Friday, Oct. 9, 10:45 a.m. - noon
In this international track, the panel will discuss the challenges in leading organizations having a foot print in multiple countries or operate in virtual space (where various aspects of the business are done in different countries, all collaborating virtually using technology). The panel also will deliberate on what business schools ought to do to develop future business leaders with appropriate skills to address these challenges. Finally panelists will speculate on research opportunities to help organizations cope with these transitional challenges.
Panel speakers include:
Richard Corson, director, Pontiac U.S. Export Assistance Center
Gregory Garrett, chief strategy officer, Volkswagen of America
Joe Tori, principal, g2businessdevelopment.com
Panel moderated by Ravi Parameswaran, professor, marketing, and chair, SBA's Management and Marketing department
Speaker BiographiesRichard Corson is the director of the Pontiac U.S. Export Assistance Center, U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. Dept. of Commerce. He and his staff help companies in more than 25 Michigan counties, including Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, St. Clair and Genesee, export their products and services throughout the world. Further, Corson is the Executive Secretary of the E. Michigan District Export Council (DEC), and is working with the council on preparations to host the 2010 national DEC conference in Detroit. He is also a member of the adjunct faculty at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Mich., where he teaches international business and international law to MBA students.
Corson began his career with the U.S. Commercial Service in Cincinnati in 1990 and worked in the agency's Detroit office. Corson’s private sector experience includes working for an export management company in Alexandria, Virginia, and working for his father who owned one of the biggest and busiest pharmacies in Philadelphia. Corson has a B.A. (magna cum laude) in Political Science from Temple University; an M.A. in International Affairs from the Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University; and a J.D. from the Washburn University School of Law.
Gregg Garrett, SECS ’97, chief IT strategy officer, Volkswagen of America, where he leads a team that defines the North American IT strategy and fits it within VW's North American market and global IT plans; develops IT and process governance mechanisms to assure service satisfaction from internal business colleagues and external customer segments; and is responsible for maturing the IT sourcing strategy, and introducing technological innovations that can differentiate the brands in the market place. Prior to this, Garrett served as Senior Vice President for T-Systems North America, led a local strategy consulting group and co-managed a major automotive account for gedas USA, where he was instrumental in launching the Enterprise Architecture Interest Group, where he remains chairman.
Garrett holds an MBA from the Broad School of Executive Management at Michigan State University and a BS in Systems Engineering from Oakland University.
Joe Tori, principal, g2businessdevelopment.com, possesses 30 years of experience in the automobile and engineering staffing industries. He has held engineering, marketing, product planning, international and general management positions with a number of automotive firms, including General Motors, ASC Incorporated, MSX International and Delco Remy International.
He has held positions in the following companies: Delco Remy International, Kelly Services and MascoTech. Tori also co-founded Carma International, LLC, a supplier of prototype vehicle assemblies and vehicle enhancement packages to Ford and the tiered supplier community. In November 2006, Tori founded g2 Business Development Solutions, whose mission is helping automobile manufacturers and suppliers achieve top- and bottom-line growth through focused business development initiatives, acquisition and restructuring.