and 2 children. His passions are tennis and travelling around the world.
Pritima Chainani-Barta, Coach, Consultant and Lecturer
Pritima is passionately committed to promoting and developing intercultural skills for professionals and managers. Her trainings are underlined by a personal touch as she believes in sharing best practices for dealing with intercultural issues and challenges based on her own experience as an Indian living in Germany. Pritima works part-time at the University of Applied Sciences Fulda, where she is in charge of promoting intercultural competence for students, administrative staff and instructors. Also, she works as a coach and consultant for high potentials who are interested in further developing their intercultural professional skills and leadership competencies, in multinationals such as ABB Germany, T-Mobile Germany, Celanese, and H&M UK. (https://www.culturecoach-international.com/) In addition, Pritima works as a guest lecturer at higher-education institutions in Germany and Switzerland.
Sukhavichai Dhanasundara, Executive and Lecturer
Sukhavichai has been a corporate executive for 30 years, in numerous national and multi-national corporations in the fields of international industrial development, international business operations, and financing. Further, he has been a part-time lecturer at various universities in Thailand, Switzerland, Germany and Ireland. Sukhavichai enjoys teaching some of his “old tricks” and sharing his long-term experiences as well as insights to new international managers and leaders. Sukhavichai feels that globalization is here to stay, which means multinational business operations and transactions are going to be the mainstay of future global economic growth and development. This also means that multinationalism is matched by multi-culturalism in terms of interactions, inter-dependencies, and inter-personal business relations. He has written a book on ‘The Global Manager and Leader’ and is working on his second book, ‘ Global Organizational Management’.
Jillaine Farrar, Co-Head CAS Leading Global Teams and Projects
Jillaine was born in Vancouver, Canada and moved to Switzerland in 1989. Her family is located in both Switzerland and Canada. She studied at the University of Manchester in GB. In addition to the international experience gained from working in various international companies in Switzerland, running her own education company, and taking continuing-education programs such as the IDI, her international exchange work and lecturing at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts-Business and abroad have provided a solid basis for her work on both the CAS Leading Global Teams and Projects and her SME Internationalization research. Further, Jillaine is vice-president of both SIETAR Switzerland and the ICP European University Network. She not only works in international, she also lives it. Helping others to become more culturally aware is something she is passionate about. She also loves baking, reading, and spending time with her family.
Garry Fehr, Associate Vice-President Research, Engagement and Graduate Studies, University of the Fraser Valley, BC, Canada
Garry earned his PhD from the University of Guelph in Canada. He uses his extensive business experience in the natural resource sector to inform the development of research opportunities and partnerships in order to support the research activities of students and faculty. His areas of research include rural livelihoods, sustainable agriculture, and community development. Garry helps to unite the practical corporate world with the university research world.
Mike Ivanof, Associate Professor, University of the Fraser Valley, BC, Canada
Mike is a global citizen with a career that spans 3 decades in more than a dozen countries on four continents. His career combines substantive industry experience in finance and business development, and almost 2 decades in academia. His academic research interests revolve mainly around corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. He has authored two books; one in finance on Illegal Insider Trading and Corporate Ownership Structure, while the second book - "The Kleenex Syndrome" takes a critical look at upcoming global production and consumption patterns. He earned his Doctoral degree in Business Administration through a joint program between St. John's University in New York and the International School of Management in Paris, France. Mike is also the founder of GlobalBox.world - "The World's Online Store", an ecommerce platform. He teaches Strategic Management, Entrepreneurship, Management of Innovation, International Business and several other business courses at University of the Fraser Valley and other academic institutions around the world.
Isabel Pereira Rodrigues, Business Administration Division, Mahidol University International College, Thailand
Isabel Pereira Rodrigues earned her Doctorate degree (PhD) in Economic Analysis in 2007 from the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona (IDEA programme) in Spain. She also holds two Master degrees in Economic Analysis from Nova Business School, Universidade Nova de Lisboa in Portugal, and from Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona. She started her professional career by working in the private sector as a technical analyst for bank insurance, and after completing her PhD, she worked for over 4 years for the United Nations system. Isabel performed the role of policy specialist at the Research Unit of the Human Development Report Office (HDRO) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Statistician for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). During her collaboration with the UN system, Isabel worked on sustainable and economic development issues in areas that included: climate change, migration, health, inequality and poverty. Since 2014, Isabel has been a lecturer at the Business Administration Division of Mahidol University International College (MUIC) in Thailand. Previously, she was the Program Director of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) at MUIC as well as the Program Director of the Business Economics Major of the Bachelor in Business Administration (BBA) at MUIC. Her research interests focus on sustainable development and market incentives, economics of science, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Isabel is also a research fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in Management and Economics of the Universidade de Évora in Portugal.
Colin Pillai, Founder and CEO: CP+ Associates and Pharmacometrics Africa. Honorary Professor: Division of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Cape Town
Colin is a clinical pharmacologist who developed scientific leadership experience in both the pharmaceutical industry (Switzerland) and in academia (South Africa). He has a specialist interest in the application of non-linear mixed effects mathematical models to pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic data across a wide range of therapeutic areas. His most recent position involved establishing programmes to share scientific expertise and infrastructure in the drug discovery and development sciences with researchers and institutions in low- and middle-income countries. He continued these activities by setting up 2 social venture companies (cpplusassociates.org and pmxafrica.org). Colin is married and has 2 daughters – both of whom work in the healthcare industry. Since November 2017, Colin is a senior advisor on capacity development for global health to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
David Ruiz de Olano, Director of Corporate Relations and Professor of Marketing at Deusto Business School.
Before joining DBS, David was the Director of Studies at ESCP in London and a member of faculty. Previous to joining academia, he worked in several companies in the Financial Services sector, both in Milan and Paris. He has worked in several start-ups in the financial sector, both privately owned and as part of large financial institutions in the marketing departments. David holds a PhD in Business Administration, University of Turin (Italy), EECPCL, MA in Business Administration, ESCP-EAP (Paris, London, Madrid), and BA in Physics, University of Cantabria (Spain). He has also attended executive training programs at Harvard Business School, MIT and IMD. David is fluent in English, Spanish, French and Italian. David has taught undergraduate, graduate and executive courses in Spain, UK and Italy in the areas of marketing, innovation, entrepreneurship and new product development. He helps and advises corporations, SMEs and R&D Technology Centers for creating innovative working environments. His research area explores which are the main drivers of innovation and emerging concepts such as servitisation. David also looks at how industrial companies are shifting from selling products to selling services as a response to increased competition. David publishes regularly in academic and practitioners’ journals such as Harvard Deusto Business Review and through international conferences.
Malinvisa Sakdiyakorn, Business Administration Division, Mahidol University International College
Malinvisa Sakdiyakorn earned her doctoral degree in Development Administration from the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA), Bangkok, Thailand, also winning the dissertation award in 2009. She holds both an MSc in International Employment Relations and Human Resource Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), London, UK and an MA in European Studies from Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. In the course of her career, Malinvisa worked with the Ministry of Commerce for 8 years in the area of trade promotion where she was involved in the internationalization of Thai products and services to abroad. Specializing in emerging markets, she played a key role in promoting exports of Thai products and services to South Asia, South East Asia as well as the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Malinvisa joined Mahidol University International College in 2009 as a full-time lecturer in Business Administration. Her areas of expertise is in human resource management, organizational behavior, diversity and inclusion, and leadership. As a practitioner, she is also involved in consultancy projects and corporate training in HROD-related area.
Mary Gene Saudelli, Associate Dean Faculty of Professional Studies at the University of the Fraser Valley in BC, Canada
Mary Gene Saudelli earned her PhD in International Higher Education, Curriculum and Implementation using the pedagogy of High Impact Practices. She has specialized in learning and teaching in higher education and international education. Most of her research is in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning with a particular interest in transdisciplinary, 21st century curriculum design, learning and higher education. She has taught in Canada, Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Afghanistan, Hong Kong China, and Turkey. She has been awarded numerous scholarly grants, has many peer-reviewed publications in premiere journals and scholarly collaborations across institutions to her name. In August, 2019 she released as lead editor ‘From Divergent to Convergent: Voices from Far Away Lands’ with co-editors Jim Kusch and Sharon Carroll. November 2015 she released her book ‘The Balancing Act: International Higher Education in the 21st Century’.
Claus Schreier, Professor at Mahidol University, Bangkok/Thailand
Claus Schreier earned his Doctorate in International Management (Dr. rer. pol.) in 2001 from the European Business School, International University in Germany. In 1997 he graduated with a Master Degree in Economics from the University of Konstanz and in 1999 with a Master Degree in Business Administration from the University of Hagen. After his doctoral studies, he spent 3 years as a Senior Business Consultant for CSC Switzerland and another 3 years as a partner and management consultant for Prime-IT Consulting in Zurich, Switzerland. He is an Assoc. Professor and fulltime faculty member at Mahidol University International College (MUIC) in Bangkok, Thailand and is a lecturer in International and Intercultural Management. Furthermore, he is an adjunct professor at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Business (www.hslu.ch/ibr) in Switzerland. He has lectured at various institutions in Germany, Switzerland, the USA and Thailand. Important steps in his professional career include Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Winterthur Life&Pensions, Swiss Life (Switzerland) as well as UNESCAP in Bangkok/Thailand (www.unescap.org). His consulting company “Die Kulturarchitekten” (www.kulturarchitekten.ch) is specialised in international and intercultural issues.
Ingo Stolz, Co-Head CAS Leading Global Teams and Projects
Ingo is passionate about developing international leadership skills in current and future leaders. To do this, he brings his international career to the classroom. He worked abroad for 10+ years, in Belgium, China, France, Russia and the US. While abroad, he led, managed and consulted on international projects in for-profit, non-profit, governmental and non-governmental organizations. Ingo grew up in Germany, but left almost 20 years ago. He has lived in Switzerland since 2011. Since 2014, Ingo has worked for the Hochschule Luzern/Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, as a lecturer and researcher in International Leadership, Head Executive Education IBR, Co-Head Competence Center Corporate Development, Leadership and Perssonel, Head Doctor of Business Administration DBA, Co-Head MAS International Management, Co-Head MAS Business Management, Co-Head CAS Leading Global Teams and Projects, and Deputy Head CAS International Management.
Nuntana Udomkit, Business Administration Division, Mahidol University International College, Thailand
Nuntana has a multi-disciplinary education background. She earned her Ph.D. in Economics and International Development from the University of Bath, U.K.; M.A. in Economy and Society from Lancaster University, U.K.; LL.B. in Laws from Thammasat University, Thailand; B.A. in in Public Administration from Chiang Mai University, Thailand; and a Certificate in Foreign Trade Development from Kobe University, Japan.
Nuntana started her career with the Bank of Thailand in 1995. After the completion of her higher education, she worked for the Ministry of Commerce, the Royal Thai Government in 2002 in the field of international trade promotion and served as an executive assistant to the Minister of Commerce from 2005 to 2008. She joined the Business Administration Division of Mahidol University International College in 2008. Her fields of expertise are international trade, international business management, and social enterprise. Nuntana also works as a legal consultant and a litigator, specialized in arbitration, international trade, contract, insurance, and tax. Her work and her interest to explore the world have engaged her in numerous international assignments across the world.
Jon Thomas, Director, Esposito Family Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, BC Regional Innovation Chair in Canada-India Partnership Development, Associate Professor (Innovation & Entrepreneurship), School of Business, University of the Fraser Valley, Canada
Jon conducted his doctoral research at IIT Delhi where he examined firm-level innovation in the Indian biotechnology industry. In his role as the BC Regional Innovation Chair, he is engaged in building research partnerships between Canada and the world, with a major focus on India. He believes that high-impact teaching and research can be fostered through collaborations that transcend disciplinary and organizational boundaries. Jon has provided innovation and entrepreneurship mentoring to students, post-doctoral fellows, scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs for nearly two decades. His research has garnered several awards including the National Doctoral Fellowship (India) and the Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral Fellowship (Canada). His interdisciplinary research has been published in leading academic journals like Nature Nanotechnology, Technovation, Journal of Engineering & Technology Management, Scientometrics, and the Journal of Cleaner Production, among others.
Ivan Ureta, Senior Lecturer &
Head Continuing Education Economics & Management at SUPSI
Ivan likes to challenge the common wisdom, conventional thoughts and beliefs. Since 2002, he has travelled and worked in Spain, in several South American countries, the US, UK, as well as across North Africa and the Middle East. He has worked both as a scholar and a practitioner, accumulating experiences in top universities, international organizations and NGOs. Ivan works at the University of Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI) as a senior lecturer in international economics and management and is Head Continuing Education in Economics and Management at the DEASS department. Ivan also works as a visiting professor in country risk analysis at Deusto Business School and as an adjunct professor in International Relations and Economics at IE University, Business School, Madrid.
Henri-Michel Yéré, Post-Doc at the Centre for African Studies, University Basel; Associate Facilitator at Thriving Talent
Henri is currently a researcher based at the Centre for African Studies at the University of Basel. Born in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Henri has lived abroad in the US, France, South Africa, and Switzerland. A trained historian, Henri worked for seven years at the headquarters of the pharmaceutical giant Novartis in Basel, holding various positions in the field of diversity and inclusion (D&I). He has worked extensively in capability building programs with scientists based in Africa, Asia and Latin America. An experienced facilitator and trainer, Henri has trained colleagues in mentoring, personality assessment, unconscious bias training and inclusive leadership. Besides his current work at the University of Basel, Henri delivers workshops with the talent management consultancy firm Thriving Talent and works with different firms, such as Deloitte and EY.
